Between the Bells

The ASX200 is eyeing a gain of 0.5% at the open and is now 47% up from its COVID-19 low.

The UK began to rollout Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and the U.S. is potentially days away from emergency use approval, with plans to roll out the vaccine this month.

What to watch today:

• Westpac’s Consumer confidence numbers are out today and are likely to be positive, given the ANZ survey found consumer confidence has recovered to where it was last year, rising 1.7% to a yearly high.
• Business confidence numbers released yesterday soared to their highest level in two years. Collectively, this means businesses and consumers are likely to continue to spend and borrow, which supports share price and earnings growth in retail, online shopping, banking and finance stocks.

Local trading ideas:

• G8 Education (ASX:GEM) was reiterated as a UBS Buy with an increased $1.52 price target.
• Citi downgraded Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) to a Sell after it gained over 280% since March.
• Citi called out its top mining stock picks as Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), South32 (ASX:S32) and Alumina (ASX:AWC).
• Clean TeQ Holdings (ASX:CLQ), Althea (ASX:AGH) and Gascoyne Resources (ASX:GCY) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

The ASX200 is eyeing a fall of 0.2% at the open.

People in the UK will be the first to receive the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine today, as the roll-out kicks off in England.

The iron ore price continued its push up 2% to US$144, another new 7-year high as China continues to produce 90 million tonnes of steel a month.

What to watch today:

• With the iron ore rally, keep an eye on Champion Iron (ASX:CIA), Mount Gibson (ASX:MGX), Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG), Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and BHP (ASX:BHP).  
• Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) holds its AGM today.
• NAB business confidence will be released today.

Local trading ideas:

• With the oil price pulling back, keep an eye on energy companies. Bell Potter’s picks are Byron Energy (ASX:BYE), Cooper Energy (ASX:COE) and Senex Energy (ASX:SXY). 
• Overnight UBS reiterated Santos (ASX:STO) as a Buy with a $6.60 target. 
• PainChek (ASX:PCK), Atomos (ASX:AMS) and Codan (ASX:CDA) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

The ASX200 is eyeing a gain of 0.6% at the open.

Victoria and South Australia will welcome international flights and passengers starting today and NSW will ease restrictions at hospitality venues.

What to watch this week:

• Metcash (ASX:MTS) reports results today.
• NAB business confidence, building permits for October and Consumer Confidence is out tomorrow.

Local trading ideas:

• Bell Potter upgraded PSC Insurance’s (ASX:PSI) Buy rating with an increased $3.40 price target.
• Bell Potter highlighted some stocks to watch including City Chic (ASX:CCX), Premier Investments (ASX:PMV), Domino’s Pizza (ASX:DMP) and Accent (ASX:AX1).
• Temple and Webster (ASX:TPW), NEXTDC (ASX:NXT) and Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

Restrictions are lifting and Australia's economy has blasted out of its first recession in 29 years. The Aussie share market gained 0.2% (Mon-Thu) and is on track to record its fifth straight week of gains.

In this week’s wrap, Jessica covers:

• (1:20) Sectors: Mining explodes with a 5% uptick
• (1:45) Why earnings are likely to rise for the iron ore majors
• (2:54) The huge recovery of COVID-19 affected sectors in November
• (3:54) How the Aussie economy's bounce back shattered expectations
• (5:03) 17 stocks likely to benefit from increased consumer spending

The ASX200 is eyeing a fall of 0.1% at the open after rising for three straight days.

Pfizer and BioNTech plan to rollout 1.3 billion vaccines in 2021 and will catch up on the 50 million dose shortfall from this year.

Weekly employment conditions improved in the U.S. despite COVID-19 cases continuing to rise.

What to watch today:

• Keep an eye on commodities. So far this week, Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) shares are up 11%, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) rose 10% to a decade high, BHP (ASX:BHP) gained 7% to a yearly-high. Morgan Stanley’s favourite copper stock is Oz Minerals (ASX:OZL) and Sandfire (ASX:SFR), which is backed by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse as a Buy.
• AP Eagers (ASX:APE) and Premier Investments (ASX:PMV) hold their AGMs today.
• Retail sales are due out for October and are tipped to rise 1.6%, so keep an eye on consumer spending stocks.

Local trading ideas:

• Qantas (ASX:QAN) was given an upgrade by UBS with a new target of $6.20. Domestic capacity will increase to almost 70% of COVID-19 levels by the end of the year and will be at 80% by the end of March next year. 
• Macquarie (ASX:MQG) was upgraded by Bell Potter as a Buy with an increased $150 target, implying 8% upside in a year from yesterday’s close. Macquarie is buying U.S. based asset manager and then selling a part of that business for a profit. These transactions should see Macquarie’s profit lift 3% after FY24 according to Bell Potter.  
• Harvest Technology (ASX:HTG), MyFiziq (ASX:MYQ) and Whisper (ASX:WSP) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

The Aussie market is on for its third day of gains, with the futures suggesting a lift of 0.3%. It comes as global equities closed mostly higher overnight, after the UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use, with plans for it to be rolled out as early as next week.

What to watch today:

·        Home loan data is out, as well as import and export data for October.

·        Yesterday we learnt that Australia’s economy officially snapped out of its first recession in 29 years, as expected. The economy grew 3.3% from July to September beating expectations of 2.6% growth. This is for the September quarter so does not factor in the government’s new budgetary support, and that Victoria was in lockdown. So next quarter should be another strong month for economic growth. You could consider companies that benefit from that; so stocks in banking, property, consumer spending, airlines, travel, and tourism.

Trading ideas:

·        Citi upgraded Qube’s (ASX:QUB) Buy rating with an increased $3.50 price target (implying 20% upside).

·        UBS upgraded its Buy rating on Worley (ASX:WOR), an energy and chemical company. UBS increased Worley’s price target to $14.43. Citi also upgraded Worley with a new $14.18 price target.

·        Bell Potter reiterated its ‘must have’ champion stocks are likely to see superior earnings and share price growth over the coming years. They include Amcor (ASX:AMC), Transurban Group (ASX:TCL), Challenger (ASX:CGF), Goodman Group (ASX:GMG), Netwealth Group (ASX:NWL), Brambles (ASX:BXB), CSL (ASX:CSL) and Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL).

·        Medusa Mining (ASX:MML), Baby Bunting (ASX:BBN) and Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

The Aussie share market looks set for another positive day with a lift of 0.6% on the cards according to the futures. U.S. stocks rallied to a record closing high, buoyed by lawmakers unveiling a $908 billion stimulus plan, which includes $200 billion in pay check protection for small businesses.  

What to watch today:

• Yesterday the RBA announced the economic recovery is going better than expected, with the Aussie economy tipped to have recovered by the end of next year. The central bank forecasts GDP of 5% next year and 4% the year after in 2022.               
• Today, we get a gauge as to how much the economy grew in the September quarter with growth of 2.6% expected. That means the economy will have recovered from its first recession in 29 years, as the last two quarters of growth were negative. So… if growth is higher, expect stocks in mining, airlines, travel, tourism, consumer spending to do well, if it’s weaker, expect a pull back. 

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter upgraded GrainCorp’s (ASX:GNC) Buy rating with an increased $5.05 price target (implying 14% upside in a year). GNC has had a bumper year and season, with its crop at an 11-year high and 75% above its 10-year average. 
• UBS upgraded its Buy rating on SSR Mining (ASX:SSR). UBS increased SSR’s target to $33. A recent technical report showed that its mine in Turkey is large scale, low cos, and has a long-life of 20 years. 
• Bell Potter reiterated its favourite COVID-19 recovery stocks are Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL), ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ), Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG), Flight Centre Travel Group (ASX:FLT) and Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN).
• Goodman Group (ASX:GMG), ReadyTech Holdings (ASX:RDY) and Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) are all showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central. 

The Aussie share market futures are suggesting a fall of 0.2% for the first day of December. Summer is in the air – the QLD border is now open to Victorian and Sydney residents and the world is closer to another vaccine as Moderna applies for emergency clearance of their vaccine. 

Overnight U.S. stocks slipped but held onto spectacular gains. The Dow lost 0.9% however posted its best November since 1987 on promising vaccine development… boosting confidence of an economic recovery. The S&P500 fell 0.5% but rose 11% in November, and the Nasdaq closed flat overnight but gained 12% last month. 

What to watch:

• Australian grain farmers are on track to produce the second largest grain crop on record, following years of drought. Keep an eye on agricultural stocks like Australian Agricultural Company (ASX:AAC), Elders (ASX:ELD) and Select Harvests (ASX:SHV).
• About 60 Australian coal carrying ship  are still being held up at Chinese ports. So keep an eye on coal stocks. 
• Reporting today: Colins Foods (ASX:CKF) and National Storage REIT (ASX:NSR).                                                                                            

Trading ideas:

• Bell Potter upgraded stem cell business Mesoblast’s (ASX:MSB) speculative Buy rating with a new $7.40 price target (implying 78% upside in a year). 
• Bell Potter upgraded copper company, Aeris Resources (ASX:AIS) Buy rating with an increased price target of 11.2 cents, implying 56% upside. 
• UBS increased its Buy rating on Select Harvests (ASX:SHV) with a new price target of $7.90. UBS says despite almond prices being lower now, there is upside in FY22. 
• Lastly, from a charting perspective, keep an eye on Damstra Holdings (ASX:DTC), Nitro Software (ASX:NTO) and Elders (ASX:ELD) – all these stocks are showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central. 

The ASX200 is eyeing a lift of 0.6% at the open following a strong week on Wall Street, amid decreasing political uncertainty and positive vaccine news.

What to watch today and this week:

• Zip (ASX: Z1P) holds its AGM today. Although the Buy Now Pay Later provider recently released a trading update, today’s AGM may provide investors with a snapshot of November’s performance, as well as an update on further international expansion plans.
• Tomorrow afternoon will see the final meeting of the RBA for 2020.
• On Wednesday, RBA Governor Lowe will give testimony to Parliament, the same day the third quarter GDP report is released.
• Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is poised to give testimony to Congress twice this week and the OECD are set to publish new global forecasts.

Local trading ideas:

• Bell Potter reiterated mining company, Mader Group’s (ASX:MAD) Buy rating and increased its price target marginally to $1.26. This follows easing interstate border restrictions and new hiring initiatives that continue to ease pressure on growth barriers in the strong WA market.
• Bell Potter retains its Buy rating on QANTM IP (ASX:QIP) with an unchanged 12-month price target of $1.60. Bell Potter believes QIP’s earnings are underpinned by relatively resilient industry drivers, with COVID-19 to date having limited impact on filing volumes.
• Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) and Jupiter Mines (ASX:JMS) are both showing bullish charting signals according to Trading Central.

The Aussie share market has gained around 12% this month. The market is 7% off record high territory so this year's Santa rally looks promising.

In this week’s wrap, Jessica covers:

• (0:32) Sectors hit the most this year see increased buying
• (0:48) Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW) down 55% YTD
• (1:07) Flight Centre (ASX:FLT): ready for take-off?
• (2:00) Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC): 100% share price growth in a year?
• (3:12) How the ASX sectors have changed since January
• (3:50) The biggest ASX stocks: movement in 2020