US jobs data weighs on Aussie market
The Australian share market opened around 2% lower following worse-than-expected unemployment data out of the US. The market staged a slow recovery, however it was still 1.3% down at lunch with all sectors being heavily sold. [More]

BC Iron approves Nullagine development
BC Iron approved the development of its Nullagine iron Ore Project after it had completed the feasibility study. The iron ore producer said the project, located in the Pilbara region, is an economically and technically robust direct shipping ore project, which would produce at an initial rate of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). [More]

BHP off-loads QLD nickel refinery
BHP Billiton said it had agreed to off-load its Yabulu nickel refinery to Professor Clive Palmer for an undisclosed sum. BHP Billiton, while withholding the terms of the sale said it would write-down the carrying value of Yabulu by around US$500m, with a further estimated US$175m of unrecoverable tax benefits. [More]

Avoca announces record gold production
Avoca Resources announced a record 52,118 ounces of gold production for the June quarter from its 100% owned Higginsville gold project in Western Australia. The gold producer said it remains confident of producing over 190,000 ounces in the next financial year at an estimated cash operating cost of $468 per ounce. [More]

Coffey subsidiary secures US$66m law contract
Coffey International said its US-based subsidiary, MSI had been awarded a US$66.3 million rule of law project, funded by USAID/Mexico. Coffey said the five year “Rule of Law III: Support for Legal Reforms” project was the third USAID-funded initiative of its kind, which aims to prevent and eradicate organised crime. [More]

Shareholders accept 95% of Rio rights issue
Rio Tinto said it received acceptances for almost 95% of its shares offered in last month's rights issue. The mining giant announced the closure of the rights issue as at 1700 AEST on Wednesday, 1 July. [More]

RBS: NUF - Reporting season hot spot stocks
NUF has been sold off aggressively since releasing a profit downgrade in June. However the trading challenges look more seasonal than structural and a return to normal trading conditions in FY10 should see the fundamentals turn positive. [More]

RBS: SUN - The outlook is bright
RBS have re-initiated coverage on SUN with a buy recommendation and a $7.35 target price. The stock is also showing a strong technical set up for a breakout of $6.75 which would be the entry signal. [More]

RBS: NAB - More tax liability?
NAB may have an additional tax liability of A$367-615m depending of the determination by the ATO. The liability represents a 10-15bp drag on tier-1 capital. NAB also has earnings risks from the UK operations and its CDO exposures which are the main reason for RBS Research Sell recommendation. [More]

Micro Cap Rising Stars - Clover
One might be tempted to ask why a "rising star" of last year has not yet "risen" so to speak, but the truth is at the time of publication Clover shares were trading at 14.5c and today they are trading at 20c. [More]

Short Term Trading
In the past few weeks my analyses (including my weekly editorial) have zoomed in on longer term investment horizons, so this week I thought I'd balance it out by dedicating my editorial to those readers with a short term trading horizon. [More]

Arrow completes third stage of Alliance deal
Arrow Energy and Royal Dutch Shell Group have signed the documentation to complete the third stage of their Alliance transaction. The company said this enabled the staged payment of the last of the upfront payments of US$155 million. [More]

Consumer sentiment rises 12.7%
The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment rose 12.7% to 100.1 in June from 88.8 in May. This was second largest amount since the survey began in 1974 and the largest increase in 22 years. [More]

Myer Notes might be a hard bargain
The hybrid notes offer relatively cheap entry to fixed interest, but dangers remain for investors.



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Stockradar: Telecom NZ (TEL)
Where did Telecom NZ (TEL) begin trading as a listed entity eighteen years ago? $1.82 is the price I have on the 30th August 1991. Where is the TEL price today? A staggering 26 cents above that price at $2.08! There are for better and easier avenues for making money on the stock market but be aware! [More]

The award goes to?
Time's been flying by lately and I must confess Friday morning I was feeling a little dusty after the Stockbroker's Awards Dinner. This is an annual shin-dig where Brokers get together, pat each other on the back and raise money for good causes. [More]