Morning all,

More worries on the fiscal bluff took the gloss off better economic numbers from the US. Expect our market to wilt a little today with some of the Risk on trades in the spotlight. Commodity prices weaker so resource stocks likely to suffer as profit taking creeps in and defensives to hold up better….Maybe we will see some buying back in to TLS and the Banks as risk off day today.

Some more promising signs out of Zombieland as they are heading towards a central banking regulator at last…in fact we have had no bad news out of the region for a while..we must be in fantasy land or the North Pole with Santa perhaps.

As we approach the end of the year and the market a high for the year there have been some huge winners and losers this year..big winner is CBA which is nearly$100bn company ..now don’t get me wrong but not sure I would agree with that…Samsung is only a $200bn company..Apple a $500bn one…CBA is a world leader…but can’t see too much upside in this one. Despite the recent moves into risk, the high yield stories are still going to be worth looking at…with Interest rates around the world so low and looking to stay that way for some time ,overseas money will continue to head here pushing up the dollar and putting a floor under TLS and the banks for starters.

In the next few weeks I will try and focus on the big themes for 2013…I have been writing this newsletter for well over 18 months now and blogging on my web site www.beeksdownunder.com since January 2012!Over 300 blogs now written..so if you want to subscribe to the page you will get any updates I post and you can follow me on twitter…@henryj007….and for those of you who do not believe in twitter, it is a fantastic news source..you just have to discriminate who you follow…but great for financial news and sport..not just celebrity gossip and what they had for brekkie.

Anyway ‘twas the week before Xmas and nothing is stirring in the house!

Idea of the Day

Lunch!

Actually though, it is good to see my FXJ view starting to gain credence..high profile analysts now starting to make grunting noises about breakup value…I suspect there is more upside to come in this one…and it may be a good time to look at another dog TEN..brave punters need only apply but maybe just maybe they will start to get their act together over the ratings desert of summer and hit 2013 running..they are cashed up now and ripe for a turnaround…may need some new management or Lachlan and Jamie may be looking not at TEN but ONE! Somewhat ironic really that their digital channel is called ONE after the telco debacle..profoundly mislead!!  Couldn’t happen twice!!Surely not?

Things to make me go all ICAC!!

1.Amazing revelations about NSW Inc at ICAC continue…How do these guys get away with it..let’s face it any career Politician with a $10m house should set off alarm bells!!!

2.NAB chairman Michael Chaney has declared this will be his last term on the board as the bank comes under criticism from investors over its languishing share price and failed strategy in the UK.21% voted against the board on salaries!!

3.APN News & Media warned shareholders that its earnings are likely to fall by 11 per cent in fiscal 2013. The media company is now expecting to report a result of between $A150m and $A155m for the full year. The publishing division is considered to be the biggest drain on the company, due to a decline in advertising revenue.

4.Iluka Resources: will slash combined zircon-rutile-synthetic rutile production to 475,000 tonnes in December 2012 amid falling spot prices. The mineral sands producer’s shares dropped significantly yesterday and have lost 50% of their value over 12 months. MD David Robb says the company is flexible to deal with global turbulence and cyclical market movements/

5.Bank of Queensland chief Stuart Grimshaw has raised hopes about the state’s struggling property market as he battles to turn around the regional lenders fortunes. Keep an eye on Noosa Property and the Gold Coast!

6.BANK OF ENGLAND OUTLOOK TO NEGATIVE FROM STABLE: S&P UNITED KINGDOM OUTLOOK TO NEGATIVE FROM STABLE BY S&P….this is a dead set cert to happen in 2013!!UK to lose its AAA rating.

7.Japan goes to the polls on Sunday and looks set to vote in a new Government which has pledged to end the two decade slump in Japan and take a tougher line with China..looks set to get more interesting perhaps!

8.This is priceless….“Solidarity in our union is alive, ‘Grexit’ is dead. Greece is back on its feet. The sacrifices of Greek people have not been in vain. It’s not only a new day for Greece, but also a new day for Europe.” From the Greek PM Samaras.

9.We have Chinese PMI manufacturing from HSBC (Home of the Chinese Money Laundry!) today.

10.Gotta love those computers as there were a series of trading errors on NASDAQ which were cancelled. Goldman Sachs ($118.50, +0.4%) fell as much as 20 percent to $94.01 and Hewlett-Packard ($14.50, -0.2%) plunged 79 percent to $3.06 before the trades were broken.

And finally…
An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, “Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch, I’m going to jump off this building.”

The Mexican! opened his lunch box and exclaimed, “Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I’m going to jump off, too.”

The blonde opened his lunch and said, “Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I’m jumping too.”

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage, and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman’s wife was weeping. She said, “If I’d known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!”

The Mexican’s wife also wept and said, “I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn’t realize he hated burritos so much.”

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde’s wife. The blonde’s wife said,

“Don’t look at me. The idiot makes his own lunch.”

And cos its Xmas..one more!

An autopsy professor was giving an introductory lecture to a class of students. Standing over a corpse, he addressed the class. “There are two things you need to make a career in medical forensics. First, you must have no fear.” Having said that, he shoved his finger up the corpse’s anus and licked it. “Now you must do the same,” he told the class. After a couple of minutes of uneasy silence, the class did as instructed. “Second,” the professor continued, “you must have an acute sense of observation. For instance, how many of you noticed that I put my middle finger up this man’s anus, but licked my index finger?”

Have a great Friday…back next week!!

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.