TechOne Overcomes Brisbane Council Dispute
Investors liked the numbers in yesterday’s half year report from Brisbane-based TechOne shares with the shares up 4.5% to $5.78 in a market that eased overall.
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Downer Extends Spotless Bid Deadline
Downer EDI has extended its $1.26 billion takeover bid for cleaning and catering company Spotless by two weeks, to June 14. The infrastructure and mining services company did not provide any reason for the extension in its statement to the ASX yesterday, but reiterated that the offer was final and urged Spotless shareholders to accept it.
Read MoreVillage Roadshow Flags Singapore Screen Sale
Village Roadshow continues to shrink its asset base to cut debt and save the company from a credit crunch.
Read MoreBanks To Win From Levy
The big four banks, the ANZ, Westpac, the NAB and the Commonwealth Bank told the ASX yesterday (https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/media/media-releases/2017/22-may/) that the gross impact of the federal government’s levy could be around $1.380 billion a year on gross basis for both banks.
Read MoreSurfstitch Losses Set To Double
More red ink for online sports clothing retailer SurfStitch which is now considering selling off more of assets and retreating from the US as it forecasts a doubling in losses for the year to June 30.
Read MoreOil Rises On OPEC Optimism
A big week for oil and the global economy with OPEC’s meeting Thursday night our time expected to underwrite oil prices around current levels, or a bit higher by extending the current production cap for another six to nine months.
Read MoreACCC Kills Outdoor Ad Merger
Strong opposition from the competition regulator, the ACCC has forced two of the country’s biggest outdoor advertising groups, APN Outdoor and Ooh media to call off their $1.6 billion marriage.
Read MoreDiary: Trump Travels, Fed Minutes, OPEC Meets
Oil will dominate the coming week, along with President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip.
Read MoreUntidy Week Sees ASX Shed 1.9%
Most global share markets saw gains on Friday, or smaller losses than on Thursday as the sell-off sparked by fears about Donald Trump’s competence eased.
Read MoreFundies Crowd Into Europe, Tech Exposure
Up to Wednesday night global markets (but not so much Australia) and especially big tech stocks were hot – Nasdaq hitting new highs early in the week and proving to be a much stronger play for investors so far in 2017 than the Dow or the S&P 500.
Read MoreSirtex Slammed, Telstra Squeezes Vita
Losers’ Corner #1:
Read MoreJapan’s GDP Extends Run of Gains
Japan has recorded its longest run of sustained economic growth in more than a decade as stronger global demand especially for tech products and an improvement in household spending helped drag the economy higher for yet another quarter in the three months to March 31.
Read MoreChina’s House Price Data Contradicts
Meanwhile there was another slightly contradictory report on Chinese house prices yesterday.
Read MoreInvestors Markdown James Hardie Despite Profit Lift
Building products group, James Hardie produced a sort of mixed full year result yesterday and the shares got hammered in the sell off by investors nervy at the smallest bit of worrying news.
Read MoreNew Bidder In Fairfax Auction
Control of Fairfax Media and three of the best known newspapers in the country looks like changing hands after a second US private equity group made a higher conditional offer, setting up an auction for the Sydney-based company.
Read MoreNew Trump Jitters Stirs Shares
The ASX is looking at its second 60 point fall in as many days after Wall Street suffered its biggest one day slide in eight months overnight Wednesday amid growing tensions about the performance of President Donald Trump.
Read MoreEmbattled Oroton Rolls Out Strategic Review
The chances of upmarket accessories retailer OrotonGroup being privatised have risen sharply after it revealed yesterday it had hired investment bank Moelis & Company to conduct a strategic review warning of a shock plunge into the red for the 2016-17 financial year.
Read MoreDulux Paints Bright Outlook
Shares in paints group, DuluxGroup hit another all time high yesterday in the wake of the release of a solid half year report and higher interim dividend.
Read MoreRetail Gloom Sinks Officeworks Float
Blame the at times hysterical media reporting and stockbroking analyst reports about the weak stock market, the advance of Amazon upon our shores, and/or the fickleness of local consumers but there won’t be an Officeworks float happening any time soon, or a trade sale.
Read MoreWage Growth Stalls Again
Australian wages again stalled in the three months to March, raising doubts about a key part of the government’s 2017-18 budget, and leaving millions of Australian private sector employees further behind.
Read MoreWeak TJX Result Adds To US Retail Gloom
America’s retail malaise has more weak reports with the previously strongly performing TJX Cos, the off-price retailer behind stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls, (and TK Maxx in Europe, and now in Australia with 25 outlets) surprising with sales growth slowing to the lowest rate for three years.
Read MoreBuffett Confirms Higher Apple Stake
Berkshire Hathaway has confirmed that it sharply increased its holding of Apple and sold some of its stake in International Business Machines in the first quarter, according to a new securities filing.
Read MoreOrica Flags Mining Sector Improvement
Shareholders in explosives maker and mining equipment group, Orica will see a small lift in dividend for the six months to March 31, but it will not restore the interim payout to the 40 cents a share it was two years ago.
Read MoreCoke Comes Up Empty
No good news for Coca Cola Amatil shareholders about its struggling market operations at its annual meeting yesterday.
Read MoreElliott About-Face On BHP Lacks Credibility
This is the story many in the business media and the investment industry won’t tell you – but that attack on BHP from a US hedge fund and private equity group has collapsed as it has been forced to significantly recast its ideas.
Read MoreChina’s Steel Output Continues To Rise
So what is happening in China’s steel industry – iron ore prices have fallen by around 25% this year (iron ore is steel’s most important raw material) and yet production has now notched up two record months.
Read MoreHow Amazon Is Already Hurting US Retailers
As we pointed out last year on several occasions, it is not just the Australian retail sector that is feeling pain at the moment. American retailing is doing it tougher as they face sluggish customers, moderate economic growth and the growing clout of online giants such as Amazon.
Read MoreOroton Bags New Downgrade
OrotonGroup (ORL) shares are expected to resume trading later today after the board provides the numbers of flesh out yesterday’s downgrade in five months.
Read MoreChina’s Economy Loses Momentum
Ignoring China’s record crude steel production last month (see separate story), the monthly economic activity data drop yesterday shows clear signs of a slowdown as the attack on debt and shadow financing saw short term interest rates rise and commodity prices tumble.
Read MoreTPG Edges To Fairer Fairfax Bid
It was hardly the most stunning reception for a higher takeover bid, but the new conditional $1.20 a share cash offer for Fairfax Media (FXJ) has at least started the ball rolling towards some sort of finality.
Read MoreASX Ends Week Flat
A quieter start to this week for share markets – no French election fall out, no sell off in oil, no changes to media laws and no Federal budget and its tax on banks. But the increasingly erratic Donald Trump is still with us, as are doubts about the health of retailing in Australia and the US as well as concerns about housing, wages and earnings downgrades (here).
Read MoreOliver Pours Cold Water On Budget
A leading economist has poured cold water on the confident budget strategy of the Turnbull government by warning that there is a chance the March quarter GDP may again produce a negative result to go with the still shocking 0.5% contraction in the three months to September 2016.
Read MoreNewcrest Lowers Cadia Gold Guidance
Newcrest (NCM) has lowered its 2017-18 production guidance for the Cadia gold mine in NSW due to damage from last month’s earthquake, but says production should start in the September quarter, news that will relieve some shareholders who were fearing a longer shutdown.
Read MoreOil Gains On More OPEC Hopes
Global oil prices settled ended all but unchanged, but still notched up their first weekly gain in a month on expectations that OPEC will agree to extend its production-cut agreement for six months or more, and may even deepen the cuts.
Read MoreDiary: RBA Minutes, Local Jobs, Japanese GDP
News flow this week should be a little slower than what we saw a week ago, but there will be enough to keep investors on their toes.
Read MoreMoody’s Downgrades Canada’s Big Banks
A credit rating warning for Australia’s big banks as they struggle with the new tax from Canberra on top of concerns about home lending and house prices, not to mention high levels of consumer debt?
Read MoreMyer Sales Dip In Q3
Myer’s (MYR) shares weakened yesterday after the company surprised with a weak third quarter trading update.
Read MoreCiti Analysts Rip Into Retailers
Yesterday it was the turn of Citigroup analysts to throw a bomb at the retail sector which sparked some panicky media reaction, but not much share price movement (compared with Myer’s plunge on Monday).
Read MoreGraincorp Doubles Dividend On Bumper Crop
There’s nothing like a good grain harvest to juice up the revenue and profit performance of Eastern Australia’s biggest grains handler GrainCorp (GNC), as yesterday’s tripling in interim profit and doubling of dividend confirms.
Read MoreSlater & Gordon To Sue Quindell
Is this an attempted ‘get out of jail’ move by near bankrupt listed law firm, Slater & Gordon (SGH) to try and find money from anywhere to offset its looming restructure?
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