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Contrary to expectations that private investment in the June quarter would be weak, especially after the surprise 1.1% fall in the value of construction work done in the quarter, the investment data yesterday from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed a surprise rise.

Ramsay’s Record Result, Dividend

Shareholders including the country’s biggest charitable foundation, will be very happy with the annual result and higher dividend announced yesterday by Ramsay Health Care (RHC), the country’s largest private hospital operator and a growing international operator.

Qantas Earnings Slide, But Better To Come?

Ignore the headline loss for Qantas (QAN) of $2.85 billion – most of that was house cleaning by management taking an axe to the value of much of the airline’s ageing fleet of planes, such as 747s.

Adelaide Brighton Restarts DRP After Mixed Result

South Australian based cement and concrete maker Adelaide Brighton (ABC) has maintained its interim dividend at 7.5c a share fully franked for the six months to June after reporting a very mixed set of figures.

Friday At The Close Video

August 29, 2014 - by Tom Piotrowski

Biggest gains on the ASX200 today: TSE up 24.1%, HVN up 7.9%, PPT up 6.7%, QAN up 6.1%, PDN up 4.9%.

Friday’s Gainers & Losers

August 29, 2014 - by Savanth Sebastian

The local market was largely unchanged on Friday with S&P/ASX200 gaining 1.5 points or 0.00% on volume of $6.2 billion, closing at 5625.9.

Fixed Interest

Steepening & Flattening Yield Curves

August 28, 2014 - by Paul Mcnamara

It is not unusual to come across the phrases ‘steepening yield curve’ and ‘flattening yield curve’ in commentaries discussing interest rate securities. Both phrases refer to the change in shape of the yield curve across different maturities. Interest rate securities come with different maturities and yields generally increase incrementally as maturities extend further into the future. Plotting these yields against each other produces a yield curve such as can be seen below.

Market At Midday On Thursday

August 28, 2014 - by Tom Piotrowski

Biggest gains on the ASX200 today: QAN up 5.4%, WHC up 3.2%, VED up 2.3%, REC up 2.1%, BDR up 2%.

Flight Centre Makes Guidance

Flight Centre (FLT) shares dipped 0.8% yesterday, to end at $4.702 after the company met guidance for another record profit, and revealed plans to buy a travel company based in the UK and which was started by group founder Graham Turner.

Worley Shares Jump After Higher Dividend

Judging by the early market reaction, there was a sense of euphoria about 2013-14 results from WorleyParsons (WOR) yesterday from investors. The final dividend was lifted and management was upbeat in the post release briefing.

Boral’s Back With Higher Dividend

Boral (BLD) returned to reporting positive news in its 2013-14 results yesterday, building on the early signs of improvement which first emerged in the interim figures earlier this year.

Lend Lease Returns Bluewater Profit

Developer and constructor, Lend Lease (LLC) boosted earnings 50%, for the year to June, thanks to the sale of most of its remaining stake in the Bluewater shopping mall in southern England, and solid increases in apartment pre-sales.

Thursday At The Close Video

August 28, 2014 - by Tom Piotrowski

Ore price down for 8 days, ~2-yr lows & near 5-yr low. Ore price ~34% lower YTD.

Thursday’s Gainers & Losers

August 28, 2014 - by Savanth Sebastian

The ASX200 shed 26.8 points or -0.48% on volume of $4.2 billion, closing at 5624.4.

Shane Oliver

The Global Economic Outlook

August 28, 2014 - by Shane Oliver

Note: This article was originally published on Oliver’s Insights on 27 August 2014 and has been republished with permission from the original author.

Fixed Interest

Three Ways To Increase Your Returns

August 27, 2014September 13, 2018 - by Elizabeth Moran

In a low yielding investment environment smart investors can still boost their returns by taking on carefully selected risk as part of a diversified portfolio.

Market At Midday On Wednesday

August 27, 2014 - by Steven Daghlian

All Ords +0.18%. If it wasn’t for TLS & WPL falls (ex-dividend today), the index would be up ~+0.37%.

Pacific Brands Shrinks

The financial dud of the current reporting season award is still there to be released and won, but yesterday two companies made an early bid for glory.

Boart Facing A Difficult Outlook

Of the two messages issued yesterday from struggling drilling group, Boart Longyear (BLY), the market picked up on the most obvious – that the company faces a possible implosion in the next year if things don’t change and it’s not recapitalised.

Specialty Fashion Upturn Hopes Continue

Investors took a set against Specialty Fashion (SFH) yesterday after the Sydney-based women’s fashionwear group revealed a sharp rise in sales (from the purchase of the Rivers chain during the year), but a dip in earnings.

S&P 500 Breaks 2,000, Iron Ore Breaks $89

So what was the most important market milestone reached overnight for the local market today?

Wednesday’s Gainers & Losers

August 27, 2014 - by Savanth Sebastian

By the end of the session on Wednesday the S&P/ASX200 gained 13.6 points or +0.24% on volume of $3 billion, closing at 5651.2.

Wednesday At The Close Video

August 27, 2014 - by Steven Daghlian

The ASX 200 has posted its first gain of the week on Wednesday. After an ambivalent start to the day, the market gradually built to the best levels of the session following a post lunch sell off. At its peak in late afternoon trade the market was ahead by almost 15 points.

James Dunn

Plenty Of Good Developments In Energy

August 27, 2014 - by James Dunn

Fixed Interest

Letter To Investors: Investing Towards The End Of The Great Bond Bubble

August 27, 2014December 20, 2018 - by John Abernethy

In past letters, we have consistently held that the current economic cycle, the resultant investment environment and behaviour of financial markets are unlike anything seen in living memory.

Market At Midday On Tuesday

August 26, 2014 - by Tom Piotrowski

Biggest gains on the ASX200 today: CVO up 4.5%, MMS up 3.8%, BRU up 3.8%, AGO up 3.4%, LYC up 3.2%.

Beach Uses Record Profit For ‘House Cleaning’

Beach Energy (BPT) has taken the opportunity of a record profit to do a bit of financial house cleaning, writing down the value of its assets by a total of $162.2 million.

BlueScope Disappoints On The Downside

Shares in the country’s leading steelmaker BlueScope Steel (BSL) copped a hammering yesterday after the company revealed weaker than expected results for the year to June 30 and a very subdued outlook for the current December half year.

Patties Foods Back On Track?

Victorian-based Patties Foods (PFL), whose brands include Four’N Twenty meat pies and the Herbert Adams and Nanna’s range of pastry products seems to have steadied the ship in the second half after a rough first six months and 2012-13.

UGL Replaces Dividend With Buyback

UGL surprised investors yesterday by choosing to reveal a capital return to shareholders instead of a final dividend after completing the sale of its DTZ property arm later this year.

Tuesday At The Close Video

August 26, 2014 - by Tom Piotrowski

All Ords +0.1% to 5638.5. Gains in healthcare, financials & telco industries keeping mkt positive. Miners -0.1% & energy -0.4%

Tuesday’s Gainers & Losers

August 26, 2014 - by Savanth Sebastian

By the end of the session on Tuesday the S&P/ASX200 gained 2.7 points or +0.05% on volume of $2.4 billion, closing at 5637.6.

Market At Midday On Monday

August 25, 2014 - by Steven Daghlian

All Ords +0.04%. Miners -0.9% & holding mkt back most. 3 of big 4 banks firmer.

Diary: Earnings, GDP, Key EU & Japanese Data

August 25, 2014 - by Glenn Dyer

While the Australian June 30 earnings season comes to an end this week, the lead up to the June quarter GDP figures steps up with the release of key data on construction and investment.

S&P Takes Aim At Topping 2,000 Points

August 25, 2014 - by Glenn Dyer

So will the S&P 500, the key global index of stockmarket confidence, hit the 2,000 point mark for the first time this week after going close last week?

Reporting Season Set To Conclude

August 25, 2014 - by Glenn Dyer

It’s the final week for the June 30 profit reporting companies after good, results, higher dividends and the odd buyback, helped boost the Australian share market last week to a post GFC high.

Monday At The Close Video

August 25, 2014 - by Steven Daghlian

Monday saw sellers return to the Australian share market for the first time in 7 sessions. Buyers made several early attempts at pushing the index higher, although they were thwarted on each occasion. The ASX 200 opened with a loss of 7 points; at session highs it was almost 5 points to the better.