What a way to ruin an upbeat sales and earnings story.
JB Hi-Fi CEO, Richard Uechtritz revealed yesterday that he was stepping down mid year, a move that sent the share price south by more than 7% at one stage (or $1.45)
Macquarie Group is due to update the market today on its first half performance.
It will be news eagerly awaited by investors, now convinced that the
investment bank and fund manager won't collapse as a result of the
credit crunch and recession.
It was probably a co-incidence that saw the federal government announce
on Sunday the ending of the borrowing guarantees for banks and other
lenders.
But the update from Macquarie, plus the CBA's interim figures and
updates from the NAB and Westpac in the next 10 days, will also confirm
the rightness of the government's move.
It may have been unintended, but the international credit crunch and
recession, and the federal government's financial guarantees to banks
has effectively underwritten the restructuring of the sector.
So that's about it for the AMP and its ambitions to take over rival,
AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, with Axa's French parent, AXA SA.
The AMP said yesterday that it's considering its position in relation
to its takeover bid, following the expiry of an exclusivity agreement
with the target's French parent.
AMP said yesterday that
its exclusivity agreement with AXA SA over their bid for AXA Asia
Pacific had expired and, as a result, the two were no longer associated.
"As the agreement has terminated, AXA SA is no longer an associate of
AMP and therefore AMP is no longer a substantial holder in AXA Asia
Pacific Holdings Limited (AXA AP)," AMP said in a statement to the ASX.
The exclusivity agreement expired on Saturday, February 6.
Our market is down 28. The SFE Futures were down 31 this morning.
Wall Street fell 103 overnight and closed below 10,000 for the first time in 3 months. It is 11 years since the Dow Jones first hit 10,000, in other words, the US equity market has gone nowhere in 11 years. The Dow was up 16 at best and down 108 at worst.
Commodities did OK. Metals up. Gold put on $13 to $1066 and oil was flat at $71.67. The Aussie dollar fell slightly to 86.47c from 86.63c yesterday morning. Results season is in full swing…
* Cochlear (COH) – interims result better than expected – profit up 8%to $72.5m ahead of forecasts for $68.5m. COH up 4.15% to 6394c.
* Bradken (BKN) – interims result ahead of expectations – made $25.7m, down 26.4%, but ahead of Patersons’ expectations of $21m. They forecast improving trading conditions in the 2H. Patersons maintain their BUY recommendation. BKN up 11.6% to 653c.
Virgin Blue's earnings upgrade last week won upgrades yesterday from two leading investment banks and brokers.
In a statement,
the airline said it estimated its net profit before tax and exceptional
items at between $80 and $110 million for the year to June 30, compared
with a loss of $93 million a year earlier.
Virgin Blue's previous guidance was for a "return to profitability" this financial year.
The shares ended steady at 55c. Yesterday they edged up 1.5c to 56.5c
Analysts at Goldman Sachs JBWere said they had "revised our earnings
estimates for VBA to reflect a swifter than expected recovery in
domestic yields, as well as an improved outlook for V Australia given
its recent strength in load factors and apparent yield improvement.
The S&P/ASX 200 was up by 7 points, to finish the trading day 4,521.40.
However the good ole' USA had another shaky night on the market and our Aussie
market has opened lower this morning.
The Index has lost nearly 9% from its January high. This figure is close enough
to 10% for analysts to accept this as a 'correction'. Basically, when you hear
an analyst mention the word correction, it means the market has run too far too
fast.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the trading session below the psychological important price of 10,000. The Dow finished
at 9,908.39, down by 103 points (1.04%). The index dropped nearly 50 points in
the last 45 minutes of trading.
Overnight in the UK, the FTSE was up by 31 points, closing at 5,092.30.
The Bank of England (BoE) Inflation Report will be released on Wednesday this
week, and will be the main focus of economic data.
Well,
that's it, the taxpayer subsidised wholesale banking guarantee is set to end on
March 31st.
According to Australian Bankers Association (ABA) chief executive David Bell, "The decision comes as no
surprise and reflects the relative strength of the banking sector."
Really? Aw, you know what we think about that don't you? Do we really need to
go over the details again?
Just a little bit then. Seeing as you asked nicely...
The fact is, under a fractional reserve banking system no bank is strong or
safe. They're each as rotten and feeble as the other.
So, was the decision really "no
surprise" as Mr. Bell claims?
Gold miner Avoca Resources says it is now expecting a maiden first half pre-tax profit of $40.5 million.
The Perth-based company said yesterday
that unaudited pre-tax result for the first half of the financial year
will be $40.5 million compared to a loss of $21 million in the prior
corresponding period.
The company said the estimated first half net profit was $29.38
million, compared to a loss of $14.65 million in the corresponding
period in 2008.
Avoca’s Managing Director, Mr Rohan Williams, said that "the unaudited
$40.5 million profit for the 6 month period to the end of December is a
fantastic result and a credit to all of the operational teams at
Trident. It represents a 140% increase in revenue over the
corresponding period in 2008.
This very informative educational Newsletter is contributed by Lance Beggs. Lance is a full time trader who currently trades in forex and emini-futures. Subscribe for his free newsletter at his informative website www.yourtradingcoach.com You will not regret it.
Trading Newsletter (10th Feb 10)
• Human Perceptual Limitations - Part One • Trading Success - Predicting the Unpredictable • Tick or Range Charts vs Time Based Charts - Example 2 • Today's Trading Quote • Must Read Blog Articles • Human Perceptual Limitations - Part Two
Hi traders,
A longer one today (sorry about that). Go grab a coffee, or your favorite beverage, sit back and enjoy.
This article is contributed by Pinnacledigest.com. One of the TOP sites for more up to date information on the Canadian and US Stock Markets. For more information subscribe to their free newsletter.
Dear member,
The Dow rallied 120 points in the final hour of trading Friday on speculation
the EU will bail out Greece and Spain as soon as this weekend. In addition, The
Federal Reserve reported that consumer credit declined in December by $1.7 billion.
Unemployment in the US dropped to 9.7% as 11,000 workers were added to payrolls
in January. This is the first increase since January 2007 and the biggest since
April 2006. Make of it what you will, just be aware of the seasonal hiring
increase which played a major role in the 'positive numbers'.
The US economy is expanding and recovering, but is it sustainable?
The rules and parameters of the game have changed as our debt balloons and we
continue to print and lend money at levels never before seen or even imagined.
Bernanke and the Obama camp are attempting to pull off one of the greatest
balancing acts in the history of monetary systems. What's at stake is the long
term health of the US dollar, which more than likely, all or most of our assets
are directly or indirectly tied to.
Are things economic a bit better than markets now think?
Just as markets fret and worry about the health of the global economy,
and especially countries like Greece, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan,
along comes an optimistic report on the state of the world from a
premier international talk shop
Friday saw more volatility in markets and although Wall Street ended in
the black after a 165 point swing through the day, commodities
weakened, leaving us none the wiser about the strength and direction of
sentiment.
Despite months of ignoring the negative and believing every little
positive, many investors have started jumping at every negative shadow
and ignoring reports from groups like the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).
It said Friday that there are growing signs of economic recovery in the world's biggest economies.
