The market is up 18 but has been down over 60 and up over 30. The volatility continues and it doesn’t inspire confidence. Same thing on Wall St. Up 280 points in the last 45 minutes having been down 343. The SFE Futures suggested a 10 point rise in the market this morning.

The Dow Jones closed down 15 overnight – It moved in a big 368 point range and closed down for the sixth consecutive session on the back of continued subprime mortgage and credit market concerns.

It was a weird weird day yesterday. One to remember. The All Ords was down 311 at its worst but closed down 77….a historic day.

  • Metals got smashed overnight. Copper down 8.5%, Zinc down 8% and Nickel down 5.6%. Aluminium down 3%.
  • Oil price down $2.37 to $70.99 as the hurricane warnings in the Caribbean don’t appear to threaten supply.
  • Gold down $21.70 or 3%.
  • Newcrest down 102c or 4.2% to 2350c. They have results out today — Not good but that was expected.
  • Concerns about the Yen Carry Trade unwinding are firmly back in the market after a spike in the Yen in the last two weeks and its biggest jump in one night since 1998.
  • Since 1989 the stockmarket has fallen more than 10% on 11 occasions and has recovered that fall within five months on eight occasions.
  • Goodman Group (GMG) announced their results this morning — GMG up 10c to 581c.
  • Westpac (WBC) has announced St George Bank’s (SGB) Gail Kelly as their next CEO, replacing David Morgan. WBC up 37c to 2514c.
  • Babcock & Brown (BNB) announced they have received approval from San Francisco’s Bay Conservation and Development Commission for their proposed High Voltage Direct Current transmission line. BNB down 20% in the last week and down a further 31c to 1920c today. This is the stock you will make all the money in when the market bottoms.
  • Publishing & Broadcasting (PBL) have received a few upgrades this morning from several brokers. PBL down 2c to 1648c.
  • Brambles (BXB) announce Asciano (AIO) had increased their stake in the company to 2.19% from 1.76%. BXB seem very concerned about their share register. They must think they are a bid target even if no-one else does. BXB down 7c to 1275c.
  • The A$ has had its biggest 5 day fall since Sept 11th 2001 yesterday. International institutions are pulling stumps. It means they will make that much more money when they come back, which they will.

WHAT TO DO — No big panic but I wouldn’t be buying yet. I have written the reasons why in the Marcus Today Newsletter today along with the signs you need to look for that will herald the market bottom, why Australia is OK and what life is like after a correction. Take off those ridiculous day trades, take the rest of the day off and have a good weekend.

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