Updates: Rain, Floods Slash Watpac Profits
We had another corporate victim of the floods and wet weather yesterday.
Read MoreWe had another corporate victim of the floods and wet weather yesterday.
Read MoreShares in Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group climbed above $7 yesterday for the first time since September 2008 (when it was crashing as the credit crunch bit hard) after it issued an encouraging quarterly report for the three months to December.
Read MoreThe retail slowdown and the flooding has hit the first half profit expectations of Retail Food Group (RFG), the country’s leading coffee and pastry foods chain, and could have a bigger impact on the second half.
Read MoreShares in Bell Financial Group staged a solid rise yesterday in a weak market, despite strong suggestions of a fall in 2010 earnings.
Read MoreMelbourne-based Djerriwarrh Investments is paying a steady interim dividend of 10c a share despite a 16.2% lift in first half returns which followed higher dividends paid by the major banks in particular.
Read MoreIn contrast to the solid result from Djerriwarrh, another listed investor, Platinum Capital, yesterday revealed why it is expecting a loss for the December half, after reporting a profit for the previous corresponding period in 2009.
Read MoreAMP’s friendly takeover of rival AXA Asia Pacific (AXA APH) has been given a boost, after an independent expert concluded the $13.3 billion offer was fair and reasonable and in the best interests of AXA’s shareholders.
Read MoreChina’s economic conundrum was nicely illustrated yesterday by the release of two statistics, one for power consumption for the 2010 year and the other the usual monthly news on property prices.
Read MoreFor two reasons China will dominate the coming week, despite the floods in Australia and Brazil, the American reporting season and the flow of other news.
Read MoreAmid a lot of the reporting on the impact of the floods on the Queensland and Australian economies and on business, a couple of things have to be kept in perspective.
Read MoreThe week ahead brings a mix of economic indicators, both locally and overseas, with the rolling impact of the floods, China’s latest economic data for December and for 2010, US earnings and here in Australia, production reports from global mining giants, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dominating the news flow.
Read MoreThe euro and US dollar sorted out a few things last week, or more accurately, market sentiment did as the week ended with the European currency having its best week in nine months against the greenback.
Read MoreWall Street finished on a solid note on the weekend, the US dollar fell, gold plunged (see the next story), confidence in Europe and the US economy rose; overall, it was another week when the buoyant outweighed the negative (such as the rise in US jobless claims and the impact of higher oil prices and inflation fears).
Read MoreWelcome to the game for all the investing family for 2011 and beyond.
Read MoreAs we learned this week in the latest forecasts from The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), the outlook for commodities and emerging Asia and China in 2011 is still solid.
Read MoreThe key to Australia’s economic performance and the direction of the stockmarket next year will be driven by Asia and especially China.
Read MoreAmerican investors large and small and many market commentators around the world are having themselves on if they think the Fed’s $600 billion second round of spending and the mooted $US858 billion tax deal, are going to solve the biggest problem in the US at the moment.
Read MoreAs we approach the end of 2010 and the start of the New Year, what do some of the world’s biggest investors want in their Christmas stockings, or rather what do they see in their crystal balls?
Read MoreThe latest car sales figures and the Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey have underlined the paradox central to the current state of the Australian economy, especially where consumers are concerned.
Read MoreNaturally shares in Sydney-based building supplies company Crane Group jumped more than 20% yesterday after New Zealand-based Fletcher Building made a surprise $740 million takeover offer.
Read MoreSurfwear retailer Billabong has joined The Reject Shop in downgrading interim and full year sales and earnings forecasts as the retailing slowdown bites deeper.
Read MoreConfidence among Japan’s largest manufacturers has worsened for the first time in seven quarters, but so far a repeat of the slump in 2008 isn’t on the cards.
Read MoreShares in PanAust Ltd jumped more than 10% yesterday after the company revealed a surprise production upgrade.
Read MoreThe heavy rain across much of Eastern Australia since September has played a big part in reducing forecast 2011 financial year commodity export income by $3.8 billion, according to the country’s leading commodity analyst and forecaster.
Read MoreOn the face of it the latest housing starts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics were terrible, down 13.2% in the quarter ending September 31.
Read MoreWall Street was confident enough to be up 70 points on the Dow ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s announcement at 6.15 am.
Read MoreBusiness conditions and confidence remain weak, according to the latest monthly survey from the National Australia Bank.
Read MoreTransfield Services is raising nearly $300 million to help pay for a move deeper into the resources sector through the purchase of the Queensland-based resources services provider Easternwell Group for $575 million.
Read MoreA less than auspicious stockmarket start yesterday for Westfield Retail Trust (WRT), the spin-off from the Lowy family’s Westfield Group.
Read MoreAustralians might have borrowed more for housing in October, but overall personal credit shrank, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed yesterday.
Read MoreWesfarmers big Curragh coal mine in Queensland continues to lose sales and production, thanks to the continuing big wet.
Read MoreThe Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens got to the heart of our confected argument over bank competition with the following comments in his opening remarks to the Senate banking inquiry in Sydney yesterday.
Read MoreInflation surging, house prices still rising on a month to month basis, bank lending up, industrial output higher, car sales and production higher, commodity imports surging, exports up; the Chinese economy is rushing head long into 2011 without a look back.
Read MoreEven as the latest rise in China’s inflation rate took the headlines in the data dump for November last weekend, the really stunning bit of news was the surge in imports of commodities by Chinese companies (and the government?).
Read MoreChina again showed us its power over commodity prices on Friday.
Read MoreUS markets finished the week on a high note with a rise in US consumer confidence to its highest level in six months and a much bigger-than-expected fall in the country’s trade deficit, lifting investor confidence in the strength of the recovery.
Read MoreAmerica dominates the week with some significant bits of economic data to be released.
Read MoreBe very scared from now on.
Read MoreThe AMP’s chief strategist, Dr Shane Oliver says that while 2010 has been somewhat disappointing for investors, 2011 is likely to see global growth continue, and this combined with attractive valuations and easy money is likely to underpin renewed acceleration in the recovery in shares and other growth oriented investments.
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