The market is down 11. The SFE Futures were up 20 this morning.

The Dow Jones closed up 62 on Friday. The S&P 500 closed up 1.1% but had its worst week in 15, down 2.1%. 4th Q GDP was revised downward to 2.8% from 3.2%, while economists had expected growth of 3.3%. The Uni. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment Survey was revised up to 77.5 for February, which is the best reading since January 2008. The oil price gained 60c to $97.88 (peaked at $103 last week), while gold lost $6.50 to $1409.30. The Aussie dollar is at 101.37, up from 100.88c.

Today’s main results…

  • QR National (QRN) results beat estimates – H1 net profit of $277.5m, up from a loss of $21.2m in the pcp. Revised post flood guidance for the better. QRN up 4.2%.
  • Downer EDI (DOW) – H1 2011 net loss of $104m, in line with estimates. No dividend was declared although widely expected. Downgraded its FY11 guidance largely due the impact of the wet weather. Also announced that it plans to raise $279m on reports of cost blowouts on its $1.9bn Waratah contract. Announced a 1-for-4 renounceable entitlement offer at 325c. In a trading halt, last traded at 392c.
  • QBE Insurance (QBE) – Full year profit dropped 17% to $US1.28bn on a “substantial reduction in net investment income due to underperformance of its equity portfolios and lower interest yields”. Company expects an improved profit margin in 2011. QBE will pay a final dividend of 66c, franked at 10%. QBE down 2.1%.

In other news today…

  • RBA board member Warwick McKibbin has warned Australia might be caught in an Asian property and commodities markets bubble that could be more damaging than the global financial crisis. The RBA holds its monthly policy meeting tomorrow and is expected to keep the official cash rate on hold at 4.75%.
  • Equinox Minerals (EQN) made an unsolicited bid for Canada’s Lundin Mining. EQN in a trading halt – last traded at 622c.
  • Fortescue Metals (FMG) has discovered a new billion-ton resource south of its Cloudbreak operation. It increases FMG’s resource base by 11.8% to 9.5bn tons. The company says it plans to develop the deposit “as rapidly as possible” and blend it with its Chichester ores around Cloudbreak. FMG up 1.9%.
  • Bloomberg has reported that Centro Properties (CNP) has received 3 bids of $US9bn or more for its US assets. The company this morning requested to be placed in a trading halt. Last traded at 15c.
  • Sigma Pharmaceuticals (SIP) has upgraded its 2011 guidance due to “solid trading conditions”. They now expect underlying FY11 EBIT to be at the higher end of the $120-130m range. SIP up 3.4%.
  • A few fund managers are rumoured to be pushing for Woodside Petroleum (WPL) to undertake a share buyback of Shell’s remaining 24%, but rival Chevron may look to buy in. WPL up 1%.

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.