Welcome to Wednesday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.3% higher, following the leads of offshore markets.Overnight, the Dow Jones gained 0.5%, the broader S&P 500 added 0.4%, while the NASDAQ was flat.Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Amazon were all hammered as tech stocks slumped. The reason? Rather than speculate I'll just say "sorry, no idea. It's just the markets."
- Resources stocks are set to come under more pressure today – does it ever end?Oil prices continue to slide, with Brent oil losing 2% to fall below US$60 per barrel. The spot gold price has also fallen below the US$1,200 an ounce mark, while the iron ore price has dipped to US$68.59 per tonne.
The usual suspects, BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), and a host of smaller oil and gas producers, iron ore miners and gold stocks aren't likely to have many friends today.
- The death of supermarket retailer Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) has been greatly exaggerated. Woolies is opening smaller convenience stores in CBD locations – following its customers, as many people move into apartments in the city.
Last week Woolies opened its first store at 302 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, and has signed up for two CBD locations in Melbourne. It's yet another step the giant retailer is taking to grow sales, and it likely won't be long before competitor Coles follows suit. - Tweet of the Day
Happy Holidays from Warren Buffett https://t.co/mkWznMNZST— The Motley Fool Aust (@TheMotleyFoolAu) December 16, 2014 - Stock of the Day – brought to you by Peter Stephens is actually 3 blue chip stocks. Peter thinks these three companies could have a very strong year in 2015, following on from their performance in 2014. You can find out which stocks and more details here.
