Interdum stultus opportuna loquitur...

Friday, June 10, 2005

OzRant: Pigs Have Wings...

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

We all remember the chap from the Monty Python sketch to whom it was pointed out that "the sheep is not a creature of the air", after he mentions that his issue of non-flying sheep has "bin on moy moind kwoit a lart recent toims" (attempted Cornish accent). I have had similar thoughts plaguing me all day... often I have more than two thoughts in a given 24 hour period, but not often two thoughts in a row that don't include food.

So here they go...

Thought Number The First: Telstra's board has lost the plot. Ask yourself where their new moustaschioed head guy was when Hutchison Telecoms (now "Orange") was making stupid, stupid stupid decisions regarding 3G spectrum. It defies analysis as to why on earth any European telco honcho is worth bothering about - considering the massive misallocation of capital in that industry between 1999 and 2002... whether it's Vodafone's acquisition of Mannesman, or the stupendous amounts forked out for 3G spectrum, the executives of Euro-zone telcos were perhaps the most irresponsible on the planet. Now TLS has one of its very own. MADNESS.

Thought Number The Second: Tattersall's float is a way of getting an extraordinary return for people who already are unitholders. My guess: Tatt's float will be worse than T2, and will be more like AMP - where instos who were given the inside running on allocations are SELLING to Mum & Dad investors on the first day of trading. Tattersall's business model - selling false hope (a 1 in 8 million chance of half a million, for $1.20 a time) to the desperate - is not one that will grow faster than nominal after-tax income, let alone in real terms. I would also look at whether there  is an attempt to circumvent some of the provisions of the Adams Will after listing (or legal action pursuant to an attempt).

The sheep is not a creature of the air, indeed. The new guy in charge of Telstra is going to fleece TLS shareholders as badly as George Whats-his-name fleeced AMP shareholders, and folks who buy Tatts on market are likely to be buying the high.

Major Market Indices

The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries - ended the week with the bit between its teeth, rising by 11.10 points (0.27%), finishing at 4180.00 points (within a bee's thingy of the high for the day - 4180.40). The session low was 4168.1, set just after the open, but in fact the index finished just a couple of points above its 10:30 a.m. level, and only a little waft upwards into the close prevented a less salubrious relationship between the first hour range and the close...

Total volume traded on the ASX was 760 million units, 4.2% below its 10-day average. Of the 483 stocks in the All Ords, 207 rose while 146 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the gainers by a margin of 1.7:1, with 217.05 million shares traded in gainers while 127.84million shares traded in the days duds.

The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - rose by 7.70 points (0.18%), finishing at 4221.70 points.

The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - rose by 1.30 points (0.06%), finishing at 2275.30 points. Within the index members, there were 10 that rose, and 10 losers. Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 45.14 m units compared to total volume in the losers of 27.9m shares.

The major winners in the "big guns" were (click on the stock code to open its RantBox)-

  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.78 (2.89%) to $27.78 on volume of 1.47m shares;
  • News Corporation (NWS), +$0.40 (1.81%) to $22.49 on volume of 3.73m shares; and
  • News Corporation (NWSLV), +$0.37 (1.74%) to $21.69 on volume of 1.61m shares; and
  • Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.03 (0.56%) to $5.37 on volume of 5.02m shares; and
  • Westfield Group (WDC), +$0.08 (0.46%) to $17.32 on volume of 2.66m shares.

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

  • Amcor (AMC), -$0.09 (1.25%) to $7.10 on volume of 3.06m shares;
  • National Australia Bank (NAB), -$0.23 (0.74%) to $31.02 on volume of 2.83m shares; and
  • Australia And New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), -$0.12 (0.55%) to $21.89 on volume of 2.93m shares; and
  • Coles Myer Ltd (CML), -$0.05 (0.52%) to $9.48 on volume of 5.09m shares; and
  • Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.15 (0.35%) to $43.27 on volume of 1.43m shares.

At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index rose by 7.10 points (0.30%), finishing at 2337.50 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -

  • Oceana Gold (OGD), +$0.05 (8.33%) to $0.59 on volume of 5.88m shares;
  • Progen Industries (PGL), +$0.16 (7.62%) to $2.26 on volume of 97,000 shares; and
  • Nylex (NLX), +$0.02 (7.41%) to $0.29 on volume of 7.11m shares; and
  • Dragon Mining (DRA), +$0.02 (7.14%) to $0.23 on volume of 323,000 shares; and
  • Mosaic Oil (MOS), +$0.01 (6.06%) to $0.18 on volume of 257,000 shares.

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

  • Mincor Resources (MCR), -$0.06 (8.45%) to $0.65 on volume of 4.26m shares;
  • Psivida (PSD), -$0.04 (4.55%) to $0.84 on volume of 278,000 shares; and
  • Globe International (GLB), -$0.02 (3.95%) to $0.37 on volume of 123,000 shares; and
  • Croesus Mining (CRS), -$0.01 (3.23%) to $0.30 on volume of 1.07m shares; and
  • Petsec Energy (PSA), -$0.04 (3.18%) to $1.07 on volume of 319,000 shares.
Index Changes
Code Name Close +/- % Volume
XAO All Ordinaries 4180 11.1 0.27% 458.57m
XTL S&P/ASX 20 2275.3 1.3 0.06% 73.05m
XFL S&P/ASX 50 4169.4 6.4 0.15% 157.97m
XTO S&P/ASX 100 3431.4 5.9 0.17% 278.16m
XJO S&P/ASX 200 4221.7 7.7 0.18% 359.63m
XKO S&P/ASX 300 4213.7 7.8 0.19% 0
XMD S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 4063.5 11.8 0.29% 0
XSO S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries 2337.5 7.1 0.3% 149.16m

All Ordinaries Market Internals

Market Breadth

ASX20 XTO XJO XAO XSO Market
Advances 10 49 101 207 93 490
Declines 10 41 68 146 54 421
Advancing Volume 45.14m 162.28m 185.48m 217.05 63.16 399.48
Declining Volume 27.9m 76.59m 106.96m 127.84 42.88 243.1

S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices

The top sector for the day was Energy which gained 2.06% to 9073.70 points. A rise in crude oil (and the Energy complex more generally) was the primary driver. The sector was helped by

  • Hardman Resources (HDR), +$0.08 (3.82%) to $2.04 on volume of 3.13m shares;
  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL), +$0.78 (2.89%) to $27.78 on volume of 1.47m shares; and
  • Oil Search (OSH), +$0.07 (2.67%) to $2.69 on volume of 6.83m shares; and
  • Origin Energy (ORG), +$0.17 (2.34%) to $7.45 on volume of 1.66m shares; and
  • Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE), +$0.04 (2.08%) to $1.96 on volume of 1.25m shares.

Second in the sector leadership stakes was Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.64% to 2244.90 points. The sector leaders were -

  • Repco Corporation (RCL), +$0.11 (4.12%) to $2.78 on volume of 141,000 shares;
  • Just Group (JST), +$0.06 (3.13%) to $1.98 on volume of 868,000 shares; and
  • Harvey Norman Holdings (HVN), +$0.08 (3.02%) to $2.73 on volume of 20.19m shares; and
  • Colorado Group (CDO), +$0.11 (2.53%) to $4.45 on volume of 345,000 shares; and
  • STW Communications Group (SGN), +$0.07 (2.39%) to $3.00 on volume of 202,000 shares.

The bronze today went to Property Trusts which gained 0.55% to 1812.20 points. The sector was led by

  • Mirvac Group (MGR), +$0.11 (3.02%) to $3.75 on volume of 9.18m shares;
  • ING Office Fund (IOF), +$0.03 (2.24%) to $1.37 on volume of 940,000 shares; and
  • Valad Property Group (VPG), +$0.03 (1.85%) to $1.38 on volume of 4.38m shares; and
  • Thakral Holdings Group (THG), +$0.01 (1.28%) to $0.79 on volume of 62,000 shares; and
  • Macquarie Countrywide Trust (MCW), +$0.02 (1.01%) to $2.00 on volume of 7.43m shares.

The worst-performed sector today was ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts which lost 0.09% to 5177.50 points. The sector was dragged lower by

  • Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), -$0.76 (3.24%) to $22.69 on volume of 317,000 shares;
  • Bendigo Bank (BEN), -$0.15 (1.53%) to $9.67 on volume of 118,000 shares;
  • SFE Corporation (SFE), -$0.14 (1.35%) to $10.25 on volume of 221,000 shares;
  • Insurance Australia Group (IAG), -$0.08 (1.29%) to $6.11 on volume of 1.42m shares; and
  • Promina Group (PMN), -$0.05 (1.01%) to $4.88 on volume of 3.84m shares.

Just in front of last place on the sector table was Telecommunications which lost 0.05% to 1801.40 points. The sector was pulled down by its minnow (Telecom NZ) rather than its whale... the management of the whale ought to be harpooned for hiring some Euro-nobody rather than having the guts to go with domestic talent... I've said before that the bloke in the top seat is irrelevant, so better to pay less for domestic than to shaft your shareholders by buying an overpriced import...

  • Telecom Corporation Of New Zealand (TEL), -$0.08 (1.42%) to $5.56 on volume of 2.2m shares; and
  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), +$0.01 (0.2%) to $5.08 on volume of 16.73m shares.
Sector Indices
Code GICS Sector Close +/- % Volume
XEJ Energy 9073.7 183.1 2.06% 19.8m
XDJ Consumer Discretionary 2244.9 14.2 0.64% 44.38m
XPJ Property Trusts 1812.2 10 0.55% 96.84m
XUJ Utilities 4981.3 14.2 0.29% 2.67m
XNJ Industrials 5082 6.5 0.13% 34.56m
XHJ Healthcare 5058.4 6.2 0.12% 10.78m
XFJ Financials 5081.3 2.6 0.05% 130.59m
XSJ Consumer Staples 5591.6 2.4 0.04% 36.55m
XIJ Information Technology 382.4 0.1 0.03% 10.02m
XMJ Materials 6982 0.4 0.01% 58.78m
XTJ Telecommunications 1801.4 -0.9 -0.05% 18.93m
XXJ ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts 5177.5 -4.6 -0.09% 36.41m

All Ordinaries Major Movers

All Ords Volume Leaders
Code Name Close +/- % Volume
HVN Harvey Norman Holdings 2.73 0.08 3.02% 20.19m
TLS Telstra Corporation 5.08 0.01 0.2% 16.73m
MIG Macquarie Infrastructure Group 4.12 0.06 1.48% 9.43m
MGR Mirvac Group 3.75 0.11 3.02% 9.18m
CLO Clough 0.46 -0.01 -1.09% 8.73m
BHP BHP Billiton 17.15 0.03 0.18% 8.66m


All Ords Percentage Gainers
Code Name Close +/- % Volume
OMI Occupational & Medical Innovations 0.55 0.08 17.02% 163256
DOM Dominion Mining 0.32 0.04 12.5% 910000
PLT Polartechnics 0.22 0.02 10% 503477
OGD Oceana Gold 0.59 0.05 8.33% 5.88m
PGL Progen Industries 2.26 0.16 7.62% 96505


All Ords Percentage Decliners
Code Name Close +/- % Volume
MCR Mincor Resources 0.65 -0.06 -8.45% 4.26m
PNA Pan Australian Resources 0.27 -0.02 -5.26% 2.39m
TMO Tomato Technologies 0.46 -0.03 -5.15% 747772
BCL Betcorp 0.19 -0.01 -5% 290000
PSD Psivida 0.84 -0.04 -4.55% 278249

Elsewhere in the Region...

Japan's Nikkei 225 exploded out of the blocks, and by the end of the first 90 minutes it was above 11300... by the close it was only just above that level. At the close, it was holding a gain of 143.35 points (1.28%) at 11304.23 points. After a little gap up on the open, the index dipped back to 11173.93 points in the first ten minutes, but from there on the next 90 minutes were explosive. The Nikkei came back from the lunch break in a fairly ebullient mood, and promptly raced up another 30 points to set its high of 11331.37 in the first half-hour after the resumption of play... and it was only in the last 5 minutes that a snap downwards took the index back to the 11300 area.

The Kiwi Market declined 12.00 points (-0.39%) in a soft one-way decline. The index opened at its high of (3092.263)set is low at 3075.554 points during the last twenty minutes of the session.

A total of 15 stocks within the NZSE50 rose, with volume in advancers totalling 8.3million units. Decliners numbered 27, and total volume traded in losers was 18.7million shares. Individual stocks that were a but suck included...

  • Promina Group  (PMN), -NZ$0.36 (6.43%) to NZ$5.24 on volume of 37,000 shares;
  • Pumpkin Patch  (PPL), -NZ$0.12 (4.32%) to NZ$2.66 on volume of 6,000 shares;
  • Mainfreight Limited (MFT), -NZ$0.07 (2.8%) to NZ$2.43 on volume of 7,000 shares;
  • Nuplex Industries (NPX), -NZ$0.10 (2.6%) to NZ$3.75 on volume of 45,000 shares; and
  • Telstra Corporation (TLS), -NZ$0.12 (2.18%) to NZ$5.38 on volume of 10,000 shares.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 39.26 points (0.28%) to rest at 13937.57 at lunch. The index exploded upwards at the open, hitting its session high of 13972.71 during the first five minutes, and having opened at what  turned out to be the low of the morning session (13916.86).

Within the Hang Seng, 15 index components rose, while 5 stocks fell. Volume in the gainers in Hong Kong's big-cap index totalled 123.1million units, and total volume traded in losers was 17.1million shares. Individual stocks that contributed to the advance included...

  • Cosco Pacific (1199), +HK$0.30 (2.02%) to HK$15.15 on volume of 4.45m shares;
  • CNOOC (0883), +HK$0.08 (1.83%) to HK$4.18 on volume of 59.29m shares;
  • China Merchants Holdings (0144), +HK$0.25 (1.72%) to HK$14.75 on volume of 8.37m shares;
  • Hutchison (0013), +HK$0.75 (1.09%) to HK$69.75 on volume of 4.55m shares;
  • Lenovo Group (0992), +HK$0.03 (1.09%) to HK$2.33 on volume of 13.38m shares; and
  • Denway Motors (0203), +HK$0.03 (0.87%) to HK$2.90 on volume of 19.68m shares.
Regional Indices
Country Name Close +/- % Volume
New Zealand NZSE50 3079.215 -12 -0.39% 27.78m
Japan Nikkei 225 11304.23 143.35 1.28% 0
Korea KOSPI 990.79 3.21 0.33% 510427
Singapore Straits Times 2212.09 13.53 0.62% 0
Hong Kong Hang Seng 13937.57 39.26 0.28% 169.9m
Malaysia KLSE Comp 891.52 12.12 1.38% 0