Happy Australia Day tomorrow

Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 slips 5 points to 6050 as bargain hunters appear at close.
• High 6056 Low 6029 Futures expiry boosts volume.
• USD and protectionism dominate.
• Banks weigh again as BHP and iron ore shows gains.
• Telcos slip again. TLS falls.
• Gold miners enjoying bullion rise.
• Utilities and REITs drift lower.
• AUD jumps on US Treasurer chief comments. 80.95c

• Bitcoin $11,638 as buyers return.
• US futures down 6.
• Asian markets slightly weaker with CSI 300 down 0.47% and Japan down 0.92%.

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• SPL +8.33% quarterly cashflow statement.
• BLD +1.80% broker upgrade.
• GNC +0.80% broker upgrade by Morgans.
• WSA +4.70% nickel price rises.
• MYR +0.81% on DJs write down of $1bn. Assessing intangibles of $1bn.
• KGN +3.16% on life insurance offering.
• BIN +3.45% broker upgrade.
• PNI +4.30% momentum rally continues.
• UPD -1.57% reverses yesterday’s rise.
• ELD -4.00% coming off the boil.
• BAL -3.31% profit taking.
• MDC +10.34% heavily oversubscribed placement.
• MXC +9.52% European production facility.
• PAN +8.14% entitlement offer.
• GSW – still suspended and not looking good.
• AWE -unchanged- new move from China Energy now 29^th January deadline.
• AXP -6.47% quarterly cash flow and business update underwhelms.
• Speculative stock of the day: Animoca Brands (AB1) +22.86% Big day with the announcement of a capital raising together with an acquisition of ‘Cryptokitties’ and sales for its ‘Crazy Defense Heroes’ game in Asian at $267K for the second week.
• Biggest risers – SPL, EHL, RSG, WSA, DCN and COE.
• Biggest fallers – SYR, ELD, UPD, IRI, BAL and YAL.

TODAY

• Kogan (KGN) +3.16% The company has announced it will start offering life insurance under an agreement with Greenstone. KGN will offer ‘great value’ life and funeral (death) insurance and the range of policies will grow over time.
• Redbubble (RBL) +7.14% Announced a strong holiday season and reaffirms earnings guidance with EBITDA of $2.6m.
• Woolworths (WOW) -0.37% IMF discontinues funding of shareholders class action. Positive for WOW. IMF will take a $151k hit on costs involved so far.
• Kidman Resources (KDR) +1.91% quarterly report announcing completion of its strategic JV with SQM and advancing the Mt Holland lithium project. Board changes also in the quarter and WA government granting lead agency service status for Mt Holland. Nothing to get excited about.

• NIB Holdings (NHF) +0.30% Annual price changes announced at 3.8% approved by the government. Medibank Private (MPL) +0.61% Annual price increase approved by the government of 3.88%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• New Zealand’s CPI rose 0.1% in the fourth quarter, falling short of expectations, Statistics New Zealand data revealed. Annual growth was at 1.6% well below the 1.9% forecast by economists, who had predicted a 0.4% quarterly rise.
• Merger and acquisition activity in Australia hit $113 billion through a total of 580 deals in 2017, Mergermarket Total deal value was the second highest since 2008 while deal volumes were the highest since the Mergermarket data series started in 2001. French real estate giant Unibail-Rodamco’s $32.6bn bid for Westfield Corporation was the top deal for the year.

ASIAN NEWS

• Noble Group has struck a $3.5bn debt restructure deal.
• Chinese authorities still have the booming property market in their sights. President Xi is trying to rein in the boom by pushing the rental market as a viable alternative with a model between rampant capitalism and the old Communist system of allocated housing.

EUROPE AND US MORNING HEADLINES

• More fun and games at Davos as the US talks down its currency. Fed up with the Germans and Chinese enjoying low currencies, the US has now joined the party.
• Goldman suggest Aluminium maybe next on the Trump tariff talk. RIO will be affected as will BSL. Trump is weighing the findings of a so-called Section 232 study into aluminium imports submitted by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
• Outspoken chief economist Paul Romer is leaving the World Bank after just 15 months on the job.
• Ford suffers earnings miss on commodity price rises.
• Expect more fall out form the now infamous Presidents Club fund raising dinner in London last night.
• Meanwhile at Davos tech chiefs are pushing the medical revolution that could see breakthroughs in cancer cures and diabetes cures. Michael Neidorff, boss of American healthcare giant Centene Corporation, said technology was moving so quickly that it was almost impossible to imagine the advances that would take place in healthcare. “We are living in an era where magic can happen” said one tech health chief.

And finally……………..

 

Have a great Australia Day

 

Clarence

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