Australian Investment Blog

• The ASX 200 sold off from the start of session this morning, down as low as 5828, only to recover some and close 73 points lower at 5846.• Following the Government’s release of its ‘tax discussion paper’, the sectors hit the most were stocks who offer imputation tax credits, predominately the ‘big 4’ banks. Both Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and National Australia Bank (NAB) closed 1.3% lower at $93.10 and $38.32 respectively as uncertainty and fear has risen to investors’ eyes. See the recent Hickman reports noting our view to transition Shawn’s portfolio away from High yield to predominantly growth stocks.• The Oil stocks sold off as expected, Santos closed 6.8% lower at $7.02 and Woodside Petroleum (WPL) down 3% at $34.00. Caltex (CTX) closed just shy of its recent placement price of $34.50, at $34.44.• Telstra (TLS) shed 1.4% off today at $6.29 as it is regarded in the same basket of the stocks that would be affected with a change in tax. • Panaust (PNA) rallied 40% to $1.715 after Gram revisits PNA and bids at $1.71 a share, versus its previous bids received at $2.20 and $2.30 a share.• Today, we reduced a percentage of a couple of high yielding stocks into a growth stock as proposed in the Hickman Report yesterday.