Morning,

Looks like we are going to make it three in a row with gains seen on the back of better US earnings. Uncle Ben gave his semi-annual testimony last night and seemed to disappoint with no concrete plans on a further stimulus package but he did say that economic growth is not great and further things would be necessary! Not sure what things just things!!So that helped reverse early losses and combined with some better numbers from Coke and Goldman Sucks ,the Dow closed up 78 points. Analysts in the US have been downgrading their numbers in recent months, so now companies can beat them..then the market goes up ..it’s a miracle! SPI up 8..Gold down but Oil up..

On Sky TV last night I mentioned a stock I have liked in the past..Blackthorn Resources (BTR).The stock is currently suspended(back today) as they put a capital raising to bed at 1.10..I would be using weakness to accumulate this one. It has two world class projects in Africa with a Copper one in Zambia and a Zinc one in Burkina Faso. Good partner in Glencore, and good management all ex BHP…now I know that all resource stocks are hated by everyone but there will come a time once again when the market likes these stories…one to watch, one to accumulate.

On other resource stocks I was asked on TV last night about RIO,BHP and FMG and how they could improve their shareprices..it’s easy..reward shareholders..hoarding the profits and ploughing them back into dubious new projects is not helping them..for BHP to make an acquisition of substance they have to go big..if they go big they risk annoying a country like Canada or vastly overpaying for something like Petrohawk…how about some reward for long suffering shareholders..anyway production reports from BHP this morning, they have flagged a five per cent rise in 2013 iron ore production after a bumper result for the June quarter and BHP said it lifted its iron ore production by 15 per cent to a record 40.89 million tonnes in the three months to June.

The market continues to focus on yield..something like TLS will pay 42 cents in Divs in the next 13 months..that’s 11.8% fully franked in 13 months..come on down!!

In other news, it turns out that HSBC one of the biggest banks in the World were money laundering for Terrorists and Drug Cartels…truly the “World’s local bank!”Barclays fiddled LIEBOR,JP Morgan fiddled their P&L, and now HSBC.And don’t get me started on Goldman Sucks. Who can we trust..I expect some serious fines to be levelled at HSBC over this one..

Things to ponder!

  1. The United States already has more government debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or Spain does.-At this point, the United States government is responsible for more than a third of all the government debt in the entire world.
  2. The debacle in the UK from security company G4S,even the CEO described it as a ‘Humiliating shambles ‘but won’t resign from his 800,000 quid a year job..well why would you!
  3. BHP,RIO and FMG continue to punch out all the Iron Ore that China can buy and it shows no signs of slowing despite the ‘gloomsayers’ talking the market down. Unfortunately poor old shareholders don’t get much to cheer about and this will continue.
  4. There are now 20 countries with two year interest rates in negative territory!!That’s why Income funds both here and overseas will continue to buy our banks and TLS!!No Brainer!
  5. Aussie dollar hits six week high against the US and against the Euro..well it’s party time..get over there ,where the bloody hell are you?
  6. Faceplant continue their downward spiral…continuing to struggle with new mobile platforms..
  7. Whitehaven continue to fall as no one believes Big Nath…he has surprised before though…so maybe this time?
  8. I am still shocked that people fall for the ‘Nigerian Oil’ style scams..last year Aussies lost $22m on romance scams…no clever comments please!!
  9. I still don’t understand the Tour de France and the tactics..let alone the latest doping scandal…

And finally ,

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the Woolies, but she couldn’t find one big enough for her family. She asked a shelf stacker, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?” He replied, “No ma’am, they’re dead.”

What’s coming up today

  • BHP June Quarter Production Report
  • PRU June Quarterly Report
  • AUS Westpac Leading Index MoM (May) (last 0.5%)
  • CNY China June Property Prices
  • UK BoE Minutes
  • UK Jobless Claims Change (Jun) (last 8.1k)
  • UK Claimant Count Rate (Jun) (last 4.9%)
  • UK Average Weekly Earnings (3M/YoY) (May) (last 1.4%)
  • UK ILO Unemployment Rate (3M) (May) (last 8.2%)
  • UK Employment Change (3M/3M) (May) (last 166k)
  • US MBA Mortgage Applications (Jul 13) (last -2.1%)
  • US Housing Starts (Jun) (last 708k)
  • US Building Permits MoM (Jun) (last 784k)
  • US Fed’s Bernanke Gives Semi annual Report to US House

US Fed Releases Beige Book Economic Survey

Have a good day

Clarence

XXX

Any financial product advice contained in this email is general financial product advice only and does not take into account any one person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Therefore, before acting on any financial product advice in this email, you should consider, with or without the assistance of an independent adviser, the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.