The market is down 92. It was down 143 at one stage. The SFE Futures were down 106 this morning.

Wall Street closed down a massive 376 overnight. The Dow held the 10,000 level, now at 10,068, and was down 4 at best and down 379 at worst. It was the worst drop since February 2009. S&P 500 fell nearly 4%, its worst fall since April 26. Both oil and gold got smashed. Oil fell $3.09 to $69.44 and Gold dropped $5.50 at $1187.60. The Aussie continued to collapse — now at 8114c compared to 8499c yesterday.

In other news today…

  • Sonic Healthcare (SHL) down 21% to 996c first thing this morning. They announced an Earnings Update after the close of market yesterday and said they expect FY net profit to be between $290m-$295m, around 10% below what analysts were expecting.
  • Street Talk reports that UGL Ltd (UGL) and Transfield Services (TSE) have held informal takeover talks.
  • Not the best day to be releasing an investor update. Suncorp (SUN) said they aim to improve the underlying margin at their general insurance operations by at least 3% over the next 2 years.
  • PanAust (PNA) held their AGM today. Shareholders were told they can expect strong cash flow and production to be doubled once the mine is expanded. 2010 gold output expected to be more than 43,000oz and Silver output of 300,000oz. PNA down 2c to 41c.
  • GUD Holdings (GUD) announced that Dexion Grants has given them 4 weeks to complete exclusive due diligence. They also announced they have raised $33m by selling 20.64m shares to institutional and sophisticated investors in Europe, Australia and North America. GUD down 26c to 827c.
  • Sigma Pharmaceuticals (SIP) has received a 60c takeover offer. SIP didn’t name the bidder but said they were weighing up the offer to buy all the outstanding shares. “Sigma will make a further announcement in due course.” SIP up 45% or 16c to 51c.
  • Despite Downer EDI (DOW) CEO saying 2 months ago that there is no reason to raise capital, the market is preparing of an equity raising. DOW has been one of the worst performers in 2010. DOW down 37c to 627c.
  • Western Areas (WSA) has completed the stage two upgrade of their Cosmic Boy nickel concentrate plant in WA and that commissioning is now underway. WSA down 8c to 375c.
  • Brockman Resources (BRM) in a Trading Halt pending an announcement regarding market speculation with Sinosteel. Last traded at 261c.
  • Stock hitting fresh 52 week lows include: 38 stocks have hit fresh yearly lows today. Most notables ones being AWE Ltd (AWE), Gunns (GNS), Myer Holdings (MYR), Nufarm (NUF), Photon Group (PGA), Sonic Healthcare (SHL), Santos (STO) and Tabcorp Holdings (TAH)

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