Today’s Headlines

• ASX 200 up 30 to 6298 after early falls.
• China moves drive turnaround to touch near 10-year high.
• High 6314 Low 6258. Fails to hold 6300 again.
• Royal Commission fails to dent financials
• Banks and MFG lead the charge.
• Miners join in as RIO goes Ex.
• Energy rebounds after early losses.
• Gaming stocks winning.
• AUD stronger at 74.38c.
• Bitcoin weaker again at US$6351
• Aussie Gold steady at $1632.
• US futures up 12.
• Asian markets mixed as China bouncers hard as date for tariffs announced. CSI up 2.62% whilst Japan down 0.09%.

STOCK STUFF

Movers and Shakers

• CVN -drilling results from Phoenix helping.
• MFG +14.33% results and div payout cheers. Shorts squeezed.
• CWN +6.68% good results.
• NCM +2.14% carrying value update.
• ECX -4.52% bounce over.
• LYC +5.31% buying continues after Diggers and Dealers.
• SDA +2.72% broker upgrade.
• PTM +2.91% catching the MFG updraught.
• AGL -4.09% runs out of gas.
• LOV -3.12% profit taking on broker move.
• QBE +0.98% follows SUN higher.
• BAL -5.14% still suffering.
• NGI -4.89% results underwhelm.
• LVT -11.26% placement weighs.
• STO -2.26% Beehive seismic program with MAY.
• RAP -11.11% broker presentation.
• FLC +8.05% South American contract.
• JIN +4.81% two big jackpots in a week.
• AJM +7.41% knocks back bid.
• TCL +0.42% agrees to hand over traffic data to ACCC.
• Speculative stock of the day: Canyon Resources (CAY) +36.00% after announcing the Government of Cameroon would grant CAY exploration permits to the Minim Martap poroject. Previous owners had identified a 550MT JORC resource of high grade , low impurity bauxite deposit.
• Biggest risers –MFG, CWN, SIG, SGR, LYC , SUN and HUB
• Biggest fallers – BAL, NGI, ECX, AGL, ORA and SYR.

TODAY

• Suncorp (SUN) +4.74% FY18 result. Revenue down 11% to $15.45bn, net profit took a hit, down 1.5% to $1.06bn. The company will sell its life insurance business to Tal Dai-Ichi Life Australia for around $725m, 80% of the proceeds are expected to be returned to shareholders. The sale is expected to result in a non-cash loss in FY19 of $880m. Special dividend of 8c declared with a final dividend of 40c per share.
• Orora (ORA) –3.62% FY18 Result. Net profit up 12% to $208.6m, sales revenue up 5.2% to $4.04bn and earnings per share 11.5% higher to 17.4c. A final of 6.5c has been declared. Total dividend for the FY18 year is up 13.6% to 12.5c.
• Newcrest Mining (NCM) +2.14% Update ahead of its FY18 results. The miner now expects a hit to the values of several assets in the range of $260-270m. NCM cuts the value of Telfer by around US$190m and Namosi by around US$70m.
• BHP Billiton (BHP) +0.06% To settle a class action over the 2015 dam disaster at Samarco, the miner has agreed to pay US$50m with no admission of liability.
• AGL Energy (AGL) –4.09% Underlying Profit up 28% to $1.023bn towards the top end of guidance of up to $1.04bn affirmed in February. Revenue up 1.8% to $12.816bn. A Final dividend of 63c per share has been declared bringing the total dividend for the year to 117c, up 29%. AGL forecasts underlying profit after tax for FY19 to be between $970m-1,070m.
• Mirvac Group (MGR) –0.42% FY18 result. Total revenue down 7% to $2.802bn, net profit down 6% to $1.09bn, a final dividend was declared at 6c per share. Earnings per share were 15.6c, in line with guidance provided in June. MGR expects EPS to lift around 2-4% in FY19.
• Crown Resorts (CWN) +6.68% Statutory net profit down 70% to $559m after significant items, statutory revenue up 4.5% to $3.5bn and normalised net profit attributable to parent 13% higher to $387m. A final dividend of 30c per share has been declared. Australian VIP program turnover up 54.5% to $51.5bn.
• Magellan Financial (MFG) +14.33% FY18 result. Net profit up 8% to $211.8m, revenue up 34% to $452.6m and average funds under management up 29% to $59bn. A final dividend has been declared at 90c per share. Good result and generous with the payout ratio.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its key cash rate on hold at a record low 1.75%. Expect rates to be at these levels through 2019 and into 2020.

BOND MARKETS

ASIAN MARKET NEWS

• Chinese CPI up 2.1% YoY, expectations 1.9% – July PPI 4.6% v 4.4%
• CPI MoM +0.3% July PPI +0.1% MoM.

• Philippines GDP misses expectations after inflation rise.
• Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha admits conducting improper emission tests.
• Chinese investors are turning sour on HK stocks. Net sales last week amounted to about HK$7.5 billion, the third biggest weekly total on record.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

• A consortium is buying Dunn and Bradstreet for US$6.9bn
• Puerto Rico has reached an agreement with creditors to restructure bonds backed by a portion of its sales tax
• Pressure on Musk to show me the money after Day three of the ‘tweet’. Musk in trouble with SEC over twitter work.

And finally….

The Pope met with his cardinals to discuss a proposal from the Prime Minister of Israel.

“Your Holiness,” said one of the cardinals, “the Prime Minister wants to challenge you to a game of golf to show the friendship and ecumenical spirit shared by the Jewish and Catholic faiths.”

The Pope thought this was a good idea, but he had never played golf.

“Do we have a cardinal who plays who can represent me?” he asked.

“None that play well,” the cardinal replied. “But there is a man named Jack Nicklaus, an American golfer, who is very devout. We can offer to make him a cardinal, then ask him to play as your personal representative. Besides showing our spirit of cooperation, we’ll win the match.”

Everyone agreed it was a good idea and the call was made. Of course, Nicklaus was honored and agreed to play.

The day after the match, Nicklaus came to the Vatican to report to the Pope.

“I have some good news and some bad news, your Holiness,” the golfer told the Pope.

“Tell me the good news first, Cardinal Nicklaus.”

“I don’t like to brag, but even though I’ve played some great golf in my life, this was the best I’ve ever played, by far. I must have been inspired from above. My drives were long and true, my irons accurate and purposeful, and my putting perfect. With all due respect, my play was truly miraculous.”

“And there’s bad news?” asked the Pope.

“Yes,” Nicklaus sighed. “I lost by three strokes to Rabbi Woods.”

 

So a man dies, goes to Heaven, and sees St. Peter.

There are many clocks surrounding him so the man asks, “What are these clocks for?” St. Peter replies, “These are lie clocks, they tick once for every lie you tell. Here we have Mother Teresa’s clock. She has never lied so the clock has not moved.

Honest Abe has only lied twice in his life, so it has only ticked twice.”

The man then asks, “So where is Donald Trump’s clock?” St. Peter replies, “Oh, that is in Jesus’ office, he is using it as a ceiling fan!”

Substitute Trump for any politician currently!!!

Clarence

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