The Week that Was – December 13-17, 2021

By Staff Writers | More Articles by Staff Writers

We at ShareCafe understand you are busy and may not have been left with enough time to keep up with the quality content we’ve been bringing you throughout the week. To make it easier to do so, here it is in one handy location. Just click on the headline and you’ll be taken straight to the story.

 

Tuesday 14 December, 2021

Climate Change: The Commodities Dimension

As the effort to slow climate change gains momentum, the relationship we have with commodities will be affected in wide-ranging ways—some more obvious than others.

Orica Finally Climbs out of Minova Money Pit

The market breathed a sigh of relief yesterday on news that Orica had finally offloaded Minova, which had haunted the company’s balance sheet for a decade and a half.

UK Private Health Version 2.0 for Ramsay

Ramsay Healthcare has gone back to the UK private health sector with a very different and lower priced expansion idea, announcing a $1.4 billion purchase of Elysium Healthcare.

Recovery to Continue in 2022 as we Hopefully Learn to Live with Covid

In his final column with us for the year, AMP’s Shane Oliver reviews investment returns and their key drivers in 2021 and takes a look at the investment outlook for 2022.

Wyloo Goes for the Jugular with Upped Noront Bid

All eyes will be on the board of Canada’s Noront Resources to see their reaction to the increased offer price from Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals.

Why the Boom in Household Savings Ain’t Going Away

One of the less than expected by-products of the ‘COVID cycle’ has been the boom in household savings. Quay Global Investors explains why this might be.

Air NZ Buys More Time with Government Funding

The New Zealand government has revamped its support for Air New Zealand by a further $NZ500 million and extended the repayment date by almost three years.

 

Wednesday 15 December, 2021

T. Rowe Price Nov 2021 Global Equity Recap (video)

T. Rowe Price’s Sam Ruiz gives his thoughts on how global equity markets have played out across sectors and around the world in the past month, and how his firm’s Global Fund has responded.

RIO Wipes Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi JV Debt

Rio Tinto has agreed to write off Mongolia’s outstanding $US2.3 billion debt for its share of the cost of developing the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project.

New Normal Catches Up with Woolworths

Shares in Woolworths were whacked hard on Tuesday after the company revealed a shock first half earnings downgrade because of soaring Covid-related costs.

CSL Finally Confirms $A16 Billion Vifor Deal

CSL announced late Tuesday that it has struck a deal to buy Swiss-based Vifor Pharma Ltd for $A16.4 billion, its biggest deal since listing in 1994.

NAB Survey Shows Optimism in Face of Omicron

An upbeat December business survey from the NAB yesterday says the economy is well placed to perhaps grow a little faster in 2022, despite the new Omicron variant of Covid.

The Sideways Scenario

GAM Investments’ Julian Howard believes sideways is a viable outcome for markets and that skilfully identifying consistent and independent sources of return is likely to be key.

US Fundies Turn Defensive

Big global investors have cut their holdings of equities to a yearly low and lifted their cash holdings ahead of some key central bank decisions this week.

IEA Expecting Oil Demand to Slow

Covid’s Omicron variant emergence will see global oil demand slow by 100,000 barrels per day for the rest of 2021 and 2022 according to the IEA’s latest forecasts.

Noront Ready to Talk Turkey with Wyloo

Noront Resources is willing to talk to its new highest-priced suitor Wyloo Metals, the company controlled by Fortescue Metals chair Andrew Forrest.

Latest from Immutep (ASX: IMM) on LAG-3 and 2022 Outlook (video)

The attached video covers biotech company Immutep’s latest news on their Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (LAG-3) treatment and outlook for the coming 12 months.

 

Thursday 16 December, 2021

Investors Need the Right Settings to Capture Ongoing Dividend Flows

Despite the recovery in dividend payments this year, Scott Kelly from DNR Capital believes investors would be wise to recognise that not all income strategies are delivering.

Could BNPL Player Laybuy be a Takeover Target?

Corporate Connect analyst Joh Snyman has released an updated research report on Laybuy (ASX: LBY), which after recent price weakness may be the focus of corporate activity.

Wesfarmers Makes a Stand with API Holding

Wesfarmers’ decision yesterday not to sell its 19% stake in API is seen by most market pundits as effectively being a blocking move against the bid from rival Woolworths.

Time is Money for Afterpay Shareholders

Nervous times for Afterpay shareholders as the value of the Block deal continues to slide as it awaits final approval from the sole remaining regulator, the Bank of Spain.

Westpac Board Takes the Blame for Poor Showing

Westpac chair John McFarlane apologised to shareholders after poor recent financial results raised serious questions about the bank’s ability to control its costs.

Iron Ore Rally on Shaky Ground

A shock 20% plus slump in China’s November production data from a year earlier may well take the recent gusts of favourable winds out of iron ore’s sails.

Chinese Economy Continues to Stagger Along

The final part of China’s November economic data dump yesterday showed another weakening in investment and retail sales but a small gain for industrial production.

Sustainability May Be Problematic for Some

Rob Wilson and Rob Almeida from MFS discuss how efforts to become more sustainable will challenge many companies and perhaps even bankrupt some.

US Fed Flips QE Policy on its Ear

The US Federal Reserve has made a dramatic change to its monetary policy – much more dramatic than any forecaster had predicted.

Woodside Gets Final Approval for BHP Purchase

The ACCC has greenlit Woodside Petroleum’s proposed acquisition of BHP Petroleum.

Qantas Picks Airbus over Boeing for New Fleet

Qantas has delivered a major blow to Boeing and its 737 series of jets by choosing Airbus as the preferred supplier to replace its domestic passenger fleet.

 

Friday 17 December, 2021

Nowhere to Run to, Baby, Nowhere to Hide

As Covid case numbers rebound across the country – especially in NSW and South Australia – we are getting constant reminders of the continuing dangers from the virus.

RBA Marching to the Beat of its Own Drum

The RBA maintains that the dramatic change to US Federal Reserve monetary policy announced yesterday will have no impact on its own policy plans for 2022.

Bad News Good News for NZ Economy

While Covid-driven lockdowns saw the New Zealand economy shrink by a near record 3.7% September quarter, this wasn’t as bad as some had forecast.

Qantas Flight Plan Aborted by Omicron

Qantas has warned of a “significant loss” for the December half as its recovering international business has been hit by the rise in global Covid omicron numbers.

IGO Consummates Western Areas Deal

IGO will pay $1.1 billion in cash for nickel miner Western Areas at $A3.36 per share, thereby confirming one of the worst kept secrets in the mining industry this year.

Central Banks at Sixes and Sevens

We are seeing a very different approach to the one taken a year ago, as we again head into 2022 with Covid threatening global health and economic activity.

Copper Jumps on Peruvian Mine Closure

Global copper prices rose on Thursday, jumping 2.4% to more than $US4.28 a pound on Comex, after news that one of the world’s major copper mines could close indefinitely.

Three Themes for Small Caps in 2022

Michael Steele, Co-Portfolio Manager of Yarra’s Australian Smaller Companies Equities Strategy, looks at three themes for Australian small caps moving into 2022.

Will Real Estate Stocks Build on Brisk Recovery?

Improving trends in key US segments show higher confidence in property stocks as a diversifying source of long-term returns and an effective inflationary hedge.