1.59 Back from a nice walk and a good lunch. Still no word on the new government. One of the independents has announced that he will support the Liberals and that is being interpreted as meaning that the other two will support Labor, enabling them to form a government. The announcement from the remaining two independents is due at 3 pm.
The market found its way to an intraday peak at around 1.45 with a rise of 13 points but has quickly wound back to down 2 points; perhaps on the realisation that Labor is still favorite and therefore a mining tax is on the agenda.
A good day for Cgf, up 12 at 407. Karoon might finally be starting to move, up 10 at 690 and a break of 700 would leave the chart looking very healthy.
3.23 Rob Oakeshott is milking his moment for as much as it worth and hasn't yet confirmed that his casting vote is for Labor. But it sounds like it.
3.27 The market is falling fast anyway as we wait. It looks like the independents are setting an agenda that wasn't what the public voted for so it's going to be questionable as to how much legitimacy this coalition is going to have.
3.31 Finally, he's spat it out. The last two independents support Labor and after 17 days we have a new coalition government.
3.35 Interestingly, the market is recovering a little. Perhaps because it's seen as better than having another election.
3.50 Broadband policy was a key factor in the vote for Labor and it's a huge issue in country electorates, certainly one that the Liberals could have thought more about. My understanding is that broadband is essential for Australia and a useful piece of nation building. I'm not too sure though, whether we need another Telstra or whether the administration which gave us the home insulation and school buildings fiascos is the right one to deliver it.
As it was for most of Australia, it was very hard to make a personal decision on these sorts of issues and probably the right decision would have been to go back and think again with another election.
It would have been tedious and a good time for an overseas trip but better than an election hijacked by a couple of marginal electorates.
Oh well, coalition governments actually have a good record and the independents seem honest and sensible enough. Also regional Australia could probably do with some pork barrelling.
4.11 Someone's just trotted out "The market hates uncertainty" on Sky. Pass me the bucket.
The Xjo closed almost square, so it's clearly uncertain as to how to assess the coalition news.
Not a lot of change for my stocks and I'm looking forward to reading how the papers assess the news.
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