US Futures help to ignite some buying in Oz today (VOC)
News that the US Senate passed its fiscal year 2018 budget resolution today which opens the door for the passage of Republican’s massive package to overhaul the tax code – which is obviously a positive for the market. Importantly, the budget’s passage had a key component imbedded in it, containing instructions for the process known as budget reconciliation. Reconciliation will allow Republicans to eventually pass a tax reform bill through the chamber with a simple majority and avoid a Democratic filibuster (which creates delays).
This is important since the GOP only holds a slim 52-seat majority. This got US Futures traders excited today and that prompted some buying locally, however being a Friday afternoon, we drifted into the close. For those that may not know what GOP is, it stands for Grand Old Party – a common name for the Republicans!
Overall, Utilities did best while the Healthcare names struggled – a range of +/- 56 points, a high of 5924, a low of 5868 and a close of 5907, up 10pts or +0.18%.
ASX 200 Intra-Day Chart
ASX 200 Daily Chart
For the week – The index was strong over the past week adding +1.60%, with some of the dogs starting to wag their tails while some of the more loved names have fallen over, Lend Lease (LLC) a case in point which topped the losers board this week.
Source; Bloomberg
Interesting to see VOC has been the best performer over the week and today they rallied +9% on more than 2x their usual volume. Short interest is BIG in VOC (18 times the company's average daily trading and represented 8.6 percent of the shares available as of the latest filing) and any sniff of another takeover attempt and these shorts will start scrambling. Looks like something is be bubbling under the surface here!
Vocus Communication (VOC) Daily Chart
Have a great night
The Market Matters Team
Disclosure
Market Matters may hold stocks mentioned in this report. Subscribers can view a full list of holdings on the website by clicking here. Positions are updated each Friday.
Disclaimer
All figures contained from sources believed to be accurate. Market Matters does not make any representation of warranty as to the accuracy of the figures and disclaims any liability resulting from any inaccuracy. Prices as at 20/10/17. 5.00PM.
Reports and other documents published on this website and email (‘Reports’) are authored by Market Matters and the reports represent the views of Market Matters. The MarketMatters Report is based on technical analysis of companies, commodities and the market in general. Technical analysis focuses on interpreting charts and other data to determine what the market sentiment about a particular financial product is, or will be. Unlike fundamental analysis, it does not involve a detailed review of the company’s financial position.
The Reports contain general, as opposed to personal, advice. That means they are prepared for multiple distributions without consideration of your investment objectives, financial situation and needs (‘Personal Circumstances’). Accordingly, any advice given is not a recommendation that a particular course of action is suitable for you and the advice is therefore not to be acted on as investment advice. You must assess whether or not any advice is appropriate for your Personal Circumstances before making any investment decisions. You can either make this assessment yourself, or if you require a personal recommendation, you can seek the assistance of a financial advisor. Market Matters or its author(s) accepts no responsibility for any losses or damages resulting from decisions made from or because of information within this publication. Investing and trading in financial products are always risky, so you should do your own research before buying or selling a financial product.
The Reports are published by Market Matters in good faith based on the facts known to it at the time of their preparation and do not purport to contain all relevant information with respect to the financial products to which they relate. Although the Reports are based on information obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Market Matters does not make any representation or warranty that they are accurate, complete or up to date and Market Matters accepts no obligation to correct or update the information or opinions in the Reports.
If you rely on a Report, you do so at your own risk. Any projections are estimates only and may not be realised in the future. Except to the extent that liability under any law cannot be excluded, Market Matters disclaims liability for all loss or damage arising as a result of any opinion, advice, recommendation, representation or information expressly or impliedly published in or in relation to this report notwithstanding any error or omission including negligence.
To unsubscribe. Click Here
