Shares
WOW Does OK
Woolworths shares finished 2% lower yesterday after the company revealed second quarter and first half sales that just missed some market estimates.
Read MoreGUD Earnings Up, Pulls Breville Bid
GUD Holdings called off its bid for rival appliance group Breville and revealed a solid 46.4% jump in first half earnings yesterday.
Read MoreAFI Confident Despite Profit Fall
Australia’s largest listed investment company, Australian Foundation (AFI), says it is cautious, but confident about the outlook, despite experiencing the anticipated slump in earnings for the December half year as public companies cut dividends to preserve cash.
Read MoreFed Sits, Markets, US Housing Wobble
The US Federal reserve kept rates on hold at 0% to 0.25% for a ninth successive meeting and continued its view that they will remain at current levels "for an extended period of time".
Read MoreIndustrea Sees A Second Half Rebound
I know two updates don’t make a trend, but there could be something emerging in an important sector of the market, mining services.
Read MorePressure Eases On Inflation
A solid pointer to today’s Consumer Price Index with a surprise easing in producer prices in the December quarter.
Read MoreIron Ore Holdings Upgrades
The Kerry Stokes-controlled Iron Ore Holdings continues to blitz the market with news of new iron ore finds or upgrades.
Read MoreBHP-Rio Joint Venture To Be Probed
Of all the things that will or could happen in Australian business this year, the $US116 billion tie-up between BHP Billiton’s and Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations in Western Australia looms as the most important one that we know of, so far.
Read MoreWorld Steel Output To Rise In 2010
World steel output is expected to rise 10% this year, or just over 120 million tonnes, a bull point for BHP and Rio (and Fortescue Metals).
Read MoreBernanke Decision Vital For Markets
Global markets had their roughest week last week since October-November last year, but it could get even tougher this week if Ben Bernanke’s nomination for a second term as US Federal Reserve chairman fails.
Read MoreCorporates: WPL, AAC, LGL,
Shares in Woodside Petroleum fell more than 3% on Friday after the company revealed disappointing news in its 4th quarter 2009 and full year production and revenue reports.
Read MoreCommodities: Oil, Gold Weaken
Gold, copper and oil all had rough weeks as investors took profits after deciding sentiment was turning volatile and becoming uncertain.
Read MoreMarkets Take A Wobble
US shares had their worst three-day slide in 10 months last week on fears the White House’s plan to curb bank risk-taking would cut profits.
Read MoreUpdates 2: AXA-TPI
In many respects the better than forecast 2009 annual profit from AXA Asia Pacific is not very important.
Read MoreUpdates 1: GNC-OZL-STO
It’s week three of 2010 and we are already into the CEO departure stakes, with two gone in three days this week alone.
Read MoreAnother Rate Rise For Australia
Strong consumer confidence figures, rising imports and confirmation of a solid end to 2009 for the motor industry (retailers, at least) have added to the belief that we will get another rise from the first Reserve Bank board first meeting of the year on February 2.
Read MoreWorld Bank Says China To Lead World, Again
Led by continuing strong growth from China, and increasingly from other major economies, the World Bank sees global economic growth recovering to around 2.7% this year and 3.2% in 2011, after 2009 saw it contract by 2.2%.
Read MoreChina’s 2009 Surge Confirmed
If the World Bank’s forecasts of 9% GDP growth for China this year and next prove to be near the mark, then the country will move past Japan this year into second slot behind the US, and extend the lead in 2011.
Read MoreBHP’s Very Solid Quarter, First Half
As expected, BHP Billiton, had a very good second quarter and first half (to the end of December) in its various mines and commodities.
Read MoreChina’s Loans Surprise
China yesterday threw markets into confusion on the eve of the release of December quarter and 2009 annual economic figures with reports that banking regulators had ordered a halt to lending.
Read MoreGood News For Super
And helping boost consumer confidence would have been better results from their stockmarket investment and super, especially from Australia.
Read MoreConsumer Confidence Picks Up, Again
The chances of a fourth successive interest rate rise have increased after Australian consumers emerged from their annual Christmas-New Year break full of vim and vigour, with confidence hitting new highs, according to two major surveys.
Read MoreIluka In Good Position For Rebound
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources Ltd recorded a 37.5% fall in sales revenue in calendar 2009, but says revenue increased appreciably in the second half as world prices firmed off the back of the turnaround in China.
Read MoreCPU Sees Earnings Up 20%
Share registry group, Computershare, was another company to surprise on the upside in its earnings update yesterday, with news of a 20% rise which is now expected for the December half.
Read MoreFlight Centre’s Big Profit Upgrade,
There seems to be a bullish trend emerging in the early flow of corporate earnings updates for the December half.
Read MoreIMF Shares Sold Down On Law Change
Shares of corporate litigation funder, IMF (Australia) Ltd were driven down by nearly 15% yesterday in the wake of the decision by the federal government to reverse the so-called Sons of Gwalia High Court decision and remove the right of shareholders to greater priority in corporate collapses.
Read MoreData #3 Sees A Solid Rise
Shares in Data#3 Limited (DTL), jumped by more than 6% yesterday after the company confirmed that the interim profit for the 2009-10 financial year would be consistent with previous guidance.
Read MoreSolvency Law Change To Hit Shareholders
Shareholders rights trampled (again) or a justified restoration of the status quo?
Read MoreChina’s Big Week
A big week for China and Australia.
Read MoreDJW’s Interim: A Warning For All Listed Investment Companies
Melbourne-based listed investment company, Djerriwarrh Investments is maintaining interim dividend despite a sharp fall in earnings for the December half, and plans to pay an unchanged final for the six months to June.
Read MoreLihir CEO’s Surprise Exit
Lihir Gold Ltd’s chief executive Arthur Hood is going out at the top, or so it seemed from the company’s announcement yesterday.
Read MoreRebel Float Off For Time Being?
So much for all that ‘optimism" and confidence in the end of year/start of year stories in the various newspapers and on the web about the Australian stockmarket.
Read MoreCBA Runs Out Of Puff
The Commonwealth Bank saw mixed upgrades from analysts over the weekend, but its sharp jump late Friday after its surprise profit upgrade ran out of steam completely yesterday and the shares ended down 5 cents at $58.05.
Read MoreNAB Looks To Have Snatched AXA From AMP
National Australia Bank has gazumped the AMP and looks like it has snatched AXA Asia Pacific’s Australian and New Zealand units for an extra $200 million on top of what the AMP put on the table this week in its final offer.
Read MoreNAB Signals Retreat To Australia
There’s an overriding message from the NAB AXA deal yesterday and then the bank’s 2009 AGM in Brisbane.
Read MoreLNG To Boom, But Not In 2010
As we have just read, gas, specifically LNG, is the flavour of the day at the moment, and that situation looks like continuing in 2010.
Read MoreWoodside Funding On Track
More news from the growing gas sector with Woodside Petroleum confirming that it was well on track to raise the $2.5 billion it announced it was seeking earlier in the week.
Read MoreGold To Rise In 2010, But Is It A Bubble?
Gold is the other hot commodity at the moment.
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