Morning all,

Last night we saw some baby steps towards stability…at  least in the US the market rallied a little. Spare a thought for the poor old Japanese investor..Last year the index was up 54% but this year we have seen the Nikkei fall 14% including a horror day yesterday of 4% falls!!!Ouch!!

Anyway the important thing for our market was the RBA announcement yesterday. No change to rates. In fact I reckon we will get no change for 2014…the next move will be up as the World exits the slump and the era of cheap money(again).This is going to have consequences down the track and all that free money will trickle through our hands with nothing much to show for it. Our market today will try to bounce but the strength if the Aussie dollar will keep a lid on resources…the good thing last night was Gold seemed to hang in so could see some more Gold share bottom fishing…

Idea of the Day

Let’s face it the big question you all want answered is straight out of Marathon Man…”Is it safe? Is it safe?” And as Hoffman says… “I don’t know what you mean. I can’t tell you something’s safe or not, unless I know specifically what you’re talking about.”….well, I know you are talking about the market…we have hit 5100 as I suggested and even slipped through it last night..we will bounce today…I believe we have another down leg to come and may test the 5000 mark briefly but it will be a quick step towards the abyss and then change our mind…Time to start nibbling is now ..especially in the safer end of the market….banks and even the BHPs of this world..they are shipping record amount of Iron Ore..what to do with all that money now they have stopped spending it on new projects..ah let me think..return it to shareholders?….we shall see….The market will get the wobbles again around Easter as leaks from the upcoming budget start to filter through..

Have banged on about UNS in a note to clients yesterday…do like this story and we met with management yesterday ..hence my enthusiasm..I belive these guys are the Apple of Medical delivery devices!!!There I have said it again..very cool technology for delivering measured amounts of drugs…and looking at the increase in cancer rates(see below) and other healthcare costs as we all want to live forever..course we can’t afford to live forever but that is another story!!!

Anyway if you are looking for a stock with 2-3 year potential to increase substantially this fits my bill!!!

Things to make me go mmmmmmmmm!!!!

 

Chelsea beat Man City at Home!!Yay! And Kevin Pietersen has gone…yay!!

 

Hardly a surprise.. PUERTO RICO GOVERNMENMT  RATING CUT TO JUNK BY S&P, MAY BE CUT FURTHER….NOT SURE WHAT IS LOWER THAN JUNK!!!

This is a worry… new cancer cases will skyrocket globally from an estimated 14 million in 2012 to 22 million new cases a year within the next two decades according to the WHO…the total cost of treating cancer globally in 2010 was $1.16 trillion…

In US news … Factory Orders dropped 1.5% in December – their biggest fall since July…did beat estimates though…

 

The US Senate passed and sent President Barack Obama a measure that sets U.S. agricultural policy for five years, ending the toughest legislative battle on renewal of the farm bill in almost two decades with cuts to crop subsidies and food stamps.

 

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is examining possible abuse of London-based market rates on top of its investigations into Libor and foreign exchange pricing, its chief executive has told British  MPs.

REA Group: has consolidated its position as the leading property listings company with a 37 per cent jump in profits. As the company prepares to farewell outgoing chief Greg Ellis, its impressive half-year results follow a boom in both domestic commercial and residential markets and strong growth in its overseas assets in Italy and Hong Kong.

BHP, FMG, RIO: Iron-ore sales to China from Port Hedland climbed 27% in January y/y as miners increased output and the biggest buyer boosted inventories to highest in 16 mos, reports Bloomberg.

 

Fracking is a touchy subject…had one or two good discussions on this round the dinner table in my time…but in the UK Shale gas explorer Cuadrillia is  offering community benefits of up to £6,000 per household for those nearest the drilling sites, but admits it is yet to secure the right to frack beneath dozens of homes up to 5,000ft away.

And something to worry about as the Bank of International Settlements has issued a warning that Emerging markets are far more vulnerable to rising Western World interest rates than ever before…after the GFC though, most Western World economies looked like emerging markets. Apparently the  “massive expansion” in borrowing on global bond markets by banks and companies in developing countries,is  leaving them exposed to “powerful feedback” risks as rates rise.

And finally…

The female dentist prepares the needle to give the bloke  with the toothache an anaesthetic injection.

“No way! No needles, I hate needles!” the guy said.

So the dentist starts to hook up her nitrous oxide gas

And the man objects again. “I can’t do the gas thing either. The thought of having the gas mask on my face makes me faint!”

She then asks the guy if he has any objection to taking a pill.

“No objection,” the patient says. “’I’m fine with pills.”

When she returns she says, “Here’s a Viagra and a glass of water.”

The guy says, “Wow! I didn’t know Viagra worked as a pain killer!”

“It doesn’t” she said, “But it’ll give you something to hold on to while I pull your tooth out.”

 

Have a great day…on the Sky Biz Lunch money show today at 12.00

 Clarence

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