It hit $80 just three months after that statement!

So don’t be put off by those that are saying the banks are too expensive and definitely don’t be selling the banks that are still offering great franked dividend yields.

Manny Pohl, founder and chief executive officer of ECP Asset Management, speaking on the Switzer show on Sky Business during the week, credited the Budget for playing to the country’s strengths with a focus on medical research and education.

Although he doesn’t hold it at the moment, Pohl said Cochlear (COH) was a great example of Australian medical innovation.

“That’s Australian expertise that’s done phenomenally well on the global stage and that’s the kind of support that the government should be giving, because we want to invest the dollars where we have a competitive advantage, not where we don’t have it,” he said.

Navitas (NVT) is another company that could be favorably exposed to the Budget changes to education.

Switzer expert and head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital, Shane Oliver, believes that the Australian dollar may be about to resume its downward trend.

“With Australian dollar short positions now largely unwound, it’s likely that the short covering rally in the Australian dollar, that saw it rise from a low of $US0.8660 in January, is over and that the broad downtrend is likely to resume,” he said in his weekend update.

That is good news for companies that report in US dollars and earn a large chunk of their revenue offshore like CSL, Amcor, Brambles, Computershare, BHP and Rio.

BHP, which has continued its focus on costs under new CEO Andrew Mackenzie, is also still on Charlie Aitken’s watchlist.

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