First off sports fans my strong buy from yesterday looked very soggy today. Sorry but I believe that this is an opportunity and long term. It will work out. We shall see !

Anyway to the afternoon report !!

Well so much for that bounce. Even a dead cat bounces more than the Aussie market these days! After a small rally on wall Street last night we started off in an optimistic frame of mind and pushed up to a high of 5111 before we crumbled in a sea of red ink, although as the afternoon wore on we did try to find a bottom and closed down 27 at 5070. Not sure what the catalyst is, ANZ losing its case on fees in the courts, RBA now finished cutting rates or the Chinese slowdown or even the head of the AWU telling the Press Club workers earn too much, but whatever it was once again we were down and dirty. The market fell to touch 5052 before some bargain hunters appeared. It does seem that the Overseas punter really doesn’t care about Australia any more. Hardly surprising given our small number of World class companies and our seemingly massive disinterest in trying to revive the economy. Anyway as Emerging Markets experience more turmoil, free money is drying up and interest rates are being squeezed up ,investors are taking their money home. The big Aussie Bank blob was a casualty today as ANZ lost part of their court fight to a class action on late fees. However as I said on Sky when you look at our banks compared to the fines and general naughtiness that their overseas counter parts got up to we are a paragon of virtue. I expect the only ones to gain anything meaningful out of any settlement will be the lawyers !Blessed are the lawmakers because not only will they inherit the earth but will charge by the hour for doing so and lump you with the photocopying expenses to boot!

It certainly appears that the negativity surrounding our market is not yet over and 5000 looks to be doable short term. Just a bad number or day away!

Sectors in the headlights today included bulk materials with BHP Billiton Limited (A$35.28, -0.6%) under a cloud but RIO Tinto Limited (A$64.59, +0.7%) and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (A$5.30, +2.1%) both posting gains. Go figure. Maybe South African legislation against big coal miners like BHP hurt sentiment a little. Telstra Corporation Limited (A$5.03, -1.0%),Wesfarmers Limited (A$41.32, -0.6%),Csl Limited (A$68.33, -1.0%) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (A$36.97, -0.2%) also seemed to be on the execution list of overseas punters. Big names easy to sell and they know their names and codes !In financials we also saw selling in the insurers with Insurance Australia Group Limited (A$5.35, -0.9%) and QBE Insurance Group Limited (A$10.81, -1.7%) whilst others were mixed. Some money managers were actually better today with Macquarie Group Limited (A$53.11, +0.4%),K2 Asset Management Holdings Ltd (A$0.80, +9.6%) and Henderson Group PLC. (A$4.01, +0.8%) doing nicely nicely.

Industrials were mixed with Woolworths Limited (A$33.92, +0.7%) ,REA Group Ltd (A$44.75, +2.2%),JB Hi-Fi Limited (A$19.05, +3.0%),David Jones Limited (A$2.97, +1.4%) and Pacific Brands Limited (A$0.66, +3.1%) showing a clean pair of undies but Echo Entertainment Group Limited (A$2.18, -6.0%) fell badly following their numbers as did Ainsworth Game Technology Limited (A$4.13, -3.5%) although Crown Resorts Limited (A$16.18, -0.7%) was steady.

In the winners enclosure today supping from the trough were K2 Asset Management Holdings Ltd (A$0.80, +9.6%),Bell Financial Group Limited (A$0.675, +7.1%),Papillon Resources Limited (A$1.25, +3.3%),Country Road Limited (A$7.50, +7.1%),#FLN#,Energy World Corporation Ltd (A$0.33, +1.5%) and #XRO# whilst the losers today were many and varied Echo Entertainment Group Limited (A$2.18, -6.0%),Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (A$0.315, -6.0%),Mesoblast Limited (A$5.57, -5.1%),Sirius Resources NL (A$2.04, -5.1%),Qantas Airways Limited (A$1.03, -3.3%),Cardno Limited (A$6.08, -3.5%),Mermaid Marine Australia Limited (A$2.82, -1.7%) and Kathmandu Holdings Limited (A$2.80, -4.1%).

Volume was dominated again by computers with numbers above $4.2bn whilst in Asia we saw some good rebounds to start with although again they wilted to leave the Nikkei up 0.8% as I write. 5Th straight day of losses for the rest of Asia as it awoke from New Year celebrations with a king sized hangover. They even found Mike Tyson’s Tiger in the room. That is how bad it is!

Big short squeeze continues in the Aussie dollar after yesterday No change from the RBA. Up to a tad under 89c now as the shorts get punished. Gold holding in around $1250

Stocks and Stories

Echo Entertainment Group Limited (A$2.18, -6.0%) came up with all lemons today as they lost another CEO and announced disappointing results. To lose one CEO in two years may be regarded as misfortune, but two shows carelessness!

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (A$0.315, -6.0%) pulling out of the Honkers/Sydney route. There is a great rude joke there somewhere but maybe I will leave it alone!

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (A$29.02, -1.0%) judgement today went against ANZ and open up for more class actions and settlements for other banks too. However they did have a small win on other fees as the court decided that honour, dishonour, non-payment and over-limit fees weren’t penalties and therefore not excessive or unlawful or unfairly charged and therefore compensation claims don’t apply. Could have been about $6bn for the banks over the last five years so you can see why they fought hard! And won!

Sales of new vehicles dipped in January as falling demand for commercial vehicles got the new year off to a soft start, though Mazda put in a strong performance.

Tomorrows News Today

Few nasty thoughts flashing across my addled mind..

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is warning that the federal government could hit the debt ceiling by the end of this month if Congress does not act.

It is being reported that Dell Computer plans to lay off more than 15,000 workers.

The Baltic Dry Index is now down 50 percent from its December highs. Baltic Dry is the index of the cost of moving bulk goods around the planet.

Couple of big things happening overseas as ECB and BOE meetings take place and we get some US jobs numbers to cheer us up! And the Winter Olympics is just around the corner. Chance for Putin to shine.Kodak moments for him everywhere

Over in the UK Figures from the National Apprenticeship Service show 37,410 vacancies were posted online between August and October last year, up 24% on the previous year. Over the same period applications jumped 43% to 461,530. The number of female applicants rose sharply, to 47% of the total, from 43% the previous year. That’s 12 applicants for every vacancy!

Greece heading for its third bailout in the next month or so. But seems Italy is still a popular destination with holiday makers. More than 2,000 migrants landed on Italian shores in January, the government says, compared to just 217 in the same month last year. The Deputy Interior Minister said Italy was subject to an “incessant and massive influx of migrants” in 2013.He said that a total of 42,925 migrants reached Italy by sea last year, an increase of 325% on 2012.He needs a new policy methinks!

US banking giant Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $1.25bn to settle a lawsuit over the sale of mortgage-backed securities.

Australians spent $14.7 billion in online shopping last year, as they shelled out more on electronic games, toys, groceries and liquor in December. Sorry Gerry. It’s not just about GST. Price, service, delivery, choice and convenience.

The last month shows what happens when everyone is bullish. Have to say I wasn’t .Still not short term!

That is all!