The market is up 30. The SFE Futures were up 28 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 64 after staging a late rally. Dow up 70 at best and down 28 at worst. Metals did well overnight and the Gold price continued its rally — up $19.90 to $998. Bonds fell and the Aussie dollar increased to 83.97c from 83.39c.

Consolidated Media Holdings (CMJ) flying — up 5.1% to 329c — after announcing that Seven Network (SEV) has requested a copy of its shareholder register, indicating it could be looking for shareholders that can potentially accept a takeover offer. SEV built a 19.9% stake in July which caused James Packer to lift his stake in CMJ to 40%. Some brokers believe that if SEV make a bid, they will have to pay up to $4 to get over the line.

Not a lot going on today…

  • The S&P has conducted its quarterly rebalancing of Australian equity indices — Main changes: Computershare (CPU) has entered the S&P/ASX 50 at the expense of Macquarie Airports (MAP). Seek (SEK) has joined the top 100 replacing Consolidated Media Holdings (CMJ). Mirabela Nickel (MBN) and GrainCorp (GNC) have taken PMP’s (PMP) and Sunland Group’s (SDG) spots in the S&P/ASX 200.
  • Consolidated Media Holdings (CMJ) says it has been approached by Seven Network (SEV) for its share register. CMJ up 6.3% on the news, SEV up 5c to 632c.
  • Babcock & Brown Infrastructure (BBI) says it has signed an interim agreement with a potential investor to help reduce its $10bn worth of debt. Street Talk tips the investor to be Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management. BBI down 0.4c to 7.4c.
  • The Australian reports that Coles supermarket (owned by Wesfarmers) is moving into the general insurance market. The move is based on an overseas model and will be trialed for six months.
  • Resolute Mining (RSG) has announced a $35m capital raising. RSG up 3.9% to 65.5c.
  • RMA Energy (RMT) has been bid for by China’s CREC Resources. It is offering $14.8m for an 80% stake or 6.5c a share. RMT last traded at 4.9c a share and is up 2c today to 5c.
  • Woolworths CEO Michael Luscombe spent $6.6m yesterday buying shares in the company after exercising 400,000 options. He now holds 433,290 shares worth $12.4m and more than one million options. WOW up 15c to 2866c.
  • We mentioned on Wednesday that George Soros’s fund had taken a 19.9% stake in Marengo Mining (MGO). He had already made 76.19% after MGO jumped out of its trading halt to close at 18.5c yesterday on the back of the news. MGO down 8.1% today.
  • Corporate Express (CXP) — 1H Profit result — announces an 8.8% fall in net profit and forecasts FY EBIT to come in at the bottom of analysts’ expectations. CXP down 2.98%.
  • Andean Resources (AND), JB Hi-Fi (JBH), Reece Australia (REH) and Sino Gold (SGX) have hit a fresh yearly high today.

Broker Stuff Quickies…

  • Credit Suisse ups ASX Ltd (ASX) to Neutral from Underperform due to recent share price falls. Maintain $35 target price. ASX down 10c to 3170c.
  • UBS has a Buy recommendation on Cochlear (COH) with a 6280c target price saying COH has received US FDA approval for its new Nucleus 5 implant and plans a formal launch next week.
  • Macquarie Bank cut to a Neutral recommendation despite lifting its target price to 48c.

The Dow Future are down 10 at midday.

MARCUS PADLEY is the author of the MARCUS TODAY Daily Stockmarket Newsletter.

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