Archives: Reports
The ASX200 ended just -0.5% lower last week but it was far more eventful on both the stock and sector level as reporting season and uncertain global indices continue to pull the market in different directions e.g. the Consumer Discretionary Sector advanced +1.8% while the Healthcare, Consumer Staples and the Utilities Sectors all fell well over -2%. However, it was on the stock level that Reporting Season lit up our screens in both directions, whatever company size or sector:
The worst of it was seen in early trade today with the ASX off ~100pts at the lows, but some buyers emerged throughout the session, particularly amongst the recently weak Staples while Healthcare stocks also attracted some attention from early lows, Ramsay Healthcare (RHC) for example rallied 3% from the depth of despair this morning! It felt like a tough week, and given only 2 sectors finished in the black, the selling was fairly broad-based, however, it was far from aggressive (ASX -0.5% for the week) and there were plenty of stocks that did well.
We are making multiple changes to the Flagship Growth Portfolio
Thursday again saw company earnings/forecasts dominate proceedings with 3 stocks falling between 10 & 12% while the best 3 performers averaged a gain of just over 7%. Unfortunately, It was a reporting day to forget for MM with 3 of our positions in the Flagship Growth Portfolio finding themselves in the proverbial naughty corner. The trend of the last 12-18 months is being magnified to almost extreme levels with plenty of stocks making fresh multi-year lows while a number of winners are nudging all-time highs. We are considering carefully a couple of our standout underperformers as we contemplate whether we should be adding or cutting i.e. will the weak simply keep getting weaker?
A solid session for the ASX today, although some late selling again took some of the sheen off the day. IT stocks continued on a volatile week where ~5% swings have become commonplace, while the results today ensured some big moves under the hood, unfortunately for Market Matters, we were on the wrong side of a couple today!
At MM we are not always contrarian investors but when we see Fund Managers have become the most bullish in 18 months just as stocks start to wobble in August our initial thought is should we start to skew portfolios more defensively? Funds managers are becoming increasingly optimistic around the US avoiding a recession with 31% of managers polled in the August survey now expecting no recession in 2024, up from 19% in July and 14% in June.
Early weakness didn’t last long as resources helped support the index as it rallied throughout the morning. At its best, the ASX was up 0.75% with the bulls looking to regain the ascendancy following fresh 5-week lows set yesterday. Sellers did appear as the market was closing, shaving about half of the gains from the index in the last few hours. Another big day for reporting is in the books as the mixed fortunes of reporters continue.
The ASX200 edged higher on Tuesday as reporting season dominated local stocks although attention is slowly moving towards Jackson Hole where we hope to get a read into the current mindset of central bankers. While we don’t expect any forward guidance from Powell and Lagarde, they won’t be telling us when/what the next move will be for interest rates, there are likely to be clues as to their current feelings, a common occurrence during their closely followed speeches.
The ASX 200 bounced today as generally better than expected earnings, particularly from some key technology stocks reinvigorated the bulls, despite BHP slightly underwhelming.
We are amending two portfolios.
