The market is down 13. The SFE Futures were down 51 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 142 overnight. The Dow was up 2 at best and down 186 at worst. The S&P 500 is now down 3.8% from its 2010 high in November. The Fed released its minutes — it lowered its 2010 US economic growth forecast to 2.4-2.5% from 3.0-3.5% previously. North Korea fired artillery shells at South Korea. Metals mostly down on the LME, the oil price fell 49c to $81.25 and Gold put on $19.90 to $1377.60. The Aussie dollar fell to 97.29c compared to 98.88c yesterday.

Today’s main points…

  • Harvey Norman (HVN) held its AGM yesterday and CEO Gerry Harvey was extremely pessimistic about HVN’s sales figures and the ability of the whole retail industry to make a decent dollar during this Christmas period. HVN down 5c to 299c.
  • Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) plans to double its investment in Indonesia to around $100m annually over the next three years. It also reaffirmed its guidance for 7% to 8% growth in EBIT for the 2nd half of 2010. CCL down 7c to 1152c.
  • Lynas Corp (LYC) put on 4.7% to 145c after saying it is in advanced talks with Japan on fast tracking expansion of its rare earths project to secure additional supply to the country.
  • Cochlear (COH) was upgraded to BUY by two brokers this morning after its major competitor Advanced Bionic’s worldwide recall of its HiRes 90K cochlear implant. COG up 3.3% to 7739c.
  • Programmed Maintenance Services (PRG) has recorded a $3.07m 1st half loss but says earnings will improve in the 2nd half. PRG down 3c to 125.5c.
  • Kathmandu (KMD) provided a trading update — up 3.3% to 123c.
  • Virgin Blue (VBA) has told shareholders at its AGM that the market is stabilizing but remains challenging. VBA up 0.5c to 44c.
  • Northern Energy (NEC) could be worth double the $193m offered by New Hope Corporation (NHC) according to an independent expert. NEC down 2c to 167c and NHC down 3c to 483c.
  • Acrux Ltd (ACR) in a trading halt – last traded at 308c.
  • Total construction work done fell by a lower than expected 2.1% in the Sept Q in seasonally adjusted terms.
  • Customers (CUS) has gone 8c ex dividend today. CUS down 5% to 184c.

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