The Times's Tempus column weighs up recruitment firm SThree, which has had a pretty rough time as of late, falling 35% in the last 12 months.

The case for a buy is based on geographic spread, with nearly 80% of profits generated outside of the traditional British IT market. The Middle East, India and Brazil are much happier hunting grounds now.

While banking recruitment is obviously not going well, oil and gas is booming and SThree often returns cash to shareholders with a special dividend of 11p per share announced in December, but at 17 times earnings, Tempus thinks now is not the time to wade into the stock. Hold.

In the Independent, Sharewatch gives Marks & Spencer (M&S) the once over. The problem for M&S is that margins are being squeezed both in its high quality food offering and also in general merchandise.

It does pay a decent 5% yield and can continue to do so on the basis of its current cash position, but, as a retailer, it trades at 10 times earnings which looks quite pricey, especially as the economic news is likely to be grim for a while. Sharewatch says hold for now unless the stock dips below 300p, in which case it may need revisiting.

In the Telegraph Questor bangs the drum for Ryanair after a positive trading statement yesterday. The firm grounded 80 aircraft last year and increased prices. The result is a lift in its forecast full-year profits from €440m to €480m.

With economic news bad, people will probably choose the low cost carriers, none more so than Ryanair. On this basis, Questor believes the Irish airline operation is a buy.

BS

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Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) share price
Ryanair Holdings (RYA) share price
SThree (STHR) share price