Author: roymorgansocial

Bourse in $57bn wipe-out for May

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Original article by Chris Kohler
The Australian – Page: 28 : 1-Jun-17

The Australian sharemarket posted modest gains on 31 May 2017, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.2 per cent to close at 5,724.6 points. National Australia Bank advanced 1.3 per cent to $A30.12 and Wesfarmers was up 1.1 per cent at $A42.70. However, Rio Tinto fell 0.7 per cent to $A62.81 and New Hope Corporation was down 11 per cent at $A1.62. The S&P/ASX 200 shed 3.4 per cent in May, and analysts note that the local market tends to underperform in June.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE LIMITED – ASX ALL, AUTOMOTIVE HOLDINGS GROUP LIMITED – ASX AHG, SIRTEX MEDICAL LIMITED – ASX SRX, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, SIGMA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SIG, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, IG MARKETS LIMITED, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Numbers look good, so where’s the euphoria?

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 28 : 31-May-17

Australian bank and resources stocks rallied on 30 May 2017, allowing the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 to finish in the black after reaching a three-month low early in the session. Meanwhile, Citigroup notes that investor sentiment is not sufficiently high that a market retreat is likely, despite key US indices being at or near record highs. However, the S&P/ASX 200 and the S&P 500 have tended to underperform in the month of June, shedding an average of 2.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively over the last 10 years.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INCORPORATED, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Don’t believe Google, this monopoly is not journalism’s friend

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Original article by Michael Miller
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 31-May-17

Google Australia MD Jason Pellegrino claims that news publishers can withdraw their content from Google News and Google Search at any time. Google’s 95 per cent share of the search market in Australia means that this is not an option. This market dominance means that local publishers are highly dependent on Google to distribute their free content and drive traffic to their websites. Meanwhile, Google is seeking to deter publishers from offering subscriber-only content, as this affects its own advertising revenue. Media reforms are necessary to ensure a level playing field for local news publishers.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rating up for the second straight week to 112.2 (up 1.5%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 31-May-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 1.5% to 112.2 in the week ended 28 May 2017, bringing the index back to levels before the Commonwealth Budget. The improvement in confidence was mixed – sentiment towards financial conditions deteriorated somewhat, while views around economic conditions rose solidly. Households’ expectations towards both current and future economic conditions bounced last week (3.5% and 4.6% respectively), after posting modest rises the previous week. Sentiment towards current economic conditions is at its highest value in seven weeks. Households’ views around current financial conditions were broadly flat (-0.1%). Meanwhile, views towards future conditions dropped 1.7%, offsetting the 1.5% rise in the previous week. Confidence in overall financial conditions has fallen sharply since the Commonwealth Budget, unwinding the modest recovery in April.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Late bid by media bosses to sway ALP

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Original article by David Crowe
The Australian – Page: 6 : 31-May-17

Media executives will lobby federal politicians to support cross-media ownership reforms at meetings on 31 May. The support of Senate cross-benchers is likely to be crucial, as the Australian Labor Party still opposes abolition of the "two-out-of-three" rule. Communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland argues that media ownership is already too concentrated under the existing regime. However, she says Labor would vote to scrap the "reach rule" if it is put to parliament in a separate bill.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Satisfaction with big four banks increased in April, to well above long term average

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-May-17

A Roy Morgan Research Single Source survey has found that satisfaction with Australia’s four major banks rose by 0.2% to 80.1% in the six months to April 2017, which is well above the long-term average of 74.9% recorded since 2005. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia continued to have the highest level of satisfaction among the big four banks (81.4%), followed by National Australia Bank (80.2%). However, NAB was highest-rating in terms of satisfaction among main financial institution customers (83.0%), replacing CBA (82.9%). Meanwhile, satisfaction levels among the big four banks’ mortgage customers has improved marginally over the last 12 months, to 78.0%, up from 77.7% in the same period in 2016. Despite the improvement, mortgage customers still have lower satisfaction than non-mortgage customers (78.0% compared to 80.5%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Sell in May: shares stay true to script

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 30-May-17

The S&P/ASX 200 has underperformed in the last month, reducing its gain so far in the 2016-17 financial year from 13.8 per cent to just 9.1 per cent. May 2017 is shaping up to be the worst month for the local bourse since January 2016, and the benchmark index is now well off the 6,000-point level that seemed within reach early in the month. Meanwhile, the uncertain economic outlook may weigh on investors in the near-term, with upcoming data expected to show GDP growth stalled in the March quarter.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

BHP, Rio face fresh tax threat

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Original article by Tess Ingram, Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 29-May-17

The Western Australian Government may seek to have BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto pay their iron ore production levies upfront for a number of years, as part of its strategy to address the state’s rising debt and Budget deficit. Premier Mark McGowan says buying out the lease rental fee of $A0.25 per tonne is one of the options under consideration. Peter Strachan of StockAnalysis questions whether BHP and Rio Tinto would agree to such a deal, given the difficulty of forecasting their annual production rates over the long-term.

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, STOCK ANALYSIS AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, THE CHAMBER OF MINERALS AND ENERGY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Trump to abandon climate deal

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Original article by
The Australian – Page: 8 : 29-May-17

US President Donald Trump has advised via Twitter that he will decide whether to commit to the Paris Agreement on climate change in the next week. However, some news agencies have reported that Trump has told several confidants that the US will withdraw from the agreement. Meanwhile, the Group of Seven summit meeting in Italy has issued a statement in which member nations agreed to combat protectionism and unfair trade practices. The G7 nations also condemned North Korea’s missile tests and warned that the outlook for the global economy remains uncertain.

CORPORATES
GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7), UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Australians say ‘No’ to 100% foreign ownership of Fairfax

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-May-17

An Australia-wide Roy Morgan Survey has found that 78% of Australians aged 14+ do not want Fairfax Media to be 100% owned by either of the two overseas owned institutions that have lodged multi-billion dollar bids for the company. Meanwhile, 17% of Australians say that overseas-owned institutions should be allowed to buy Fairfax outright. The survey, which was conducted from 22-24 May 2017, also shows that 53% of Australians are in favour of allowing overseas-based institutions to own a minority stake in Fairfax. A larger majority of L-NP supporters (59%) are in favour of this option for Fairfax than ALP supporters (51%). The survey has also found that the internet is now the main source of information for 51% of Australians, compared to 24% for TV and 12% for both newspapers and radio.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, TPG CAPITAL LP, HELLMAN AND FRIEDMAN