Morning all,

Well off to the races I guess…overseas it appears that ‘Moaning Mertle’ has come back from her holidays in a fine mood and is keen to say “Ja’. Of course there is still a vote mid September to approve the bailout packages but it seems Germany is heading in the right direction. They are still pushing for more integration of Zombie finances..by that they mean that they want to take total control of things ..but we will see how they go but the important thing is the glacial like changes are helping Global sentiment

Yesterday we saw another swag of better results and ANZ will only hurt the bears on Aussie Banks…the hedge funds have been selling our banks for some time as their view was the property market would crash..well it hasn’t happened and is unlikely to in the near future. So our banks are still making off like bandits with record profits. This a major positive..strong well capitalised banks are the bedrock of any thriving economy..so to all the bank bashers take a look at Greece and Spain and compare.

More good numbers from AMP as well yesterday puts this one in the BUY category..the ship is turning and it’s time to jump aboard I suspect..good buying here for a 12 month view with a target of 5.00 in sight. BUY AMP..I have enclosed our latest piece on them..

 

More good news with QBE posting a better number and an improved outlook..as does STO with a increase in underlying profit and maintained full year production guidance..

APN has taken a hit writing down it’s NZ publishing business by nearly $500m..nasty…

I remain a bull at the moment 4350 will give way today and then we may test the top of the range of 4400…but so far reporting season has been somewhat positive and if the race out of bonds to equities continues and Zombies go to sleep then we could see more upside…dividends driving things higher!!

Things to make me go all ‘Ja’!

1.The Morgan Stanley troika of faceplant,Groupoff and Zygna have collectively lost $62bn since their IPO’s ..good stuff and faceplant took another hit as the escrow period for share selling finished for some last night..sub $20 ..not good.

2.The bubble bond market looks like it is deflating and as it does so there is a move towards equities… Australian bond futures prices are at their lowest levels in over three months following a large profit-taking sell-off that started in the offshore session.

3.AMP chief executive Craig Dunn is growing confident Europe is edging towards a solution to the debt crisis but says the Australian economy has major challenges to overcome as the terms of trade boom begins to fade. Australia’s largest fund manager yesterday booked a first-half underlying profit of $491m, up 7% from the corresponding period a year ago and ahead of the market consensus of $469m.

4.InvoCare, the nation’s biggest operator of funerals, cemeteries and crematoriums, is looking for acquisitions after delivering a 40.4% increase in interim net profit to $20.3m..still a growth industry death.

5.’Big Nath’ looks like to be having a rethink on his racing interest as he tries to offload the lot..I think the market will take this negatively as he is unwilling/unable tio stump up the cash for Boardwalk and the bid for WHC looks like it may be a bridge too far..but I remain slightly positive on WHC just on a risk/reward basis..$5.20 does look awfully alluring way off in the distance.

6.Julian Assange looking to squeeze into a diplomatic pouch and flee the UK…

7.APA has upped its bid for Hastings ..again…

8.Went to an Oil and Gas symposium yesterday..the key note speaker david Hunt AKA the Bell ringer wa s alittle bearish on Natural gas after a bit more upside…up then way back down!I am sure BHP won’t be happy to hear his thoughts..He has a very good track record hence the alias the Bellringer!

And finally…..

Sometimes it DOES take a Rocket Scientist!! (true story)..

Scientists at Rolls Royce built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners and military jets all travelling at maximum velocity.

The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.

American engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the Windshields of their new high speed trains.

Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the American engineers. When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken shot out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engineer’s back-rest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin like an arrow shot from a bow..

The horrified Yanks sent Rolls Royce the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the British scientists for suggestions.

You’re going to love this……

Rolls Royce responded with a one-line memo:  “Defrost the chicken.”

Have a good weekend!

 

Clarence

XXX

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