Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 wobbles as banks hit hard. Down 6 to 5932.
• High 5961.5 Low 5929.
• Banks bashed but miners shine.
• WBC in court fighting ASIC allegations.
• Energy lifts as do healthcare slightly.
• FXJ commits to trial separation with Domain.
• Mass data breech from Amazon Cloud.
• AUD better after export numbers cheer, 77.14c.
• US futures down 26.
• Asian markets mixed with Japan up 0.23% and China CSI down 0.42%.

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• EHL +14.43% completes insto offer.
• CCP +5.52% upgrades guidance.
• CYB -4.20% takes hit on UK write-downs.
• HVN -5.01% selling resumes.
• PAC -3.18% Northern Lights sells 25% at 625c.
• FMG +4.06% rising commodity prices.
• BLD +3.79% AGM positive commentary.
• S32 +3.14% rising commodity prices.
• SWM -6.11% AGM address weighing.
• AMC -1.96% broker downgrades.
• MQG +1.06% testing $100.
• WSA +3.82% nickel up 10% in two days as shorts cover.
• TLS -1.68% as investor day rattles investors on $3bn hit from NBN.
• FXJ +0.46% Domain gets divorce ok.
• 4WD +52.27% on takeover from AMA at 35c.
• Speculative stocks of the day: Anson Resources (ASN) +26.58% following a recent presentation at IMARC in Melbourne.
• Biggest risers – EHL, AJM, ORE, CCPO, A2M and IGO
• Biggest fallers – SWM, HVN, CYB, HT1 and CKF.

TODAY

• Boral (BLD) +3.79% AGM. FY17 FY EBIT up 16% to $460m. NPAT up 16% to $297m. EPS flat at 33.7c. Boral says it previously expected flat Australian earnings in FY18, but now lifts guidance and expects high single-digit earnings growth for the fiscal year. The company said it expects an unusually large 2H skew to North America earnings; and said the impact of the hurricanes weighted heavily on North America business in the 1Q. While the company expects earnings growth across all divisions, it expects a significant lift in North America as it delivers on its Headwaters acquisition objectives.
• Credit Corp (CCP) +5.52% announced this morning that it had bought Cashfirst from Thorn Group (TGA) +0.64% for $13.3m. Importantly guidance has been increased from $60m-$63m to $62m-$64m and EPS to 130-134cps.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• The trade surplus has jumped to its highest level in four months on the back of a boost in exports.
• September’s trade surplus of $1.75bn is up from a revised $873 million surplus in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. Economists had expected the surplus to rise to $1.2bn in September.

• The US will export a record 24,000 tonnes of Cheese to Australia this year. In August US exported 3900 tonnes in August. Australia’s annual dairy production has slumped by 7.5% to 8.95bn ­litres, US dairy farmers and processors are lifting herd sizes and production as they prepare to push more milk on to export markets.

BOND MARKET

ASIAN MARKETS

• The office tower, The Center has sold in Hong Kong for a record US$5.2bn. Li Ka-Shing’s CK Asset Holdings has booked a US$1.7bn profit on the deal with the sale to China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group.

EUROPE AND US MORNING HEADLINES

• Looks like Jerome Powell will get the nod as the new Fed chief. Yellen back to academia. Powell is much the same as Yellen. This is what he is inheriting:

• What keeps Americans up at night.

• The gender gap just got bigger it seems. it will take 100 years before women achieve equality in the four areas measured by the World Economic Forum. The US fell to 49^th with China at 100. Iceland is no 1.
• Tesla has pushed back the short-term production targets for its new Model 3 cars by three months, blaming problems at its giant battery plant in Nevada for the delays.
• Fitbit struggling as demand falls.
• In the UK the sex scandal that is hitting Westminster has claimed a scalp in defence secretary Michael Fallon.
• Deliveroo is starting anew service in London next week allowing users to order entomophagy or using insects for food. Spicy cricket cakes and buffalo worms are on the menu now. Yum.
• Bitcoin is up 6,000,000% in just over seven years. Bubble or new world order?

And finally……………

A young newlywed couple wanted to join a church. The pastor told them, “We have special requirements for new parishioners. You must abstain from having sex for two weeks.” The couple agreed and came back at the end of two weeks. The pastor asked them, “Well, were you able to get through the two weeks without being intimate?” “Pastor, I’m afraid we were not able to go without sex for the two weeks,” the young man replied. “What happened?” inquired the pastor. “My wife was reaching for a can of corn on the top shelf and dropped it. When she bent over to pick it up, I was over come with lust and took advantage of her right there.” “You understand, of course, that this means you will not be welcome in our church,” stated the pastor. “That’s okay,” said the young man. “We’re not welcome at the grocery store anymore either.”

Clarence

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