Morning all,

 

Lacklustre volumes as the US is in the grip of reporting season and summer. Big one after hours was Apple which was better than some analysts expected and the stock rallied $15 .Once again the market here will take heart from the mild positives and try to push ahead. However ,today we have two pieces of news that could disrupt the positive vibes..our CPI number is out at 11.30 and the Chinese Flash(Or not so )PMI is due out from HSBC as well around midday.So the market will be cautious pre these two annoucements.

Gold continues to shine..now back in the beginning of July in this ramblings I suggested that this is the quarter for Gold as it’s the traditional time for it to perform.I also suggested that NCM were a good buy at 10 bucks..well pretty happy will my calls as Gold continues to rally hard and NCM pushes up towards 13.00…anyway as the US “Tapering talk’ recedes Gold will continue to push higher I suspect and drag all those bombed out gold stocks with it..some have fallen really hard and have good upside potential..My favourite has been BDR which are back knocking on the 80 cent door but would hope they have more tiger still in their tank.As do all the others I suspect!

So expect another up day today and the index to set sail for 5100 in the next month or so…looks like any dips are buying opportunities as we grind higher into our reporting season where the Emperor will be closely examined to see whether he is wearing any clothes…expectations aren’t great with all the downgrades we have had during confessional so like the US it won’t take much to beat the analysts best guess. Resources to continue to perform better than banks by a little bit.

Idea of the Day

FMG-Much maligned and distrusted but things are improving as witnessed by their production report yesterday..it’s a volatile punting stock but the cash pile is building, the pressure is off as Iron Ore continues to stay relatively firm and cash costs are falling..Lower capex and cost controls bearing fruit …it’s a trading stock though so don’t be afraid to do just that..worth a look and  could see some upside to 4 bucks if the positive Iron Ore price continues.

Things to make me go mmmmm….

 

1.Good news for the internet from the US..a company there called Eoala was in court trying to prove their case on patents over the net..they failed..these guys are serial offenders trying to blackmail tech companies with patent claims..sense has finally prevailed and the case was thrown out…will be good news for all tech stocks in the US where this sort of behavior has been hurting the big guys for a while.Lots of out of court settlements and the litiogators get rich..a welcome win for Apple, Google etc..

2. Metcash has attacked the fuel discounting strategies of supermarket heavyweights Woolworths and Coles, suggesting the two were ramping up bowser prices to make their discounts appear more generous. Ian Morrice’s comments come at a sensitive time with the shopper docket marketing scheme under investigation by the competition regulator.Does seem a little suss that the price of petrol has gione through the roof and then the shopper dockets promotion is brought in to get it back down to a normal level..not cynical at all!!

3.Oil Search has moved to ease any concerns that it may be left out of an expansion of the $US19 billion ($20.5bn) Papua New Guinea LNG plant, saying it is likely to take part in any growth opportunity with potential partners InterOil.

4.Is this guy for real..NY mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has been caught again texting rude pictures of himself to a 22 year old girl…and he is still leading the race to be Mayor…strange days indeed…seems you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!

5.And staying in the US..as Uncle Bens time in charge comes to an end? We start to focus on whose next in the top slot..for some Months Fed Chief janet Yellen has been whispere3d to be in the favourite seat but seems that there has been a campaign to install good old Larry Summers into the job..he is now firming as the front runner..he once said  “In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car.” With insight and wisdom like ,that we are in safe hands…

6.Peabody Energy  has slashed 170 jobs in Queensland and NSW only weeks after it reduced its Australian head count by 450, in the latest hit to the struggling sector. The new job losses mean the total cuts across the sector between May last year and May this year have reached more than 11,000, making coal the hardest hit commodity in Australia’s resources space.

7.Strange that Rio seems to be paying no Mining tax..they did design the tax after all…so why is the Government surprised that it will raise so little money..these miners are crafty buggers! Labor has already slashed mining tax forecasts are under more pressure, with the nation’s biggest and most profitable iron ore miner paying no tax in the first quarter of the new financial year despite healthy prices and a lower dollar. It is understood Rio Tinto, which paid no mining tax in the first half of 2012-13, has decided it is not liable to pay any tax for the June quarter due earlier this week.

 

8.Turkey’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost two years after the lira slumped to a record low this month. The bank increased its overnight lending rate by 75 basis points to 7.25% today, and said that “additional monetary tightening will be implemented when necessary.”

9.In France, the finance minister has declared “Le Double Dip” over as industrial Morale figures show their biggest gain in a year..while the Bank of Spain predicts that GDP shrank by just 0.1% in the last three months. That would be a much smaller contraction than the 0.5% drop in output recorded in the first quarter of this year…so maybe things are stabilizing in the Zombie zone…Mertle will be happy..she may even smile when she gets reelected..

10.China banned government and Communist Party agencies from constructing new buildings for five years and told them to suspend projects that have already won approval as the country seeks to cut wasteful spending.The ban includes construction for purposes of training, meetings and accommodation, the government said in a statement on its website yesterday, calling for resources to be spent instead on developing the economy and improving public welfare

 

And finally….thanks to Hans who continues to provide me with some great unprintable jokes…but here is one anyway..

Brenda and Steve took their six-year-old son to the doctor.

With some hesitation, they explained that although their little angel appeared to be in good health, they were concerned about his rather small
penis.

After examining the child, the doctor confidently declared, ‘Just feed him
pancakes. That should solve the problem.’

The next morning when the boy arrived at breakfast, there was a large stack of warm pancakes in the middle of the table.

‘Gee, Mom,’ he exclaimed. ‘For me?’

‘Just take two,’ Brenda replied. ‘The rest are for your father.’

Have a great day

Clarence

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