And its nearly over!!!! close to $400 raised..Thanks so much

Todays Highlights

• ASX 200 down 91 to 5667 closes on lows.
• High 5754 Low 5667. Strong volume.
• ASX down 50 (0.85%) for the week.
• G20 and that Dinner date beckon.
• Banks in the firing line as rally ends. Basket down to $149
• Miners and energy stocks give up gains at close
• Healthcare down again.REITs stumble.
• Staples sold off as Amazon enters market?
• Consumer stocks fall on CCL comments.
• AUD firms on weaker USD to 73.21c
• Bitcoin bounces to $4240
• Aussie Gold steady at $1673
• US futures ease down 35
• Asian markets slightly better with Japan up 0.09% and China up 0.12%

INSIGHTS FROM MARCUSTODAY TEAM

• MARCUS CALL – The changes we have made to the portfolios this week – hoping for a G20 trade deal. S&P 500 death cross pending.
• TRADING PORTFOLIO – No new trades this morning, not taking on any more risk ahead of this weekend’s G20.
• STRATEGY – Date night beckons at G20 and a look at the Fed minutes and GDP Now from the Atlanta Fed. Crucial weekend meeting for equity markets.
• SMALL CAP FOCUS – Update on where we have put our money to work this week plus a look at macro Asia after a presentation by a specialist with Ellerston Asia. NUH in a trading halt looking for money as we foreshadowed could be a possibility yesterday.

STOCKS IN FOCUS

• APT +3.97% rally continues.
• SBM +4.46% gold shines.
• CEN +5.13% Rockgas sale complete.
• BIN +3.26% book squaring after recent loss.
• AOG +4.29% strategic review update.
• CRN +0.66% broker upgrade.
• CCL -14.46% investor day and SPC closure.
• TWE -4.71% higher AUD hurts.
• ALL -7.00% broker downgrades.
• AVH – Raising $40m
• CSR -3.85% broker downgrades.
• HT1 -5.38% director changes.
• ANG -4.17% Thorney fave comes off the boil.
• PO3 -7.82% AGM comments.
• BUD – AGM presentation.
• MQG -2.05% changing of the guard as Nick no more. The king is dead . Long live the Queen.
• MYR +5.81% gets a second strike. No board spill though.
• QAN -1.65% UBS upgrades PT to 630c
• WEB +0.58% hot summer takes its toll on UK Thomas Cook.
• Speculative stock of the day: Not a day for speculative stocks. No volume in any.
• Biggest risers – MOE, HSN, LIC, AMI, CEN and MEZ
• Biggest fallers – CCL, ALL, API, SIG, COL, CIM and HT1

TODAY

• Bapcor (BAP) -0.32% Bapcor completes previously announced acquisition of Commercial Truck Parts Group, comprising Don Kyatt Spare Parts, He Knows Truck Parts, I Know Truck Parts, H.I.M Spares and Japanese Commercial Spares, which operate businesses from 10 locations in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
• Coca-Cola (CCL) –14.46% Trading update at investor day. FY18 is being impacted by accelerated reinvestment of approximately A$40M of cost savings in Australia. Volumes are still tracking slightly below 2017, and Indonesia’s NARTD demand remains soft. 2019 to be another transitional year, due to the investment required to progress business plans. CCL is targeting a return to mid-single digit EPS growth in the medium term.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Local Snapshot:

BOND MARKETS

• 2-Year bonds down 2bps to yield 2.00%
• 5-Year yields down 2bps to yield 2.19%
• 10-Year yields down 1bps to yield 2.59%

ASIAN MARKETS

• Hyundai announces US$230m share buyback.
• South Korea raises rates for first time in a year.
• Chinese manufacturing slowed again after a two-year growth spurt. Contraction in small business and new orders slowing. Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for November was 50 from 50.2 in October.

• Japanese IP rose beating expectations.
• Killer pig virus closing in on Beijing.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

• Mike Lynch has been charged by US authorities over the sale of UK software company Autonomy to HP over seven years ago.
• Will Merkel make the G20? Technical issues with her plane.
• US pending home sales drop to a 4-year low.
• Jaguar cuts another 200 jobs as production goes to Slovakia.
• Thomas Cook nose dives into the red in the UK with a GBP 163m loss. Blames UK heatwave. Implications for WEB.

Thanks for everyone’s support for Movember nearly $4000 raised.Great result.

And finally……….

A young Army officer was severely wounded in the head by a grenade, but the only visible, permanent injury was that both of his ears had to be amputated.  Since his remaining hearing was sufficient, he remained in the Army.

Many years later he eventually rose to the rank of Major General. He was, however, very sensitive about his appearance. One day the General was interviewing three servicemen who were candidates for his headquarters staff.

The first was a Captain, a tactical helicopter pilot, and it was a great interview. At the end of the interview the General asked him, ‘Do you notice anything different about me?’

The young officer answered, ‘Why, yes, Sir, I couldn’t help but notice that you have no ears.’

The general was displeased with his lack of tact and threw him out.

The second interview was with a Navy Lieutenant, and he was even better. The General then asked him the same question,

‘Do you notice anything different about me?’ He replied sheepishly,

‘Well, sir, you have no ears.’ The General threw him out also.

The third interview was with an old Sergeant Major, an Infantryman and staff-trained NCO. He was smart, articulate, fit, looked sharp, and seemed to know more than the other two officers combined.

The General liked this guy, and went ahead with the same question, ‘Do you notice anything different about me?’ To his surprise the Sergeant Major said,
‘Yes, sir, you wear contact lenses.’

The General was very impressed and thought, ‘What an incredibly observant NCO, and he didn’t mention my ears.’ He asked, ‘Sergeant Major, how do you know I wear contacts?’

‘Well, sir,’ the soldier replied, ‘it’s pretty hard to wear glasses with no bloody ears.’

Clarence

XXX

Thanks for everyone generosity!!