The ASX 200 continued to flip flop closing unchanged at 7416, up 48 points for the week. Banks and miners sagged as the Big Bank Basket drifting to $187.69. Other financials managed to sway with MQG up 0.6% and MFG losing some steam but still the talk is of bottoming? Insurers remained unchanged despite 10-year yields continuing to rise up to 1.81%. Resources stocks were torn and frayed, BHP down 2.2% with FMG slipping 0.7% and coal stocks proving you can’t always get what you want, falling hard again with CRN down 5.1% and WHC off 3.0%. Energy stocks were all down the line too, STO off 2.2% and WPL down 2.8%. Industrials were painting it black, WES rose 3.2%, WOW up 1.6% and TCL not fading away up 1.0% as traffic numbers and reopening boosted sentiment. Healthcare saw some defensive buying with CSL finding a connection up 0.4% and FPH moving 1.9% higher together with RMD up 1.2%. REITS doing well though tech remained undercover as APT down 0.3% and XRO down 0.3%. The All–Tech Index flat. In corporate news, QAN announced you would be able to take a trip to the moonlight mile up 0.2%, other travel stocks couldn’t get no satisfaction despite Victoria coming out of the longest lockdown ever. ABB replied to media speculation on an acquisition and CRW jumped 15.8% on ANZ buying the whole business. Wild horses couldn’t stop them. Nothing on the economic front but in Asia, Nevergrande scrapped in within the 30-day grace period to pay a $83.5m interest payment.

MAJOR MOVERS:

  • Winners: CDD, LKE, CXO, CTT, NVX, MYX, ABB, MAF, EVT, OCL, NTO.
  • Losers: DEG, LYC, YAL, OMH, AZJ, CRN, CVN, ALK.
  • Positive sectors: Healthcare. REITs. Industrials.
  • Negative sectors: Miners. Oil and gas.
  • Hi 7431 Lo 7391
  • ASX 200 up 48 points for the week.
  • Big Bank Basket: Down slightly to $187.69
  • All-Tech index: Up 0.24%. APT down 0.3%
  • Gold: Up to AUD2390
  • Bitcoin: Slips to US$63190
  • Aussie Dollar:  Slightly higher at 74.77c 10-YEAR YIELD: Rallies to 1.81%
  • Asian Markets: Japan down 0.02% Hong Kong up 0.49%. China up 0.16%. Nevergrande pays up.
  • US Futures: Dow futures up 21. NASDAQ futures down 77.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

  • CXO +8.70% Gangfeng equity investment becomes unconditional.
  • CRW +15.79% ANZ moves to 100% with cash takeover at 113.5c.
  • ABB +5.13% company goes over the wire with acquistion.
  • NXL +2.69% new brooms.
  • WES +3.17% broker upgrades following AGM.
  • LKE +15.58% recent presentations.
  • LBY +8.25% new debt facilities.
  • MDR +12.12%% US update.
  • ST1 +10.20% ABB mentioned as possible acquirer.
  • WBT +5.79% ReRam tech talk.
  • YAL -8.06% CRN -5.07% coal slumps.
  • AZJ -6.17% acquisition weighs.
  • DEG -8.68% returns to trade post $125m cap raise.
  • CVN -4.48% oil prices ease.
  • LYC -8.06% rare earths affected by CV19.
  • TIG -14.81% coal price falls.
  • CBR -6.76% quarterly report.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: Cons Zinc (CZL) +65.85% offtake agreement for 100% of Plmases zinc concentrates.

IN THE NEWS

  • Helloworld (HLO) – TTV climbed 50.7% in the September quarter, with revenue up 62.7%. Its EBITDA loss for the quarter finished at $3.6 million, versus a loss of $6.3 million in the prior corresponding quarter.
  • Orocobre (ORE) – Production report with 67931dmt of spodumeme concentrate in the September quarter at US$351 a tonne.
  • Insurance Group Australia (IAG) – Sticks to guidance of premium growth. Insurance margin is still forecast to finish between 13.5% – 15.5%. Provisions for natural perils remains unchanged at $765m.
  • HUMM (HUM) – Humming along with transaction volumes up 44.5% to $308.8m in the last quarter and TTV up 39.6% to $763.3m.
  • Aurizon (AZJ) offers to buy One Rail for $2.35bn.
  • Lynas (LYC) – CV19 has taken its toll. Malaysian cases have meant sales have fallen to $121.6m against $185.9m in the last quarter.

ECONOMIC NEWS/ BOND MARKETS

  • RBA calls for the removal of the rules surrounding retailers passing on BNPL commission to customers. Backflip with a pike here.
  • RBA offered to buy $1bn of three-year government bonds in its regular market operations to restrain a recent jump in yields above its 0.10% target.

CV19 NEWS

  • Thailand will allow quarantine free travel from US, UK and China.

ASIAN MARKETS

  • Nevergrande has paid the US$83.5m of interest due just creeping in before the 30 day deadline on tomorrow.
  • China’s top financial regulator has said that he expects to achieve significant progress in the crackdown on fintechs. The authorities have identified over a 1000 issues with 14 fintechs platforms. Maybe tech crackdown coming to an end.
  • Police in China have arrested a superstar pianist with a sex worker. Sends a warning to celebrities. Alec Baldwin has shot and killed the photography director on a film set using a prop gun.

US AND EUROPEAN NEWS

  • Biden says US will defend Taiwan against any attack from China.
  • Deutsche Bank whistleblower gets $200m in record reward payout.
  • WeWork debuts. Neumann’s stock worth over US$1bn.
  • US drops threats of tariffs after digital tax deal.

And finally….

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House.  One is from Chicago, another is from Kentucky, and the third is from New Orleans. 
 
All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. 
 
The New Orleans contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. 
 
“Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $9,000.

That’s $4,000 for materials, $4,000 for my crew and $1,000 profit for me.” 

The Kentucky contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $7,000. 

That’s $3,000 for materials, $3,000 for my crew and $1,000 profit for me.” 
 
The Chicago contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$27,000.” 
 
The official, incredulous, says:

“You didn’t even measure like the other guys. How did you come up with such a high figure? ” 
 
The Chicago contractor whispers back: “$10,000 for me, $10,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Kentucky to fix the fence.” 

“Done!” replies the government official. 

And that, my friends, is how the USA $3.5 trillion Build Back Better legislation will work. 

“I love my country. It’s the government I’m afraid of!” 

Clarence

XXX