Day Trading OCT 27 afternoon

The Australian sharemarket is more than half a per cent higher, following solid gains on Wall Street after strong earnings reports at the end of last week, and as the financial sector leads the market higher.  Banks up .93%, XJO up .65% Miners flat.

...
China demand for steel cooling, says BlueScope

BlueScope Steel chief executive Paul O'Malley says the days of high growth in Chinese steel demand are over and builders are moving from China back to the United States. ...read more...

$US275m Novartis buy makes CSL flu giant

CSL will become the second largest influenza vaccine maker in the world after it said it would pay $US275 million to buy the Novartis' influenza business.

The division will be combined with CSL's existing vaccine subsidiary, bioCSL, which manufactures predominantly from Melbourne.

The combined business is expected to hit sales of about $US1 billion annually over the next three to five years, CSL said....read more...

Air-Bag Maker in Global Crisis Used Unusual Explosive

The emerging crisis over air bags traces back to a little-known Japanese company that for over 20 years has supplied the safety devices to automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), Honda Motor Co. and General Motors Co.
Air bags made by Takata Corp. (7312) are linked to at least four deaths and more than 30 injuries in the U.S. after the safety devices deployed with too much force, spraying metal shrapnel at occupants. U.S. authorities have begun an investigation and almost 8 million cars made by 10 automakers have been recalled to fix the hazard....read more...

Big banks' profit machine to crank out $29 billion in profit for 2014 financial year

Barring any unforseen surprises,  National Australia Bank ,  ANZ Banking Group  and  Westpac Banking  will report combined cash earnings over the next week of around $20 billion having drawn off their financial years at the end of September.

This will push cash profits for the big four banks in 2014 (  Commonwealth Bank of Australia  has a June year end and reported in August) to just under $29 billion, topping the $27.3 billion raked in over financial 2013.
As much of corporate Australia continues to experience earnings jitters as clouds hover over both the domestic and global economies, another record year of earnings at the big banks reflects the extent to which they have become well-oiled profit-generating machines....read more...

THE Australian dollar is staying above 88 US cents after the market breathed a sigh of relief when a report on European bank stability was released.
  
At noon (AEDT) today, the local unit was trading at 88.19 US cents, up from 87.65 cents on Friday.

European Banks Seen Gaining as ECB Tests Persuade

European bank shares and bonds may rally tomorrow after the European Central Bank gave most lenders a clean bill of health in tests analysts described as credible.

“Our initial view is that the test is comprehensive,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) equity analysts led by Kian Abouhossein in London, wrote in an e-mailed report today. “We expect a positive reaction, in particular on banks where the market had concerns around capital at risk.”

ECB Fails 25 Banks as Italy Fares Worst in Stress Test

Twenty-five lenders including Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA failed a stress test led by the European Central Bank, which found the biggest capital hole in the region’s banking system in Italy....read more...

A Mystery Bidder Offers $3 Million for 6,000 of Detroit's Worst Homes

Three million dollars can barely buy a new townhouse in Brooklyn these days, but it could be enough to purchase a bundle of more than 6,000 foreclosures up for auction in Detroit....read more...

Record Bets Against Japan Stocks Tell Investors It’s Time to Buy

As bets pile up against Japanese stocks, investors with $293 billion in client assets see the pessimism as a signal to buy. History is on their side.

Short-selling on Tokyo’s bourse jumped to the highest on record this month, as the Topix index tumbled 7.7 percent from a six-year high in September. Shares have rallied an average 9.7 percent over the three months following surges in bearish bets since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg....read more...