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 up 0.2%.
In the US, the Dow Jones gained 0.3% while the broader S&P 500 was up 0.5% as was the tech-heavy NASDAQ.Oil prices were up, with Brent Crude Oil gaining 2.3% to US$56.83 per barrel, and WTI Crude added 0.7% to hit US$50.76 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 up against the US dollar and is currently buying 76.9 US cents.
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs says a large number of high-cost iron ore mines need to drop out of the market, and mining companies with weak balance sheets that can't cut costs are unlikely to survive. Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) may be Australia's highest profile iron ore miner to go under, but it's certainly not the first and likely not the last.
Iron ore is currently trading around US$48 a tonne, meaning that apart from a handful of smaller miners, only the very large miners like BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are making any money.
- Following oil giant Shell's huge €47 billion (A$91 billion) bid for energy company BG Group, the spotlight is turning onto Australia's oil and gas companies. In particular, Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG) could be under the microscope, as their share prices have dropped 43% and 22% respectively in the past six months.
Now could be a good time to pick them up on the cheap. Santos has long been considered a takeover target, while eyes may also have turned to Australia's largest independent oil and gas producer, Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL).
- Tweet of the Day
Gaven Morris (@gavmorris) April 9, 2015
Rest in peace Richie, you will be missed.
- Stock of the Day – brought to you by Owen Raskiewicz – Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW). Want 3 reasons why the supermarket giant is a buy? Owen has the answers here.
