The market is down 11. The SFE Futures were down 13 this morning. It looks as if the market will close down for the 10th time in the past 11 sessions.

US Markets closed overnight for the Independence Day Holiday.

Markets fell in Europe, Brazil and Canada overnight. The MSCI World Index (which covers stocks in 24 countries) was down 0.2%. The Euro fell 0.2% and the Aussie dollar fell to 84c from 84.13c yesterday morning.

In other news today…

  • Boral (BLD) in a Trading Halt this morning. They announced a new strategic direction which includes a $490m capital raising. BLD last traded at 489c.
  • Macarthur Coal (MCC) — Profit Upgrade — They now expect to make a net profit of between $115m-$125m, up from $103m-$113m on the back of better-than-expected coal sales. They achieved coal sales for the year of 5.26m metric tons, ahead of guidance for 4.8m metric tons. Despite the upgrade, the guidance is still below the $168.6m they made in 2009.
  • Bilfinger Berger has pulled the Valemus IPO and will postpone it until financial markets improve saying a 2010 offer is unlikely. Valemus means “We are Strong” in latin. We are now looking for the latin for “We are out of here”.
  • Adelaide Brighton (ABC) up 8% to 291c – they surprised the market with another earnings upgrade yesterday after the close of market. They now expect 1st H net profit to come in at between $62m-$65m, which is around 30% above what some analysts expected. The stock is up 3.56% in the past month compared to the 5.41% fall in the overall market.
  • Mosaic Oil (MOS) tells their shareholders to take “No Action” on the AGL Energy (AGK) takeover offer and that it intends to meet with AGL to discuss the proposal. MOS down 3.7% to 13c and AGK is up 10c today to 1478c.
  • Transpacific Industries (TPI) hit a fresh yearly low — falling 4% to 92.5c — after been downgraded by a broker this morning.
  • QBE Insurance (QBE) has bought Belgian reinsurer Secura for $396m. QBE has also hit a fresh yearly low – down 2.2% to 1720c.
  • Orica (ORI) shareholders will vote on the DuluxGroup demerger in two days. If shareholders approve the move, it will list on Friday. If it lists with an indicative offer price of around 250c a share, it would price the stock on a PE of around 11-12x. ORI up 17c to 2468c.
  • Australia’s Balance of Trade in goods and services increased to a seasonally adjusted surplus of $1.65bn in May, more than three times the $500m surplus economists expected.
  • Stocks hitting fresh 52 week lows include: Biota Holdings (BTA), Paladin Energy (PDN), QBE Insurance (QBE), Transpacific Industries (TPI) and Transfield Services Infrastructure (TSI).

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