The market is down 49. The SFE Futures were up 5 this morning.

US Markets were closed overnight for the Thanksgiving holiday. European markets down – FTSE (UK) down 0.24%, DAX (Germany) down 0.54%, CAC40 (France) down 0.01%. Italian bonds yields rose again overnight to 7.12%. Belgian yields rose to their highest level in 11 yrs at 5.74%. Portugal’s bonds also slid, with yields on the 10 year bond rising to 12.21%. German Chancellor Merkel upset the markets with a rejection of a joint Eurobond scheme and continued resistance to the ECB becoming the lender of last resort. Fitch downgraded Portugal’s credit rating to BB+, or junk status. Metals were mixed overnight, the Gold price fell 40c to $1694.50 and the Aussie dollar fell 97.29c from 96.89c.

Main points:

Treasurer Wayne Swan has approved the acquisition of Foster’s Group (FGL) by SABMiller. SAB Miller have agreed to keep management in Australia and not move any existing brewing facilities offshore. Swan said “SABMiller has agreed to a number of undertakings which recognise the significance of Foster’s to our economy and to our community, and support Australian jobs”. FGL up 3c to 537c.

In a sign of how tough the market is Bluescope Steel (BSL) traded under 40c this morning sending the institutions that subscribed to their  40c rights issue underwater and killing retail demand. The rights trading under the code BSLR are not option value only with a negative intrinsic value. BSL 39.5c. It hit 37.5c this morning.

  • Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has set a production target for CY2012 that is 27% higher than 2011 as their Pluto LNG project comes on stream. The market didn’t like it – WPL down 5% to 3341c.
  • Primary Health Care (PRY) expects EPS to rise 15% to 20% this financial year at it grows their existing general practices. PRY down 9c to 319c.
  • Billabong International (BBG) said they have no explanation for the 13% fall in their share price yesterday. BBG down another 3c today to 361c. There is a suggestion that as the 138th biggest company they will be removed from the ASX 100 in the next S&P ASX index rebalance.
  • Brambles (BXB) has acquired Canadian rival Paramount Pallet for $12.76m. This will allow the company to expand in Canada according to the CEO. BXB down 5c to 679c.
  • Sundance Resources (SDL) has requested its shares be placed in a trading halt pending an update on the proposed takeover by Hanlong Mining Group.  SDL unchanged at 42.5c.
  • RHG Group (RHG) has gone 6c ex dividend today. RHG last traded at 42.5c.

For a free 5 day obligation FREE TRIAL of the MARCUS TODAY newsletter Click Here. You will receive our renowned and popular Daily email about the stockmarket with all the stuff you need to know ahead of the trading day including:

  • Overnight developments, news, comments, rumours, broker recommendations and ideas from Marcus and his Team.
  • Our Recommended Portfolio which is actively managed on behalf of subscribers … no “set & forget”. Everything you need to effortlessly managed your own long term investment portfolio. It includes Income Portfolio recommendations.
  • Daily Technical Trading ideas and data, including daily scans of the ASX 300 for stocks changing trend.
  • Stock Database – all the numbers with comments on the top 300 stocks and more.
  • Educational section – Marcus’s Educational and Entertaining articles.

We also offer a FREE END OF DAY EMAIL —  Click here —  A free summary of the day in the market.

Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY —  Click Here. We are sure you will enjoy and profit from what we offer…we have one of the highest re-subscription rates in the financial newsletter industry.