I'm still backing the miners to outperform because there's no let up yet in the commodities boom. A lot of the good news about demand from China may be understated and you'd have to think this rally has some way to go yet.
Rita is one big question mark that's been removed and it's safer to buy stocks now. Companies that do business in the U.S. are naturally going to be more relieved.
The outlook for the banks has improved substantially in the past six months. Housing lending has held up better than expected and business lending has been very, very strong.
Commodities are still looking strong and brokers continue to upgrade their numbers. It presents an opportunity to buy.
Commodity companies have in the past been price takers rather than price makers, and that won't change dramatically, but if you have greater control of your supply, that makes it more favorable to the mining companies.
In his role as a chief executive, he should have been aware of what's been happening. With his departure there's a greater chance that the company will not lose its monopoly position.
New Zealand is a real problem and the quality of the result has been brought under question,
It has certainly thrown a spanner in the works from their (News Corp.'s) perspective and it is something that needs to be taken reasonably seriously,
They'll have to do a bit more work on price.
It's an extremely profitable business model. They have carved out a very good niche, being among the first to identify infrastructure investments such as toll roads.
The commentary that went with the results was encouraging and suggested things were reasonably buoyant and the imbalance between supply and demand still remains.
The competition in New Zealand is very, very intense, so we've seen a fair bit of margin compression and also the quality of its book in New Zealand has actually deteriorated as well.
It's a case of traders taking their bids off the board until the situation becomes clearer. Investors would rather buy stocks a bit later when there's a touch more certainty about the seriousness of the threat.
A bit of softness in steel and building materials was expected, but perhaps not to this extent. The market overall has moved up in accordance with expectations for earnings, so any company that doesn't meet them will take a bath.
It's hard to see where the future of Telstra's business lies, ... Its ongoing battle with the government isn't inspiring shareholders either.
It's hard to see where the future of Telstra's business lies. Its ongoing battle with the government isn't inspiring shareholders either.