Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 fights back to finish slightly down by 3 to 6244
• High 6252 Low 6214. Modest volume.
• Macquarie breaks the mould.
• Fairfax and Nine to merge.
• By Election Saturday beckons. Will be close.
• Banks mixed as resources sour.
• Energy and staples save the day
• AUD firms to 74.38c on lower USD.
• Bitcoin eases to US$8212
• Aussie Gold steady at $1656
• US futures uneasy before FB up 9.
• Asian markets rally fades with Japan down 0.11%  and China down 0.97%.

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• DHG +9.12% FXJ,NEC merger.
• IFL +5.37% FUM update and ANZ Wealth.
• WGX +5.76% presentation.
• MSB -5.79% profit-taking.
• APT -5.15% sellers in charge on valuation concerns.
• FMG -3.73% strip ration and discounts hurt.
• LVH -6.19% broker report.
• CSL -0.47% profit taking on AUD moves.
• MYX +6.01% basking in a recent deal.
• APX -3.46% FB highlights risk.
• GRB -11.54% profit-taking.
• GXL -2.86% still barking.
• CRD +14.29% now really annoying.
• BLA +9.25% potential white knight.
• CVN +7.32% rally continues.
• BRU +12.50% joins the small oil party.
• ISD +4.46% broker upgrade.
• BRN +10.00% presentation on Akida technology.
• Speculative stock of the day: King River Copper (KRC) +25.00% update on its high purity vanadium pentoxide  test work completed by TSW Analytica. Assays return 99.51%
• Biggest risers – DHG, FXJ, MYX, WGX, IFL and SGM
• Biggest fallers – NEC, AJM, MSB, APT, PMC, and CLQ.

TODAY

• Macquarie Group (MQG) -2.59% Nicholas Moore to retire as MD & CEO, Shemara Wikramanayake to take his place. Outlook for the same again. Underpromise. Overdeliver continues.
• Fairfax (FXJ) +8.44% Fairfax and Nine (NEC) to merge. FXJ shareholders to receive 0.36 NEC shares as well as 2.5c for each Fairfax share held. NEC says the deal offers a 22% premium to the last FXJ closing price. The combined business will be led by Nine’s current CEO Hugh Marks.
• Fortescue (FMG) –3.73% June quarter production. Record iron ore shipments 46.5mt and production costs of US$12.17(wmt). FY19 guidance is for 165-173mt in shipments at US$12-13(wmt). FMG’s revenue for FY18 was US$44/dmt or, 64% of the average Platts 62 CFR index price. The average contractual price realisation for contracts entered into during the June quarter increased to 63% of the Platts 62 CFR Index which averaged US$65 per dry metric tonne (dmt) during the quarter. The closing Platts 62 CFR price was US$64/dmt at 30 June 2018.
• Beach Energy (BPT) +1.66% Announced a 20% lift in quarterly sales revenue to $471m, on the back of higher prices & a lift in oil and gas volumes.
• Newcrest Mining (NCM) +4.60% Gold production 1% lower on year, but hits the top end of revised guidance at 2.35 million ounces. Copper output above April guidance, coming in at 78,000 metric tons and 3% below a prior target of 80,000-90,000 tons.
• National Australia Bank (NAB) will refund $67 million to superannuation customers who were charged hundreds of dollars in annual fees since 2012 for financial advice services they did not know they could opt out of.
• Dick Smith pulls out of the foods business on competition woes with Aldi.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• Australia’s import prices beat expectations, export prices fall short. Import prices lifted 3.2% quarter on quarter, beating forecasts of 1.9%. The lift was mainly driven by higher prices for oil & related products. Export prices lifted 1.9% quarter on quarter, well below forecasts of 3.9%. If import prices are up and inflation is tepid does that mean margin pressure?
• APRA has warned the group life insurance industry to tread carefully as it heads towards the implementation of budget reforms and not use the changes as an excuse to jack up premiums.

BOND MARKETS

ASIAN MARKET NEWS

• Yields on 10-year Japanese bonds rose to 0.1% . Yes that is right rose to 0.1% from 0.04% recently.

• Pinduoduo, a Chinese shopping platform, late on Wednesday raised US$1.6bn, according to people familiar with the deal, making it one of the largest US-listed initial public offerings this year.
• South Korea GDP grows 2.9% in Q2

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

• The ‘Zuck’ took a hit. Down nearly US$17bn on his net worth following Facebook faceplant. Wipes US$151bn off the market cap after an user/earnings miss. Focus on what happens in normal trading. Don’t write them off just yet. Seems getting fake news off the platform is expensive.
• New Facebook milestone.Losing 1m plus daily users a week in EU from data rule changes.

• Trump embraces Juncker as he shows the way for China. BMW ‘s back on the shopping list in the US.
• Qualcomm has pulled the pin on its NXP deal as the deadline passes with no ‘yes’ from Chinese regulators. US$30bn buyback now the way to go. Buybacks are not the same as investing back in the business.
• ECB the focus tonight and US GDP. Expect a big number.4.2%. Plenty of tweets to come from POTUS.
• Saudi has suspended Red Sea oil shipments as Houthi rebels attack tankers.
• Imran Khan to captain Pakistan.
• Have a break. Kit Kat has lost its battle to protect its shape as a trademark in EU.
• UK’s ITV is set to remove content from Netflix as it looks to launch its own streaming content service.

And finally………………

I have a friend Stephen Holland who posts the best Dad jokes on Facebook…someone is still using it then

My mate has a 12 year old son who wants be the lead singer in an Ultravox tribute band.

Personally I don’t think he’s Midge Ure enough.

One way or another I’m going to have to try to stop quoting Blondie lyrics.

When it comes to cosmetic surgery, a lot of people turn their noses up.

My doctor has recently diagnosed me with ’70s Fever’. It flares up occasionally…..

I believe Viagra is now available in teabags. It doesn’t affect your performance, but it does stop your biscuits going soft.

Clarence

XXXX