Shareswatch Australia

For the last few years I have been warning that steps needed to be taken to prepare the Australian economy for when the commodities cycles would turn downwards. Back when I first started writing about this, it was almost considered treason to even suggest the mining boom may draw to a close. But these days even the RBA, Treasury and Wayne Swan are talking about the end of the commodities boom.

Since mid 2012 the Australian stock market has been on a roll with the ASX All Ords & S&P/ASX 200 both closing today above 5100 points as the bull market continues. When I last looked at a few 52 week high and low stock prices the All Ords/ASX 200 were around 4300 so not surprisingly most stocks are now trading much higher and investors generally should be a happier lot than they were back then. However some stocks have actually fared relatively poorly since October 2011 and this may help us understand what might be moving the stock market at the moment.

WorleyParsons Ltd (ASX: WOR), in line with a recent theme, announced–on the same day it revealed results for the first half of fiscal 2013–a new contract award, this one to provide engineering services at the Fort Hills oil sands project. The work, which will begin immediately, will generate AUD140 million of revenue for WorleyParsons. Fort Hills is jointly owned by Suncor Energy Inc (TSX: SU, NYSE: SU), Total SA (France: FP, NYSE: TOT) and Teck Resources Ltd (TSX: TCK/B, NYSE: TCK).

Recently every move upwards the stock market takes, no matter how slight, is greeted with almost ecstatic cries of joy from many analysts, finance journalists and assorted market watchers. It’s as if the ASX All Ordinaries was heading towards a new high and investors were being showered with money in the midst of a raging bull market that had no limits. Certainly there have been good returns of late for those investors who timed their entry into market almost perfectly, but for longer term investors it’s more of case of here we go again.

Once again it is time to dust off the crystal ball, stick a finger in the air and toss some chicken bones over my shoulder in a vain attempt to forecast what the Australian stock market will do in 2013.  Last year the ASX All Ordinaries and S&P/ASX 200 posted respectable gains, but will they do so again this year?

In 2012 the Australian stock market finished the year higher with the ASX All Ordinaries Index posting a gain of around 12% to close at 4663.30 points.  Unsurprisingly much of the financial media excitedly churned out headlines suggesting stocks were soaring and many commentators focused on the annual rally being the best since 2009.  However if we look past the nonsensical rambling of much of the mainstream media the reality is  that All Ords has in reality simply moved back up to a level below where it finished at the end of 2009 and is still way below the pre-GFC market high.

To pick a stock to write about this time I decided to set some high level criteria, do a search and then see what stock caught my eye. What I searched for was a stock with a market cap of over $100 million, a P/B ratio of less than 1 and a P/E ratio of less than 16. The stock that came out on the top of the list was Suncorp Group Limited.

Finally it seems the Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury have had to accept that the mining boom has peaked or is peaking, which is something I have been talking about on this site for some years.  However the RBA, Treasury and Gillard Government all still appear to be relatively upbeat about the outlook for the Australian economy next year which is surprising,  since I don’t see a lot to be optimistic about as I review the stock market, housing market or a few other economic indicators.

The Australian stock market closed up again today with the ASX All Ordinaries Index finishing at 4550.90 points – a rise of 0.82% for the day.  The last couple of months have been generally kind to Australian stocks but we need to keep this recent stock market movement in perspective.

In the last 12 months, shares of the Australian S&P/ASX 300 healthcare index (comprising 22 companies) have risen faster than their counterparts in the industrials and energy sectors. While this is in part caused by the downturn in the commodity markets as the world grapples with the European debt crisis and a slowdown in China, the healthcare group, notoriously a defensive sector, has also shown resilience despite challenging market conditions.

Now that the Australian stock market has staged a very modest rally over the last few weeks an assortment of finance writers, brokers & market watchers will begin to speculate if this rally is the start of something big.  Indeed if we focus on the short term the market has done fairly well over the last few weeks, however the longer term trend suggests that the Australian stock market is still stuck in a rut.

The last 5 years have taken their toll on many Australian listed companies whose stocks were once considered almost a must for any respectable balanced shares portfolio. But will some of these stocks regain their former glory and move on to set new highs, or are their best days behind them? Today we will look at three shares which are in the category of former stock market high flyers: Billabong International, Macquarie Group & Perpetual Limted.

As we enter a new financial year it’s a good time to step back and look at some global economic indicators to try and get a grasp on any trends that might be emerging. Are there some signs of economic life out there or any hints of a global economic recovery that might help stock market investors some hope for the second half of 2012?

Over the last few months it has been quite remarkable to witness how the believers in Ken Henry’s ‘Golden Age’ have started to sound a little downbeat as the economic slowdown in China can no longer be ignored.  Therefore it seems like an appropriate time to try and assess what impact this slowdown is having (and may have) on the Australian economy and review the charts for a few important economic indicators.

It’s now been a year since I last reviewed the Shareswatch Random Stocks Portfolio during which time the S&P/ASX 200 has slid  from around 4700 points to where it is today at around 4200 points.  Again it will be interesting to see how the portfolio has fared against the ASX 200 Index and if there are any surprises in terms of how the stocks have performed.

Australian stocks seem to be enjoying a broad rally today and I suspect the mainstream financial media will churn out bullish sounding headlines when the market closes.  But if we step back and review a few charts it’s pretty clear that the Australian stock market is stuck in a rut and I don’t see it breaking free any time soon.