Weekly Market Outlook

In the US on Friday night, the non farm payroll figures were reported with 131,000 jobs lost and only 71,000 private sector jobs added. This is in stark contrast to the optimistic analyst expectations of only 55,000 jobs lost and 100,000 private sector gains. The result was yet another kick in the teeth for the optimists.

The unemployment rate, however, remained steady at 9.5%, when a tick up to 9.6% was expected.

The news had the Dow down 160 points on the open, but the tumble was short-lived. If Wall Street wasn't already confident prior to the jobs report, it is now convinced that the Fed will announce a recommencement of quantitative easing measures in its monetary policy statement on Tuesday.

Despite the dire situation, Wall Street likes having the Fed on board. Thus the Dow spent the rest of the session recovering lost ground to close down only 21 points, or 0.2%, at 10,653.56. The S&P 500 lost 0.4% to 1121.

More...

Marine safety solutions provider Mobilarm Limited will close will close it's IPO offering to raise $4 million this Friday. Post listing, the Company will have a pro forma market capitalisation of $32.1 million.

Mobilarm’s technology is already utilised by numerous civil maritime organisations, particularly in the offshore oil and gas sector. The company has also secured a US Navy defence contract for verification trials of its patented Personal Beacon Locator.

The United States Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) had recently awarded a Sole Source contract to Mobilarm to provide a modified version of the company’s VHF Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) for testing and associated engineering services. The initial contract is valued at up to US$400,000, with significant growth opportunities upon evaluation success.

More...