Morning all,

Well that wasn’t so bad after all…Russian moves to recognise Crimea were met with a raft of sanctions which are vaguely useless and the world is right again…The US markets celebrated this minor distraction and went back to what they do best, which is to pump the market higher..gold was obviously a casualty on the Crimeans voting overwhelmingly to go back to Mother Russia..reminds me a little of the Falklands in some ways..One nation has a claim and the people want to stay with Mother Britain! It’s probably why the UK has been pretty quiet on the hostile RasPutin Takeover.

Check mate ?

To our market and after a horror week last week we started on a vague note but should find some more confidence today. Not sure it will last but it’s a nice thought…these kinds of markets are for either trading aggressively or for taking a view through the noise…it’s up to you…

Iron ore slipped a little but nothing more than a flesh wound but Golds will suffer…expect 25 up maybe a tad more Banks to push higher and lead us as usual..

Idea of the day

UNS up last night in the US to around 93 cents here…May be starting to get into taking profit land!

Interesting that yesterday GEM had a great rally as the impending IPO float of Stirling Education was pulled …positive for established players like GEM..Continue to like this one..

NTC as well are doing well nearly hitting 50 yesterday before slipping back…

So need another one!!!

ABC suffered a big fall on Friday as news of its supply deals with SA hit the market…not sure yet but may be a little overdone…would have thought that the buoyant housing and construction marlets outside of SA can be harbnesse3d and it doesn’t happen for a while and maybe plans will change …probably worth a nibble at these levels for a technical bounce..

Things to make me go mmmm!!!

Sad news this morning that Mick Jagger’s girlfriend has been found dead. RIP L’Wren.

Yesterday Bill Evans from WBC who is one of the most well-known economists shifted ground on his interest rate forecasts and is now saying next move is up in 2015!!Been saying it myself for a while now…good to see you step into line Bill.

Economic data was favourable with US industrial production rising 0.6% in February against estimates calling for a 0.2% gain. US Empire State factory index rose to 5.61 against estimates at 6.5%, which was the highest rise in six months. Although the New York outcome was less than expected it included increases in new orders and inventories which was seen as a positive.

 

Seems that the age old wisdom of embarking on a diverting foreign adventure holds true for Russia as its home economy looks pretty stuffed.. The Ruble has weakened 9.4 percent against the dollar this year.. Bank Rossii lifted its benchmark interest rate to 7 percent from 5.5 percent at an emergency meeting March 3….Consumer-price growth accelerated to 6.2 percent in February from a year earlier from 6.1 percent in January….Morgan Stanley economists Jacob Nell and Alina Slyusarchuk cut their forecast for 2014 growth to 0.8 percent from 2.5 percent according to a note to clients yesterday….if it gets any worse they will have to invade another country!

According to one Russian TV anchor…”Obama’s hair is getting greyer and greyer… as he fears direct action against Russia (and its nuclear retaliation)… as it is the only country that can turn the US into radioactive dust.”

Suspect they may have seen this coming and moved some money or made other arrangements…..EU foreign ministers agreed to freeze assets and impose visa travel bans on 21 Russians and Crimeans, while U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration put similar sanctions on seven Russian government officials and four Ukrainians including ousted President Viktor Yanukovych….big stuff indeed…us Poms just used to charge at Russian guns instead…same futile outcome though!!

iProperty Group: Seek (SEK) CFO John Armstrong to join iProperty’s board as non-executive director.

Macquarie Group is selling its private equity funds management division, ending its role as Australia’s largest and oldest private equity investor. It is understood Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets, which has $5 billion in assets under management.

Vodafone has rung up its second big deal in six months with €7.2bn (£6bn) acquisition of Spain’s Ono.

Alibaba, dubbed China’s eBay, has announced plans to float in America in what is expected to be the biggest tech share offering since Facebook in 2012. The move, which is expected to raise $15bn, is a blow for Hong Kong which was hoping for the listing.

And finally……as it was St Paddy’s day yesterday…

Two paddies were working for the city public works department. One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously all day without rest, one man digging a hole, the other filling it in again.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn’t understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, “I’m impressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don’t get it – why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?”

The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, “Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we’re normally a three-person team. But today the lad who plants the trees called in sick.'”

 

Have a great Tuesday…

Clarence

XXXX

 

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