The ASX up 89 to 5965 (1.5%) for a weekly gain of 100 points. It was all about the banks today as the sector was kick started into life following moves by Josh Frydenberg to dump the responsible lending requirements. The Big Bank Basket rocketed ahead to $120.01 with WBC leading the charge having got the fine firmly in the rear-view mirror, rising 7.4%. Insurers rallied too with SUN up % and IAG up % though MQG went nowhere and MFG rose only %.  Miners were also bid higher on the lower AUD and slightly higher commodity prices, BHP up 1.9% and RIO up 0.8%. FMG missed the memo and flatlined. Coal stocks back in fashion, WHC up 8.0% and NHC up 7.1% after SOL rose 4.6% on its results (nice work Tom on his BHS today), CSL led the healthcare sector flat line with a 0.1% gain. In techs, telcos firmed as TLS rallied 0.7% on a broker upgrade and a tie up with Microsoft. TPG also firmed by 3.0% and in the BNPL sector APT rose 2.4% after a tough week. The All Tech Index rose 0.5%. In corporate news, PBH rose 2.0%, completes retail offer shortfall. OPT up 1.1% on its US ADR listing proposal. BKW firmed 4.1% on a broker upgrade. PMV down 0.7%, RED up 5.0% on their FY results. In economic news, preliminary international trade data showed that the value of exports declined $616m (-2%) in August. The value of imports fell 7%. The 10-year yield steady at 0.80% and the AUD slightly higher at 70.67c. Asian markets saw small gains with Japan up 0.5% and China flat as European futures firmed ahead of the open.

Today’s Highlights

  • ASX 200 up 89 to 5965. Up 100 for the week.
  • High 5974 Low 5888. Average volume.
  • Big Bank Basket is ignited by lending rule change to $120.01.
  • All Tech Index up slightly by 0.53%
  • 25 trading days until the US election.
  • Dow Futures up 100
  • Gold rises to AUD$2649
  • 10-year bond yield fall to 0.80%
  • AUD rallies to 70.67c
  • Bitcoin rallies to $10679
  • Asian markets saw small gains with Japan up 0.5% and China flat as European futures firmed ahead of the open.

STOCKS

  • GMA +10.21% broker upgrades.
  • WHC +8.02% coal back.
  • WBC +7.39% not often that one appears here.
  • RED +5.00% call me King of the Hill.
  • RMC +2.92% AFG +9.19% MOC +8.98% responsible lending rule change.
  • CHN -2.44% profit taking.
  • SPL -2.13% TGA approval for VivaGel for BV.
  • RCE -6.94% cap raising weighs.
  • BYE -5.56% clarification of reserves.
  • TSO +15.79% keeps pushing higher.
  • WZR +11.43% a turn on place maybe?
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Andromeda Metals (ADN) +29.17% Good volume but no reason. Punters special.
  • Biggest Winners: GMA, WHC, WBC, NHC, IMD, NAB, AHY and ANZ.
  • Biggest Losers: MND, PNI, FLT, TGR, MYX, CHN, OCL and CCX.

TODAY

  • CSL Limited (CSL) +0.08% FDA grants orphan drug designation to Hemopexin for the treatment of sickle cell disease. FDA orphan drug designation is primarily a function of the disease not the drug – drugs that target diseases with fewer than 200,000 US patients will be granted orphan designation, and in some cases drugs targeting more than 200,000 patients can be granted the designation when the FDA judges that costs could not otherwise be recovered.
  • Zip Co (Z1P) +0.51% QuadPay secures revolving line of credit of up to US$200m from Goldman Sachs, with mezzanine financing provided by Oaktree Capital. QuadPay will use the credit facility to expand its Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) business to new merchants throughout the United States.
  • Opthea Limited (OPT) +1.06% Files US$150m offering through Citigroup and SVB Leerink, intends to list its ADSs on the Nasdaq. The company’s ordinary shares are currently listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
  • Red 5 (RED) +5.00% Full-year NPAT $4.5m vs consensus $6.1m. Revenue $200.3m vs consensus $209.9m. Underlying EBITDA $54m vs consensus $43m. Combined Darlot and King of the Hills (KOTH) gold production of 92,779oz vs guidance 90-98Koz. Gold sales of 92,953oz.
  • Premier Investments (PMV) –0.68% Full-year NPAT $137.8m vs consensus $143m. Revenue $1.25bn vs consensus $1.22bn. Final Dividend 36c, fully franked. Underlying EBIT $187.2m vs guidance of $184.8-185.8m. EBIT result includes a $8.7m channel optimisation expense to potentially close up to 350 stores in Australia and New Zealand. The group has also taken the necessary store asset impairments to close stores if suitable rental agreements cannot be reached with landlords. Observes significant online sales growth has continued into FY21 with online sales for the first six weeks up 92% vs pcp. Extremely well placed for the upcoming Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas trading period.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Preliminary trade in goods (original, current prices)

  • The preliminary figures show that the value of exports declined $616m (-2%) to $28,319m from the revised July 2020 value of $28,935m. Year-on-year, the August 2020 figure declined $5,545m (-16%) from August 2019.
  • The value of goods imported declined by $1,785m (-7%) to $24,026m on the revised July 2020 value of $25,811m. Year-on-year, the August 2020 figure declined $1,859m (-7%) from August 2019.

COVID – 19 NEWS

  • Rio de Janeiro has postponed its world-famous carnival because of the virus. Brazil reported 32,817 cases, fewer than the previous two days and continuing the general downward trend of the nation with the third-highest case count.
  • Novavax Inc. plans to start enrolling participants for a late-stage study of its experimental shot for the coronavirus in 10,000 patients in the U.K.
  • Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 0.6% compared with the same time Wednesday to 6.95m.
  • France reported 16,096 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a new record.

BONDS

ASIAN NEWS

  • The FTSE Russell will include Chinese bonds in its benchmark bond index from October 2021.
  • Sumitomo Mitsui has admitted that it has had problems vote counting. Seems it miscounted votes at 1000 AGMs. Hope they aren’t involved in US election.

EUROPEAN AND US HEADLINES

  • European futures pointing to higher opens across the board.
  • Stimulus back on the agenda. Pelosi has drafted a US$2,4 trillion package. The GOP only wants a US$1.5 trillion package. Reckon $2tn would do it.
  • Goldman Sachs says tail risk of an increase in volatility as many states count early
  • ChargePoint is set to go public in a US$2.4bn reverse merger.
  • US urged to subsidise EV in the interest in National Security as too dependent on Chinese supply chains.

And finally..


Yesterday I was sitting in my living room, just watching TV when I noticed something walking on my knee toward my thigh, it was a tiny creature , I bent towards it to take a closer look, it was a tiny turtle.
A lovely happy tiny turtle. He had a lovely smiley face. He walked on my thigh, up towards my belly, then he settled on my chest.
We were there, just looking into each other’s faces, smiling. Then a peculiar thing happened. The tiny turtle turned bright silver and his body got smaller at the sides, his tiny smiley face turned into point of a needle.
The tiny turtle had turned into a three inch sharp needle. The needle took flight and went straight for my left eye. Straight in it went, instantly blinding me in that eye. I was screaming and blood was pouring out, then the needle flew straight at my other eye. I was in complete agony and there was blood everywhere. I was taken to hospital for sedation, when I awoke I was completely blind.
Imagine how silly I felt when I discovered it wasn’t a tiny turtle after all. It was a terror pin!!.

ET and 2 nuns walk into a very crowded pub. They eventually get served,but the only space to sit is right next to the dartboard. Player throws his first dart and it narrowly misses first nun; throws second dart and hits next nun right between the eyes and kills her instantly; he throws last dart, and it bounces out of the board and sticks in ET’s neck, but he survives. Just then, a bloke at the bar shouts” one -nun-dead-and – ET!”

Clarence

XXX