OzRant: Is NCP/NWS STILL Here?

Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.

At times like these, caution is the watchword, and discretion is the better part of valour. There's a lot of OPM (Other People's Money) being used to try and give a rose-coloured tint to things... a lot of folks have recovered most (if not all) of the damage that professional mis-management cost them in the 2000-2003 timeframe (you know, back when so-called Imputation Funds contained stocks like DVT and ONE).

There's also a lot of OPM being used to blow up bits of the world - and those bits of the world are full of people who are still not entirely happy about the history of the world since about 1099.

Furthermore, those folks are also part of the fastest-growing religion on the face of the earth. Regardless of how you feel about religion generally (I don't like it - I think the religious impulse indicates a soft brain), it's a silly idea to piss off a billion or more people. Chuck in the deliberate attempts to irritate the Chinese and you've got almost half the world quietly waiting for you to be taken down a peg.

You might think that all of the foregoing is largely applicable to the US and perhaps to their co-bisexuals in the UK B-Liar government; far from it. Our little pet chimpanzee Howard has signed us on to Bush's Imperium as surely as Allah made them little green apples. When the worm turns, the general view will be that Australia has a debt to pay for allowing itself to be co-opted into the killing (and the worm will turn: only ignoramuses like the aforementioned Chimpie are illiterate enough to think they can ignore Imperial history).

So when the Chinese decide that the US is finished, don't be surprised if they decide at the same time to genuinely fuck up our Feng Shui as well. It's certainly what I would do if some bunch of debt0soaked jerkasses were trying to tell me how to run my economy.

Still and all, let's debt up to buggery and ensure that when the rug gets pulled out, we are all up to our scrotums (scrota? I'm never sure, coz I usually only order them singly) in debt.

Let's see to it that a decent chunk of the working-schlub population is installed in a house in one of the suburban cancers (like Craigieburn) with no money down... in fact, with $12k from other taxpayers in their pockets... a house that's built so poorly that you could pull it apart in half an hour with an Allen key.

Let's do that, shall we? After all, there's a couple of families in Europe who don't quite own the planet yet, and they would really like to pick up some bad-taste Antipodean real estate for dimes in the dollar.

Major Market Indices

The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - fell by 7.00 points (-0.17%), finishing at 4047.30 points. The index hit an intraday high of 4068.50 (about a half-hour into the session) before sagging for the rest of the day, setting its low (404730) at the closing bell.

Total volume traded on the ASX was 810 million units, 4.0% above its 10-day average. Of the 483 stocks in the index, 183 fell while 180 managed a gain. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.6:1, with 256.23million shares traded in losers while 160.32million shares traded in the days gainers.

The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 10.90 points (-0.27%), finishing at 4091.10 points. And that despite a decent'-sized push upwards in New Corpse (why is that piece of crap still in our index? When does it piss off for good? Why - if corporations are 'persons' for the purposes of the law - don't they need passports?)

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 4.70 points (-0.21%), finishing at 2220.10 points. Within the index members, there were 7 that rose, and 13 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 30.11 while volume in the losers totalled 59.49m units.

The major winners in the "big guns" were -

• News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.26 (1.25%) to $20.98 on volume of 2.38m shares;
• News Corporation (NWS), +$0.15 (0.69%) to $21.75 on volume of 3.23m shares;
• Alumina (AWC), +$0.03 (0.55%) to $5.51 on volume of 6.08m shares;
• St George Bank (SGB), +$0.09 (0.35%) to $25.65 on volume of 929,000 shares; and
• Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), +$0.06 (0.3%) to $19.79 on volume of 2.63m shares.

The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:

• Wesfarmers (WES), -$0.31 (0.83%) to $36.99 on volume of 394,000 shares;
• Westfield Group (WDC), -$0.12 (0.71%) to $16.77 on volume of 5.54m shares;
• QBE Insurance Group (QBE), -$0.10 (0.67%) to $14.85 on volume of 964,000 shares;
• Coles Myer Ltd. (CML), -$0.06 (0.65%) to $9.21 on volume of 8.1m shares; and
• National Australia Bank (NAB), -$0.18 (0.57%) to $31.65 on volume of 3.64m shares.

At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index - the only place where underexploited value exists with any regularity - rose by 7.80 points (0.35%), finishing at 2228.70 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -

• Emperor Mines (EMP), +$0.03 (12%) to $0.28 on volume of 18,000 shares;
• Silex Systems (SLX), +$0.09 (10.23%) to $0.97 on volume of 656,000 shares;
• Beach Petroleum (BPT), +$0.05 (9.18%) to $0.54 on volume of 1.05m shares;
• FKP Property Group (FKP), +$0.24 (8.7%) to $3.00 on volume of 581,000 shares; and
• Virotec International (VTI), +$0.04 (7.41%) to $0.58 on volume of 73,000 shares.

The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):

• Lynas Corporation (LYC), -$0.02 (8.33%) to $0.17 on volume of 1.6m shares;
• Dragon Mining (DRA), -$0.01 (5.56%) to $0.17 on volume of 33,000 shares; and
• Agenix (AGX), -$0.02 (5.56%) to $0.34 on volume of 101,000 shares;
• Psivida (PSD), -$0.04 (4.09%) to $0.82 on volume of 1.17m shares; and
• Genetic Technologies (GTG), -$0.02 (4.05%) to $0.36 on volume of 194,000 shares.

Index Changes
Code	Name	Close	+/-	%	Volume
XAO	All Ordinaries	4047.3	-7	-0.17%	504.24m
XTL	S&P/ASX 20	2220.1	-4.7	-0.21%	89.6m
XFL	S&P/ASX 50	4048.1	-11	-0.27%	0
XTO	S&P/ASX 100	3330.5	-10.5	-0.31%	0
XJO	S&P/ASX 200	4091.1	-10.9	-0.27%	409.84m
XKO	S&P/ASX 300	4083.2	-10.4	-0.25%	0
XMD	S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50	3936.5	-22.5	-0.57%	0
XSO	S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries	2228.7	7.8	0.35%	138.23m

All Ordinaries Market Internals

Market Breadth
	XAO	XJO	XSO	ASX20	Market
Advances	180	76	77	7	450
Declines	183	104	72	13	449
Advancing Volume	160.32m	139.97m	54m	30.11	297.8
Declining Volume	256.23m	229.41m	41.36m	59.49	391.93

S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices

The top sector for the day was Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.40% to 2170.90 points. The sector was helped by

• West Australian Newspapers (WAN), +$0.29 (3.83%) to $7.87 on volume of 447,000 shares;
• Austereo Group (AEO), +$0.04 (2.35%) to $1.74 on volume of 91,000 shares;
• Repco Corporation (RCL), +$0.06 (2.26%) to $2.71 on volume of 488,000 shares;
• Colorado Group (CDO), +$0.10 (2.18%) to $4.68 on volume of 309,000 shares; and
• Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL), +$0.25 (1.66%) to $15.32 on volume of 918,000 shares.

Second in the sector leadership stakes was Utilities which gained 0.33% to 4832.40 points. The sector leaders were -

• Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), +$0.21 (1.55%) to $13.78 on volume of 1.24m shares;
• Australian Pipeline Trust (APA), -$0.00 (0%) to $3.64 on volume of 65,000 shares;
• Diversified Utility And Energy Trusts (DUE), -$0.00 (0%) to $2.49 on volume of 618,000 shares;
• Envestra (ENV), -$0.00 (0%) to $1.13 on volume of 280,000 shares; and
• Pacific Hydro (PHY), -$0.04 (0.78%) to $5.06 on volume of 1.32m shares.

The bronze today went to Telecommunications which gained 0.26% to 1753.20 points. The sector was led by

• Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), +$0.03 (0.54%) to $5.56 on volume of 722,000 shares;
• Telstra Corporation. (TLS), +$0.01 (0.2%) to $4.92 on volume of 9.98m shares.

The worst-performed sector today was Energy which lost 0.91% to 8192.30 points. The sector was dragged lower by

• Origin Energy (ORG), -$0.14 (1.97%) to $6.97 on volume of 1.62m shares;
• Caltex Australia (CTX), -$0.28 (1.89%) to $14.57 on volume of 332,000 shares; and
• Oil Search (OSH), -$0.04 (1.61%) to $2.44 on volume of 7.48m shares;
• Roc Oil Company (ROC), -$0.03 (1.51%) to $1.64 on volume of 768,000 shares; and
• Santos (STO), -$0.13 (1.3%) to $9.87 on volume of 3.81m shares.

Just in front of last place on the sector table was Industrials which lost 0.71% to 4916.60 points. The sector was pulled down by

• Downer EDI (DOW), -$0.20 (4%) to $4.80 on volume of 825,000 shares;
• Prime Infrastructure Group (PIF), -$0.06 (3.32%) to $1.60 on volume of 2.42m shares; and
• Macquarie Airports (MAP), -$0.10 (2.74%) to $3.55 on volume of 8.09m shares;
• Patrick Corporation (PRK), -$0.08 (1.39%) to $5.66 on volume of 9.63m shares; and
• Patrick Corporation (PRK), -$0.08 (1.39%) to $5.66 on volume of 9.63m shares.

Sector Indices
Code	GICS Sector	Close	+/-	%	Volume
XDJ	Consumer Discretionary	2170.9	8.7	0.4%	31.64m
XUJ	Utilities	4832.4	16	0.33%	4.67m
XTJ	Telecommunications	1753.2	4.5	0.26%	10.7m
XSJ	Consumer Staples	5425	-2.8	-0.05%	87.4m
XHJ	Healthcare	4838.2	-10.8	-0.22%	10.39m
XXJ	ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts	5100.3	-11.5	-0.22%	36.33m
XFJ	Financials	4982.4	-13.2	-0.26%	105.28m
XPJ	Property Trusts	1747.6	-7.2	-0.41%	74.48m
XMJ	Materials	6704.2	-32.2	-0.48%	89.11m
XIJ	Information Technology	368.6	-2.5	-0.67%	4.24m
XNJ	Industrials	4916.6	-35.1	-0.71%	58.9m
XEJ	Energy	8192.3	-75.4	-0.91%	19.47m

All Ordinaries Major Movers

All Ords Volume Leaders
Code	Name	Close	+/-	%	Volume
NFD	National Foods	6.37	-0.02	-0.31%	27.03m
MTS	Metcash Trading	3.58	0.2	5.92%	22.28m
BKP	Baraka Petroleum	0.18	-0.01	-2.78%	18.11m
LHG	Lihir Gold	1.11	0.03	2.31%	16.19m
BHP	BHP Billiton	16.2	-0.05	-0.31%	15.64m
WOW	Woolworths	15.57	-0.05	-0.32%	12.12m

All Ords Percentage Gainers
Code	Name	Close	+/-	%	Volume
PLT	Polartechnics	0.18	0.03	16.13%	418044
SLX	Silex Systems	0.97	0.09	10.23%	656316
BPT	Beach Petroleum	0.54	0.05	9.18%	1.05m
FKP	FKP Property Group	3	0.24	8.7%	581329
PNA	Pan Australian Resources	0.25	0.02	6.38%	3.05m

All Ords Percentage Decliners
Code	Name	Close	+/-	%	Volume
MST	Metal Storm	0.14	-0.02	-9.68%	1.05m
LYC	Lynas Corporation	0.17	-0.02	-8.33%	1.6m
BTA	Biota Holdings	0.45	-0.04	-8.25%	589837
GFD	Green's Foods	0.54	-0.04	-6.09%	261243
PSD	Psivida	0.82	-0.04	-4.09%	1.17m

Elsewhere in the Region...

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell a rather-disconcerting 119.22 points (-1.07%) to close at 11014.43 points. The index hit a high of 11127.9 (at the open), and hit a low of  10988.37 points just over half an hour before the end of the session.

The Kiwi Market advanced a rather feeble 3.32 points (0.11%) to 3037.969 points. Actually the Kiwi market ought to be given credit for a decent intra-session recovery; ten minutes after the open the market was down 10 points, setting its low of 3026.075 points. From there, it was a reasonably rapid climb through to just before noon, which saw the NZSE50 hit its session high of 3041.274 points.

A total of 22 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 10.3million units. Decliners numbered 15, and total volume traded in losers was 3million shares. Individual stocks performed well included...

• Tourism Holdings (THL), +NZ$0.06 (3.49%) to NZ$1.78 on volume of 194,000 shares;
• Air New Zealand  (AIR), +NZ$0.04 (2.74%) to NZ$1.50 on volume of 664,000 shares;
• NGC Holdings (NGC), +NZ$0.09 (2.69%) to NZ$3.43 on volume of 190,000 shares;
• Infratil Limited (IFT), +NZ$0.09 (2.57%) to NZ$3.59 on volume of 45,000 shares;
• Property Forest Industries (PFI), +NZ$0.02 (1.82%) to NZ$1.12 on volume of 74,000 shares; and
• Kiwi Income Property Trust (KIP), +NZ$0.02 (1.77%) to NZ$1.15 on volume of 1.83m shares.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index took its lead from Japan, and declined 114.00 points (-0.83%) to sit at 13605.32 at lunchtime. The index hit a high of 13717.07 shortly after the open, and dipped below 13600 briefly before lunch, falling to its session low (so far) of 13585.74 points just prior to the 12:30 p.m. luncheon adjournment.

Within the Hang Seng, 0 index components rose, while 33 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 0million units, and total volume traded in losers was 145.4million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the decline included...

• Wheelock (0020), -HK$0.30 (2.64%) to HK$11.05 on volume of 1.26m shares;
• CNOOC (0883), -HK$0.10 (2.4%) to HK$4.08 on volume of 34.89m shares;
• Henderson Investments (0097), -HK$0.25 (2.35%) to HK$10.40 on volume of 2.2m shares;
• MTR Corporation (0066), -HK$0.30 (2.25%) to HK$13.05 on volume of 3.05m shares;
• CKI Holdings (1038), -HK$0.50 (2.16%) to HK$22.65 on volume of 963,000 shares; and
• Lenovo Group (0992), -HK$0.05 (2.06%) to HK$2.38 on volume of 11.37m shares.

Regional Indices
Country	Name	Close	+/-	%	Volume
New Zealand	NZSE50	3037.969	3.32	0.11%	15.21m
Japan	Nikkei 225	11014.43	-119.22	-1.07%	83416
Korea	KOSPI	941.3	-10.31	-1.08%	272189
Singapore	Straits Times	2162.74	-12.46	-0.57%	0
Hong Kong	Hang Seng	13605.32	-114	-0.83%	145.35m
Malaysia	KLSE Comp	876.59	-7.75	-0.88%	0