..."The global surge in commodity prices is pumping extra income, wealth and workers -- increased spending power -- into the Australian economy, whereas it is sucking spending power from the US economy, especially via higher fuel prices."
..."All the stocks going up at the moment are in resources -- it's a one-track market."
In fact, a significant portion of the market's rise is attributable to two stocks: BHP and Rio Tinto.
Conlon says BHP made a $3.5 billion profit in 2004 but this has jumped to a $15 billion forecast for next year, meaning profit has quadrupled in four years. "And where did it come from? All of it was due to increases in metal prices, not to volumes (production)," he says.
Also from The Australian:
Xstrata's Jubilee bid sparks Rio speculation
GLOBAL miner Xstrata's $3.1 billion knockout bid for Perth nickel miner Jubilee has sparked frenzied takeover speculation across the sector, with even mining giant Rio Tinto talked of as being in the crosshairs.
