Morning all,

Is it just me or is it slightly worrying that the biggest stock market in the World closes for two days because of Hurricane Sandy..don’t these guys have a disaster recovery plan ..isn’t the exchange mostly electronic these days…and why have the engine rooms of the World’s biggest market in a flood zone..weird thought that in the distant days when the exchange was just a coffee house it was easy to move..progress eh! Still after two days closed the US offered no leads for us here. ‘Zombieland’ was in profit taking mode and I suspect that will be the case today …good news was that Gold was better so expect some more nibbling away at Gold stocks..still like SLR and SBM looks like it has found a base so would be a buyer of this one too..

The Disney /Star Wars deal has highlighted once again the importance of content …it has also drawn out the best in humour on the web..one of my favourite youtube clips is by a UK comedian called Eddie Izzard on Darth Vader’s trip to the Death Star’s canteen…would urge you to have a quick look..guaranteed to bring a smile to your face ..check it out.

Last day of the month yesterday brought out the buyers and the market looked good all day..cruised through 4500 as window dressing helped a little..today will be backing and filling a little with a down 10-15 type of day with pockets of performance! banks may be slightly weaker after NAB result has sunk in. Certainly comments from CEO suggest economy is weaker than forecasts are saying..BUT don’t expect RBA to cut again on Melbourne Cup day!!Go for the $100m lotto instead..better odds!!!

Idea of the Day:

ARI: NOW TRADING AT 69C!!!As I send this ….

I remain hopeful that the board of ARI will engage with the bidders..it would be a foolish board that committed a BBG moment and scared off the man with the money however stranger things have happened..Both sides are playing hard ball but the company was down on its luck and this bid is opportunistic especially with the rise in the Iron ore price back to 120..The stock bounced up to 85 yesterday and then dropped like a stone as the bidder threatened to walk if the board didn’t roll over and play ball…I believe that this one is in play and has a long way to run ….good for the traders …at 77 or below would be accumulating …as it has just opened at 69 cents then this is well worth a look for the brave!@!!!!!

Things to make me go all Chelseeeeaaaaa!!

1.Chelsea beats Manchester United 5-4 after Extra Time…some great games coming out of the UK at the moment…Reading Arsenal 12 goals in that game!!!

2.Arrium: The Steelmakers Australia consortium has ruled out offering a higher price for the company. The consortium, including Noble Group and Posco, says it will not increase its $A1.2bn offer. A hostile takeover is also not a possibility. Chairman Peter Smedley says the $A0.88 per share offer does not factor in the underlying strength of iron ore prices. Smedley is also concerned about the conditional nature of the bid…and in other ARI news.. The foreign consortium pursuing Arrium has vowed to abandon its bid to acquire the iron ore and steel maker after a day of drama saw an improved takeover offer emphatically rejected.

The consortium, which features South Korean steel company Posco and commodities trader Noble, said it was ”deeply disappointed” that Arrium would not begin negotiations or open its doors to allow due diligence on its finances.

3.TELSTRA has won a communications contract worth about $150 million a year with the Department of Defence, and outlined a growth strategy for the next year at its annual investor day….this is pushing towards 4.20….have been a fan since 2.80 and the yield alone will help prop it up…

4.Whitehaven Coal: Nathan Tinkler is campaigning to be released from a standstill agreement. It prevents Tinkler from increasing his 19.4 percent stake in the company through gradual acquisitions. Tinkler has indicated that he will vote against the board’s proposals at the company’s AGM, and has encouraged other shareholders to follow his lead. The standstill agreement also prohibits Tinkler from making a takeover offer.

5.Over the Pacific, Faceplant continued on its downward path as stock was released from escrow..Apple had no such excuse as its shares fell again last night..sub 600 bucks…despite the mini ipad and other gizmos…

6.BG Group (1146.5p, -13.7%) fell by a record. The UK’s third- largest natural-gas producer forecast a 3 percent gain in full- year production growth this year and said 2013 output growth will be flat.

7.Trouble brewing in Greece ,again ,as unions call for another strike..anyone notice the difference? And the Troika still to agree with the Government on austerity cuts and debt timetable..plenty more talking, eating and expenses for everyone involved in this one!

8.Cameron Clyne from NAB looks like Dead Man walking as he tries to extricate the bank from the UK debacle!!

9.Looks like DLS have moved to control ACN with their holding now above 51%…Brad Lingo from DLS thinks a competing bid unlikely!!

10.The number of people out of work in the Zombie zone climbed to another record high in September…this will not end well…just needs a spark and we could see widespread civil unrest across the land….

And finally…….

This man was sitting quietly reading his paper one morning, peacefully enjoying himself,
when his wife sneaks up behind him and wacks him on the back of his head with a huge frying pan.
Man: “What was that for?”

Wife: “What was that piece of paper in your pants pocket with the name Marylou written on it?”
Man: “Oh honey, remember two weeks ago when I went to the horse races?, Marylou was the name of one of the horse I bet on.”
The Wife looked all satisfied and goes off to work around the house.
Three days later he is once again sitting in his chair reading and she repeats the frying pan swatting.
Man: “What the hell was that for this time?”

Wife: “Your horse called.” 

Back on Sky TV tomorrow night for the ‘wham bam thank you mam’ Friday round up at 5.30…

Have a good day

Clarence

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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.