By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 161 points or 1.4% while the S&P gained 1.3% to 1273 and the Nasdaq closed up 0.7%.If I had told you last week that the Dow was up 160 points on a night oil was up four dollars you'd have thought it was a typo. But that's where we find ourselves, only one week after a period in which rising oil simply meant falling stocks.Last night MENA was firmly back in the frame. Tensi...
In 2007 the US housing sector and all the exotic securities than hang off dodgy valuations, falling prices and going broke homeowners smothered the US financial system and economy, producing the 2008 crash and crunch.In 2011 the US housing sector remains broken and is in danger of smothering, or at best severely retarding America's stuttering economic recovery.In its post meeting statement th...
A speech this week by a senior executive at the Reserve Bank should force all investors to reassess their holdings (if they have them) in Australian banksIn short, if you are looking for capital gains in the next three years from bank shares, which dominate the local market, then think again.And if you are income driven, the banks will find themselves under increasing pressure to drive earnings hi...
The early gloomsters are out and about proclaiming that Australia will suffer from any sell off of Japanese investments or from any slump in Japanese economic activity as a result of the quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.Many of these 'experts' are the same who saw collapse and debt crisis in the GFC for Australia, and have yet to get around to correcting some of their more outrageous co...
Macquarie Group has announced today that its chairman David Clarke has formally stepped down from his post to address some personal health issues.
The gains attained by the Australian dollar to reach parity along with the US dollar had been wiped away by the volatile pessimistic markets.
- Oil is China's biggest import- Oil price strength pushing inflation higher- Currency revaluation should followBy Greg PeelAs Libya descended into civil war and Saudis threatened a Day of Rage, the price of Brent crude reached a peak above US$116/bbl. The Saudi protest did not materialise and thus took some of the heat off the oil price, but it is the immediate reaction to the Japanese earthquake...
The AUD has gone into freefall this morning as fears grow over the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.
By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 225 points or 2% while the S&P lost 2% to 1256 and the Nasdaq dropped 1.9%. The S&P is now one point down for 2011.I suggested yesterday that Prime Minister Kan appeared to be keeping the world up to date with developments – a far cry from the Chernobyl incident in Russia which saw the first alarm raised by Sweden. The Japanese are renowned for their calm in a...
News of another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power station sent shockwaves through global markets.
The Australian share market closed in the black for the first time in the past six trading sessions, triggered by strong gains in Tokyo and buoyed by bargain hunting.
US producer prices rose by 1.6pct in February - marking the largest monthly increase in 18 months. In the 12 months to February producer prices were up 5.6pct. Energy price surged by 3.3pct in February.
A rather bullish outlook from major miner Rio Tinto in its 2010 review released yesterday helped the shares rebound nearly 2% in yesterday's steadying market.The shares rose $1.53, or 1.98%, to $78.94 after being as high as $79.52 in the morning as investor sentiment about stocks, especially commodities and uranium miners (Rio has a mine or two in Australia and South Africa), recovered from T...
Australia-based uranium production company Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) expressed its deepest condolences to the people of Japan following the tragic events of Friday 11 March 2011.
Murchison Metals Ltd (ASX: MMX) has formally executed its agreement with Resource Capital Fund V L.P. (RCF V) for the US$100 million Bridge Finance Facility that was announced to the ASX on 19 November 2010.
Music and record-producing companies will soon realize the untapped potential of digital music subscription that will also curb the availability of free music downloads online.
- The eurozone has surprised by suddenly announcing new agreements- The bail-out fund is now bigger and concessions have been made to Greece- It's an improvement, albeit still not enough to cover Italy- But it may yet prove a turning pointBy Greg PeelLast week the world was distracted by MENA uprisings, including planned Saudi protests and the ongoing civil war in Libya. But Europe was suddenly ba...
News of another explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power station sent shockwaves through global markets. With the Nikkei plunging more than -10%, the largest one day decline since 1987, risk liquidation accelerated weighing the Aussie down. Initial reactions saw the Australian Dollar slide to 0.9925 against the Greenback.
U.S. stocks sank Tuesday as worries deepened over the specter of a nuclear crisis and economic slowdown in Japan, but encouraging comments from the Federal Reserve kept the losses in check.
- Experts are trying to assess Japan's earthquake and commodity market implications- LNG, Coal likely winners- Long-term contracts to support uranium- Oil price forecasts also liftedBy Chris ShawThe full impact of the damage and losses suffered in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck on Friday afternoon still cannot be accurately assessed, but with markets remaining open bro...
By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 137 points or 1.2% while the S&P lost 1.1% to 1281 and the Nasdaq dropped 1.3%.The first thing to note here is that Australia is currently leading Wall Street rather than following it as usual, given the critical situation at present is in the Asian time zone. Having fallen 6% on Monday, yesterday the Nikkei fell another 10% as the focus moved from the cost of the t...
Don't expect too much in the way of changed language from the post meeting statement from the Fed.In reality not much has really changed from the last meeting in January.A small improvement in the jobs market is being offset by fears the damage that could flow from oil prices above $US100 a barrel and petrol prices between $US3 and $US4 a gallon.Inflation fears are overdone; the overhang of u...
Australian interest rates will be on hold for a while longer as the central bank confirms that it will ignore short term blips and troughs in inflation and other data caused by the floods and bad weather.In the minutes of the March 1 board meeting, released yesterday the RBA said."Members confirmed that the Board's approach would be to look through temporary effects caused by extreme weather ...
By Greg PeelIs the world about to end? Fans of the Book of Revelation may be somewhat inclined to believe so, but seismologists recently interviewed by the media have played down the implications of the seemingly endless stream of seismological events the world has suffered over the past couple of years, noting that such activity usually occurs in clusters. Eventually the earth will settle down ag...
Australia had A$1.79 trillion (US$1.82 trillion) in funds under management (FUM) in the December quarter 2010, according to Austrade.
Australian uranium exporters spearheaded a fall in Australian's stock market Monday after a devastating earthquake and tsunami last week hit Japan, Australia's second biggest trading partner behind China. Insurers and agricultural companies also fell, while steelmakers, oil refiners and clean energy producers were among a handful of gainers. The S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.2% at 4588.3 points around 0220 GMT after earlier hitting low of 4564.1.
By Greg PeelRegular readers of this weekly report will appreciate that it summarises activity in the spot uranium market from the week before as noted by industry consultant TradeTech, and notes the indicative price for the week set by TradeTech. While this week's report will briefly summarise last week's activity, let us be clear all reported transactions occurred in blissful ignorance of what wa...
The Australian Dollar weakened against the US Dollar as Japan's biggest earthquake dampened demand for higher yielding assets.
U.S. stocks fell to six-week lows Monday as investors worried about the financialfallout from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
- Asian stocks have been undervalued on US economic strength vis a vis Asian tightening- The potential is there for a strong June quarter- QE2 uncertainty nevertheless throws up risks- Australia is a foreign proxy for Asia By Greg PeelAsian equities have been a popular destination for foreign investment flows post-GFC given the disparity between soaring emerging market GDP growth compared to strug...
