Sunshine brings winter of discontent to stocks

Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 22-Jul-14

Climate modelling suggests that there is a strong chance of Australia experiencing another El Nino phenomenon late in 2014. The unseasonably warm weather during the winter has already adversely affected the sales of some retailers. Tim Rocks of the Commonwealth Bank says stocks in a range of sectors could be hurt by a protracted period of warm weather. These include GrainCorp, Nufarm, AGL Energy and Suncorp Group

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, GRAINCORP LIMITED – ASX GNC, NUFARM LIMITED – ASX NUF, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, INCITEC PIVOT LIMITED – ASX IPL, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, DAVID JONES LIMITED – ASX DJS, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, KATHMANDU HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX KMD, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, THE REJECT SHOP LIMITED – ASX TRS, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, SUPER CHEAP AUTO, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE, LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, LEIGHTON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX LEI, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CSR LIMITED – ASX CSR, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, CARNEGIE WAVE ENERGY LIMITED – ASX CWE, DYESOL LIMITED – ASX DYE, SILEX SYSTEMS LIMITED – ASX SLX, ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED – ASX ENE, BLUGLASS LIMITED – ASX BLG, INFIGEN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX IFN

Buyback may go on hold as iron ore earnings fall

Original article by Amanda Saunders
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 21-Jul-14

Analyst Paul Taggart says Credit Suisse expects any capital management initiatives at BHP Billiton to be deferred until August 2015 at the earliest. There has been ongoing anticipation of a stock buyback by the Australian-listed mining company. However, the iron ore price has contracted by nearly 25 per cent in 2014. The resources group’s 2014-15 earnings may fall by up to 14 per cent. BHP will issue its quarterly production results on 23 July 2014

CORPORATES
BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Healthscope price splits fund managers

Original article by Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 21-Jul-14

Shares in Healthscope will be priced within the range of $A1.76 and $A2.29 apiece in an IPO that will be worth around $A2.5bn. The company is being floated by TPG Capital and The Carlyle Group, but Anton Tagliaferro of Investors Mutual says investors should be cautious about IPOs that are backed by private equity firms. He believes that Healthscope’s shares are overvalued and says Investors Mutual will not be buying stock in the float

CORPORATES
HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, TPG CAPITAL LP, THE CARLYLE GROUP, EQUITY TRUSTEES LIMITED – ASX EQT, PENGANA CAPITAL LIMITED, RAMSAY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX RHC

Telstra tops super list, warns of coming slowdown

Original article by Sally Patten
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 &16 : 21-Jul-14

Data from SuperRatings shows that the average Australian superannuation achieved a return of 12.7 per cent in 2013-14. Telstra Super outperformed with a return of 15.8 per cent, followed by Intrust Super, UniSuper and AustralianSuper. Telstra also had the highest return over the last five years, with its balanced fund achieving an average return of 10.7 per cent annually over this period

CORPORATES
SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD, TELSTRA SUPERANNUATION SCHEME, INTRUST SUPER FUND, UNISUPER LIMITED, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 ACCUMULATION INDEX, MORGAN STANLEY CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL WORLD ACCUMULATION INDEX, REST SUPER PTY LTD, RETAIL EMPLOYEES SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION BOARD, RUSSELL INVESTMENTS PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, VISION SUPER PTY LTD, VICSUPER PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, ENERGY SUPER, CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, CLUBSUPER

Majors facing $23bn ‘too big to fail’ slug

Original article by Michael Bennet
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-Jul-14

The interim report by the inquiry into Australia’s financial system has proposed stricter capital requirements for banks that are deemed to be "systemically important". The four major banks will have to lift their tier-one capital holdings to eight per cent from 2016. Jonathan Mott of UBS says that lifting the capital ratio above 10 per cent would require banks to increase their common equity tier one capital by around $A23bn

CORPORATES
UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ARNHEM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Investors weary from IPO oversupply

Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 17-Jul-14

Monash IVF, Mantra Group and 3P Learning are among the Australian stocks that have underperformed since their sharemarket float in recent months. Simon Conn of Investors Mutual attributes this to factors such as the high level of IPO activity and the fact that many of these floats are businesses that have been sold by private equity groups. However, Gary Nicholson of Ernst & Young rejects suggestions of "deal fatigue" among investors

CORPORATES
MONASH IVF GROUP LIMITED – ASX MVF, MANTRA GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTR, 3P LEARNING LIMITED – ASX 3PL, SMARTGROUP CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX SIQ, ASALEO CARE LIMITED – ASX AHY, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, ERNST AND YOUNG, PENGANA EMERGING COMPANIES FUND, OC FUNDS MANAGEMENT

Interest rates set to remain at record lows

Original article by Bianca Hartge-Hazelman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 17-Jul-14

The general consensus of economists polled by Bloomberg is that Australia’s cash rate will rise in the first half of 2015, although the financial market has priced in a better-than-even chance of a rate cut by the end of 2014. Tim Toohey of Goldman Sachs is also bucking the trend, and believes that the Reserve Bank could potentially reduce the cash rate again by September. The central bank itself has retained a neutral bias on monetary policy

CORPORATES
GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BLOOMBERG LP, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Retirees left to flounder after they leave work

Original article by Karen Maley, Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Jul-14

The financial system inquiry has found that retirees are not given sufficient guidance by the superannuation sector. It is argued in the interim inquiry report that the sector does not offer sufficient risk management options to retirees in the draw-down phase. For instance, few income stream products with longevity risk cover are available in Australia. A new round of submissions on how to cope with an ageing population is sought by the inquiry

CORPORATES
FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CHALLENGER FINANCE PTY LTD, THE ASSOCIATION OF SUPERANNUATION FUNDS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Time for discussion over the meaning of ‘too big to fail’

Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 16-Jul-14

David Murray, head of the new financial system review for the Australian Government, has raised the issue of banks being deemed "too big to fail". He noted that the "moral hazard" created by the Government guaranteeing deposits should be addressed, and that one solution could be to lift the fees charged to the banks in return for the support. The Australian Bankers’ Association concedes that a debate on the issue is needed, while the Customer Owned Banking Association believes Murray should have gone even further

CORPORATES
MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL, AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, CUSTOMER OWNED BANKING ASSOCIATION, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, STANDARD AND POOR’S (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

Platinum moves in on emerging Asia

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 16-Jul-14

Platinum Asset Management founder Kerr Neilson is increasing his fund’s exposure to Asian markets. Neilson believes that Chinese companies have good growth prospects, which will be reflected in their share prices. The fund is buying Asian stocks in sectors such as financials, metals, minerals and software development

CORPORATES
PLATINUM ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX PTM, PLATINUM CAPITAL LIMITED – ASX PMC, MORGAN STANLEY CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INDEX, ZILLOW.COM, QIWI PLC, AMADEUS GLOBAL TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION SA, F HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE LIMITED, F HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE AG, YONYOU SOFTWARE COMPANY LIMITED, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION, HOYA CORPORATION, ROHM COMPANY LIMITED, SBI HOLDINGS INCORPORATED, SUMITOMO METAL MINING CORPORATION, NORILSK NICKEL, MINING AND METALS COMPANY NORILSK NICKEL, CANADIAN OIL SANDS LIMITED, CHINA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, CHINA PACIFIC INSURANCE COMPANY (GROUP) LIMITED, YANDEX NV, TENCENT HOLDINGS LIMITED, YOUKU TUDOU INCORPORATED, LINKEDIN LIMITED