5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today

S&P/ASX 200 opens down 0.1%, as Wall Street falls overnight

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published March 20, 2015 10:28 am AEDT

Welcome to Friday Fools. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.

The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.1% lower after Wall Street fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%, the broader S&P 500 dropped 0.5% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ managed a gain of 0.2%.
Brent crude oil fell, losing 2.7% to US$54.41 per barrel. Iron ore slipped as well, losing 0.9% to US$55.00 per tonne. The Australian dollar has dropped below US 77 cents, currently buying 76.3 US cents.
One of iiNet Limited's (ASX: IIN) biggest shareholders says the TPG Telecom Limited (ASX: TPM) bid price was 'absurdly' low, and didn't factor in significant synergies. BT Investment Management's Paul Hannan has told Fairfax media that the fund manager is disappointed and has major reservations about the bid.
iiNet has also been criticised for poor communication with shareholders over the bid.There's no certainty the deal will still go through, despite the support of iiNet's board. The ACCC still has to give its approval.
Will department store retailer Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) be forced to raise equity? Investment bank analysts from BAML think it's a high probability the company could raise cash to either reduce its store network (and staff) or invest further in its operations to become more attractive to consumers.
Tweet of the Day
@Medibank CEO says don't fund #medicine that doesn't work. #ausbiz #health #auspol https://t.co/EVfaubUN1A pic.twitter.com/j8Oc0dCmq7
— Financial Review (@FinancialReview) March 19, 2015

That seems to make sense to me…
Stock of the Day–brought to you by Andrew Mudie – Dick Smith Holdings Ltd (ASX: DSH). Is the consumer electronics retailer a bargain today? Find out here.

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