Why a Finite World is a Problem
Why is a finite world a problem? 1. A finite world is a problem because we and all of the other creatures living in this world share the same piece of “real estate.” If humans use increasingly more resources, other species necessarily use less. Even “renewable” resources are shared with other species. If humans use…
Obsessed with the dollar? What to expect from the Aussie in 2015
By Richard Holden, UNSW Australia Business School The Australian dollar is a curious currency. It is the fifth most traded in the world and it gyrates pretty wildly – having traded below 48 US cents and above 110 in the decade or so from mid 2001 to 2011. And to listen to the financial press…
Gold-stock prices have never been cheaper relative to their underlying profits
Gold miners’ stocks have been brutalised this year, leaving them bleeding in the gutter as the most hated sector in all the markets. Plunging prices always lead to fear and excessive bearishness, unsustainable anomalous extremes that investors desperately try to rationalise as righteous. Today the bears’ primary rationalisation against gold miners is the notion they…
IPO Watch
On 21 August the operator of our share market, ASX Limited (ASX) provided hard evidence of a trend of which many Aussie investors are already aware – the IPO market is booming. ASX Limited reported a 3.1% revenue increase year over year along with a 10% rise in profit, attributing these results in large market…
Gold Miners In A Sentiment Wasteland
Gold’s precipitous decline in the first half of 2013 sent shockwaves throughout the entire mining industry. Its scary panic-induced 28% plunge over just six months has forced the miners to revisit their development plans. And this will no doubt have an adverse impact on global mine production in the years to come. It’s actually quite…
4 Big-Growth Asian stocks fund managers are buying now
Fund managers favour Asian stocks wired to the region’s growth story. Hugh Young Managing Director Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Sydney 1) Jardine Strategic Holdings (SGX:J37) A Hong Kong-based holding company with principal interests in Jardine Matheson, Dairy Farm, Hongkong Land, Mandarin Oriental, and Cycle and Carriage, Jardine Strategic Holdings Limited has consistently ticked the right…
The China Threat
There are no shortage of worries for investors these days but at the top of the list is China. The following chart illustrates how important China has become for our Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The Bank of America Merrill-Lynch survey of international fund managers polls large funds with assets under management in excess of $708…
Online Businesses The Winners This Earnings Season
Investors are always looking for clues for hot stocks to buy and the recent flurry of earnings reports points to a potentially powerful indicator of future growth – online presence. It is no secret that online sales are on the rise globally. Some of Australia’s best performing stocks operate exclusively online and in many cases…
How Resource Limits Lead to Financial Collapse
Resource limits are invisible, so most people don’t realise that we could possibility be approaching them. In fact, my analysis indicates resource limits are really financial limits, and in fact, we seem to be approaching those limits right now. Many analysts discussing resource limits are talking about a very different concern than I am talking…
Markets Require Regulators Not Watchdogs
Markets require regulators. As Adam Smith, the champion of the invisible hand, notes in The Wealth of Nations, when individual interests are left unregulated they work to turn competitive markets into monopolies. But what happens when regulators meant to check individual interests fail to promote the public interest? Consider Australia’s banking sector. The banking royal commission has…
