The ET Chat is open for all you cowboys who want to participate in the Asian open. Snacks are on your own. I'll be drinking beer and watching occasionally. I have a party going on here at the ranch today Cantor cash bonds opening up in 45 mins. -ChiBondKing, chat mod.
Australian shares in freefall January 22, 2008 - 10:13AM http://business.theage.com.au/australian-shares-in-freefall/20080122-1nan.html Australian shares resumed their slide this morning, with investors joining counterparts around the world to dump their holdings ahead of an expected slowdown in global growth. In early trading, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 share index had shed nearly 3.7 per cent, down 205.9 points to 5374.5 points, placing the market on course for a record 12th day of declines. Concern that slower US growth would drag on the world economy and slash companies' earnings triggered the steepest falls since the September 11 terrorist attacks of 2001 on many overseas markets overnight. The Australian futures market had pointed to a drop of about 2.8 per cent at the opening, matching yesterday's fall. "Aussie stocks are set for their largest one-day fall since 9/11," Martin Slaney, head of derivatives trading at GFT Global Markets in London said in an email, prior to the start of trading. "There is a wave of panic emerging as the fear unfolds." The Australian dollar also sank overnight, losing more than 1.5 US cents to drop below 86 US cents for the first time in almost a month, and sliding to a five-month low against the yen. A fall of 2 per cent in Australian shares today would bring the ASX-200 dive since its November 1 peak to more than 20 per cent, a level defined as a bear market. Australia would join 36 other countries already in bear market territory as of yesterday, according to Bloomberg data. Wall Street, which was closed for yesterday's Martin Luther King Day holiday, is set to join the declines when it opens later today, with futures clocking up their biggest fall since 2001, Bloomberg said. Likely to drag the Australian market lower today is miner Rio Tinto, which slumped 10% in London trading in the absence of a formal bid from bigger rival BHP Billiton. Commodity prices also sagged, with oil prices falling to a one-month low, and gold dropping to its lowest in two weeks. Rising stockpiles have added to the gloom for industrial metals, with copper shedding another 3.7 per cent in London, bringing the decline from its peak to 22 per cent, according to Bloomberg data. US markets were closed, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and Canada. The UK benchmark FTSE-100 dropped 4.7 per cent to 5,625.20; France's CAC-40 Index plunged 5.9 per cent to 4,793.39, while Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 slumped 6.74 per cent to 6,821.42. In Asia, India's benchmark stock index yesteday tumbled 7.4 per cent, while Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted 5.5 per cent to 23,818.86, its biggest percentage drop since 9/11 attacks. Investors dumped shares because they were sceptical that an economic stimulus plan US President George W Bush announced Friday would shore up the economy that has been battered by problems in its housing and credit markets. The plan, which requires approval by Congress, calls for about $US145 billion ($A165.27 billion) worth of tax relief to encourage consumer spending. "We've taken our lead from the Asian markets who have not been impressed by the US There's debate if there's going to be a recession in the US I don't think there's much chance of that though," said Richard Hunter an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers Ltd in London.