Daytraders 4th August Afternoon

Howdy all,

our intrepid leader is off helping others in a way we have become used too! Certainly he continues to set the bar high in terms of selfless acts, discipline and a great attitude. We are blessed to have HLL and so many other generous contributors.

What else is happening today?

When Rio Tinto reports this week, analysts' consensus is for underlying earnings to shrink to $US2.4 billion, from $US5.1 billion in the year-earlier period.
12:11pm: Rio Tinto should shower investors with another buyback in February, with Thursday's interim results expected to pave the way with a fresh round of cuts to capital spending and big gains on cost cutting, Deutsche Bank says.  
When Rio reports this week, analysts' consensus is for underlying earnings to shrink to $US2.4 billion, from $US5.1 billion in the year-earlier period.
Despite the cash flow squeeze, Deutsche mining analyst Paul Young says savings from expected cuts to capital spend, from an already reduced target of $US7bn, and continuing cost cutting "should underpin another buyback in February 2016". Rio unveiled a $US2bn buyback in February this year that is still ongoing.  
Rio might drop 2015 capex guidance to $US6bn and 2016 guidance to $US5bn, without sacrificing to iron ore growth, or copper growth at its $US6bn Oyu Tolgoi underground project, and future unapproved projects, like South of Embley bauxite, he said.  The weaker Australian and Canadian dollars, against the US, will buoy capex reductions.
Rio is on track to beat its $US750m cost cutting target for calendar 2015, and Mr Young sees that the target could be increased.
Rio is expected stick to its progressive dividend policy, which will see it pay $US1.08 per share - half the total 2014 dividend.
"The declaration of the dividend will be an important confirmation of the returns policy and should eliminate some market concerns that the dividend yield is not "real" and could be cut," Mr Young said.
The policy ensures that Rio's dividend does not go backwards - in that it is increased or maintained at each half-year payment.
Rio's net debt will creep up by $US2 billion to $US14.5 billion, because of its ongoing $US2bn share buyback unveiled in February this year, and funding for key iron ore and aluminium infrastructure. Net debt was $US12.5 billion as at December last year.
Mr Young is tipping Rio's underlying earnings will fall to $US2.9bn.

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11:49am: Retail sales surged in June, easily beating expectations, as consumers opened their wallets to spend on electronics, furniture, housewares and do-it-yourself renovations and hardware.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said this morning seasonally-adjusted month-on-month growth in retail turnover was 0.7 per cent, compared with 0.4 per cent in May and expectations of 0.4 per cent.

Currency traders took heart from the figures, bidding the Australian dollar up more than one-fifth of a US cent, to US72.88¢.

The largest contributor to the June rise was household goods retailing, which climbed 2.2 per cent month-on-month.

Other retailing, which covers everything from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to magazines and books, was ahead 2 per cent for the month.

Consumer demand, which has been patchy over the past year, is closely watched by the RBA for signs of inflation or, conversely, stretched household budgets and underlying economic weakness.

The central bank is widely expected to hold the cash rate at 2 per cent for the third month in a row when its board meets on Tuesday. Further improvement in consumer spending would help remove any remaining pressure on the central bank to lower rates again.
Retail sales surged in June.


11:16am: It may all be fine in the land of test tubes, but diggers, drillers and their various hangers-on are doing it a lot tougher as China's slowdown continues to weigh on the resources sector.
Indeed, the "commodity rout is now officially as bad as during the financial crisis", reckons the FT.
They point to the Thomson Reuters Core Commodity Index, which they claim is "the broadest and longest running basket of tradeable oil, grains, and metals".
"The index is made up of 19 commodities, from crude oil (the largest making up 23 per cent of the index) to lean hogs and orange juice (1 per cent each).
"The index, which was founded in 1957, has now almost halved in the last four years."

Sorry all , a bit rushed with some other issues

Good luck to all and keep the faith

Do your best!​

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