Supermarket share prices are set for a fall and could even halve, Morgan Stanley said today. More on this story

Co-Operative Group (Co-op) members are set to share a £8.9m dividend, based on their trade with its businesses in the first half of 2008. Half of the members who are due to receive payments have said they will give a portion of them to charity, meaning about £500,000 will be given to community groups.

The swiftness with which supermarkets have acted, launching value offers in the face of rising food prices, is credited with creating the impression that they are helping in times of financial need, and they look set to benefit from this goodwill. Research showing that 25% of the UK population have no trust in banks has confirmed the wisdom of  big supermarket brands such as Tesco in stepping up emphasis on their personal finance services. By comparison, only 6% of those polled as part of a post-economic downturn update to McCann Erickson's Moodier Britain survey said they had no trust in supermarkets.

German discount giants Aldi and Lidl have seen sales surge as many of us feel the economic pinch. In the last three months alone, sales have gone up by 18% and the discounters now have a combined 6.2% market share. Aldi claims to be 20% to 30% cheaper than other supermarkets, and both Aldi and Lidl say their business model allows them to sell produce cheaply.

Superquinn is revamping its advertising and launching its new strapline of "you're the business" as it seeks to better emphasis its customer focus. The strapline will be featured in adverts to run on TV, radio, press, outdoor and digital and replaces its previous message of "Fresh Thinking".

Supermarkets have increased their ad spending as the credit crunch hit other marketing budgets, according to new figures. The research, carried out for Nielsen Media Research for the Daily Telegraph, found that the major supermarkets all increase spending during the six months to October. Asda increased spending by 52%, Tesco by 18.8%, Sainsbury's by 21.3%, and Morrison's by 15.2%.

Tesco is calling on the government to give the nation’s shopkeepers a £300m tax break by scrapping the annual inflationary rise in business rates next year. Tesco said that the April’s planned increase, based on September inflation figures, was a step too far for cash-strapped retail businesses as they battled against some of the weakest trading conditions in more than a decade.