What a shocker!, page-2

Have been looking closely at CPU for some time Hell but when you look at the p/e and the rest of the figures it still looks a bit expensive .

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Net Tangible Assets ($/share): $-0.06
Code: CPU
Div. Payable Date: 20/03/2002
Ex. Div. Date: 6/03/2002
Day High: 199 Franked Pct: 100%
Day Low: 181 Status: Normal
Earnings/Share: 8.1
Div. Rate/Share: 1
P/E: 24.20


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In the Aussie market tax loss selling seems to have set in early, providing a handy short term opportunity for those funds that
still need to up for the MSCI rejig that comes into force tomorrow night.
The banks, particularly ANZ, BHP, COLES MYER and WOODSIDE have larger percentages on the new free float MSCI while TELSTRA, TABCORP,
LEIGHTON and COCA-COLA AMATIL have been down weighted along with NEWS
CORP because of their low free float component.
COMPUTERSHARE yesterday cancelled the analysts' briefing scheduled for today because it was disappointed by the nature of market
speculation on its contents.
The move appeared to be nothing unusual although tax loss
selling is likely to continue.

NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK went against the trend for the banking
sector yesterday, dipping 29c to $35.90 on 4 million shares.
It could have been Barclays gloomy forecast yesterday of
increasing provisions for bad debts that was extrapolated out to NAB's
UK assets.
The rising Aussie dollar is also not doing the NAB any favours
because its strengthening means balance sheet translation losses are
increasing well beyond those reported in the half year to March 31.
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DJ Carmichael senior analyst Peter Strachan in his June report
out yesterday said the broad Australian market, trading on a p/e ratio
of close to 20 times historical earnings, is vulnerable to earnings
disappointment - already experienced by various stocks including COLES
MYER, MAYNE and LEND LEASE.
But he adds, there are opportunities during tax loss
selling.
"The skill is to select stocks that are not in terminal decline
but rather are trading lower for some exogenous reason", he said.
His top picks, should tax loss selling force them lower, include
FUTURIS, FOSTERS, CLOUGH and ROC OIL.

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Computershare (CPU) $1.90
Management complains about a lack of understanding of in the sharemarket yet passes on yet another opportunity to increase information about their company by cancelling a strategy briefing today. The substance of their release was that the company is tracking or the lower end of management guidance for profit or an amount of $56m which is in line with our expectations. At yesterday’s close of $2.10 the shares are trading on PE multiple of 20.8 times and a very low yield hardly worth mentioning. We expect FY03 earnings to be higher than FY02 but not to an extent that warrants investment in the current climate. What the last year has proven is that CPU is a cyclical stock which will perform in line with interest rates and the capital markets. Given the disappointments over the last year, there is no prize for trying to pick the bottom in CPU and we refer to wait for a sustained improvement in the capital market activity and notably higher global interest rates. We expect the shares to be significantly lower today. In early trading the shares are currently $1.90 and look to be going lower.