Shares could tumble back through 5000 barrier, charts suggest

Original article by Stephen Cauchi
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 16-Jun-16

The Australian sharemarket has shed around four per cent since reaching 5,400 points in late May 2016, and technical analysis suggests that the S&P/ASX 200 could test the 5,000-point level. Angela Mangan of QMG says 5,300 was the benchmark index’s most recent technical support level. Angus Nicholson of IG Markets says 5,000 will become the next technical support level if the index falls below 5,200, and he notes the psychological importance of the 5,000-point level to investors.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, QMG PTY LTD, IG MARKETS LIMITED, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, FTSE 100 INDEX, EURO STOXX 50 INDEX, DEUTSCHER AKTIEN INDEX, CAC 40 INDEX

Five million Australians now have Netflix; Stan and Presto are still well behind, but growing

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jun-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that almost five million Australians aged 14+ had access to Netflix in the three months to May 2016, while 1,878,000 households now use the subscription video-on-demand service. Some 891,000 Australians in 332,000 households now have access to Stan, while Presto now reaches 353,000 people in 142,000 subscribing homes. Meanwhile, Roy Morgan estimates that 92 per cent of Netflix users (1,734,000 households) had a paid subscription in the May quarter, compared with 78 per cent of Stan subscribers (260,000 homes) and 64 per cent of Presto subscribers (around 91,000 homes).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Are LinkedIn’s business decision-makers Microsoft’s $35billion target audience?

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jun-16

A recent Roy Morgan Single Source survey showed that 24 per cent of Australian workers aged 14+ visit the LinkedIn website. The survey also found that 65 per cent of CEOs, General Managers and Legislators use the career networking site in an average four weeks, followed by Information and Communications Technology professionals (57 per cent) and Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals (45 per cent). The value for Microsoft, as it moves away from consumer products toward providing business technology services like cloud platforms and large-scale software subscriptions, is that LinkedIn’s biggest users are not just workers, but business decision-makers: those employees, partners, and business owners responsible for determining their companies’ expenditure across a range of categories – including software and computer services. Roy Morgan’s survey of business decision-makers shows that almost 950,000 Australians made or contributed to decisions in their organisation regarding computer software or online services in the past year – and 38 per cent of them (360,000) use LinkedIn.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, LINKEDIN CORPORATION, MICROSOFT CORPORATION

The 10 most (and least) politically engaged electorates

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jun-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that just 19 per cent of Australian electors especially want to read, watch or hear any political analysis in their media during the week. The survey also shows that Greens voters are most likely to want some political analysis in their media at least once during the week (26 per cent), while ALP voters are slightly more likely than average (20 per cent) and Liberal voters are slightly less likely than average (18 per cent). Meanwhile, electorates where voters are most likely to want some political analysis in their media include Grayndler (46 per cent), Goldstein (40 per cent) and North Sydney (39 per cent). In contrast, just seven per cent of voters in the electorates of Forde, Wakefield, and Werriwa want political analysis in their media.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Voters are bored and cynical

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Jun-16

Focus group research in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay has found that many swing voters have lost interest in the 2016 federal election campaign. The research by Visibility also shows that there is growing discontent and cynicism regarding politics, with negative perceptions of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in particular. The same voters were generally positive about Turnbull in an earlier focus group that was conducted after he became Prime Minister in September 2015.

CORPORATES
VISIBILITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, JWS RESEARCH PTY LTD

Unis call time on uncapped places

Original article by Julie Hare
The Australian – Page: 5 : 15-Jun-16

Australia’s Group of Eight universities have urged the major political parties to reconsider the funding model for the nation’s tertiary institutions. Group of Eight chairman Michael Spence notes that while abolishing the cap on university places has increased the participation rate, it has not improved equality of access, as students from middle-class backgrounds account for the bulk of the increased demand for university places.

CORPORATES
THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Terrorism no longer phases investors

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 15-Jun-16

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.1 per cent when trading resumed following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US. However, the Dow Jones shed just 0.74 per cent after 50 people were killed in a nightclub in Orlando. Likewise, the CAC 40 shed just 0.1 per cent following the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015 and the Brussels attacks in March 2016 had little impact on global sharemarkets. Analysis also suggests that terrorist attacks generally do not have much economic impact over the long-term.

CORPORATES
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE INDEX, CAC 40 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, IBEX 35 INDEX, FTSE 100 INDEX, CHARLES SCHWAB AND COMPANY, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

Watchdog outlines Fairfax-APN concerns

Original article by Jake Mitchell, Daniel Palmer
The Australian – Page: 21 : 15-Jun-16

The New Zealand Commerce Commission has released a statement of preliminary issues regarding the proposed merger of the NZ businesses of Fairfax Media and APN News & Media. APN CEO Ciaran Davis recently expressed confidence that the regulator will recognise the need for local media companies to be able to compete with digital players such as Google. An independent expert’s report on the proposed merger between Vodafone NZ and Sky Network Television has also been released.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, NZME, SKY NETWORK TELEVISION LIMITED – ASX SKT, VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GRANT SAMUEL AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD

Mesoblast falls 42pc as investors lose heart

Original article by Jessica Gardner, James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 15-Jun-16

The market capitalisation of Australian biotechnology group Mesoblast has fallen to $A750m following a 42.2 per cent fall in its share price on 14 June 2016. The stock closed at a seven-year low of $A1.11 after Teva Pharmaceutical Industries advised that it will not finance the final round of clinical trials for Mesoblast’s stem-cell treatment for heart failure. Mesoblast had cash reserves of around $US100m at the end of the March quarter, and CEO Silviu Itescu is confident that the group can secure funding partners before its cash reserves are exhausted.

CORPORATES
MESOBLAST LIMITED – ASX MSB, TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED, CEPHALON INCORPORATED, CANACCORD GENUITY (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Dud stocks stage tidy turnarounds

Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 15-Jun-16

A number of stocks whose poor performance had made them candidates for tax-loss selling in the lead-up to the end of the financial year have rebounded in recent months. Santos reached a low of $A2.64 early in 2016, but the stock has since risen to around $A4.48. Other resources and mining-related stocks have also staged a turnaround in recent months, while grocery wholesaler Metcash has risen strongly since September 2015. Likewise, speculation of a potential demerger has boosted the share price of Origin Energy.

CORPORATES
SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, METCASH LIMITED – ASX MTS, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, BRADKEN LIMITED – ASX BKN, PERPETUAL INVESTMENTS, IGA, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ARRIUM LIMITED – ASX ARI