Morning all,

Once again last night’s action was all from ‘Zombieland’..Spanish debt was once again in the spotlight as the Government raised six month money at 3.7% whilst 10 year money was way above 7.5%.7% is the level that debt becomes unsustainable and a bail out awaits so the market has made its judgement. Once again the leaders of the Zombie nations are dithering and talking not acting…Spain will only get worse and then Italy will be in the markets sights..Greece has already gone,they will run out of money by August 20th according to some reports!!The US market rallied off its lows, as reports in the media that Uncle Ben is getting ready to pull the trigger on QEIII…may just be a pop gun though!!

 

The big news after the market closed in New York was the Apple result..big miss..stock down 5%…now everyone will be negative but the big fall in earnings was due to people holding off from buying an iPhone as there is a new one coming..now to me that’s a timing thing..just means that more people will be queuing up to buy the iPhone 5…Vodafone keep emailing me about a new iphone 4 for free but why would I not just wait and get the super doper 5 in a month or so..der!!And besides I hate Vodafone after 15 years of being a customer..Telstra here I come..and they know it!!!!The bigger issue for Apple is Samsung and the Galaxy..the Google Android system is starting to hurt so they need something bright shiny and sexy to get them back on track…maybe a Steve Jobs hologram like Tupac’s would help! Or ‘Rimmer’ from Red Dwarf!!

 

And so to our market which will fall again today with the SPI down 31 overnight…probably will test that 4050 level in the coming week..it’s my wife’s birthday next Friday and the market always looks rubbish around that time!

 

In stock news I have enclosed our Billabong research but the game is probably done in that one now except to wait and hold out for the $1.45 cash..you may get a tad more in time so buy below 1.25 and sell around 1.42 ish ..at 1.33..its a hold!

 

Things to make me go all opening ceremony!

 

1.This is what’s wrong with Zombieland..Sicily ,which has a population of 5m people and is seeking help from the Italian Government, has a huge 26,000 forest rangers!!!In British Columbia, which I daresay has more forests has fewer than 1500!!!

2.Quote from Richard Glover on 702 Sydney..Michael Williamson (head of the infamous nepotic HSU East)resigned to spend less time with his family!!Love it!

3.Olympics only a few days away…getting exciting..lots of late nights to come..poor old Channel Nine though look to have done their dough on this one!!Down 40m so far!

4.Apple’s gross margin was 42.8%..not too shabby…and they have $117bn in cash …they sold 17m ipads..income was 8.82bn …World’s biggest company though..always gonna be hard to keep that up!

5. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his counterpart from Madrid said Spain’s borrowing costs don’t reflect the strength of its economy as they pledged to work toward deeper integration to fight the debt crisis…..you mean it could get worse!!

6.From my good friend Tyler Durden at Zerohedge.com“What’s the difference between the US and Europe?” ‘About Six Years’ is the punchline that CNBC’s Rick Santelli ascribes the apparently magnanimous view that Europe is so much different from us.

7.APA bids up for Hastings…the battle continues!!

8.VIX having bottomed last week around 15/16 its now back to 20.5 having rallied last night by nearly 10%…this is still a great guide to the market sentiment..every time it gets around 16/17 you should sell..when it gets around 24/26 its time to get the buying boots back on..genius!

9.Billabong bid was a little lower than I had hoped but a bid none the less..this one should go through and may get a small 5 cent sweetener in time. Whereas the Whitehaven one looks very unsupported..currently trading at 3.85 against a cash bid from Big Nath at $5.20…maybe he needs that mob in Newcastle England above the chip shop to help him raise the money as they didn’t manage to buy David Jones!

10.More arrests in phone hacking scandal with Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson in the frame…

11.Macquarie pins hope on 2013 turnaround..don’t we all!!!

 

And as we get CPI today we will see the RBA has more scope to cut rates…too many shops for lease and houses for sale..business is pretty tough out there ask anyone….reporting season will not be pretty I expect..lots of caution!

 

And finally for those who don’t like or understand the humour of the late and great Tommy Cooper and I am looking directly at my beautiful wife when I say this…

 

Two campers are walking through the woods when a huge brown bear suddenly appears in the clearing about 50 feet in front of them. The bear sees the campers and begins to head toward them. The first guys drops his backpack, digs out a pair of sneakers, and frantically begins to put them on. The second guys says, “What are you doing? Sneakers won’t help you outrun that bear.” “I don’t need to outrun the bear,” the first guy says. “I just need to outrun you.”Bit like the markets really!!!

 

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.