Throughout Friday, the azure blue sky above Brisbane was marred by the criss-cross pattern of contrails, as investors panicked and took the first flights to safety they could find. Gold was a popular holiday spot, whilst Equityville and Commodity City were deserted come close of business. And really, who can blame them? This graph shows
The S&P/ASX 200 closed today down 52 points or 1.26% to 4251 points. Asian markets experienced similar lossess, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 1.25% at 8943 points, and the Hang Seng down 0.5% at 20184 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the AUD slipping against the USD, now at $1.0502, WTI crude down
The RBA released the quarterly Margin Lending – D10 data tables today (XLS table), and its not a pretty picture for the Australian stock market. One of the key factors in a new bull market in stocks, just like property, is a propensity for investors to borrow more on expectation of higher earnings – alongside
Qantas’ move to develop more of a regional strategy is something worth watching. Although we are in the Asian region, and heavily export to Asia, very few big Australian companies have developed strategies into the region. One that did, AMP (Axa Asia Pacific), just sold off the juicy Asian operations and concentrated on developing its
The S&P/ASX 200 closed today up 56 points or 1.33% to 4303 points. Asian markets experienced mixed results, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 0.5% at 9057 points, and the Hang Seng closing up 0.93% at 20400 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the AUD slipping against the USD, now at $1.0468, WTI crude
The “volatility” in the market — for which read, “what the hell is going on”? — is pushing brokers inexorably in the direction of dividends and capital management. If you can’t pick the direction of the capital gain, go to the income or the capital tricks. After the odd $100 billion GFC capital raising on
Seven companies reported earnings on the ASX on the 16th of August: CFS Retail Property Trust (CFX), Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA), James Hardie (JHX), Onesteel (OST), OZ Minerals (OZL), Carsales (CRZ) and Tabcorp (TAH). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall
Five companies reported earnings on Monday on the ASX: Ansell (ANN), iiNet (IIN), Leighton (LEI), UGL and Newcrest Mining (NCM). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Ansell (ANN) Ansell, the manufacturer and distributor of healthcare protection products announced a
The global economy is entering a two speed phase, both in an economic and financial sense. The economic growth is mainly occurring in developing markets, especially China and India. The financial sophistication is still heavily concentrated in the developed markets. That is creating something of an illusion. The developed markets are clearly in a state
Five companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: Dominoes (DMP) Alumina (AWC), Aquarius Platinum (AQP), Telstra (TLS) and an update from Singapore Telecom (SGT). Further, we saw sales updates from retailers David Jones (DJS) and Harvey Norman (HVN). David Jones announced a 10% drop in sales in the fourth quarter, with a full year drop
The S&P/ASX 200 jumped on the open on overnight rallies in the US and Europe and is up 56 points or 1.35% at 4197 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing a mix of gains, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.17% at 8997 points, and the Hang Seng up 1.5% at 19896 points. Other risk assets
Markets are nothing if not volatile at the moment as last nights price action again showed. From the low yesterday after the employment number the AUD has rallied 230 pips to sit at 1.0336 as I write. The Dow finished up 423 points or 3.95% and equities and so-called risk assets generally had a much
The reporting season is in full swing, but the extreme gyrations of the market make it hardly seem to matter. What we may be witnessing is the amplification effect of algorithmic trading, which is likely to occur when anxiety increases and fewer buyers are available. This is of course impossible to know with certainty —
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped on the open, but then strongly recovered as the unemployment figures were released but is still down 20 points of 0.5% from yesterday, at 4120 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing ructions, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.2% at 8922 points, and the Hang Seng down 0.5% at 19687 points. Other
Four companies reported earnings today on the ASX: Flexigroup (FXL), Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Computershare (CPU) and Stockland (SGP). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Flexigroup (FXL) Flexigroup, a point-of-sale lease/rental finance company, announced a 27% increase in net profit
The S&P/ASX 200 jumped again on the open, and is now up over 124 points or 3% at 4158 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar big gains, with the Nikkei 225 up 1.15% at 9047 points, and the Hang Seng up further, up 3.3% at 19935 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the
The ideological assault of the market worshipers on government is starting to have its inevitable result — extreme market uncertainty. In a system of rules, which is what a financial system is, endless denigration of the rule setters (governors and regulators) because of alleged incompetence or wicked constraint on basic liberties will always result in
Five companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: Reckon (RKN), Bradken (BKN), Cochlear (COH), Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) and an update from National Australia Bank (NAB). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Reckon (RKN) The accounting software company posted its
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped again on the open, after absorbing one of Wall Streets biggest one day falls in history. The market is down over 168 points or 4.4% and stands at 3817 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar sharp losses, with the Nikkei 225 down 4.5% at 8692 points, and the Hang Seng
JB Hi Fi released its FY11 result yesterday. Given the shellacking retail has been taking in recent months, and the ongoing market ructions, we have been eagerly awaiting the results of our favourite retail stock. Sales Revenue increased 8.5% to just under $2.9 billion. Consumer electronic sales (which represent 75% of total sales) grew by
Two companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: JB Hi-Fi (JBH) and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. JB Hi-Fi (JBH) JBH reported a profit of $134.4 million in the 12 months ended 30
So, where is the bottom? To begin to fathom an answer, me must first understand why markets are falling. Last night’s action offers some clues. Although there is plenty of press blaming the US downgrade, it is far more than that. For starters, the downgrade has seemingly done nothing to the attractiveness of Treasuries as
I know we’ve had a bad day on the sharemarket and I’m no doubt doing a bit of data mining as a result. But I’ve noticed a rather nasty sequence of head and shoulders patterns forming on the S&P500. First, the 1 year chart: That’s a beauty isn’t it? We reported it last week and
Brokers are predictably divided over the ructions in the market. In theory the declines should add up to some buying opportunities, but bear markets, and that is surely what it now is, are notoriously hard to pick. The big question in this a cycle — i.e. is there enough that constitutes a reliable centre around
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped on the open, after absorbing the S&P downgrade over the weekend, then recovered somewhat but has now rolled over again after lunch. The market is down over 73 points or nearly 2% and stands at 4031 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar sharp losses, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.3%
The S&P/ASX200 has slid 12% in four weeks with similar falls across major developed markets as the Western crisis has gathered pace in the past month. Apart from the usual and vapid insistence to buy any and all stocks now because they are “cheap”, some commentators have said that ”buy and hold” is dead and
Only one company reported earnings today on the ASX: Resmed (RMD). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Resmed(RMD) Resmed, a manufacturer and marketer of respiratory disorder products, announced year end revenue of US$1.2 billion, a 14% increase, resulting in
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped on the open, down over 160 points or nearly 4% and is now at 4115 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar sharp losses, with the Nikkei 225 down 3.5% at 9319 points, and the Hang Seng falling further, down 4.5% at 20895 points. Other risk assets are getting walloped, with
Three companies reported earnings today on the ASX: Rio Tinto (RIO), Transurban (TCL) and Energy Resources Australia (ERA). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) ERA reported a loss of $121.7 million in the six
The S&P/ASX 200 is down slightly after midday, 16 points or 0.3% at 4316, after digesting European market plunges and US market shenanigans overnight. Other Asian markets are experiencing gains, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.97% at 9724 points, and the Hang Seng steady at 22026 points. Other risk assets are generally down, with the
