Company Results


All ShareCafe Content

The Week Ahead

So what’s ahead for markets this week after last week’s rattling? Yes, gold, copper, oil and fears about global growth remain dominant issues, but go short term for a day or so and look at some key American quarterly profit reports – especially those of Apple which will be the focus for the week when it reports Wednesday morning, our time.

Read More

Update on BHP

My first effort at seeking the bottom in BHP had mixed results. I did get a good bounce to just over $34, but the momentum subsided and the stock retreated again. The Boston explosions and premature comments by our government spokesman that it was probably by “terrorists” (why not simply condemn an act of terror?) didn’t help our open yesterday and the BHPKME were stopped out when the stock touched $31.26 momentarily before closing at $32.15.

Read More

High Frequency Rubbish

Over the past year many market participants and commentators have railed against “Algorithmic Trading” (AT) and “High Frequency Trading” (HFT). Organisations using these trading methods are accused of at best, taking an unfair advantage, and in some cases, outright illegal behaviour. Unfortunately, most of these comments betray astounding ignorance, breath-taking chutzpah, or both.

Read More

Rate Cuts Spurring Retail

So retail has enjoyed a big run up since the middle of 2012 and some analysts have been wondering if the gains are all in the bag. Perhaps they and investors should think again because two months of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is starting to suggest there could be more to come for the sector – retail sales gains of a restated 1.2% in January and 1.3% (seasonally adjusted) for February are starting to tell us consumers are spending.

Read More

Gold Bulls Under Pressure

Despite Friday’s small price jump, gold had a week last week to forget – prices fell and are now down around 7% on a spot basis so far this year. More and more analysts are cutting their price estimates for the rest of the year. But there is still at least one bull, the Thomson Reuters-owned analytics group, GFMS (perhaps the most respected of all precious and base metal analysts) sees the metal rising to around $US1,850 an ounce in the back half of 2013. Bit has also warned that there’s also a danger of a bear market developing if market and economic conditions continue their recent improvement.

Read More

Ten Rates Poorly

Ten’s interim result (for the six months to the end of February) was bad – a loss of $243 million after tax, with a write down of $290 million in the value of the TV licence (and write downs totalling $304 million all up).

Read More

A Letter To Investors

The sharemarket can be both a wonderful and a frustrating place to invest or trade. Indeed we suspect that many who entrust their capital to professional managers must struggle with the logic of what is being done on their behalf. Why buy when markets are falling? Why sit back when markets are rallying hard? Why raise cash and why trade out that position? These are some of the many questions we field in our dialogue with clients.

Read More

Real Assets Produce Returns

If you’ve ever met someone who bought a car because they liked the way it smelled, or a house because it “felt right”, you’ve seen “economic law” defied. Have you ever entered a supermarket with a single purchase in mind, only to get to the check-out with a full basket of goods? If you have, you know that consumers do not always act rationally. Investors are the same.

Read More