The market’s scepticism about Telstra is one of the most sustained negative critiques of a big Australian corporate yet seen. It makes an interesting comparison to the euphoria about telcos in the first half of last decade. The scepticism may be partly attributable to the after effects of that era. The stock is on a
The S&P/ASX 200 is steady at 4740 points with some intra-day buying support. Telstra is adding weight to the market, rallying up 1.4%. Retail sales figures surprised the unsurprisable economists, which has weighed slightly on retail stocks. The index (XJO) is dicing with its 200 day moving average (a closely watched indicator) and is still
The S&P/ASX 200 is down almost 1% to 4755 points from a 4971 point high on the 11th April, a 4.3% total loss in the current dip. Momentum and other technical indicators continue to be very negative. The small short-lived Easter rally looks like being the “dead cat bounce” as part of an overall correction
The future of Australia’s coal exports look pretty assured. The International Energy Agency is forecasting that the growth between now and 2035 in China’s energy production will equal America’s, Europe’s and Japan’s current energy usage . Despite China’s falling carbon intensity, much of the expansion this will still come from coal. As I noted in
WBC released its 2011 Interim Results today. Below is a brief summary of the key figures along with select graphs taken from the broker presentation. Profit Reported Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) was up 14% to $3.961 billion with growth in cash earnings of 8% with all divisions (incl. NZ) experiencing growth. Similarly to ANZ,
The S&P/ASX 200 is down over 1%, or 51 points at 4773 at 1pm AEST, below support at 4800 points. Momentum and other technical indicators are very negative as this broad selloff continues to hit all sectors. Three consecutive closes below the 15 day moving average are indicative of a correction pattern, but medium term
ANZ released its first-half update today. Below is a brief summary of some of the key figures along with graphs taken from the presentation. Profit Up 23% compared to 1HY10 results, however revenue is down whilst expenses are up. It seems a 40% reduction in provisions for the same period has contributed the lions share
One of the more entertaining aspects of market commentary is how superficially plausible diametrically opposite views often can be. Being a bear by temperament, I am inclined to think the market is looking very vulnerable, especially industrials. The impact of the high $A has to have some negative effect on the the non-mining industry base,
Midday Summary The market is continuing a broad selloff, as the major constituents across all sectors are down after midday. The ASX200 is down almost 0.75% and is teetering below support at 4800 points. Momentum and other technical indicators are negative but not conclusive of a broad correction as this is likely to be a
The stock market is developing a bearish character. The impact of the high Australian dollar is being felt on earnings prospects and the weakening housing market is entrenching the two speed economy. Defensive strategies are being dusted off. But given that the options are not especially attractive elsewhere, one possible defensive strategy is to do
Summary The S&P/ASX200 finished the week 90 points lower, or 1.83 per cent to 4,823 points on Friday. After a sideways move around the 4875 point level, the market experienced a broad sell off on Friday. The market is now back to its pre-Japan/MENA correction pause level, with support at 4800 points. Curiously, the correlation
Midday Summary The market opened down sharply this morning, but on a positive lead from Wall Street, which is curious. Support at 4875 points is currently broken, with the 63 day moving average the next level of support (4800 points). Momentum is now negative but not conclusive – I would consider this part of another
In yesterday’s article I looked at what a housing correction may do to the Australian share market – both from a macro economic point of view as well as the company level. We discussed which stocks would be exposed and some that may not. So now let’s see what opportunities a correction may present the
Yesterday’s inflation figures weighed heavily on the market as it dropped almost 1%, but found support at the pre-Easter opening level (4870). Overnight, news from The Bernank that everything is fine, but its not, so we will continue to stimulate, rallied all risk markets (except silver), and the Aussie market has opened up on digestion
The impact of the high Australian dollar is becoming a feature in broker forecasts and broker sentiment. Southern Cross, having blamed the Federal government for all Australia’s problems, now seems to believe that some of it is due to the high currency. Perhaps they have woken to the joys of reading MacroBusiness. A Southern Cross report today
We talk a lot on MacroBusiness about an Australian housing bubble. H&H, UE and DE are doing a sterling job of demonstrating Australian house prices are historically high by any meaningful measure. Plenty of people – in fact most in the mainstream media and real estate industry – disagree with them, some vehemently so. But
Summary After peaking sharply on the open, the market has settled slightly up after the almost week long Easter/ANZAC break, at 4918 points. NOTE: as I was compiling this report, the PPI figures came out and the market has sunk over 20 points after midday. The short term trend remains weak but positive on momentum,
Note: anything in quotation marks is a reference to earlier notes that I’ve made. These comments are read in context of an investor/trader with a medium term timeframe. The S&P/ASX200 Index (and others) Its green across the board: all stocks, futures and commodities are up and gold has surpassed $US1500 and change – but paradoxically
There has been a lot of commentary about Coles’ improved performance when compared with Woolworths’. Stephen Bartholomeusz enthuses about the “renaissance of Coles” although he is careful to say that Woolworths is doing alright as well. Elizabeth Knight enthuses about the “dazzling sales number from Coles raises the stakes in the mother of all supermarket
What a difference a couple of days can make. Earlier this week we had global inflation concerns, with a tightening from China weighing on markets. This was followed by growing sovereign concerns on restructure talk in Europe’s periphery and S&P’s downgrade to the outlook for the US’s sovereign debt rating. While these fundamentals are still
Note: anything in quotation marks is a reference to earlier notes that I’ve made. These comments are read in context of an investor/trader with a medium term timeframe. The S&P/ASX200 Index – XJO The S&P/ASX200 has bounced back slightly this morning on reflated overseas markets, up 0.7% around midday. As I said yesterday, the market
An investment note by Southern Cross looks at the effect of Australia’s political leadership on the stock market, which is a subject not often addressed, at least by analysts. Privately, many say that the Resources Super Profits Tax has scared off foreign investors for a very long time because it made Australia look “socialist”. If
Note: anything in quotation marks is a reference to earlier notes that I’ve made. These comments are read in context of an investor/trader with a medium term timeframe. The S&P/ASX200 Index – XJO The S&P/ASX200 has fallen substantially this morning and continues into midday trading, hovering around 4800 points. This is now well below its
The consensus on MacroBusiness is that housing currently has more downside risk than upside potential, that the banks’s earning growth is increasingly limited and that the consumer has switched off. Being a bear by temperament myself, I can but agree. But we bears are often wrong and it is worth at least considering the opposite case.
Note: anything in quotation marks is a reference to earlier notes that I’ve made. These comments are read in context of an investor/trader with a medium term timeframe. S&P/ASX200 Index – XJO The S&P/ASX200 is subdued this morning, just above 4850 points. The market is hovering just below its 15 day moving average and decelerating.
Woolworths released its FY11 Q3 sales update today, reaffirming the latest guidance for FY11 NPAT to increase by 5% to 8%. The market seemed to like the news, with shares up about 1% in today’s trading. Funny thing is, the update didn’t contain any unexpected news. Here’s a brief summary by segment: Supermarket sales are
Leighton’s debacle has been well analysed on MacroBusiness. It appears to be a problem of poor incentive structures, which had been changed. Bonuses were paid for winning tenders, not on whether they would be profitable. Different divisions of the company bid against each other. The result was like paying fund managers for assets under management,
Australian Market Summary The S&P/ASX200 index closed the week at 4852 points, slipping a further 0.66% on Friday, going down for the fourth day in a row. Overnight action in the US and EU supports a theory that this is just a dip, with the Dow rallying almost 0.5% and the FTSE 100 up over
I was doing some quick lunch time reading of the various Leighton’s (LEI) press releases that have hit the market recently. For those who have been living on Mars inside a cave, LEI announced a $700M+ turnaround in profit for FY11 – to come in at a forecasted loss of $427M. Ouch. The horrible
Note: anything in quotation marks is a reference to yesterday’s or earlier notes that I’ve made. These comments are read in context of an investor/trader with a medium term timeframe. S&P/ASX200 Index – XJO The S&P/ASX200 is down 16 points to 4867. The market is hovering above its 15 day moving average and slowly decelerating.
