The ASX 200 fell 15 points to 7500 (-0.2%) as early enthusiasm waned and we limped into the month and quarter-end. Big match out sell-off of 30 points. Banks under a little pressure with the Big Bank Basket down to $189.96. Insurers flat, MQG down 1.8% and MFG down 2.2% on an update on staff retention options. Healthcare slipped slightly, CSL off 0.7% and FPH back on the nose down 2.6%. Industrials mixed as WES consummated its API buy falling 1.5% and TLS rose 1.5% as the Brady Bunch story took hold. Tech on the nose slightly after Nasdaq falls and tech off in HK, XRO down 4.6% and SQ2 off 4.7%. The All-Tech Index down 1.6%. In the resources, lithium and battery tech fired up as the US looks to secure strategic metal supplies in the future. INR a big winner up 20.0%, AGY doing well up 10.6% and NVX pushing ahead by 9.7%. Iron ore stocks were also in demand as Dalian futures picked up, BHP up 2.3% and FMG rising 4.3%. Base metal stocks also good, S32 up 0.8% and MIN up 4.4%. Energy stocks fell as media reports that Biden plans to release 1m barrels a day from the SPR to counter oil price rises ahead of the OPEC + meeting tonight. STO down 1.7%, WPL down 1.4% and COE down 3.3% In corporate news, TAH announced its plan to demerge the lottery business, QAN talked net-zero by 2050 and AIZ down % on its capital raising. PDN raising $200m at 72c to restart Langer Heinrich. On the economic front plenty happening post budget as we shift to the RBA meeting next week. Last one before the election. No pressure Phil. Asian markets weaker with HK tech down on US moves to delist and China off 0.2% on lower-than-expected PMIs and more CV19 restrictions. 10 -year yield at 2.780.

End of Day Podcast – Thursday, March 31

Major Movers:

  • Winners: INR, AGY, NVX, CXO, GLN, CIA, ARU
  • Losers: 5EA, STA, AIZ, KED, REH, ABB, SQ2
  • Positive sectors: US exposed lithium and battery stocks. Iron ore
  • Negative sectors: Banks. Healthcare. Tech. Energy
  • High 7557 Low 7499
  • Big Bank Basket: Falls to $189.96
  • All-Tech index: Down 1.6%
  • Gold: Falls to $2557.
  • Bitcoin: Steady at US$47334
  • Aussie Dollar: Falls to 74.83c
  • 10-Year Yield: Steady at 2.80%
  • In Asian trade, weaker session, HK off 0.8%, China down 0.2% and Japan down 0.7%
  • US Futures: Dow up 29- Nasdaq up 58

Stocks on the Move

  • INR +20.00% US moves on lithium supply.
  • BHP +2.31% pushing towards record high.
  • CXO +8.70% Finniss project drilling update.
  • ARU +5.80% rare earths doing well.
  • GLN +7.28% HMW project update.
  • NVX +9.73% SYR +5.18% battery and graphite winners.
  • TLG +20.63% first Li-Ion battery anode plant commissioned in Europe.
  • KAR +0.47% signs agreement with Enauta.
  • AVL +32.26% kicks again. Highlighted in newsletter this week.
  • AXE +10.92% electronic transport in atom-thin graphene achieved.
  • VMY +12.50% new merger terms.
  • AIZ -6.64% capital raising.
  • ABB -4.66% broker downgrade.
  • XRO -4.56% tech slip.
  • SFG -42.31% Project Sea Dragon presentation.
  • HFR -4.5% corporate presentation.
  • Speculative stock of the Day: Tempest Minerals (TEM) +32.14% Investor webinar yesterday following Meleya update with a significant discovery at Orion target.

In the News

  • Regis Resources (RRL) repeats full-year gold production guidance of 420-475Koz at an AISC of $1,425-1,500/oz.
  • Cromwell Property Group (CMW) denies media speculation. Said it is not in any discussions in regards to AMP’s Collimate.
  • Qantas (QAN) plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
  • Tabcorp (TAH) to list lotteries segment in May. Although Racing NSW is not happy with the proposal as it may adversely affect the racing industry. Legal action has been threatened.
  • Karoon Energy (KAR) – has submitted a confidential, conditional, non-binding and incomplete offer to Enauta Energia S.A., and signed an Exclusivity Agreement to undertake due diligence and enter into confidential negotiations, in connection with potentially acquiring a 50% non-operated interest in the Atlanta oil field, Santos basin, offshore Brazil. Karoon has a robust balance sheet with US$334m of available liquidity as at 31 December 2021.
  • Paladin Energy (PDN) launches $200m underwritten placement and $15m share purchase plan (SPP) at 72c to fund Langer Heinrich restart.
  • Woodside (WPL) says the processing of gas from offshore Pluto fields has commenced ahead of schedule.
  • Vimy (VMY) and Deep Yellow (DYL) – terms agreed for a merger with 0.294 DYL for every VMY share.
  • Ramelius Resources (RMS) has established a revolving $100 million debt facility with a handful of banks including CBA, BNP Paribas and NAB.

Economic News/Bond News

  • Australian Household wealth climbed 4.5% to $14.7 trillion in the final three months of 2021.
  • Private sector credit for February was up 0.6%, in line with expectations.
  • Building approvals for February rose 43.5% well ahead of estimates of a 5% improvement. The rise in February was driven by a large increase in apartment approvals in New South Wales and Victoria according to the ABS.
  • Record job vacancies – There were 423,000job vacanciesin February, 27,000 more than November 2021 and ~200,000 more than before the pandemic, according to new seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
  • Media reports that the government plans to build another port in Darwin to replace the one we leased to the Chinese. You couldn’t make this stuff up. Hard hat photo op coming.
  • The State Street Global Investor Confidence Index fell to 99.7 points, below the neutral 100 level and down from February’s reading of 103.9, which was the highest level since November.

Asian Markets

  • China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.5 in March, down from 50.2 in February
  • Official non-manufacturing PMI, which measures business sentiment in the services and construction sectors, fell to 48.4 from 51.6 in February
  • US signals tough stance on Chinese tech stocks and possible delisting. HK tech sector falls hard.
  • VW to close part of its Shanghai factory.

US and European News

  • Biden set to announce a plan to tap the Strategic Reserve with 1m barrels a day to be released for 180 days. Details to come.
  • OPEC + meeting.
  • US criticises India as Russian envoy Lavrov visits Delhi. So much for the QUAD.
  • Germany and Austria plan for gas rationing in game of Russian roulette on paying in rubles.
  • NASA has found the most distant star ever seen. The star lies 12.9bn light-years from Earth and formed less than a billion years after the Big Bang that created the universe some 13.8bn years ago.
  • Bruce Willis has retired from acting due to aphasia diagnosis. “Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.”

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as: NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and House cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed: Desperate

The response (that came weeks later out of the blue)… 

Dear Desperate,

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter command: I thought you loved me.html and try to download Tears 6.2. Do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the Tears application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download Snoring Loudly Beta version.

Whatever you do, DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Mother-In-Law 1.0 as it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.

In addition, please do not attempt to re-install the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0.

Good Luck

Tech Support

And finally…an oldie but a goodie….

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