5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today

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

1. The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.3% higher following gains on Wall Street on Friday.In the US, the Dow Jones closed up 0.9%, as did the broader S&P 500 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ posted a 0.7% rise.Oil prices continued their topsy-turvy ride, with Brent Crude Oil gaining 1.3% to US$55.15 per barrel, and WTI Crude fell 0.7% to US$46.25 per barrel. (WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate and is the benchmark oil price in the US, while the Brent crude oil price is more widely used in Europe.)

   The Australian dollar is steady against the US dollar and is currently buying 78.0 US cents.

2. The pressure on Australia's commercial and pay-TV networks is increasing, as Netflix announces a cheaper base plan than its rivals. At $8.99 per month, its $1 less than competitors, Presto – a joint venture between Seven West Media Ltd (ASX: SWM) and pay-TV operator Foxtel charges $9.99 a month, while Stan – a partnership between Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC) and Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ) is $10 a month.A recent report found almost 10%, or 250,000 of Foxtel's customers were considering downgrading or cancelling their subscriptions to switch to a streaming service like Netflix above.This is an issue we have raised a number of times in the past – most recently here.
3. Solomon Lew's Premier Investments Ltd (ASX: PMV) has posted a strong first half result today. Net profit after tax came in at $56.8 million, compared to $52.1 million in the previous year, and the company even announced a fully franked special dividend of 9 cents a share – to go with the 21 cent half-year dividend, also fully franked.Total sales for the group were up 4.8% to $490.8 million, as like-for-like sales rose 1.1%. Premier major brands include Jay Jays, Just Jeans, Smiggle and Peter Alexander stores, Smiggle in particular, is expanding rapidly offshore and is expected to launch its UK online store this month.
4. Tweet of the Day
   

   Australia needs to realise that the decline in coal isn't cyclical, it's here to stay https://t.co/78JryHRFpm pic.twitter.com/46juxE58bJ

   Business Review (@aus_business) March 22, 2015

    

   For investors in the likes of Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC) – makes sure you know the risks.

5. Stock of the Day– brought to you by Ryan Newman – iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN). The telco's shareholders expect a better takeover deal to be offered before July. You can read the details here.