A bad finish to the week. ASX falls 60 points to 6204 closes at its low. US futures down 50 points but China sees its biggest fall for three years as a local broker says ‘sell’. ECB calls time for the hawks, as Europe stumbles. Locally banks were hit hard as banking CEOs face another grilling in Canberra. CBA and WBC so far have faced the music. Big miners slumped on Chinese export news with BHP down 1.4% and RIO 1.8% down. Healthcare eased but consumer stocks performed better with defensive stocks like WOW up 0.3% and SYD up 1.1%. Gold producers saw some buyers nibbling.with REITs the only sector positive. For the week, the index is hardly changed. AUD under pressure and could crack 70c tonight.

Todays Highlights

• ASX 200 down 60 to 6204 as ECB warnings weigh.
• High 6255Low 6204. Index rebalancing announced.
• ASX 200 up 11 points for the week.
• Banks sink as CEOS face yet another grilling.
• Resources off the boil as energy slumps.
• Gold producers rise on defensive buying.
• Bond proxy stocks hold up with consumer stocks.
• AUD slips to 70.11
• Bitcoin weaker at US$3857
• Aussie Gold firms to $1835
• US futures down 50
• Asian markets down heavily with Japan down 1.84% and China down 2.87%

 

STOCKS

• OGC +8.60% Investor day presentation
• JIN +4.89% Index changes. Big jackpot next week.
• JBH +1.27% consumer stocks in favour on rate cut hopes.
• SUL +2.10% same applies.
• IFN -6.54% index rebalancing.
• WSA -5.51% shorts back as nickel falls.
• ORE -5.52% of shorts hit again.
• SPT +16.36% punters continue to pile in. Not convinced.
• MTS -3.64% bears are back.
• CVN +2.38% joins the index club.
• CBA -2.01% CEO tells Canberra that shareholders will foot the remediation bill.
• CSL -0.06% MS reiterates equal weight.
• APT +2.99% platform sale next week.
• Speculative Stock of the Day: Fremont Petroleum (FPL) +22.22%after strong oil and gas flows encountered at J.W. Powell Well.
• Biggest Rises: OGC, WPP, JIN, CVW, EVT and CIA.
• Biggest falls: IFN, ALG, ORE, WSA and FXL.

TODAY

• Invocare (IVC) – Announce a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise $65m at a floor price of 1330c (a 7.3% discount to yesterday’s close), with a follow-on share purchase plan of up to $20m. The funds will be used to provide incremental balance sheet flexibility as the company continues its pursuit of strategic growth opportunities.
• Magellan Financial Group (MFG) –2.14% Report $76.03bn of funds under management (FUM) at 28 February, up 4.22% on the number at the end of January. Through February the company received net inflows of $284m, made up of $100m of net retail inflows and $184m of net institutional inflows.

ECONOMIC NEWS

• NAB joins the rate cut call club.2 cuts in 2019. Bond traders are now pricing in a 50% chance of a cut by June or July, and a full cut by October.

BOND MARKETS

• 2-Year bond yields down 2bps to yield 1.65%
• 5-Year yields down 3bps at 1.66%
• 10-Year yields down 6bps to yield 2.02%

ASIAN NEWS

• Chinese exports drop by 21% in February. The steepest decline in three years.
• A rare sell the market recommendation from one of China’s largest broker taken as a sign authorities want to slow the bull market. Citic Securities Co. advised clients to sell the shares, saying they are “significantly overvalued” and could decline more than 50% over the next year.
• Chinese stocks take a hit, down 2.9%.

EUROPEAN AND US NEWS

• Paul Manafort gets 47-months in gaol.
• Canadian PM Trudeau has declined to say sorry over the evolving scandal over the SNC-Lavalin affair.
• Airbnb has bought HotelTonight ahead of its proposed IPO.
• Germany has failed to ban Huawei from its 5G network.
• EU urges Trump to abandon trade tariffs.

And finally…………..

Boy complains to his father: You told me to put a potato in my swimming trunks! You said it would impress the girls at the pool! But you forgot to mention one thing!

Father: Really, what?

Boy: That the potato should go in the front.

 

A mother asks her son: “Anton, do you think I’m a bad mom?”

Son: “My name is Paul.”

Yesterday was my birthday and I didn’t feel very well
waking up on that morning.

I went downstairs for breakfast
hoping my wife would be pleasant and say,
‘Happy Birthday!’,
and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out,
she barely said good morning,
let alone ‘ Happy Birthday.’

I thought…… well, that’s marriage for you,
but the kids…. they will remember.

My kids came down stairs to breakfasts
and didn’t say a word..

So when I left for the office,
I felt pretty low and somewhat despondent.

As I walked into my office,
my assistant said
‘Good Morning
and by the way
Happy Birthday! ‘

It felt a little better
that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o’clock,
when my PA knocked on my door
and said, ‘You know,
it’s such a beautiful day outside,
and it is your birthday,
what do you say we go out to lunch,
just you and me….’

I said, ‘Thanks,
that’s the greatest thing
I’ve heard all day. Let’s go!’

We went to lunch.
But we didn’t go where we normally would go.
He chose instead a quiet cafe
with a private table.
We had two martinis each
and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office,
she said, ‘You know,
it’s such a beautiful day…
we don’t need to go straight back to the office,
do we?’

I responded, ‘I guess not.
What do you have in mind?’
He said, ‘Let’s drop by my place,
it’s just around the corner.’

After arriving at his house,
She turned to me and said,
‘If you don’t mind,
I’m going to step into the bedroom
for just a moment.
I’ll be right back.’
‘Ok.’ I nervously replied.

She went into the bedroom and,
after a couple of minutes,
she came out
carrying a huge birthday cake ….
followed by my wife
my kids, and dozens of my friends  all singing ‘Happy Birthday’.

And I just sat there….

On the couch……

Naked.

Clarence

XXXX