Consumer Discretionary

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck FNArena has been contacted by Billabong ((BBG)) this morning, after the company had been contacted by fund…

Analysts can’t find much in the budget to impact on markets beyond what we already knew, but they are quick to point out the bullish assumptions contained within.

A snapshot of economist responses to today’s Australian retail sales data for March, which rose but by less than the market had expected.

Morgan Stanley has identified some more small cap companies where it sees value, while Macquarie has Boart Longyear on its Marquee Ideas list.

Positive earnings results including a cracker from Apple last night sent Wall Street towards its highs again. Dow up 25.

Morgan Stanley has initiated on 10 emerging companies with nine positive ratings, while both JP Morgan and Credit Suisse have also identified value elsewhere in the sector.

Macquarie notes a sharp drop off in sales of electronic goods while Merrill Lynch downgrades all food retailers.

The outlook for David Jones shares is about to turn negative, the TehWizard reports.

In the ongoing process of post-GFC regulatory changes, ASIC is looking to formalise stock broker recommendations in the wake of investor complaints.

The TechWizard reports things are not looking upbeat for shares in retailer Harvey Norman.