Having talked about the joys of LNC last week I am flabbergasted that the stock hit 1.32!!!I advised a buy in low 70s!!!!Think its done its dash!!!And some!!!

Who said equities were boring!!!

Market Review

Whoosh! Out of the blocks this morning with a good run over the 4600 level. Unfortunately we seems unable to kick on with weak consumer confidence numbers taking some wind out of the sails. #TLS# didn’t help matters as it slid on more profit taking whilst the banks all failed to launch. Interest was concentrated in the Resource sector again with #BHP# and #RIO# leading the way. Gold shares were a little weaker with #NCM# ,#SBM# and #KCN# down. And talking of whoosh, news that North Korea launched a rocket today may also have weighed on the market. The last rocket they launched went only 120 km but this one has proved more effective splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Somewhat worrying is they may soon be within range of the West Coast of the US.

#CBA# is knocking on the door of a Market Cap of $100bn.Certainly one of the most expensive banks in the world.

#CSL# which has been falling for the last few days picked itself up, dusted itself off and just got on with it. Defensives were also in demand with #WOW# and #WES# better.

In overseas markets last night the DAX 30 hit its highest level since the beginning of 2008.While in Paris the CAC 40 jumped to its highest level since July 2011 and London’s FTSE 100 index of leading companies edged up to a nine-month high! It will not be long at this rate before the world rediscovers the joy of owning shares again and volumes pick up. Unfortunately at the moment volume seems to be concentrated in the large caps still and the penny dreadful end of our market remains becalmed!

Stocks in the News

In house stocks today #MSB# bounced after Teva suggested that they will fund their phase III trials. #OEG# continued their recovery  as did #NSE# as it announced an update on its Gibb Maitland drilling campaign. This well is designed to accumulate data on the Goldwyer Formation ,so it appears the market is getting more comfortable with the lack of tangible oil or gas.

Big trade today in #GMG as 114m shares went through the market at $4.45.it appears that the Chinese Investment Corp has cut its holding substantially but will continue to be their Number 1 shareholder.

#BCI # also had a good day today having raised $47m in a placement at 3.04 to buy 25% of Nullagine Iron ore off FMG.

#BHP# moved today to sell their Browse Basin JV interest for cash of US1.63bn to PetroChina International. Looks to be a good move for BHP as this asset was always considered non-strategic and is mired with environmental issues with Dinosaur Footprints all over the place!

#CCL# says trading conditions in Australia have picked up in the lead-up to Christmas as the beverage group forecasts a lift in profit and revenue for 2012.

The company also said it had signed a deal to distribute alcoholic cider in Australia from 2014. CCA said it expected net profit before significant items for the 12 months to December 31, 2012, to rise between four and five per cent from $532 million in the prior corresponding period.

#EGP# after appointing a former head of major casino groups in the US, John Redmond, as its new chief executive.

#MAH# announced a rights issue to raise $80m plus they have sold their construction business to LEI as part of their strategic review.They remain suspended

In other news #WEB# will buy Zuji’s online travel operations in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore for $US25 million ($23.7 million), in its biggest foray into Asia’s booming travel market.

#LNC# has been asked to explain a leap in its share price – up 11 per cent today and 17 per cent yesterday – following news that the company had contact with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who owns Chelski.

US authorities have described the dysfunction at the British bank HSBC as ‘‘astonishing’’. It appears they even had special boxes made for the money so that it fit better through the tellers window.. it seems, like Deutsche bank, it did whatever it took to survive. Of course Deutsche just didn’t mark to market! Looks like if they had they would have been bankrupt. Scary thing is the bank’s executives are not being prosecuted. Amazing given who they were dealing for! Sure was the World’s local bank.

In economic news today, Australian consumers are downbeat heading into Christmas despite the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to cut the cash rate to its lowest level in three years. The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment for December fell 4.1 points to 100.0 points. A reading of 100 indicates equal numbers of pessimists and optimists among respondents. The fall in sentiment will be unwelcome news for retailers hoping for a sales boost in the lead up to Christmas

Data out today showed that dividends hit record highs of $9 billion in the September quarter, up 17.1% over the year.

Tomorrows News Today

Warm and fuzzy feelings to continue as the Equity markets around the World head calmly higher in the run up to Xmas. We should see some more news out of the FOMC meeting and the games continuing in the fiscal bluff debates. At the end of the day the bluff will be averted and a compromise will be reached. They surely don’t want to go through what happened last time again.

More of the same set to continue as Santa loads his sleigh and fires up the reindeer.

Clarence

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