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Sometimes you feel like the rest of the investment community is made up of "too-littlers" - folks who would rather perform some cosmetic 'swifty' in order to try and mask a glaring deficiency... like the 20-stone woman who spends $80 on blonde highlights instead of cutting down on the cheesecakes. Still, I guess eventually what gets sown, gets reaped.
At present, people who are supposed to be professionals, are convincing their clientele to retain historically-large allocations to stocks (usually via managed funds... "that's where the trails are"), despite the fact that stocks are at or near the top of their historical valuation range. Their concession to risk (if you will, their 'blonde highlights')? Buy a 'safe' fund - as if there is such a thing.
This, I put down to the same
conflict of interest as that faced by analysts at ticket-clipping
joints and other forms of bucket-shop; the pressure to keep clients in
equities (and to keep the trailing commissions trickling in from the
funds managers) is implicit, but the advisor's car payment depends on
them. Likewise the ticket-clipping analyst: the analyst may not
directly clip tickets, but you can bet that his research will soon be
discussed at a management level if he tries to call "SELL" on a popular
stock (by which I mean, one from which the ticket-clippers collect a
lot of turnover).
And yet the easiest calls in the market are always the sells. A good analyst can spot the chink in a stock's armour, months before it becomes widely known; the softness appears in the price action a couple of weeks later, and by the time Joe Nuffanuff funds out about it, his personal holdings have been decimated. There's no such thing as a 'surprise' when there are folks like Vizard out there.
And PLEASE...
why the 'full court press' on Vizard's crocodile-tears apology? Show me
a man who's been caught who's NOT sorry, and I'll show you someone who
knows they're going to hang. But he's not sorry for the act - he's sorry that he got caught.
Would Vizard be apologising now if he hadn't
been caught? I didn't think so. Again, it shows how piss-weak and
gutless the media is, that Vizard can somehow glom every front page in
the country for his mock-apology. Disgusting.
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the ASX All Ordinaries
- fell by 20.10 points (-0.47%), finishing at 4239.80 points. The index
hit an intraday high of 4259.90 (at the open) and its low of 4235.9 was
set just after 10:55 a.m. Sydney time - the 4235 level coincided with
4275 on the ASX200, and 4260 on the September SPI.
For the
rest of the session, the market went pretty much nowhere - in the hour
after the low was set, the 2 major indices bounced up to their
respective 50-minute moving averages, which then more or less provided
guidance for the rest of the session. On net, the All Ords gained 4
points between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. (still, there was enough movement to
make enough money to buy a decent lunch).
Total volume traded on the ASX was a moderately-impressive 989 million units, 11.9% above its 10-day average. Of the 483 stocks(maybe that should be 482 now, since WMR is now part of BHP??) in the All Ords index, 200 fell while 147 managed a gain. Volume pretty evenly distributed between winners and losers, with the losers having a very slight edge in the final tally... 256.09 million shares traded in losers while 246.45 million shares traded in the day's gainers.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 - fell by 22.10 points (-0.51%), finishing at 4276.30 points.
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders - fell by 15.10 points (-0.65%), finishing at 2293.50 points. Within the index members, there were only 4 that rose, and 15 losers (Westpac WBC was unchanged). Total volume in rising issues within the ASX20 amounted to 21.85m units while volume in the losers totalled 72.32m units.
The major winners in the "big guns" were -
- Coles Myer Ltd (CML), +$0.11 (1.19%) to $9.35 on volume of 5.8m shares;
- QBE Insurance Group (QBE), +$0.12 (0.74%) to $16.44 on volume of 2.91m shares;
- Amcor (AMC), +$0.05 (0.73%) to $6.86 on volume of 2.96m shares; and
- Foster's Group (FGL), +$0.02 (0.37%) to $5.43 on volume of 10.17m shares.
The following stocks made up the biggest percentage losers in the big-guns:
- Alumina (AWC), -$0.18 (3.18%) to $5.48 on volume of 7.84m shares;
- Woolworths (WOW), -$0.35 (2.17%) to $15.80 on volume of 4.34m shares; and
- BHP Billiton (BHP), -$0.34 (1.83%) to $18.20 on volume of 14.03m shares; and
- Rio Tinto (RIO), -$0.56 (1.22%) to $45.21 on volume of 1.97m shares; and
- Woodside Petroleum (WPL), -$0.34 (1.17%) to $28.84 on volume of 1.21m shares.
At the smaller end of the market's capitalisation scale, the ASX Small Ordinaries Index fell by 6.50 points (-0.27%), finishing at 2365.90 points. The major winners in the "pop-guns" were -
- Multiemedia (MUL), +$0.002 (13.33%) to $0.017 on volume of 136.29m shares;
- Village Life Ltd (VLL), +$0.050 (12.2%) to $0.460 on volume of 1.93m shares; and
- Globe International (GLB), +$0.015 (4.76%) to $0.330 on volume of 65,000 shares; and
- Australand Property Group (ALZ), +$0.050 (3.51%) to $1.475 on volume of 1.78m shares; and
- Alesco Corporation (ALS), +$0.250 (3.33%) to $7.750 on volume of 142,000 shares.
The losingest-little-guys for the session were (in order of decline):
- Dragon Mining (DRA), -$0.015 (7.5%) to $0.185 on volume of 209,000 shares;
- Orbital Corporation (OEC), -$0.005 (4.76%) to $0.100 on volume of 81,000 shares; and
- Perseverance Corporation (PSV), -$0.015 (4.69%) to $0.305 on volume of 340,000 shares; and
- Norwood Abbey (NAL), -$0.015 (4.17%) to $0.345 on volume of 95,000 shares; and
- Hardman Resources (HDR), -$0.090 (3.88%) to $2.230 on volume of 3.2m shares.
| Index Changes | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4239.8 | -20.1 | -0.47% | 635.56m |
| XTL | S&P/ASX 20 | 2293.5 | -15.1 | -0.65% | 96.89m |
| XFL | S&P/ASX 50 | 4222.1 | -24.5 | -0.58% | 209.1m |
| XTO | S&P/ASX 100 | 3476.4 | -18.7 | -0.54% | 327.23m |
| XJO | S&P/ASX 200 | 4276.3 | -22.1 | -0.51% | 409.05m |
| XKO | S&P/ASX 300 | 4268.6 | -21.9 | -0.51% | 0 |
| XMD | S&P/ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4127.9 | -12.1 | -0.29% | 0 |
| XSO | S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries | 2365.9 | -6.5 | -0.27% | 263.08m |
All Ordinaries Market Internals
| Market Breadth | ||||||
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
| Advances | 4 | 23 | 51 | 147 | 62 | 382 |
| Declines | 15 | 62 | 112 | 200 | 88 | 476 |
| Advancing Volume | 21.85m | 77.6m | 89.16m | 246.45 | 160.48 | 398.52 |
| Declining Volume | 72.32m | 196.03m | 234.51m | 256.09 | 57.27 | 451.16 |
S&P/ASX200 GICS Sector Indices
The top sector for the day was Information Technology which gained 0.24% to 378.90 points. The sector was helped by
- IRESS Market Technology (IRE), +$0.030 (0.73%) to $4.130 on volume of 243,000 shares;
- Vision Systems (VSL), +$0.005 (0.44%) to $1.140 on volume of 102,000 shares; and
- MYOB (MYO), -$0.000 (0%) to $1.070 on volume of 350,000 shares; and
- Baycorp Advantage (BCA), -$0.010 (0.34%) to $2.910 on volume of 349,000 shares; and
- Computershare (CPU), -$0.020 (0.34%) to $5.800 on volume of 1.64m shares.
Second in the sector leadership stakes was Consumer Discretionary which gained 0.17% to 2259.10 points. The sector leaders were -
- Billabong International (BBG), +$0.410 (2.96%) to $14.250 on volume of 424,000 shares;
- David Jones (DJS), +$0.040 (1.96%) to $2.080 on volume of 760,000 shares; and
- Fairfax Holdings (FXJ), +$0.080 (1.87%) to $4.350 on volume of 2.95m shares; and
- JB Hi-Fi (JBH), +$0.030 (0.93%) to $3.260 on volume of 114,000 shares; and
- Colorado Group (CDO), +$0.040 (0.85%) to $4.740 on volume of 312,000 shares.
There was no bronze today, since the third-placed sector index - Utilities - lost 0.19% to 5005.30 points.
The worst-performed sector today was Materials which lost 1.22% to 7363.00 points. The sector was dragged lower by- Alumina (AWC), -$0.180 (3.18%) to $5.480 on volume of 7.84m shares;
- Nufarm (NUF), -$0.280 (2.72%) to $10.020 on volume of 198,000 shares;
- Capral Aluminium (CAA), -$0.050 (2.56%) to $1.900 on volume of 184,000 shares;
- Aquarius Platinum (AQP), -$0.170 (2.39%) to $6.930 on volume of 52,000 shares; and
- Timbercorp (TIM), -$0.050 (2.27%) to $2.150 on volume of 811,000 shares.
Just in front of last place on the sector table was Healthcare which lost 0.82% to 5299.10 points. The sector was pulled down by
- Ventracor (VCR), -$0.050 (3.3%) to $1.465 on volume of 1.12m shares;
- Cochlear (COH), -$1.070 (2.72%) to $38.330 on volume of 247,000 shares;
- Sigma Company (SIG), -$0.230 (2.49%) to $8.990 on volume of 200,000 shares;
- Peptech (PTD), -$0.035 (2.33%) to $1.470 on volume of 320,000 shares; and
- DCA Group (DVC), -$0.060 (1.55%) to $3.800 on volume of 744,000 shares.
| Sector Indices | |||||
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 378.9 | 0.9 | 0.24% | 6m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 2259.1 | 3.8 | 0.17% | 29.25m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 5005.3 | -9.7 | -0.19% | 6.27m |
| XXJ | ASX200 Financials ex Property Trusts | 5194.4 | -14.2 | -0.27% | 48.99m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1790.4 | -5.4 | -0.3% | 18.67m |
| XFJ | Financials | 5077.7 | -17.3 | -0.34% | 132.75m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 5084.4 | -19.9 | -0.39% | 46.46m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 5564.4 | -28.7 | -0.51% | 44.15m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1785.2 | -10.5 | -0.58% | 87.84m |
| XEJ | Energy | 9409.9 | -68.9 | -0.73% | 17.42m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 5299.1 | -43.8 | -0.82% | 7.37m |
| XMJ | Materials | 7363 | -90.9 | -1.22% | 106.5m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
| All Ords Volume Leaders | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| DYL | Deep Yellow | 0.12 | -0.04 | -22.58% | 47.2m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 5.04 | -0.01 | -0.2% | 15.24m |
| GPT | General Property Trust | 3.73 | -0.03 | -0.8% | 14.24m |
| BHP | BHP Billiton | 18.2 | -0.34 | -1.83% | 14.03m |
| OXR | Oxiana | 0.94 | 0.05 | 5.65% | 13.7m |
| TTS | Tattersall's | 3.26 | 0.04 | 1.24% | 11.41m |
| All Ords Percentage Gainers | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MUL | Multiemedia | 0.017 | 0.002 | 13.33% | 136.29m |
| VLL | Village Life Ltd | 0.46 | 0.05 | 12.2% | 1.93m |
| EPT | Epitan | 0.51 | 0.06 | 12.09% | 1.77m |
| BTA | Biota Holdings | 0.49 | 0.04 | 8.99% | 760454 |
| UNW | Unwired Group | 0.5 | 0.04 | 8.7% | 3.1m |
| All Ords Percentage Decliners | |||||
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| MST | Metal Storm | 0.13 | -0.01 | -7.14% | 519610 |
| PSV | Perseverance Corporation | 0.31 | -0.02 | -4.69% | 340120 |
| HDR | Hardman Resources | 2.23 | -0.09 | -3.88% | 3.2m |
| TIR | Titan Resources | 0.053 | -0.002 | -3.64% | 2.63m |
| LYC | Lynas Corporation | 0.14 | -0.01 | -3.45% | 400000 |
Elsewhere in the Region...
| Regional Indices | |||||
| Country | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
| New Zealand | NZSE50 | 3307.843 | -26.26 | -0.79% | 27.02m |
| Japan | Nikkei 225 | 11764.84 | 6.16 | 0.05% | 0 |
| Korea | KOSPI | 1075.48 | 13.05 | 1.23% | 537787 |
| Singapore | Straits Times | 2262.54 | 14.4 | 0.64% | 0 |
| Hong Kong | Hang Seng | 14565.32 | -1.68 | -0.01% | 225.18m |
| Malaysia | KLSE Comp | 914.44 | -0.64 | -0.07% | 0 |
