Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 up another 48 points hitting 6098
• High 6110 Low 6057 – Three month high.
• Banks rally again, not NAB.
• Miners lead the charge higher as consumer stocks join in.
• Plenty of FOMO around as dogs bark.
• Iron ore kicks in China.
• AUD bounces off 75c to 75.20c
• Bitcoin rallies to US$9255
• US futures up 18.
• Asian markets turn positive with Nikkei 500 up 0.06% and China CSI 300 up 0.20%

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• COE +7.25% oil price helps.
• GEM +6.85% Macquarie presentation.
• VOC +5.58% finding friends again.
• WTC +4.45% rally continues.
• HSO -2.83% switch back to rest of sector.
• MYR -2.08% gloss wears off.
• STO +0.32% AGM comments and sale of non-core assets.
• WFD -1.20% slips in the 1^st quarter update.
• SPL +11.81% deal with Vivagel.
• SGF +10.61% Macquarie Conference presentation.
• PFP -3.82% catching the IVC disease.
• NEC +3.29% SWM +11.86% broker upgrades on free to air TV.
• IVC -4.04% broker downgrades.
• JBH +1.59% rethink after downgrade.
• KDR -3.30% options weigh.
• SUL +8.61% guidance and trading update.
• Speculative stock of the day: Boart Longyear (BLY) +20.00% after a first-quarter update showed revenues up to $24m. EBITDA up to $13m with positive market conditions prevailing. Might be worth considering other mining services companies.
• Biggest risers – SWM, SGF, SUL, COE, GEM and GSC
• Biggest fallers – IVC, DFM, HSO, KDR, and CSR.

TODAY

• Commonwealth Bank (CBA) +0.61% Have announced that in 2016 an incident occurred where magnetic tapes with customer account details were unable to be confirmed as destroyed. In response, CBA undertook an independent investigation, alerted APRA and placed increased monitoring on the accounts affected. This morning CBA announced that the investigation found no evidence customer information had been compromised or suspicious activity had occurred in the accounts and so customers will not be alerted to the incident in more detail and are recommended to take no further action such as changing account pins.
• National Bank of Australia (NAB) –0.64% Looks like a poor full-year result but in line with expectations. NAB 2 weeks ago warned of a $755m hit in costs before tax due to restructuring and job cuts. Today it reported a 16% fall in cash earnings to $2.76bn. This headline figure excludes one-offs, non-cash accounting items and strips out discontinued operations and hedging. NAB also reported a 1.5% YoY rise in 1H profit as its lending margins expanded by 5 bps due to lower funding costs and increased mortgage rates as well as a fall in bad debts, however, this figure was down 5.7% half on half. The company will also exit advice, platform, superannuation and asset management businesses including MLC. Dividend of 99c maintained.
• Super Retail (SUL) +8.61% Profit update with a mixed report card. Same-store sales at Super Cheap Auto rose 4.4% in the 17 weeks ended April 28, compared with growth of 3.5% in the December-half. Rebel’s same-store sales have risen 2.2%, up from 1.1% growth in the December-half.But at BCF, same-store sales slipped 0.4% after rising 1.6% in the first half. The CEO said profits are in line with expectations and the Macpac acquisition is now complete with the company adding $5m to group EBIT for the rest of FY18. Rays though remains a problem expected to face a $6m EBIT loss and a $13m restructuring cost.
• Santos (STO) +0.32% Sale of non-core Asian portfolio to Ophir Energy plc (Ophir) for US$221m. Will result in Santos making country exits from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
• Newcrest (NCM) +1.61% Encounter (ENV) completes five new joint ventures with Newcrest in the Tanami and West Arunta regions of WA and will receive up to $1m in new funding.
• Another one bites the dust. Esprit has closed its Australian stores.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• The CBA services PMI fell from 55.6 to 55.2 for the last month still above the long run average and well into expansionary territory.
• Building approvals up 2.5% MoM above expectations. In seasonally adjusted terms, total dwellings rose by 2.6% in March, driven by a 6.1%increase in private sector dwellings excluding houses. Private sector houses rose 1.1% in seasonally adjusted terms.

BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES

• In trend terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $1,112m in March 2018, an increase of $317m on the surplus in February 2018. Big beat on expectations.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services was a surplus of $1,527m in March 2018, an increase of $178m on the surplus in February 2018.

BOND MARKET UPDATE

ASIAN MARKETS NEWS

• Xiaomi kicked off what is set to be one of the world’s biggest initial public offerings to raise up to $10bn, filing a prospectus that gives investors their first look at the Chinese handset maker’s financials. It is due to list in early July.

EUROPE AND US MORNING HEADLINES

• Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and member of Donald Trump’s legal team, has said the president had repaid his personal attorney for a $130,000 payment made to a porn star.
• Tesla expects to stem its cash-burn later this year, with plans to pull back on spending even as it continues to ramp up production of its Model 3 vehicles. Buy the product sell the stock.
• UK PM Theresa May has conceded that her plans for a customs partnership with the EU are “dead” after senior Cabinet ministers turned on her during a crunch Brexit meeting. This is going to get much worse.
• Liverpool reaches Champions League finals. You will never walk alone.

And finally…………………….

A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s artwork. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”

The teacher paused and said, “but no one knows what God looks like.”

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”

 

A mother and her young son were flying Jetstar from Sydney to Melbourne. The kid turned from the window to his mother and asked, “If big dogs have baby dogs and big cats have baby cats, why don’t big planes have baby planes?”
The mother said, “Well, maybe that’s something you could ask the stewardess.”
So the boy asked the stewardess, “If big dogs have baby dogs and big cats have baby cats, why don’t big planes have baby planes?”
The stewardess responded, “Did your mother tell you to ask me?”
The boy admitted that this was the case. “Well, then, tell your mother that there are no baby planes because Jetstar always pulls out on time. You can ask your mother to explain it to you.”

Clarence

 

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