Todays Headlines

• ASX 200 finishes up 27 at 5682 as banks lift gloom.
• Support holds for now. Range trading intact.
• High 5688 Low 5660.
• Bank lead recovery. Insurers catch a bid too.
• RIO buy-back cheers miners but iron ore under pressure.
• TLS bounces. Industrials flat line.
• AUD dips to 79.30c
• US Futures down 49.
• Asian markets slip on regional tensions: China CSI down 0.47% and Nikkei down 0.23%.

STOCK STUFF

Ex-Dividend Today

• None significant

Movers and Shakers

• GEM +4.57% broker upgrades after acquisition.
• NHF +4.92% GU Health acquisition given tick.
• SUN +2.78% drawing strength from AGM comments.
• BTT +2.39% broker recommendation.
• GXY -3.08% profit taking continues.
• SXL -1.20% on SWM and PRT news.
• OZL -2.62% metal weakness.
• SPL +15.24% on clinical study results.
• BXB -2.60% as shareholder reduces holding.
• UPD +4.58% buyers back.
• RCR +6.11% aggressive profit taking.
• S32 +1.58% bucks miners sell off on new board members.
• MWR -28.69% rooster to feather duster on clarification of media reports.
• TTT +7.00% yesterday’s hero IPO pushes ahead again.
• CVW +4.53% to benefit from recent insurance and wealth management upheaval.
• Speculative stocks of the day: Byron Energy (BYE) +4.18% an insiders tip from last week and we wrote the stock up as well on September 14^th. Looks like a rush of blood to the head.
• Biggest risers – NHF, CVW, GEM, MYR, WPP, SUN and FSF
• Biggest fallers – BLY, RCR, YAL, SBM, GXY and SPO

 

TODAY

• Seven West Media (SWM) +2.11% and Prime (PRT) -11.58% announced that the two had held discussions in the past about a merger but nothing had come of it and they had ceased discussions.
• The PNG government has sold the last 2.1% (31.3m shares) of its stake in Oil Search (OSH) +0.44% in a $205m block trade at around 655c. This block trade represents the balance of shares to be sold after the government decision to terminate the funding arrangement, which was originally with UBS alone and included a “collar” facility. The sale means the cash-strapped PNG government avoids having to repay the loan.
• Rio Tinto (RIO) +0.72% the company will return another $US2.5bn($3.2bn) following the completion of the Coal & Allied sale. This takes shareholder returns to $US8.2 billion this year, made up of $US4.2bn of dividends and $US4bn of share buy-backs.
• Fairfax (FXJ) -unchanged- has released the Domain separation booklet.
• Tatts Group (TTS) +2.24% Tabcorp (TAH) +1.65% have received regulatory approval from Gambling Authority.
• Macquarie Group (MQG) +0.81% has overtaken Goldman Sachs to break into thetop three banks for commodities business. Macquarie ranked behind Morgan Stanley and Citigroup for the first six months of 2017 but ahead of JP Morgan and Goldmans with the top three averaging US$250M to $US300m each in commodities revenue. Results are due 30th September.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded China’s government debt. S&P said China’s long-term debt rating had been lowered by one notch to AA- from A+. It said the outlook remained stable. The country’s short-term rating was lowered to A-1 from A-1+.
• Hong Kong stripped of AAA rating on China downgrade.

BOND MARKET UPDATE

ASIAN NEWS

• Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC jumped to a five-month high on Friday after it agreed a US$1.1bn deal with Google for the US technology giant to acquire 2,000 of its staff.
• ‘Rocket Man’ Kim Jong Un is now expected to detonate a H bomb in the Pacific. So much could go wrong here.
• China’s travel industry is projected to grow at an average rate of 8% annually from 2017 to 2027, outpacing other major economies like India and the U.S. National holidays from October 1 -18 will see 710m trips taken. Up 10% on last year.

EUROPE AND US MORNING HEADLINES

• Big speech from PM May on Brexit plans in Florence tonight.
• France GDP and Eurozone PMI tonight.
• German election this weekend. NZ elections.

New Zealand Odds

• Kim and Donald to rattle sabres no doubt over the weekend. Anything could happen.

And finally……………

 

For all my golfing buddies hitting off at Port Douglas this weekend

A golfer was having a terrible round – 20-over par for the front nine with scores of balls lost in water or rough. When his caddie then coughed as he steadied himself over a 12-inch putt on the 10th, he lost it.

“You’ve got to be the worst caddie in the world!” he yelled.

“I doubt it,” replied the caddie, dead-pan. “That would be too much of a coincidence.”

 

 

After a particularly poor round, a golfer spotted a lake as he walked despondently up the 18^th.

He looked at his caddie and said, “I’ve played so badly all day, I think I’m going to drown myself in that lake.”

The caddie, quick as a flash, replied, “I’m not sure you could keep your head down that long.”

 

A hacker was playing so badly that his caddie was getting increasingly exasperated.

On the 11^th, his ball lay about 160 yards from the green and as he eyed up the shot, he asked his caddie, “Do you think I can get there with a 4-iron?”

“Eventually,” replied the caddie, wearily.

Have a great weekend

Clarence

XXX