Light blue touch paper and stand well back. The bull market continues as once again we saw across the board buying. Results season is throwing up a few surprises but not to the downside as analysts have been suggesting in fact, we have seen good numbers from people like Bradken Limited (A$5.89, +12.4%) today and JB Hi-Fi Limited (A$18.96, -0.8%) yesterday. After a timid start the bull is roaring back and we closed up 50 odd points at 5158!5200 is very doable ,maybe tomorrow if CBA are ok?

Shorts are being punished especially in the resource space where the negative vibes are being unwound. Iron Ore at nearly $140 is a pretty healthy sign and there are a few red faces in the ball gazing community in this one. Once again though the big red blob of the market map is in financials with the banks showing strength especially in the soon to be reporting Commonwealth Bank of Australia (A$74.55, +1.0%) and the UK facing National Australia Bank Limited (A$31.06, +1.2%). Others also joined in the fun as QBE Insurance Group Limited (A$17.10, +1.8%), Macquarie Group Limited (A$44.38, +2.2%) and Platinum Asset Management Limited (A$6.31, +4.3%) rallied hard. At one stage today MQG was stuttering around 4280 before a bigger turn around than English Cricket. Shows how much strength we are seeing and how much buying is coming in from overseas perhaps. The big winner today was Csl Limited (A$67.80, +4.0%) which is due to announce their numbers tomorrow. Expectations are now running hot for something special perhaps or maybe just a little oversold. Cochlear Limited (A$59.13, +1.2%) on the other hand continue to be slightly underwhelming although there are signs of life.

In resource stocks we had another good day in Iron Ore land as RIO Tinto Limited (A$62.62, +1.3%) pushed ahead with BHP Billiton Limited (A$36.96, +0.4%) following although Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (A$4.32, +0.2%) were little changed Atlas Iron Limited (A$1.06, +5.5%) did well today as did Arrium Limited (A$1.14, +3.6%) and BC Iron Limited (A$4.25, +6.5%). Gold shares also shone as Silver Lake Resources Limited (A$0.865, +8.8%) continued to bounce, Beadell Resources Limited (A$0.785, +4.7%) and Kingsgate Consolidated Limited (A$1.795, +4.7%) did well and Regis Resources Limited (A$3.64, +3.4%) joined in too. The only fly in the ointment was Newcrest Mining Limited (A$12.10, -2.3%) which suffered from some performance anxiety after yesterday’s results.

In industrials Wesfarmers Limited (A$41.38, +1.2%),Woolworths Limited (A$33.30, +0.9%),Telstra Corporation Limited (A$5.12, +0.2%),Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (A$35.88, +0.4%),Crown Limited (A$13.52, +0.9%) and Seek Limited (A$9.46, +2.3%) were some of the standouts and energy stocks also put in the hard yards Woodside Petroleum Limited (A$38.66, +0.7%),Santos Limited (A$14.15, +0.9%),Oil Search Limited (A$8.16, +1.2%) and Caltex Australia Limited (A$18.66, +4.1%) all to the good.

Big winners today included McMillan Shakespeare Limited (A$11.50, +12.2%),Bradken Limited (A$5.89, +12.4%), Monadelphous Group Limited (A$18.94, +7.7%), Oceanagold Corporation (A$1.865, +8.1%) and Cardno Limited (A$6.40, +4.7%) whilst in the home for delinquent companies were Evolution Mining Limited (A$0.895, -2.7%),Breville Group Limited (A$7.23, -2.0%),Silex Systems Limited (A$2.87, -3.4%),Stockland (A$3.70, -2.9%), BKI and REA Group Ltd (A$32.86, -4.4%).

Good news as well today from Asian markets as Tokyo led the way to a fourth straight day of gains up around 2.3%.

Volume was slightly better but hardly the stuff for a supermodel to get out of bed for at around $3.8bn.

Stocks and Stories

In house stocks today we saw Buru Energy Limited (A$1.795, +0.8%) better as were Karoon Gas Australia Limited (A$5.39, +1.1%) and AWE Limited (A$1.30, +2.8%) together with mining services companies ALS Limited (A$9.20, +3.0%) and Austin Engineering Limited (A$4.35, +6.1%) after a strategic contract win in Chile.

Stockland (A$3.70, -2.9%) results today has seen its net profit fall almost 80 per cent due in part to weakness in the housing market and a major writedown. Stockland made a net profit of $104.6 million for the 2012/13 financial year, a drop of 78.5 per cent on the previous year. But that result was skewed by a $355 million writedown in the value of the company’s residential book. Underlying profit, which excludes the writedown, was $494.8 million, a fall of 27 per cent on the previous year.

Bradken Limited (A$5.89, +12.4%) reported a result in line with its guidance issued in June 2013 (actual EBITDA of A$214M v guidance of A$210m.The results triggered a strong rally across the board in other mining stocks too with Boart Longyear Limited (A$0.595, +10.2%),  Monadelphous Group Limited (A$18.94, +7.7%), WorleyParsons Limited (A$21.90, +2.6%),Cardno Limited (A$6.40, +4.7%),Coffey International Limited (A$0.19, +8.6%) and NRW Holdings Limited (A$1.13, +7.6%).

REA Group Ltd (A$32.86, -4.4%) reported their results today and were a tad weaker on some profit taking.  Group revenue was up 21% and a 25.5 cent dividend with Italy also showing strong growth combined with Australia.

Roy Morgan Research’s monthly business and consumer confidence figures for July out today. There’s some good news in the survey for business, with confidence among the 2681 firms interviewed rising for the first time in fourth months. The index rose to 117.3 in July from 112.7 in June and 113.8 in May.

So now we have the PEFO as part of the charter for budget honesty.. there’s an foxymoron if ever I heard one! The independent Treasury and Finance department report on the state of the nation’s finances has forecast a deficit of $30.1 billion for 2013-14 – the same figure as the federal government’s Economic Statement released earlier this month.

Tomorrows News Today

With data this week predicted to show the 17-nation bloc is growing again after an unprecedented six quarters of crisis-driven contraction, economists from Barclays Plc to JPMorgan Chase & Co. say such stabilization will restore the region as a prop, if not a powerhouse, for international demand and financial markets.

Meanwhile in Mexico, they are looking to open up their energy markets in the biggest overhaul since Nafta.

And here’s something we all know, Australia is the world’s most expensive destination for foreign students, but thanks to a weakening currency, the popular venue for education is set to become more affordable. According to a report from HSBC, Australia currently tops the rankings of the costliest nations for higher education, with annual expenses topping $38,000 a year.

US retail sales tonight. Retail sales are expected to be up 0.3 percent, and 0.4 percent when autos are not included, compared to 0.4 percent in June, or 0.1 percent excluding autos.

Blackberry in a jam as they try to sell themselves to anyone.

And good to see the UK PM running around selling the joys of fracking. After seeing what it has done for the US economy it seems that the mother country is trying to get in on the act; should help some of our ones here too.

China is set to overtake the United States as the world’s largest net oil importer from October. Next year, China’s net oil imports will exceed those of the United States on an annual basis and the gap between them will continue to widen, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

CBA and CSL the focus tomorrow. Another record profit from our largest company perhaps, maybe even a special div or at least a good increase. Should have gone for a super profits tax on these babies!

That is all

Clarence

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