Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
First things first - I want to profusely thank the Ginger Giant and Carlson Zambesi for extricating my handsome bottom from the hot coals - hopefully the recent Crude guidance (ha ha) was able to be exploited, but in any case they will find my reciprocity will endure.
I'm a bit like that, you see: and par contre, folks who try to poo on my pretty head will find that my life's ambitions expand to include the removal of their entire DNA profile from the planet. We sociopaths do not do things by halves. (Do not think I have let slide the events of 1995, either).
Anyhooooo... let's move on. Thanks to the Ginger Giant, the subscription site is moving through the tubes as we speak - to its new headquarters on teh intarwebs. I have found a bottomless intarweb hole, and it has an endless river (unlimited webspace, unlimited bandwidth). And I am now confident that DoS attacks are a thing of the past (partly through beeefed-up security, partly through threatening the families of those DoSers whose IPs I traced) and a bright future awaits.
In keeping with the tendency of really awesome things having really dick-ish names (Google, Yahoo, Blackberry, Apple), I have chosen marketmentat (a mentat is a drug-addicted human computer from the Dune books).
To quote the oft-unreliable Wikipedia -
Mentats cultivate "the naïve mind", the mind without preconception or prejudice, similar to the contemporary practice of Zen, that can extract the essential patterns or logic of data, and deliver useful conclusions with varying degrees of certainty.
I'm not drug-addicted, but only because I knew from an early age that embedded somewhere in my brain-hole is a tendency to be unable to give up stuff that pleases me. And let me tell you - if there was a genuine brain-steroid like sapho juice, I would be on it like white on rice.
Anyhow - the name change gets rid of the 'GT' aspect - so it's not mostly about me me me me me me me.
That said, it is meant to indicate that your beloved GT and his minions are brainiacs when it comes to anything to do with financial instruments . Minions who less bright than your beloved GT are unacceptable. (That's the reason I hired Mavro back in the IWL days - and that was terrific for the team and for IWL Research, although I think Mav ends his 5-year stint a bit frazzled).
Major Market Indices
The broad market - the All Ordinaries (XAO) - dipped reasonably hard, registering a loss of 50.8 points (1.02%), finishing at 4946.7 points. The index hit an intraday high of 5009.8 at the open, while the low for the day was 4944.4 - set at 3:59 pm Sydney time.
Total volume traded on the ASX was 1.21bn units, 16.6% above its 10-day average. The ASX's daily listing of all stocks included 1266 different 3-letter FPO's which traded (i.e., had non-zero trade volume). Of these, 382 issues rose, with volume in rising issues totalling 457.9m units; decliners numbered 583 counters, and between them they generated declining volume of 636.4m shares.
Of the 494 All Ordinaries components, 147 rose while 263 fell. Volume was tilted in favour of the losers by a margin of 1.5:1, with 333.49m shares traded in gainers while 514.93m shares traded in the day's losers.
The Index that forms the cash basis for the SFE's Share Price Index Futures - the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) - registered a loss of 56.9 points (1.15%), closing out the session at 4872.6 points.
| Name | Close | +/-(%) |
|---|---|---|
| All Ordinaries | 4946.70 | -50.80 (1.0%) |
| ASX 20 | 2767.10 | -34.50 (1.2%) |
| ASX 50 | 4782.80 | -59.60 (1.2%) |
| ASX 100 | 3953.20 | -44.30 (1.1%) |
| ASX 200 | 4872.60 | -56.90 (1.2%) |
| ASX 300 | 4866.90 | -55.30 (1.1%) |
| ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4795.20 | -16.50 (0.3%) |
| ASX Small Ordinaries | 2754.30 | -35.40 (1.3%) |
The "heavy hitters" of the Australian market - the ASX 20 Leaders (XTL) - registered a loss of 34.5 points (1.23%), closing out the session at 2767.1 points.
Among the 20 big guns, 3 index components finished to the upside, and of the rest, 16 closed lower for the session. The 20 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 128.01m units; 3 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 15.49m shares, while the 16 decliners had volume traded totalling 106.67m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Stockland (SGP), +$0.15 (3.22%) to $4.81 on volume of 4 million shares;
- Rio Tinto (RIO), +$1.23 (1.05%) to $117.93 on volume of 1.6 million shares; and
- BHP Billiton (BHP), +$0.12 (0.31%) to $38.85 on volume of 9.9 million shares.
On the less salubrious side of the big-cap fence, the following stocks were the worst-performed within the index:
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$1.65 (4.78%) to $32.90 on volume of 2.9 million shares;
- Macquarie Group (MQG), -$2.08 (4.22%) to $47.25 on volume of 3.4 million shares;
- AMP (AMP), -$0.24 (3.63%) to $6.37 on volume of 5.6 million shares;
- Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC), -$0.67 (3%) to $21.70 on volume of 6.4 million shares; and
- St George Bank (SGB), -$0.64 (2.22%) to $28.14 on volume of 823 thousand shares.
At the other end of the market-cap spectrum lie the denizens of the ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) - the place where non-mania excess returns lie. The small end of the market slid in line with its large-cap counterpart. The Small Ords registered a loss of 35.4 points (1.27%), closing out the session at 2754.3 points.
Among the stocks that make up the Small Caps index, 53 index components finished to the upside, and of the rest, 119 closed lower for the session.
The 195 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 252.93m units: volume in the 53 gainers totalling 110.49m shares, with trade totalling 122.9m units in the index's 119 declining components. The major percentage gainers within the index were- Sunshine Gas (SHG), +$0.58 (26.36%) to $2.78 on volume of 16.2 million shares;
- Admiralty Resources NL (ADY), +$0.02 (20%) to $0.12 on volume of 18 million shares;
- Babcock & Brown Power (BBP), +$0.02 (12.5%) to $0.18 on volume of 24 million shares;
- Record Realty (RRT), +$0.00 (10%) to $0.04 on volume of 3.6 thousand shares; and
- Perilya (PEM), +$0.04 (8.89%) to $0.49 on volume of 2.3 million shares.
In the red-zone of the little-stock index, the following list represents the biggest downers (in terms of percentage decline):
- Babcock & Brown Wind Partners Group (BBW), -$0.2 (15.27%) to $1.11 on volume of 13.1 million shares;
- Mirvac Industrial Trust (MIX), -$0.04 (14.89%) to $0.20 on volume of 455.5 thousand shares;
- Paperlinx (PPX), -$0.28 (13.33%) to $1.82 on volume of 2.3 million shares;
- Cabcharge Australia (CAB), -$0.62 (8.67%) to $6.53 on volume of 3.2 million shares; and
- Tishman Speyer Office Fund (TSO), -$0.1 (8.3%) to $1.11 on volume of 4.5 million shares.
Index Changes
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAO | All Ordinaries | 4946.7 | -50.8 | -1.02 | 910.6m |
| XFL | ASX 50 | 4782.8 | -59.6 | -1.23 | 407.2m |
| XJO | ASX 200 | 4872.6 | -56.9 | -1.15 | 782.4m |
| XKO | ASX 300 | 4866.9 | -55.3 | -1.12 | 859.2m |
| XMD | ASX Mid-Cap 50 | 4795.2 | -16.5 | -0.34 | 199.1m |
| XSO | ASX Small Ordinaries | 2754.3 | -35.4 | -1.27 | 252.9m |
| XTL | ASX 20 | 2767.1 | -34.5 | -1.23 | 128m |
| XTO | ASX 100 | 3953.2 | -44.3 | -1.11 | 606.2m |
Market Breadth
| ASX20 | XTO | XJO | XAO | XSO | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advances | 3 | 34 | 55 | 147 | 53 | 382 |
| Declines | 16 | 63 | 136 | 263 | 119 | 583 |
| Advancing Volume | 15.5m | 209.2m | 271.8m | 333.5m | 110.5m | 457.9m |
| Declining Volume | 106.7m | 363.9m | 467.3m | 514.9m | 122.9m | 636.4m |
GICS Industry Indices
Among the 11 industry indices, today's market action was dominated by sectoral declines - only one sector managed a gain for the day, and it was the sector that benefitted the most from my rather good call on Crude Oil.
The best performing index was Energy (XEJ), which added 77.6 points (0.46%) to 17034.7 points. The 17 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 58.71m units; 7 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 31.65m shares, while the 10 decliners had volume traded totalling 27.06m units. The major percentage gainers within the index were
- Santos (STO), +$0.91 (5.29%) to $18.11 on volume of 14.4 million shares;
- Felix Resources (FLX), +$0.86 (4.65%) to $19.35 on volume of 221.3 thousand shares;
- Oil Search (OSH), +$0.17 (3.15%) to $5.57 on volume of 9.6 million shares;
- Centennial Coal Company (CEY), +$0.15 (2.99%) to $5.17 on volume of 3.9 million shares; and
- Paladin Energy (PDN), +$0.07 (1.35%) to $5.25 on volume of 1.5 million shares.
The worst-performed index for the session was Consumer Staples (XSJ), which dipped 166.3 points (2.24%) to 7257.9 points. The 11 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 29.38m units; The 9 decliners had volume traded totalling 23.04m units, and volume in the lone rising index component was 0m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Wesfarmers (WES), -$1.65 (4.78%) to $32.90 on volume of 2.9 million shares;
- ABB Grain (ABB), -$0.4 (4.71%) to $8.10 on volume of 390.7 thousand shares;
- Futuris Corporation (FCL), -$0.04 (2.81%) to $1.39 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL), -$0.21 (2.52%) to $8.13 on volume of 1.6 million shares; and
- Metcash (MTS), -$0.08 (2.05%) to $3.82 on volume of 3.9 million shares.
Just missing out on the wooden spoon was Financials ex Property Trusts (XXJ), which slid 108.3 points (2.22%) to 4764.7 points. The 30 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 96.44m units; The 25 decliners had volume traded totalling 89.93m units, and 4 index components rose, with rising volume amounting to 6.51m shares, The major percentage decliners within the index were
- Babcock & Brown (BNB), -$1.12 (32.46%) to $2.33 on volume of 22.4 million shares;
- Perpetual (PPT), -$2.58 (5.67%) to $42.94 on volume of 206.8 thousand shares;
- Australian Wealth Mgt (AUW), -$0.08 (5%) to $1.52 on volume of 1.3 million shares;
- Australand Property Group (ALZ), -$0.03 (4.72%) to $0.61 on volume of 4.1 million shares; and
- Allco Finance Group (AFG), -$0.02 (4.35%) to $0.44 on volume of 2.4 million shares.
Third-to-last amongst the sector indices was Information Technology (XIJ), which slid 11.1 points (2.14%) to 508.8 points. The 2 stocks which make up the index traded a total of 2.06m units; both fell...
- Computershare (CPU), -$0.22 (2.4%) to $8.93 on volume of 1.9 million shares; and
- Iress Market Technology (IRE), -$0.01 (0.17%) to $6.05 on volume of 153.7 thousand shares.
Sector Indices
| Code | GICS Sector | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XEJ | Energy | 17034.7 | 77.6 | 0.46 | 59m |
| XPJ | Property Trusts | 1345.8 | -3.1 | -0.23 | 98m |
| XMJ | Materials | 13139.8 | -37.2 | -0.28 | 183m |
| XTJ | Telecommunications | 1506.3 | -11 | -0.72 | 38m |
| XDJ | Consumer Discretionary | 1608 | -14.6 | -0.9 | 51m |
| XHJ | Healthcare | 8773.2 | -136.5 | -1.53 | 8m |
| XNJ | Industrials | 4691.6 | -77.7 | -1.63 | 144m |
| XUJ | Utilities | 4989.6 | -84 | -1.66 | 75m |
| XIJ | Information Technology | 508.8 | -11.1 | -2.14 | 2m |
| XXJ | Financials ex Property Trusts | 4764.7 | -108.3 | -2.22 | 96m |
| XSJ | Consumer Staples | 7257.9 | -166.3 | -2.24 | 29m |
All Ordinaries Major Movers
All Ords Volume Leaders
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OZL | OZ Minerals | 1.69 | -0.14 | -7.92 | 67.2m |
| MIG | Macquarie Infrastructure Group | 2.46 | -0.17 | -6.46 | 39.1m |
| BBI | Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group | 0.54 | 0.09 | 20 | 29.8m |
| TLS | Telstra Corporation | 4.39 | -0.04 | -0.9 | 29.2m |
| BBP | Babcock & Brown Power | 0.18 | 0.02 | 12.5 | 24m |
All Ords Percentage Gainers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SHG | Sunshine Gas | 2.78 | 0.58 | 26.36 | 16.2m |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources NL | 0.12 | 0.02 | 20 | 18m |
| BBI | Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group | 0.54 | 0.09 | 20 | 29.8m |
| BBP | Babcock & Brown Power | 0.18 | 0.02 | 12.5 | 24m |
| CNT | Centamin Egypt | 1.10 | 0.12 | 12.31 | 106.4k |
All Ords Percentage Losers
| Code | Name | Close | +/- | % | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AXQ | Allco Max Securities And Mortgage Trust | 0.06 | -0.04 | -36 | 552.2k |
| BNB | Babcock & Brown | 2.33 | -1.12 | -32.46 | 22.4m |
| BBW | Babcock & Brown Wind Partners Group | 1.11 | -0.20 | -15.27 | 13.1m |
| MIX | Mirvac Industrial Trust | 0.20 | -0.04 | -14.89 | 455.5k |
| PPX | Paperlinx | 1.82 | -0.28 | -13.33 | 2.3m |
