The Good Morning Report

5 Things that Grabbed my Attention

1. The STAR GROUP (SGR) announced a massive $800 million rights issue @$1.20  to fix its busted up balance sheet....AFR is reporting that pubs/pokies tycoon - Bruce Mathieson bought 4% of the company last week and will be a major player in the raising.

2.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation just bought US$902 mil worth of Heineken shares....A foundation supposedly based around saving humanity is buying an alcohol company - c'mon - surely you are a bit suss as well? If Bill's AI takes over the bottling - then I ain't drinking it!!

3. Apart from Newcrest, GOLD miners have been getting thumped on this small movement down in GOLD bullion....frustrating sector at the moment.

4.  AP Eagers (APE) come out with an extremely bullish outlook for new car demand in Australia......Clear indication that we have an economy that is out of whack;  those with assets and debt levels under control are thriving, while at the other end - inflation is hurting people so hard they are forced to cut back on how much they spend at places like Dominoes Pizza (DMP)....History shows over and over again, that rampant inflation benefits a minority but crushes the majority.

5. RBNZ increased interest rates by 0.5% to 4.75%....Average variable home loan in NZ is now around 8%. Double digits on the horizon.

ASX Market Update

ASX 200 down 29 points to 7285

I must admit, the extremely BULLISH report from car dealing giant, AP EAGERS (APE) took me by surprise. I was expecting to see some cracks with rising interest rates and falling property prices putting the squeeze on...but no...cashed up Aussies are still queueing up for new cars. APE are also very confident that it is all smooth sailing from here on; the stock closed 9% higher to $13.00.

I'm a bit cautious on APE as things can abruptly take a turn for the worse - those that went through the GFC will probably understand my sentiment better....If I'm wrong then so be it - can't win them all!

Random Observation

Economists, politicians, fake news etc ...all blamed VLAD for the huge surge in GAS and FERTILIZER prices. Notice how none are thanking him for the falls?

Lower inflationary pressures here.
(EvercoreISI charts) pic.twitter.com/R0jB6cHhnI

— Shane Oliver (@ShaneOliverAMP) February 22, 2023

In my view this WON'T be the new normal. We are in the crazy era where price stability has become a fantasy.

The Day Ahead

Reporting today: AX1, AKE, BXB, JIN, MIN, PLS

• Our SPI is down 23 points
• Bitcoin up 0.6% to $23,881

Movements affecting our resource stocks today (USD)

• BHP in the US was down 1.9%
• Gold down 0.6% to $1830
• Paper Silver down 1.8% to $21.28
• Copper down 3.23% to $4.05 (down on falling supplies?!?)
• Brent Crude up 1.8% to $82.05
• Iron ore down 0.3% to $129.65

Asian Market Update

Japan fell 1.3%, HK down 0.35% and China dipped 0.11%

Nothing the WEST is going to do or say will get in between China and Russia.....Think about it - China needs reliable supplies of commodities and Russia is a major producer of those commodities.

https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1628362581055361031?cxt=HHwWjsC-lfvIjZktAAAA

Global Market Update

US Market

DOW up 111 points to 33,156

Moderna shares fell 7% as it warned that demand for its experimental mRNA COVID shots is falling....This company is a ticking time bomb.

Noubar is at the bar with his feet up....What a SCAM - one of the greatest grifts of all time.

European Markets

FTSE down 0.29%, DAX up 0.49%, CAC added 0.25%

French hotels giant Accor (which bought Australia's Mantra a few years ago) posted a 543 million Euro operating profit as travelers piled back into to overpriced rooms. The CEO said that even with rising inflation people are still spending up big....Accor shares put on 2%.