SHARE PRICES – AUSTRALIA

South32 faces earnings slide, growing pains hit

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 22-Jun-15

Shares in BHP Billiton spinoff South32 fell by $A0.07 to close at $A1.96 on 19 June 2015, at the stock’s lowest level since its sharemarket debut in mid-May. Sentiment toward South32 has been hit by a slump in the prices of the commodities that it produces, with the spot price of copper falling to its lowest level since 2008. Some observers argue that many of the benefits arising from the demerger – for both South32 and BHP – may not be realised for a number of years.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, SHAW STOCKBROKING LIMITED, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, LIBERUM CAPITAL LIMITED, ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

ERA shares tank as prospects cut

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 16-Jun-15

Shares in Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) shed 25.4 per cent on 15 June 2015, closing at $A0.50. This followed a large sell-off in the previous trading session, after the uranium miner advised that it will not proceed with the Ranger 3 Deeps expansion of its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory. Glyn Lawcock of UBS believes that there is almost no chance that ERA will resume mining at Ranger.

CORPORATES
ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX ERA, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, PALADIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX PDN

Skilled shares up on merger talks

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 26-May-15

Shares in labour hire company Skilled Group finished $A0.145 higher at $A1.375 on 25 May 2015. The stock rallied after Skilled advised that it has reopened merger discussions with Programmed Maintenance Service (PMS). Skilled had previously spurned a takeover bid from PMS that was pitched at $A1.38 per share. PMS shares closed four per cent lower at $A2.51.

CORPORATES
SKILLED GROUP LIMITED – ASX SKE, PROGRAMMED MAINTENANCE SERVICES LIMITED – ASX PRG, RECRUIT HOLDINGS COMPANY LIMITED, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED, FOSTER’S GROUP LIMITED, SABMILLER PLC, ASCIANO LIMITED – ASX AIO

ASX 200 first quarter was best in decades

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 17 : 1-Apr-15

Deutsche Bank’s Tim Baker expects Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index to reach 6,200 points, following a strong performance in the March 2015 quarter. The health sector in particular performed well during the quarter, and Philip Parker of Altair Asset Management notes that the sector benefited from the lower Australian dollar. However, the materials sector shed six per cent during March, due to factors such as the downturn in the iron ore price

CORPORATES
DEUTSCHE BANK AG, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, ALTAIR ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, CBG ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, RESMED INCORPORATED – ASX RMD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Sirtex sheds $1b after cancer therapy trial disappoints

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 & 17 : 18-Mar-15

Sirtex Medical’s shares closed 55 per cent lower at $A17.53 on 17 March 2015, after the group released the results of a seven-year clinical trial of its SIR-Spheres treatment for liver cancer. The trial found that the treatment does not offer much improvement compared with traditional treatments such as chemotherapy. However, Sirtex intends to make more extensive data on the clinical trial available in May

CORPORATES
SIRTEX MEDICAL LIMITED – ASX SRX, AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, MESOBLAST LIMITED – ASX MSB, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, ONCOSIL MEDICAL LIMITED – ASX OSL, MORGANS FINANCIAL LIMITED, BLOOMFIELD COLLIERIES, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WILSON HTM INVESTMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX WIG, AUSTRALIAN ETHICAL INVESTMENT LIMITED – ASX AEF

Eight stocks stalling the ASX

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 11-Mar-15

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 has risen by 83 per cent in the last six years, while the S&P 500 has risen by 205 per cent. Evan Lucas of IG Markets says the local market has been affected by the slowing Chinese economy and the Australian economy’s shift from a focus on mining to services. Analysis shows that BHP Billiton, QBE Insurance Group, Newcrest Mining, OZ Minerals, Rio Tinto, Woodside Petroleum, BlueScope Steel and WorleyParsons have accounted for about 530 of the points shed by the S&P/ASX 200 since late 2007

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, IG MARKETS LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, NEWCREST MINING LIMITED – ASX NCM, OZ MINERALS LIMITED – ASX OZL, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, BLUESCOPE STEEL LIMITED – ASX BSL, WORLEYPARSONS LIMITED – ASX WOR, MINERALS AND METALS GROUP, MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL

Xero soars and eyes US listing

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 & 28 : 26-Feb-15

Australian-listed online accounting software developer Xero has received a $NZ132.9 million ($A127.6 million) investment from US firm Accel Partners. Xero CEO Rod Drury said the company will seek a US listing at the end of 2015. Its shares rose sharply on 25 February, closing 27.8 per cent higher at $A22.60

CORPORATES
XERO LIMITED – ASX XRO, ACCEL PARTNERS, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, MATRIX CAPITAL PTY LTD

BHP and QBE drive index closer to 6000

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Original article by Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 25-Feb-15

The Australian sharemarket posted solid gains on 24 February 2015, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.3 per cent to close at 5,927. The Commonwealth Bank was 0.7 per cent higher at $A91.04 and BHP Billiton rose by 2.9 per cent to end the session at $A33.06. However, National Australia Bank shed 0.2 per cent to finish at $A37.58 and MMA Offshore was 11.7 per cent lower at $A0.87

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, MMA OFFSHORE LIMITED – ASX MRM, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, WOODSIDE PETROLEUM LIMITED – ASX WPL, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AMCOR LIMITED – ASX AMC, PM CAPITAL LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX

Apple’s pick of the crop as reality bites for other heroes

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Original article by Philip Baker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 12-Feb-15

The market capitalisation of Apple rose to $US711bn on 11 February 2015, and the IT giant may be on track to become the first company to achieve a market value of $US1trn. Apple shares have risen by more than 50,600 per cent since its IPO in 1980. Meanwhile, shares in Australian-listed Commonwealth Bank and CSL retreated on 11 February, although both remain close to record highs and are candidates to reach $A100 per share

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, APPLE INCORPORATED, EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH

Why CBA is a standout with investors

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 4-Feb-15

Morgan Stanley estimates that Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) shares are now trading at 15.7 times the group’s forecast earnings for 2014-15. In contrast, the stock has traded at an average of around 12.9 per cent during the last 10 years. CBA shares have risen by 5.5 per cent in the last month, closing above $A90 on 3 February 2015. Shares in the three other major banks have also rallied in 2015, but CBA is the only one with a 30 June financial year

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BLOOMBERG LP, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD