daytrading nov 19 afternoon

Thanks Endless.

Half-time round-up:

Shares have fallen for a second day after bubble fears fed an overnight dive on Wall Street and the Reserve Bank hinted that rates will be on hold for some time to come.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was 27 points or 0.5% in the red at 5357 as resource stocks reacted to weaker commodity prices and the broader market responded to bearish comments from Wall Street heavyweight investor Carl Icahn. Health +0.1% was the only sector to make headway. The heaviest hits were borne by property trusts and I.T., both down 1.1% and industrials -1%.

"Everyone thinks US stocks are in a bubble, driven by the expanding balance sheet of the US Federal Reserve," Rivkin's Shane Stewart told Fairfax. "From a short-term perspective, the rally in US equities has likely gotten ahead of itself on a fundamental and technical basis. And with the emergence of selling resistance at obvious round numbers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index at 1,800 and 16,000, an interim top is likely in place, leading to lower prices over the next few sessions."

The minutes from the last RBA meeting, released this morning, noted that: "There was mounting evidence that monetary policy was supporting activity in interest-sensitive sectors and asset values, and given the lags with which monetary policy operates, the stimulatory effects would likely continue coming through for some time. At the same time, inflation remained within the target and the Australian dollar, while below its level earlier in the year, remained uncomfortably high."

Asian markets were mixed. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng continued their rallies, rising 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.91%. Dow futures were recently off 14 points or 0.1%.

Crude oil futures recovered two cents this morning to US$93.05 a barrel. Spot gold was 70 cents weaker at US$1,272.60 an ounce. The dollar was buying 93.79 US cents.



Been one of those frustrating mornings where I couldn't help but think what a wonderful place the stock market would be if everyone else would get out the way and leave me to it. There was a perfectly good chance of a quick early bounce in PRU from 33c to 34 until some dimwit dumped 300,000 on the sell. And then TIS - why not give the buyers a chance to step up before clogging the sell queue? Buyers need hope and you offer despair. GCN: we could all be happily on board at 0.9c, ready to sell at 1.1 before taking an early mark for manicures and cocktails if the dimbos hadn't rushed the nervous sellers at 1c. What was that about? In panics, let the price come to you. Sorry we had to have this conversation. Sort yourselves out and let's trade a bit smarter tomorrow, eh? Also added OBJ. Can't think of anything to feel grumpy about there yet. Give it time.