Morning all,

A quiet day expected as the market comes to terms with its recent rise. News out of China was taken positively and Zombie stocks rallied as did the US although only slightly as talks continue between Obama and the Grand Old Party .At least they are talking so promising signs continue.

Expect a slightly positive day today as yesterday’s gains are built upon. The market here retreated after Chinese numbers yet the rest of the world was taking a more positive spin on them…..so expect a small gain to make up for it..usual suspects in the spotlight…

FOMC meeting will be the focus in the next few days but next week it will be all egg nog and long lunches…

 

Idea of the Day

Iron ore is back in the news for the right reasons!!Chinese imports have surged and the price is knocking on the door of $124..so pick a stock AGO,FMG,ARI,BHP,RIO even BCI perhaps…personally it may be a good time to look at BHP for its copper and Iron Ore exposure…but looks like the market likes FMG’s move to sell non-core assets to reduce debt…promising sign. I like AGO for a trade….just completed financing package.. buy at 138 for a move back towards 180..

Things to make me go all ten days to Armageddon!

1.The news doesn’t seem to get any better for LYC as reports on Bloomberg suggest that they will lose their licence if they do not remove all waste material from Malaysia. Molycorp which is a large US Rare earth stock rallied hard on this news..expect more downside for LYC as the risks do not seem to be going away. Sovereign risk seems to becoming an issue all over the World..news this morning that poor old IAU has been served with a writ for over $250m from its old partner for unspecified damages…not a good outcome and issues emerging in West Africa as Governments look to claw back more from miners!

2.The ‘Full Monti’ has thrown a spanner in the Italian works by saying he will not run for re-election as Bunga Bunga man withdraws his support. I still find it hard to fathom how a country like Italy can elect an embarrassment like Bungasconi! Really?

3.Still good to see the EU being given the Nobel (Taking the) Peace Prize…seems to be a good way for the Nobel committee to tip in $1m to the save Europe fund…every little helps I guess…not really sure they deserve a peace prize though…must have been a bad year for peace activists.

4.These words will come back to haunt Hollande I suspect!!”The euro crisis, I’ve said it before, is behind us. We’ve given Greece the funds it was waiting for. In Spain we’ve helped keep the banks afloat. In Italy, even if there’s political uncertainty, I’m sure the Italians will address it.”

5.Spare a thought for Australia Post workers..they have had a great year….company made a profit of $281m…that’s so good that the boss, Fahour ,received $2.77 million last financial year, of which $874,000 was a cash incentive payment. Not bad..but the poor old staff what do they get?$100 gift Voucher to spend at post offices!!!…does anyone think that is a little wrong…

6.More trouble for the big bogan as the Tax office moves to wind up Tinkler Group Holdings! Not looking like a good Xmas in Singapore for Nathan!

7.And in more shocking news..I talked the other week about the exodus of the French Rich as Hollande does to France what the labour party did to the UK in the 70’s with super taxes on the wealthy..well it looks like Gerard Depardieu has upped sticks and gone to live in Belgium..not sure who will suffer most in this deal!!Remember all those terrible Michael caine films..well he did them to pay the taxes so he could remain in the UK in the 70’s….at least we have been spared that from Gerard!

8.And in the richest country in the World..l. another  607,544 new Americans, in September, became eligible for foodstamps, as a record 47.7 million Americans are now living in poverty at least according to the USDA. That’s pretty scary ..may be related to the Australia Post story..the chasm between rich and poor is widening at an alarming rate around the world!

9.But at least you don’t need to worry about any of this as the Mayan end of the World date of 21^st December 2012 approaches…seems to have got a bad press though as The Mayan elders are angry with this prediction apparently .They say  “The world will not end. It will be transformed.”

10.There are lots of rumblings and articles on the high cost of Aussie LNG compared to US gas…this story is going to get bigger in 2013 as the massive investment that has been made in LNG in the last few years finds it getting tougher to make it pay! Expect to hear more.

11. New technologies, dwindling resources and explosive population growth in the next 18 years will alter the global balance of power and trigger radical economic and political changes at a speed unprecedented in modern history, says a new report by the U.S. intelligence community…you have been warned!

And finally……from my good friend Al…

John received a parrot as an early Christmas gift.

The parrot had a  really bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird’s mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird’s attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to ‘clean up’ the bird’s vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back.

John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and shoved him into the freezer.

For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly…. there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he’d hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John’s outstretched arms and said, ‘I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I’m sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct

my rude and unforgivable behaviour.’

 

John was stunned at the change in the bird’s attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behaviour, the bird continued ……………………………..

‘May one inquire as to what the turkey did?’
Have a good day today

 

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.