The market is down 52. The SFE Futures were down 5 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 22. The Dow was up 11 at best and down 59 at worst. The S&P 500 is on track to close the quarter up 11.1% after falling 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Protests in Europe and concerns about the potential recovery in European economies resulted in the market taking a breather. Oil price is up $1.68 to $77.86 and Gold put on $4.50 to $1312.80.

Today’s main points…

  • Telstra (TLS) held their Annual Investor Briefing yesterday. Analysts had provided a mixed response this morning. Contrary to media reports, they have not confirmed how many jobs will be cut under their restructure plans. TLS down 3c to 265c.
  • Qantas (QAN) says business conditions are improving, with total passenger numbers for the month up 7.9% on last year. QAN up 5c to 281c.
  • The RBA says Australian financial system is strong and banks’ bad debt charges have peaked and profits are on the way up in its latest six month review of the financial system.
  • Stockland Group (SGP) has achieved over 50% of acceptances for their 180c-a–share bid for Aevum (AVE) after AVE’s second largest shareholder, Fisher Funds Management, accepted the bid. The offer has automatically been extended to October 13. SGP down 4c to 381c.
  • Asciano (AIO) has secured a 10 year coal haulage contract with Centennial Coal worth around $550m. AIO down 1c to 163c.
  • Murchison Metals (MMX) up 5% to 172c after announcing Mitsubishi is supporting their JV in WA.
  • Macmahon Holdings (MAH) has been awarded a $74m road construction contract in WA. MAH unchanged at 68.5c.
  • Australian building approvals fell 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted 13,049 units in July. Economists on average expected building approvals to rise by 1%.
  • Australian private sector credit increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in August form July and was up 3.1% for the year.
  • Notable stocks going ex-dividend today: Equinox Minerals (EQN), Dart Energy (DTE) and Intoll Group (ITO).
  • Stocks hitting fresh yearly highs today: PMP Ltd (1c) and WHK Group (4c).

For a free 5 day obligation free trial of the MARCUS TODAY newsletter (and no we won’t ask for a credit card number) please 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 stuff and Ideas from Marcus and his Team. You will also be given a password to the MARCUS TODAY website including access to 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 an Income Portfolio. And for the traders we monitor short and medium term trades on top of the portfolio. Members also get access to our Database – all the numbers with comments on the ASX 200 stocks and more. Members also get access to our Educational section which includes an archive of Marcus’s Educational and Entertaining articles. We are sure you will enjoy and profit from what we offer. Thousands of subscribers enjoy and profit from our services every day. We have one of the highest re-subscription rates in the financial newsletter industry.

For your FREE TRIAL — Click here

To Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY — Click Here