Another cut no longer so daft RETAIL tsar Solomon Lew's call this week for a 50-basis-point rate cut by Christmas sounded as fanciful as Clive Palmer's Titanic 2. Now that's not the case, thanks to Bill Bernanke's boys. The Federal Open Market Committee's shock decision not to start easing the quantitative easing - in other words, it will keep pumping billions of dollars into the economy - sent bond yields sharply lower and the Australian dollar higher. The consensus among the pointy heads was that the Australia dollar was heading lower and, if anything, cash yields were heading higher. Macquarie Equities notes: "The rise in the $A is the exact opposite of the RBA's desire for further falls in the currency to help rebalance the economy." It says if the RBA is compelled to reduce its forecasts for growth and inflation when they are updated in November the central bank will be "searching for a reason not to cut rates further." For the time being, the sharemarket seems happy enough to sup on the nectar of the FOMC's largesse. But if the revised expectations for our monetary settings pan out as expected, there are divergent sectoral effects for investors to fret (or cheer) about. Lower rates help indebted corporates generally and especially benefit retailers, as long as mortgage holders spend the difference, rather than irresponsibly maintain their repayments at current levels. Insofar as lower rates stimulate lending activity, they should help the banks as well (especially if they can pocket some of the difference). Regrettably, the recovering currency is unhelpful for the miners (commodity prices are usually US dollar denominated) or local manufacturers competing with imports. With investors racing back to bullion and away from the greenback, it's a boon for goldminers. Alexium International (AJX) 13.5c WHILE the US opts for jaw-jaw over war-war on Syria's chemical weapons threat, it pays to take other precautions - and we're not just talking about parking a few warships in the Mediterranean. Textiles group Alexium has revealed the US Air Force will live-test garments treated with Alexium's patented Cleanshell CB, which repels sarin and mustard nerve gas as well as biological nasties. Based on the former shell of winemaker Evans & Tate, Alexium holds the patent to textile-tweaking techniques which improve other attributes such as water and oil proofing and UV protection. The rights to these reactive surface treatments were acquired from the US Department of Defence, which had invested $US30 million. "We have licences, products and contracts," says executive chairman Gavin Rezos. But Alexium sees wider commercial opportunity in flame-retardant nylon, which would expand the market for the material. "About 95 per cent of the nylon market is not developed because it melts," Rezos says. Now it doesn't melt, we expect the game to change significantly. Through Duro Textiles, Alexium has carried out trial runs of its Ascalan flame-resistant product, with a target of four million yards of the material. Alexium reported a $2.59m loss in the 2012-13 year on revenue of $467,258, with $2.5m of cash on hand. "We have the potential to be cashflow positive next year," says Rezos who, by the way, graces the board of mineral sands miner Iluka Resources. Spec buy. Regeneus (RGS) 27c IN a week in which ovarian cancer hopeful Prima BioMed joined the long list of life science plays suffering clinical trial setbacks, it's a relief to report the successful listing of this stem-cell hopeful. Regeneus, which has developed treatments for inflammatory conditions in humans and animals, raised $10m at 25c a pop. While the raising was oversubscribed, the shares are hovering modestly above the issue price, having hit 29c on Thursday's debut. Thus, Regeneus is a spec buy for those convinced it can emulate $1.8 billion market cap stem-cell cousin Mesoblast. The Australian accepts no responsibility for stock recommendations. The author does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.