It was Melbourne Cup day a year ago when the RBA last moved interest rates. On that occasion it was a raise, now a year on, we have a rate decrease – a cut of 25 basis points to 4.5%. Hopefully some of you backed a winner on the Cup today as there weren’t too many winners on the ASX today! The broader market declined 1.5% as the XJO closed 65.2 points lower. Small caps fared worse, the Small Ordinaries down 1.9% and all sectors closed in the red with the exception of Telecommunications. More volatile sectors including Materials and Metals/Mining were among the bigger movers, both more than 2% lower. Volume was light as you would expect with a Victorian public holiday. Whilst the US discretionary trades are going along quite nicely at present we can’t seem to buy a decent trade on the ASX of late. The time will come, however, so we need  to be patient, not bet the house and try to position ourselves for the next move so we are still in the game when some follow though occurs.

Similar stock trading tips:

1. Thursday 14th July, 2011
2. Tuesday 26th July, 2011
3. Friday 5th August, 2011
4. Tuesday 20th September, 2011