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Author: james Carter

The ASX 200 continued with its third straight day of losses, ending 31 points lower at 5369, again led by the iron ore sector.

Hedge Funds look at Positions as Christmas approaches fast

The ASX 200 continued its weak streak, ending the day down 13 points, just below 5,400.

Fast Food giants power ahead in both the US and Australia

The ASX 200 sold off from the start of session, ending 42 points lower at 5,413 and a range of 54 points, with the bank sector being the main contributor of today’s weakness.

An $8.4 billion merger between the Singapore Exchange (SGX.SP) and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) was rejected by Julia ¬Gillard’s Labor government in April 2011. The deal was designed to help the ASX gain a foothold in Asia and let the SGX tap into Australia’s commodities markets. The deal basically valued the ASX at $48 a share through the cash and share offer by the Singapore Exchange, many people believe the deal was knocked back because of political egos. The two companies were looking at saving $30 million a year in costs as they face growing pressure from alternative trading platforms. The ASX is now trading 23% below the bid and the ASX200 has rallied 18%, investors currently have no reason to thank the previous government.

Subscribers received their live alert on transactions made on Hickman’s portfolio today, in line with recent reports.

Buy Gold & sell banks, will markets repeat last year’s quarter for the underperformers?

The ASX 200 closed 20 points lower at 5,443, its fourth straight day in negative territory.

With 50% of returns from the local share market coming from dividends over the last 20 years, it’s not difficult to understand why Australian investors are correctly focused on dividends. The unprecedented low interest environment now clearly appears to have a few more years’ duration, as European economies threaten to drag the rest of the world back into recession. Australia’s problems are far more linked to the slowing China economy, leading to Iron Ore falling 60% since February 2011. Hence, with money in the bank earning basically negative real interest, Australian equities paying solid fully franked dividends should remain solidly in favour. My approach is very simple, identify the stocks you want to buy and then importantly, the levels you are happy to buy them – the core value we can add at Market Matters is identifying levels to buy quality stocks. I have added two stocks to my previous favourite 3 that have performed excellently this month, however with few sectors rivalling the growth, our GDP there are likely no surprises.

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