We have more details on Motley Fool Share Advisor, yet more news from hot stock of the moment Maverick Drilling & Exploration (ASX: MAD), and we continue our war on pessimism…
Our friend, IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, has again been out spreading doom and gloom.
Not content with her attempt to spoil Christmas by saying the world economic outlook 'is quite gloomy' with pervasive downside risk, this time around she said the world was facing "a 1930s moment, in which inaction, insularity and rigid ideology combine to cause a collapse in global demand".
"This is a defining moment," she was quoted in The Age. "It is not about saving any one country or region. It is about saving the world from a downward economic spiral."
With all due respects, I'd reckon Ms Lagarde needs to get out a bit more.
More iron ore than you can shake a stick at…
Perhaps a visit to Western Australia might have her put a different perspective on the world. Over there, the likes of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) can't dig enough iron ore out of the ground fast enough to feed China and India's insatiable appetite.
I think preferred it when Dominique Strauss-Kahn was heading the organisation. If nothing else, he seemed to add a little 'colour' to the organisation.
Perhaps a better way of saving the world would be for Ms Lagarde and the IMF to be a little more optimistic. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Europe will likely fall back into recession. But to talk about the world facing a 1930s moment…I mean to say, the lady needs some laughing gas.
In any case, world sharemarkets took her comments totally in their stride. "Tell us something new" they said. Over in the U.S, the S&P 500 ended a five day advance, but only just, falling a modest 0.1 per cent.
Blown away
After hours, the world's biggest company by market capitalisation, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), absolutely blew away earnings expectations, reporting a more than doubling in profits. In after hours trading, Apple shares soared as much as 12 per cent to almost $470 per share.
Take that, Ms Lagarde. She's probably still using a Blackberry, or possibly a Nokia 2370.
Motley Fool Share Advisor subscribers should be dancing (or swimming in south-east Queensland) in the streets. In our Monday weekly update to subscribers, we reiterated Apple as a buy. The shares are up more than 17 per cent from our original recommendation.
It just goes to show, despite all the doom and gloom, despite a European recession, there is still good money to be made on the sharemarket.
The MAD hot stock gushing higher again…
Locally, our old favourite Maverick Drilling & Exploration continues to gush higher and higher. On Monday, the company announced its first test well drilled in the Boling Dome Field was a success.
Maverick holds in excess if 7,500 gross acres and 4,500 net acres across the Boling field. Not surprisingly, the shares jumped another 19 per cent on the day.
And if that wasn't enough excitement for the week, today Maverick announced its first test well drilled in the Nash Dome Field has tested oil at a commercial rate.
Maverick shares are now up a whopping 64 per cent since we re-highlighted them to Take Stock (our free email) readers just 13 days ago. Perhaps Ms Lagarde should have signed up?
Our Investment Analyst Dean Morel will be publishing his latest thoughts on Maverick in tomorrow's special Australia Day edition of Motley Fool Share Advisor, our subscriber-only share recommendation service.
As usual, Dean will also recommend his top ASX pick for new money.
A great stock at a great price
I've had a sneak preview. For obvious reasons, I can't tell you the name of the stock Dean has lined up to recommend exclusively to Share Advisor members.
But I can tell you Dean is incredibly excited about this company, saying…
"We seldom get the opportunity to buy a great core stock at such a good price."
All will be revealed soon.
We've had a tremendous response to Share Advisor so far. Clearly, many Australians are keen to fight back against pessimism, take control of their own money, and to hopefully profit from the sharemarket.
Happy Australia Day
As is our want, we'll leave on a positive note…
Amidst all the doom and gloom, it's worth remembering it was only this week when Deloitte Access Economics upgraded its 2012 gross domestic product outlook for Australia, projecting our economy would expand by 3.6 per cent this year.
As for the sharemarket, as most recently shown by Maverick and Apple, shares can go up, higher and quicker than perhaps even your most optimistic expectations.
And as for Europe, yesterday in The Australian Financial Review, George Kanaan, UBS head of Australasian research sales said…
"I think the new year rally will continue because the market is not jumping at shadows on European announcements, which I think is a pretty important positive."
Recession? Not here mate. Happy Australia Day!
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Disclosure: Bruce and Dean both own Maverick Drilling & Exploration. Bruce also owns Apple. He's swimming in the streets. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy keeps its head above water.
