Daytrading September 3 afternoon

Thanks Brit and morning regulars.


Half-time round-up:

Australian shares declined for the third time in four sessions as weak retail sales weighed on the dollar and traders took profits from yesterday's market rebound.

At 1pm EST the ASX 200 was trading 32 points or 0.6% underwater at 5069 after a volatile morning when the index ran as high as 5175 before staging a 128-point reversal. Consumer staples +0.1% was the only sector to advance.

The consumer discretionary sector was the biggest drag on the index, falling 2.1% on news that retail sales unexpectedly contracted 0.1% during July. Economists had predicted an increase in sales of 0.4% following a downwardly revised rise of 0.6% in June. The decline was the first since last May. Read more here.

The report added to concern that the economy is slowing, and helped drive the dollar down a quarter of a cent to 70.21 US cents.

Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.4%. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were closed to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Dow futures were recently ahead seven points or less than 0.1%.

Crude oil futures retreated 47 cents this morning to US$45.78 a barrel. Spot gold was 90 cents softer at US$1,132.70 an ounce.


The instos are having fun trading against expectations these last two sessions: buy yesterday when retail is selling, sell today after retail has bought. Not much you can do but try to get an early read on their intentions, then run with the wolves. No market support from the economic data this week. Sentiment might change once things look so dire that the RBA has no option but to cut again. There is also the remote chance that the government will pull itself together long enough to do something. Trading: squeezed a win out of the shallow and fairly brief bounce in EVM. Tentative positions in TTS, TAH and DLX in case the instos decide to run the index back up. Ahead on two our of three. The economy may be crook but gambling and renovations should weather any downturn better than most.