Liams Last Post : Markets look toppy but oils in favour.

 

Good Afternoon ,

 

The Last post returns after a short hiatus , fatigue with non stop news about Budget cuts and austerity measures etc. I did the Barcvelon triathlon at the weekend and can recommend it to beginners and experienced triathletes alike. A lovely city and a fantastic course. There is nothing like some sunshine to raise your spirits.

 

Markets are still proving resilient though we are now getting into the US reporting season and while the majority of companies who have reported so far have beaten expectations it is clear that we are at a phase of he market where the technicals look tired and good news is now provoking profit taking. Better to travel than arrive and all that.

 

Corporate news in Ireland is thin on the Ground. Cove was probably the biggest story this morning ans it was re-assuring to see affirmatory remarks and supportive ocmments from Anadarko after the debacle that accompanied the last Cove announcement. Barquentine could be in  excess of +5 Tcf, enabling Cove and Anadarko to begin evaluating a potential LNG development

for the 2 discoveries which are just 2 ½ miles apart. Barquentine could potentially become part of a mega-development in that area.

Tullow was also in the news re Uganda with the tax dispute that had delayed the deal. Tullow has been working with Uganda officials to allow the Total and CNOOC deals to close and to delink the issue from an ongoing dispute between Uganda and Heritage Oil over capital gains taxes.  In July, Heritage sold its half of stakes in blocks 1 and 3A in the Lake Albert basin to Tullow for up to $1.45 billion, but Heritage declined to pay a 30% capital gains tax on the transaction. In the wake of the dispute, the Uganda government withheld its endorsement of the deal, preventing Tullow from bringing in new partners. Tullow has already paid $1 billion to Heritage for the purchase. A third of the $405 million in disputed tax has been paid to the Ugandan authorities, and the remainder is in an independently administered escrow account.Tullow has drafted a memorandum of understanding to delink Tullow's plans to divest to Total and CNOOC from the Heritage tax dispute. President Museveni gave his preliminary approval to the memorandum out of concern the delay was negatively impacting the plans of CNOOC and Total. This still needs final approval but Tullow shareholders will breathe a sigh of relief.

Petroneft has a successful $43m placing with institutional investors ·      Gross  proceeds of  US$43 million  raised at  STG£0.43 per  share in a placing  with  international  institutional investors. Funds will  be used  to finance an  accelerated exploration  programme business development and general corporate overhead. 2010/11  Exploration  programme  with potential  to  more  than  double existing 2P reserves. Petroneft said they are on course to achieve year end  2010 production target of 4,000 bopd  by early December, rising to approximately 12,000 bopd by the end of 2012

The interview that Michael O'Leary gave to a German newspaper had no impact on the share price today of either it or Aer Lingus.  "The Government is broke now, it has to sell its holdings. In the end, it will sell Aer Lingus as well," O'Leary said in an interview published in daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung  today.

 

The US Materials sector and CRH were sibject to overnight downgrades by a European broker and by Citigroup. CRH closed -1% at 11.75. Elsewhere Volume was quite light as the German Zew survey  also did little to boost confidence today.

 

Goldman Sachs quarterly profit falling by 40% is the headline grabber of the afternoon. Goldman sachs did however beat expectations and the stock was up about 3% at 5pm in Dublin. Coca cola was up slightly as prifits rose by 8% year on year.

 

Have a good evening

 

Liam

 

 

 

___________________________________________

Liam Boggan

　

Merrion Stockbrokers

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