Welcome to Monday and the start of a new week. 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 down 0.4%, partly reflecting the mixed results on Wall Street on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the tech-heavy NASDAQ went backwards, losing 0.1%.The US dollar fell against most major currencies, with the Aussie dollar rising more than 1 cent, after US employment data fell short of analyst expectations. The Aussie dollar is currently buying US 86.44 cents.
- Vocus Communications Ltd (ASX: VOC) has entered into exclusive due diligence with its potential friendly merger target, Amcom Telecommunications Limited (ASX: AMM). Last month Vocus announced that it had taken a 10% stake in Amcom, and the two companies were in talks to discuss a merger between the two telcos.TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) appears to want some say in the merger, either as a potential acquirer of Amcom, or stopping Vocus from taking over Amcom, by taking a blocking stake. As a part owner of all three businesses, I'm sitting and watching bemused from the sidelines, but it could see Amcom's share price continue to rise.
- Uranium miners could surge today, as a number of global producers soared on stock markets on Friday, following gains in the commodity price. Uranium rose 4.3% to US$39.50 a pound. Japan is pushing ahead with restarting some of its nuclear reactors, which have been shut down since the incident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011.Keep an eye on Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN), Energy Resources of Australia Limited (ASX: ERA), two of Australia's largest uranium miners. Unfortunately, both will need much higher uranium prices to breakeven and get back to becoming profitable operations.
- Tweet of the Day
Stock spruikers pump and dump in wild west, @MichaelWestBiz reports. https://t.co/IxbURzz2gI via @smh
— Business Day (@BusinessDay) November 9, 2014
Another case of buyer beware. Always ask the question, who and why are these people promoting this stock? - Stock of the Day – brought to you by Darryl Date-Shappard – Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC). Some analysts regard Ramsay as one of the best companies on the ASX – after all, it has delivered shareholders a 25% annual return over the past 10 years – an outstanding achievement. You can read more here.
