Here's the Pre-Market sentiment mood in which EEG shares will be traded today, Monday 18 June 2012.
The General Market in the world seems to be all in a latter over the Media's hype-up of the Greek elections, which are about a country with a GDP almost the size of NSW. I mean ...c'mon, get real!
Nothing is firmly certain from the Greek elections. The pro-EU party winning 30% of the vote, still has to do some sort of coalition deal with a 3rd placed party that is supportive of the major party, who doesn't want to be in the EU.
Sounds like the Greek elections are a replay of our own troubled parliament, where the head is run by the flapping tail of the Greens and Independents.
We have seen and experienced already how that doesn't work. So, get ready for more instability in Europe, especially with the extra $1 trillion+ they are going to need to prop up the whole circus.
Meantime EEG will bathe in the sunlight of good management and further steady progress in its successful 10 oil drilling programme in Kansas.
Macquarie Bank is showing pre-emptive confidence in EEG, by raising is leading shareholder grip to 15.6%+.
So, we could enjoy a little rise in EEG SP today.
Pre-Market wrap, courtesy of Highlandlad, Monday 18 June 2012:
Shares are likely to catch an early boost from overnight news that a pro-austerity party is on course to win Greece's election, bolstering Friday gains on Wall Street.
The June SPI 200 futures contract closed 25 points or 0.6% ahead on Saturday morning at 4078 but all eyes this morning are on Greece, where 61% of the counted voted has the pro-austerity New Democracy on course to win the election. The euro gapped 0.5% higher this morning in response. The key question looking ahead for markets is whether the victor is able to form coalition with a third-placed socialist PASOK party that has previously said it will only join a coalition if the anti-bailout Syriza party is involved.
Projections released by Greece's Interior Ministry based on 61% of the vote counted had pro-austerity New Democracy in first place with 30% of the vote, anti-austerity Syriza in second with 26.6% and socialist PASOK in third with 12.5%. With the outright winner getting an additional 50 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament, this result would give ND 130 seats, Syriza 71 seats and PASOK 33 seats. Read more here.
"The Greek people voted today to stay on the European course and remain in the euro zone," New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said in a speech quoted on Reuters. "Greece's place in Europe will not be put in doubt."
US stocks rallied on Friday amid speculation that central banks around the world were ready to act if Greece voted to abandon the euro last night. The S&P 500 jumped 1.03% for a second straight weekly gain for the first time since April. The Dow put on 115 points or 0.91%, closing at its high point for the day, and the Nasdaq added 1.29%.
The gains came after signs of fresh global stimulus measures overshadowed another round of weak US economic news. Consumer sentiment in the US sagged to its weakest since December, industrial output declined and a gauge of manufacturing activity in the New York region slowed.
The head of the European Central Bank said central banks would provide liquidity if needed, while the Bank of England unveiled new low-cost loans to British banks to encourage lending. Bloomberg said the European Central Bank was now open to dropping its benchmark interest rate below 1%, despite previous doubts.
European markets kicked higher. Germany's DAX rallied 1.48%, France's CAC 1.82% and Britain's FTSE 0.22%.
Most commodities advanced as suggestions of a central bank safety net encouraged traders to buy risk assets ahead of Greece's election. Gold improved for a sixth straight session on signs that central banks were priming the printing presses. Gold for August delivery added $8.70 or 0.5% at US$1,628.30 an ounce.
Copper recorded its first weekly rise in seven weeks but aluminium hit a two-year low as European concerns continued to weigh on demand for industrial metals. In London, copper improved 1.1%, lead 0.1%, nickel 1.2% and zinc 0.4%. Aluminium lost 1.1% and tin 0.45%. US copper for July delivery jumped six cents or 1.7% to US$3.41 a pound.
Oil inched higher on Friday but ended the week little changed as weak US economic data undercut demand. West Texas crude for July delivery put on 27 cents or 0.3% at US$84.18 a barrel.
TRADING THEMES THIS WEEK
CAN GREECE FORM A GOVERNMENT?: Greece appears to have voted narrowly for staying in the euro-zone and sticking with austerity, but markets are unlikely to relax until a viable coalition government is in place. The obvious pairing is first-placed New Democracy and third-placed PASOK, but the latter has previously said it won't be part of a coalition unless second-placed Syriza is involved. In other words, this story has further to run. Our market may see a solid bounce at today's open but it will be interesting to see if it can hold onto - or build on - initial gains.
IS THE FED READY TO ACT?: The US Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday amid concerns that the fragile recovery since 2008 is once again floundering. Friday's weak consumer sentiment and manufacturing data added to the recent trend of negative surprises that have some commentators convinced that the Fed will have to reach once more into its goody bag. Any action is likely to revolve around an extension of the Operation Twist bond-swap program or an increase in bond buying. Any new measures will be announced on Wednesday night.
G-2O OUTCOME: Leaders of the world's industrial powers and key emerging markets gather in Mexico over the next two days to discuss the global economy. With Spanish and Italian borrowing costs at perilous levels, Europe's debt crisis is the central topic for discussion. Whether we can expect anything more than platitudes at the conclusion of the meeting tomorrow remains to be seen.
CHINESE MANUFACTURING: Thursday brings a first look at China's manufacturing figures for this month. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI has been negative for 10 of the last 11 months and deteriorated in May. A leading index is due on Friday.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Plenty happening in Australia this week, including: new motor vehicle sales (11.30am EST today); the minutes from the last RBA meeting (tomorrow); housing starts and two leading indexes (Wed); and the RBA Bulletin (Thu). A relatively light week for US scheduled news includes: home builders' index (tonight: housing starts (Tue); and weekly jobless claims, Philly Fed, existing home sales and leading indicators (Thu).
EEG Price at posting:
16.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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