pandora hearts

[sonyaany]

ASX back below 5100

Well known conservationist Graeme Wood has watched more than $50 million of his wealth disappear today after a profit warning from Wotif sent shares in the company he co founded into a tailspin.

Wotif shares slumped nearly 32 per cent to close at $2.85 after it warned that first half profits will fall up to 20 per cent and cautioned that market conditions will remain volatile for the remainder of this financial year due to soft consumer demand.

The share plunge has eaten away at the paper wealth of Wood, who is also known for helping bankroll The Guardian Australian online venture and news website the Global Mail.

In May, BRW magazine ranked Mr Wood as the 163rd richest person in Australia with a net wealth of $310 million.

Graeme Wood shares Wotif investors' pain.

Saxo Bank analysts have compiled their annual top 10 list of predictions for global markets in the year ahead.

The analysts note that although the probability of any one of the predictions coming true is low, they are all based on a feasible if unlikely series of market and political events.

Here's the list:

1. Panicking at deflation and lack of growth, the European Union Commission introduces a wealth tax, heralding the Pandora Factory Outlet return of a Soviet style economy.

2. Following the European Parliamentary elections in May, a pan European, anti EU transnational alliance becomes the largest group in parliament, sending the eurozone back into political and economic turmoil.

3. A bubble bursts in the US technology sector Five (Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, Pandora Media and Yelp) and the market wakes up to a nasty hangover in 2014.

4. A fall in the Japanese yen below 80 US cents leads an increasingly desperate Bank of Japan to delete all government debt.

5. US Congress performs Act II of its to disrupt the economy charade in January, leading to deflation in the world biggest economy.

6. The US Pandora Outlet USA Federal Reserve reduces quantitative easing through bond purchases but increases the total value of monthly asset purchases from $US85 billion to $US100 billion by going all in on mortgage purchases to boost the housing market.

7. Brent crude drops to $US80 per barrel as producers fail to reduce production.

8. Germany enters recession.

9. Paris's benchmark index CAC 40 drops 40 per cent due to French political malaise.

10. Tapering of US quantitative easing prompts a fall of 25 per cent or more in the value of the Five emerging market currencies (Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia and Turkey) against the US dollar.

Sounds too far fetched? Send us your "outrageous predictions" for Australia.

Back to top

The UK government is moving ahead with plans to accelerate the search for shale oil and gas as Australian group AJ Lucas is moving to speed up its shale gas exploration program there.

A UK government report has found that more than half of the country could be suitable for shale gas fracking, according to local media reports.

The environmental impact of stepped up shale gas exploration would be "manageable", consultants AMEC said, according to the reports, even though as many as 2880 wells could be drilled for oil or gas in a new licencing round, which could squeeze water supplies for some communities.

AJ Lucas, via its 43.7 per cent owned Cuadrilla joint venture, has extensive exploration acreage in the UK, as does Dart Energy.

AJ Lucas shares are up 4.3 per cent at 98 cents.

The Abbott government is likely to appoint Peter Costello as the permanent chairman of the Future Fund early in the new year, Fairfax Media understands.

Costello, who was Australia's longest serving treasurer and established the $90 billion sovereign wealth fund in 2006, was appointed acting chairman of the fund this morning following the departure of David Gonski to chair ANZ. The position was described as temporary, but it is understood that is not the intention.

Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann appointed Costello for a "period of three months or until a permanent chairman is appointed".

Costello is highly likely to be that permanent appointment when federal cabinet reconvenes in January.