New Telstra CEO

Telstra said Senior Executive David Thodey will replace Sol Trujillo as CEO. The board voted in favour of Thodey
instead of 40-year TLS veteran John Stanhope. Thodey is 54 years old, is described as urbane and articulate and is said to be popular with the government - always a good thing. (Plenty of bridges to re-construct after Trujillo’s reign) It’s an internal appointment as speculated. TLS up 3c this morning to 327cTLS announced a few other management changes- Chairman Donald McGauchie will stand down and be replaced by current board director Catherine Livingstone. Peter Wilcox has resigned and John Stanhope was appointed executive board of directors. Telstra also reiterated FY10 free cash flow and guidance. If they keep their word - the dividend won’t be cut. (Worth noting that Telstra isn’t the stock to be buying if you want to be participating in the market recovery, it’s a defensive institutional stock.

Westpac Bank(WBC) announced its 1H09 result yesterday

Westpac Bank(WBC) announced its 1H09 result yesterday.

The market gave it a pass. Broker reaction this morning:
• Citi - HOLD - 1900c target price - Described the result as “solid” and noted the dividend cut as the surprise factor. Says the company is well positioned versus its peers but impairments were higher than expected.

• MacquarieEquities- Outperform - 420c target price - Highlight that WBC has two unique attributes - better risk management and unique merger opportunity that exists with SGB.- They expect both factors to result in a less volatile stock with better earnings and balance sheet protection in a downcycle and strong recovery potential.

• GSJB Were - HOLD- 1996c target price - They say the result brought no great surprises and did confirm their view that the current fall in asset quality is not impacted the system. “As such, with WBC trading on a FY10 PE of 11.1x, a 9% premium to peers, and a P/NTA 2.4x, versus sector average of 1.9x, we believe there is better value elsewhere in the sector.

• RBS Equities - HOLD - upped target price to 1845c from 1789c - Likely to remain their favoured bank holding given its relative provisioning and capital levels but given earnings headwinds for the sector we remain cautious and retain their underweight recommendation on the sector.

• Credit Suisse - upped to Neutral from Underperform - upped target price to 2000c from 1800c - Said it showed solid margin expansion, lending growth, and restocking of loan loss provisions were among the highlights of the group’s result.

• JP Morgan - Underweight - ups target price to 2206c from 1581c - They say, “In our view, Westpac’s perceived favorable peer relative risk dynamics are now more than factored into its share price. Telstra

ASX Market Report 23-4-09

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The SFE Futures suggested a 12 point fall in the market. BHP and RIO mixed in ADR form overnight – BHP down 1.22% and RIO up 5.13%. (BHP closed at the equivalent of 3204c, up 55c on yesterday’s close.) Metals mostly up overnight - Copper up 0.73%, Zinc down 0.34% and Aluminium up 0.69%. Nickel up 0.17%. Oil price up 76c to $47.41. Gold up $9.80 to $892.50. Bonds down with the 10 year yield up to 2.9397%. A$/US$ down 0.09% to 70.47c.

Morgan Stanley down 9% posting a larger-than-expected $578m loss over the quarter – noted a deterioration in the commercial real estate market. The loss was also comprised largely from an improvement in the value of its own debt. They also announced a dividend cut. Bank of America down 5.7%. Wells Fargo did well for most the session but closed down 3.4% – earnings fell inline with their guidance but beat analyst’s expectations - they also posted higher credit losses. The better-than-expected earnings came largely from increased mortgage revenue. AT&T up 1.82% – the US’s biggest telecommunications carrier – surpassed analyst,s expectations with strong results across its wireless business. Yahoo! up 0.70% as it plans to cut 700 jobs – earnings were down 78% for the quarter but better-than-expected.

The market is up 42. The SFE Futures suggested a 12 point fall in the market this morning. Strong performance this morning after yesterday’s mixed session. Resources up 1.3% – BHP and RIO up 1.5% and 5.4%. Financials up 0.9%. Property down 0.6%.Industrials down 0.2%.

Tricom Today ASX Stock Market Report 5-3-09

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The SFE Futures suggest a 72 point rise in the market. BHP and RIO both up in ADR form overnight – 8.70% and 11.14% respectively. Metals up strongly overnight – Copper up 5.82%, Zinc 8.02% and Aluminium 3.42%. Nickel up 3.89%. Oil price up 8.9% to $45.28. Oil up with the rally in the general markets and on reports that crude levels in US storage has unexpectedly shrunk. Gold down $6.90 to $906.70Bonds down with the 10 year yield up to %2.9874. A$/US$ up to 65c. Financials closed 3.5% down after being up as much as 3.5% – down after Reuters reported a congressional subcommittee will meet on March 12th for a hearing on the mark-to-market accounting rules that could result in financials taking huge writedowns on their problem assets. Diversified banks down 10.2% – investors worried about news that Bancorp (Minneapolis-based bank) will cut its dividend by 88% – it was seen as one of the healthier banks. General Electric down to 18-year-lows on the fact that they might have to inject more cash into GE Capital. GE denied they required any outside assistance with capital saying they had ample liquidity. Credit agencies are warning their AAA rating is in danger of being downgraded. GE was down 17% on the open but rallied to close down only 4.5% – GE’s strength gave support to the broad-based market. The market is up 40 – a little disappointing considering the 72 point rise predicted by the SFE Futures this morning. BHP has been holding up the market all morning – boosting the index 28 points alone at midday.

Tricom Today ASX Stock Market Report 25-02-09

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The market is up 11,was up 51 earlier – underperforming the 70 point rise predicted by the SFE Futures this morning. Financials up 0.3% following the 14.8% rise in the banks in the US overnight on the back of positive comments from Bernanke reassurance that the banks won’t be nationalized. All our banks up 1-2% early on. Resources up 0.1% – BHP and RIO up 0.9% and 0.4% following significant jumps in the miners overnight in the US and a rise in metal prices. Industrials up 1.7% – APN News and Media (APN) posted a FY NPAT loss of $24m. Final dividend will be 12c. Guides FY09 underlying NPAT to be $120m in-line with consensus. Balance sheet in good shape. Doesn’t expect further jobs cuts. Expects a slow 1H09, picking up in the 2H. Property up 2.1% after recent heavy falls - Westfield up 2.4%.

Tricom Today 11-2-09

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The market is down 27, doing better than the 80 point fall predicted by the SFE Futures this morning and is down just 1.1% despite a 4.6% fall on Wall St post a disappointing bank rescue plan which made it clear that there is no Obama miracle cure for the financial crisis after all. It has been terribly received in the US and criticized for a lack of detail. It seems the new administration are still making it up as they go along and have no convincing strategy to stop the financial crisis. Resources down 1.8% with metals all down. BHP down 2.8%. RIO up 1.9%. Energy stocks down on the lower oil price. Gold stocks mixed . Newcrest, Lihir and Sino Gold down, but smaller players up. One broker predicts another 3 year bull market in gold. Financials are down 0.7% – banks all down 1-2% early on with CBA up 0.7% and outperforming on the back of 1H results in-line with their profit upgrade last week. CBA will pay 113c dividend which goes ex on Monday. Property down 1.1% as Stockland Group posted a 1H NPAT loss of $726m with 1H revenue loss of $803m . SGP down 7% early on. Westfield down 1.0%.