ASX 200 up 99 points to 7491 (1.3%). Just another manic Monday. Red balloons too.

  • HIGH 7506 LOW 7415. New Gold medal for ASX.

MAJOR MOVERS:  Winners: APT, DDR, 88E, NVX, Z1P, CTT, PLS Losers: GRR, ASM, PDN, PYC, TLX, MIN

  • POSITIVE SECTORS: Banks. Techs. Healthcare. Industrials.
  • NEGATIVE SECTORS: Iron ore miners.
  • BIG BANK BASKET: Firmer $181.45
  • ALL -TECH INDEX: Up 4.6%
  • GOLD: Slips to AUD $2466.
    BITCOIN: US$39727. Slipping slightly.
  • AUD: Weaker at 73.46c. 10-YEAR YIELD:  1.17%
  • ASIAN MARKETS: Japan up 1.8% HK up 0.8%% China up 1.6%
  • US FUTURES: Dow futures up 153. NASDAQ up 78.

ASX 200 rockets 99 points to 7491 (1.3%) to a new Olympic record (well, ASX record) on manic Monday after two giant bids fired up the index. APT to be bought by Square Inc in the ASX’s biggest M&A deal ever at around US$29bn and OSH and STO to ‘merge’ with STO getting the upper hand making it bigger than WPL. OSH up 4.7% on the news. APT rose 18.8% on the scrip deal with Square and others in the BNPL sector followed as Z1P rose 9.0% in sympathy. Banks had a solid day with the Big Bank Basket up to $181.45 with NAB up % on a broker upgrade. MQG had a good day up 0.6% and MFG rose 2.6% with insurers also doing well. Healthcare smouldering away as CSL rose % and RMD breathed easy up %. Big miners mixed with FMG falling 2.1% on more iron ore falls. Industrials firm, and tech stocks lifted by the APT deal with the index rising 4.6%. On the economic front, the national home value index rose 1.6% in July to be up 16.1% on the year, reflecting the strongest annual growth in 17 years. The ‘final’ IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI eased from 58.6 in June to 56.9 in July, still remains in expansion territory.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

  • APT +18.77% its hip to be Square.
  • DDR +15.95% acquisition of Exceed Group.
  • Z1P +9.0% APT effect.
  • NVX +9.7% lithium boom continues.
  • PLS +7.63% Macbank has 200c PT.
  • SWM +4.26% Olympics boost.
  • ASM –7.60% ceasing to be substantial shareholder.
  • GRR -8.28% iron ore price falls.
  • MIN -4.35% sale of RHIOV interest.
  • CIA -4.21% iron ore now in bear market.
  • LEX -31.49% Burns update.
  • POS -14.81% placement and SPP at 11c.
  • AGY +12.50% Rincon update.
  • LKE +13.98% lithium bulls back.
  • AXE +8.00% podcast? No can’t be!
  • SPT +8.70% BNPL sector bounce.
  • CTT +8.42% luxury is back.
  • TLX -6.22% profit taking.
  • RHC +0.95% says more private patients as public surgery shuts down.
  • FNP – unchanged-  total revenue up 4.3%, long life dairy and plant based beverages the winners.
  • BLD -4.18% where to now?
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Red Hill Iron (RHI) +269.09% Good volume too with the company selling its 40% interest in the RHIOJV to MIN for $400m in two tranches.$200m of the total will be paid on first commercial shipment of ore.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Afterpay (APT) +18.77% Square enters scheme implementation agreement to acquire all shares in Afterpay for ~$39bn in stock. Afterpay shareholders will receive 0.375 shares of Square Class A stock implying ~$126.21 per share, which represents a ~30.6% premium to the last closing price. Square will establish a secondary listing in the ASX to allow shareholders to trade CDIs. APT trading update: FY21 revenue $925m vs consensus $922m, underlying sales $21.1bn vs year-ago $11.1bn. Global active customers 16.2m vs year-ago 9.9m.
  • Oil Search (OSH) +4.72% Intends to recommend an improved non-binding proposal from Santos (STO) at an implied transaction price of $4.52.
  • Cedar Woods Properties (CWP) +0.90% Acquires two sites in Melbourne’s west for a combined $63.5m.
  • GDI Property Group (GDI) +1.77% Sells 50 Cavill Avenue, Surfers Paradise for $113.5m. Will net an $8.0m premium to the 30-June-2020 carrying value of $101.0m. Will use the proceeds from the sale to repay its existing loan facilities.
  • Ramelius Resources (RMS) +4.11% Increases mine plan to 1.84Moz, +27% than previous guidance. Notes that the Mine plan will be across 7 years to FY28, with a low-grade tail in FY29 and FY30, giving a total of 9 years of gold production. Sees AISC (first 7 years) between $1,390-1,490/oz. FY22 exploration budget $32m. To terminate the Lithium Royalty Deed with Liontown resources (LTR) for $30.3m payable in cash.
  • AMA Group (AMA) +2.04% Appoints Darren Basford as interim CFO.
  • Home Consortium’s (HMC) -0.33% Healthcare and Wellness REIT IPO priced at $2.00/unit. The REIT will target stable and growing distributions with the forecast FY22 annualised yield per Unit of 4.5%.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

  • The AiGroup Performance of Manufacturing index fell from a record high 63.2 in June to 60.8 in July. The ‘final’ IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ index eased from 58.6 in June to 56.9 in July.
  • House prices grew at a slower pace in July in every capital city in Australia, even as the nation posted a 1.6% increase for the month.

IN THE NEWS

  • Hockeyroos knocked out of the Olympics by India.
  • Peter Dutton forced into iso by QLD lockdown.
  • Iron ore officially in bear country. Now down 23.5% from its peak. Chinese emission targets hurting demand.
  • Bloomberg reported that daily crude-steel output at major mills fell 5.6 % in the first 10 days of July from June. It followed a drop of 5.6 % in June.

CV19 NEWS

  • Vaccine Tracker: 4.13bn doses in 180 counties. 41.8m a day.
  • In Australia, 168,714 does a day. 5 months to get to 75% of population.
  • More than 88% of adult Britons have received one vaccine dose, and more than 38 million people have been double-jabbed.
  • The U.K. is set to deliver booster shots to 32m people starting September.
  • Taiwan may further ease its Covid curbs after Aug. 10.
  • The Tokyo summer Olympic Games have reported over 250 cases among athletes and related personnel.
  • Thailand’s Covid-19 death toll surpassed 5,000 on Monday.
  • Brisbane to be in lockdown to at least Sunday.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI 50.3 in July 15-month low.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

  • European markets expected to open around 0.5% stronger.
  • European banks pass stress test. Just. Italian banks would fare the worse in a downturn. Swedish banks are the most stable. Generally in a robust state.
  • HSBC profits soar and resumes dividends. Adjusted second-quarter profit doubled from a year earlier to US$5.56bn topping analysts’ estimates of US$4.73bn. 7c in dividends.
  • Dr Fauci says worse could still be to come but rejects new lockdown.
  • Interesting to see China at the top of the medal table. The changing of the Olympic guard?
  • US and UK blame Iran for drone tanker attack.
  • Pfizer and Moderna kick vaccine prices higher.

And finally….

Scarlett Johansson is on a plane that crashes on a remote island.

She and some regular guy are the only two survivors. They make the best of their situation, scavenge what supplies they can from the plane, and try to keep going.

They build a little hut on the beach and – both of them having certain “needs” – eventually start hooking up.

This keep going as months turn into years and they fall in love. One day she notices he looks depressed. Scarlett says to him, “Listen, that plane crash was the best thing that ever happened to me because it means that the two of us are together. If there is anything at all I can do to cheer you up, please let me know.”

He tells her, “Actually, there is something. Put on a set of my clothes and tuck your hair up under one of my hats. Rub mud on your face so it looks like a beard and start walking down the beach.” Scarlett thinks this is weird but, wanting to make him happy, goes along with it. Once she gets about 200 yards down she turns around and sees her boyfriend running up to her shouting, “BRO! BRO! You’ll never believe who I’m sleeping with!”

Clarence

XXXX