The market is down 10. The SFE Futures were down 8 this morning.

Wall Street closed down 41 overnight. The Dow was down 75 at worst. Plenty of economic data out — Retail sales disappointed despite being up for a seventh straight month, import and export prices increased more than expected and the Empire Manufacturing Survey hit an eight month high. The oil price fell 49c to $84.32, Gold put on $9 to $1374.10 and the Aussie dollar is below parity again — now at 99.61c compared to 100.30c.

Earnings Results are dominating the headlines…

  • BHP Billiton (BHP) down 1.5% on their results. 1st H net profit increased 72% to $US10.52bn. In line with analysts’ expectations. The stock has run hard ahead of the result — up 5.2% so far in February. Announced an expanded $US10bn share buyback. Revenue was up 39% to $US34.17bn and declared an interim dividend of US46c, up from US42c. CEO Marius Kloppers says he is confident in the long term outlook for core commodities.
  • Westfield Group’s (WDC) result was in line with expectations. Net operating earnings (which excludes property revaluations and other non-cash items) came in at $2.06bn, down 1.5% on last year. Importantly, they reaffirmed FY11 operating earnings were expected to fall to 74.6c from 89.6c with a distribution of 48.4c. WDC down 4c to 988c.
  • CSL Ltd (CSL) announced a “solid” result.  Net profit fell 19% to $500.2m, analysts were expecting a figure of $486m and ranged from $452m to $506.5m. Declared an interim dividend of 35c, in line with last year. CSL down 5c to 3476c.
  • The Reject Shop’s (TRS) result was in line with December’s profit downgrade — 1st H net profit fell 16% to $15.91m, in line with company guidance. No guidance was given for the FY profit due to uncertainty regarding the costs of the QLD floods. TRS down 37c to 1313c.
  • Dexus Property (DXS) announced a $294.4m net profit for the half. Expects their office portfolio to deliver consistent underlying growth. Declared a 1st  distribution of 2.59c and upgraded their FY outlook. DXS unchanged at 86.5c.
  • Biota (BTA) recorded a $15.95m loss for the half. Has cash of $77.5m sitting in the bank. BTA down 14% to 131c.

In other news…

  • GPT Group (GPT) announced they are selling their US Seniors Housing Portfolio to Health Care REIT Inc for $US890m. GPT have now existed all offshore non-core assets except for two real estate funds in Europe. GPT up 3c to 312c.
  • The ASX Ltd (ASX) announced yesterday that SGX was taking measures and giving up some ground to ensure their bid for ASX goes through. ASX down 31c to 3781c.
  • Stocks going ex dividend: Platinum Capital (PMC) — 4c.

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.