Clarence hitting the ABC this morning…

Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 loses another 43 points to 5790.
• High 5828 Low 5782.
• Banks again leading the way down.
• Big Bank Basket falls to $155.94
• Big miners under pressure. Energy sapped.
• TLS continues to fall.
• AUD slips to 76.96c
• Bitcoin falls through US$8000 to US$7849
• US futures slip slightly by 26 points.
• Asian markets fall with Japan down 1.61% and China CSI down 1.61%

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• A2M -7.52% on Nestle entry into market with ‘Atwo’. Lawyers at 20 paces.
• FMG -4.59% broker downgrades.
• CSR -0.95% broker upgrades.
• BYE -7.32% production issues with SM71.
• OGX -13.64% clarifies announcement on bonanza grades. Production target clarified.
• PLS -3.98% ORE -4.67% GXY – 4.64% lithium stocks under pressure.
• ELD +2.50% finding technical support.
• BBG +14.29% revised bid from Oaktree at 105c.
• NCK -2.30% MD sells 27% of his holdings for $77.3m
• BLA -9.01% trading halt announced, as Glaucus (US short specialist) questions AUM.
• BAF -5.65% follows suit with trading halt.
• CIM -0.71% contract win.
• TLS -0.93% set to launch %G hotspots on the Gold Coast. In time for eth Games.
• Speculative stock of the day: Nothing significant.
• Biggest risers – GNC, ELD, ASL, AGL, CKF and EHL.
• Biggest fallers – BLA, SYR, A2M, SKT, WPP and GXY.
• Stocks bucking the down draft: AGL, APA, ASL, ATL, CNU, ELD, SHV, SIQ, SYD, TCL

TODAY

• Rio Tinto (RIO) +1.04% has entered into a binding agreement with a consortium comprising private equity manager EMR Capital (EMR) and PT Adaro Energy Tbk (Adaro), an Indonesian listed coal company, for the sale of its entire 80% interest in the Kestrel underground coal mine in Queensland, Australia, for $2.25bn.
• Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) – 0.52% Authorities in China have seized 50,000 bottles of fake Grange Hermitage. Becoming a major issue and is the largest haul of fake Penfolds ever.
• Blue Sky Limited (BLA) -9.01% after US short seller issued a report that values the company at 266c on worries on the AUM. Last ASX stock the US research house targeted was TFS. Went into administration.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• Turnbull’s tax cut plan goes back to the drawing board.
• Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists believe that the Australian economy has reached a turning point on wages growth.
• The economists noted that, while still at a low level, Australia’s wage price index has lifted off record lows to 2.1% year on year and the earnings measure from the national accounts, which is broader measure of remuneration, is now trending higher.
• Merrill Lynch is expecting a RBA cash rate of 1.75% in the fourth quarter of this year, up from its current level of 1.5%.
• APRA has blamed ASIC for banking failures.

BOND MARKET UPDATE

ASIAN MARKETS NEWS

• China is about to reopen quotas to allow overseas investment after a two -year hiatus.
• Softbank to build the world’s biggest solar park in Saudi Arabia. The 200-gigawatt facility will create 100,000 jobs, generate $40 billion in cost savings from power generation and add USD$12 billion to the kingdom’s GDP.
• Kim Jung Un holidays in China. Happy to trade away nukes. Maybe Gangnam style.
• Most Kwai Chung, a media and advertising company has soared 880% in HK on its first day after being oversubscribed by 6289 times. The city’s average retail subscription ratio has tripled to 340 times this year from 2017

EUROPE AND US MORNING HEADLINES

• Even Buffett gets it wrong sometimes. BYD, where Buffett has a large holding has fallen heavily (-10%) after the Chinese car maker has slashed its first quarter outlook.
• Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is considering opening offices around the world as it plans to expand its assets under management to $400bn by 2020.
• Mark ‘The Zuck’ has snubbed the UK government’s request to ‘please explain’. Seems happy to appear before Congress but not Parliament.
• In the UK according to the BOE’s Financial Policy Committee said, “mortgage interest rates would need to increase by around 150bps [ 1.5%] with no change in household income for [the ratio of people paying more than 40% of their incomes on their mortgage] to return to its pre-crisis average.”

And finally…………..

 

The new UK Passport printed by the French

A golfer was ready to tee off when another player in an adjacent fairway hit him square in the face with his golf ball.

“Idiot! Your ball hit me in the eye! I’ll sue you for five million dollars,” the victim said.

The other golfer replied, “I yelled ‘fore!’”

The first golfer then said, “I’ll take it!”

Clarence

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