Morning all,

Monday’s missive is always the hardest to write especially as not that much happened on Friday. The US was paralysed with post election stunned mullet syndrome! They really believed that ‘Wrongney’(who?) had a chance…as soon as  Sandy hit it was all over red rover.It is also Veterans Day in the US on Monday so not much tonight..

There is going to be a lot of talk in the next few weeks about the so called “Fiscal Cliff” as it looms as “the issue.”Now call me old fashioned but with an economy that is $16 trillion in debt wouldn’t it be a good idea to tax the rich slightly more and cut spending by Governments..yet now this is the worry as it would cut growth…of course everyone is conveniently forgetting that this is what the Zombies are going through in Europe…apparently this is the answer to their woes…of course as usual the same medicine does not apply to the US which has used its immunity card to lead the tribe…however at some stage the US must cut its spending and increase revenue…of course calling it the fiscal cliff is far more dramatic than sensible spending cuts to bring the budget back to something approaching sustainable…if not now, when….it cannot keep increasing like it has in the last four years forever..

Our market survived relatively well last week despite the US sulking like a spoilt teenager but expect a quiet introspective day today with not much to focus on..expect a calm up or down 5 kind of day…few profit warnings around will take a little sting out of things, ORI being one of them and maybe the STO, PNG,Cost blow out will hurt them too,,,

Idea of the Day

LYC:

This one looks interesting, just received its licence again and has moved to raise money ..any hangover from the capital raising is a buying opportunity as it has ticked two pretty important boxes..money and licence…now for production…should be one to watch for a push towards $1.00…in time!!! BUY between 75-80 cents

Things to make me go all fiscal cliff!

1.General Petraeus has taken ‘embedded’ Journalism way too seriously and to a whole new set of meanings…In France he would have been promoted…In the US he is now toast!

2.LYC raises the $200m and is back today…

3.From the Herald today.. PROJECT cancellations and profit downgrades are mounting as the mining services sector confronts its post-boom future.

In announcements late on Friday, two groups servicing the mining sector said contracts with large mining companies, including Rio Tinto, had been cancelled or were not expected to be renewed, while Orica revealed a $367 million write-down.

Diploma Group said it would not proceed with 244 single rooms for fly-in-fly-out Rio Tinto workers near Tom Price in the Pilbara, while equipment leasing group Emeco said hiring rates in Australia were much lower than expected.

4.Costs continue to blow out in PNG.. The cost of a liquified natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea part-owned by Santos and Oil Search has increased by $US3.3 billion ($A3.18 billion) to $US19 billion ($A18.34 billion).

The PNG LNG project, the country’s largest resources project, is being operated by Esso Highlands Limited, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Oil Search has a 29 per stake partner.

5.With Spanish unemployment at record levels over 26% (and youth unemployment over 50%), even the bailout-avoiding prime minister is now recognizing the “terrible things and inhumane situations” that many real people are dealing with. To wit, a 53-year-old woman died after she threw herself from a window of her apartment when representatives of Spanish bank La Caixa arrived with locksmiths to evict her yesterday morning. The suicide (following another last month in Granada) has prompted Rajoy to temporarily halt evictions of the most vulnerable families as the government devises measures to help people stay in their homes. And yet, we are told again and again by Juncker, Barroso, van Rompuy et. al that the corner has been turned… we suspect not!

6.China’s exports rose more than estimated in October, adding to signs the world’s second-biggest economy will rebound this quarter after industrial output climbed at the fastest pace in five months.

7.Israel’s south was pummeled with rocket fire from Gaza today, while a Syrian mortar shell that hit the country’s northern reaches drew Israeli warning shots fired into Syrian territory. “The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response,”…good for Gold and Oil I suspect but not good for the poor people caught in this conflict…pictures coming out of Syria show a country absolutely devastated…

8.Meanwhile is a Galaxy far, far away!

9.French industrial production slumped and confidence among factory executives held near the lowest in almost three years, prompting the Bank of France to indicate that Europe’s second-largest economy may be tipping into recession.

Production fell 2.7 percent in September from August, Paris-based statistics office Insee said today. That’s the biggest drop since January 2009

10. Chemicals manufacturer Orica’s annual profit has fallen by 37 per cent, but it expects an improvement in its underlying performance the year ahead. Orica’s net profit in the 12 months to September 30 was $402.8 million, down from $642 million in the previous corresponding period. The result included a $247 million impairment on its specialty bolts and chemicals business Minova, which Orica announced to the market on Friday.

11.Nice one Greg Ritchie as he calls former Pakistan captain Imran Khan ”an absolute knob”. He may well be but he did marry Jemima  so can’t be all bad..maybe its Greg who is the *nob

And finally……

A guy is sitting at home alone when he hears a knock on the front door. When he opens the door, he encounters two sheriff’s deputies, one of whom asks if he is married and, if so, whether the deputy can see a picture of the wife.

The guy says “sure ” and shows him a picture of his wife.

The deputy looks carefully at the picture and then gravely says, “I’m sorry sir, but it looks like your wife’s been hit by a truck.”

The guy says, “I know, but she has a great personality, is an excellent cook, and lets me play golf whenever I want to!”

Sorry that’s a bad one ..have a good day..

Lest we forget.

Clarence

XXXXX

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.