Predicting the future: Astrologers or economists?
If you ask most people what economists do, they might tell you it has something to do with money. Or perhaps forecasting what the economy will look like a year from now. Most of the other comparisons would be less charitable. I’ve heard plenty that can’t be printed. The reality is very different. For example,…
Electric vehicles are the next revolution in automobiles
But problems need to be overcome to hasten the switch and cement the climate benefits. For Formula E motorsport, the 2020-21 racing season was transformational. Seven years after electric single-seaters first raced, Formula E gained the elevated ‘championship’ status enjoyed by Formula 1, World Endurance, World Rally and World Rallycross. Then came the embarrassment, the…
ESG investing – Fad or future?
From time to time, investors become irrationally enthusiastic. The important thing to note about these manic moments is that the investment theme underpinning them makes perfect sense. The narratives are rational; it is the market excess surrounding them that is not. In the early 1970s investors became transfixed by a group of seemingly bullet-proof stocks,…
Gold investors ignoring the Fed
Gold was just hammered lower after the latest FOMC decision. Heavy gold-futures selling erupted after a third of top Fed officials implied they saw a couple potential rate hikes way out into year-end 2023. While leveraged gold-futures speculators panicked, gold investors ignored these faint tidings of slight tightening way off in the distant future. Their…
ETFs solving net tangible asset discount
There are several managed investment structures accessible via the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Chi-X trading platforms, including Listed Investment Companies (LICs), Listed Investment Trusts (LITs), mFunds, exchange traded managed funds (ETMFs) and exchange traded funds (ETFs). These structures offer various features and benefits that have evolved in response to different market conditions Traditionally LICs…
Markets at an inflection point
Investors who decided to “sell in May and go away” were left disappointed as May 2021 saw global equities rally 1.4% and Australian equities rally almost 2% over the month in local currency terms. Over the past 70 years the May to October period has usually been the worst 6-month period for returns but more…
Silver stocks: What investors need to know
The silver miners’ stocks have mostly been consolidating high since last summer. While they’ve enjoyed some sharp rallies, those have been within that sideways-grind trend. That lack of overall upside progress has left this tiny contrarian sector out of favor, with apathy reigning. But as their recently-reported Q1’21 operating and financial results revealed, silver stocks’…
Why middle-aged entrepreneurs do better
Bill Gates was 21 when he and Paul Allen registered Microsoft. Steve Jobs was 22 when he and Steve Wozniak launched Apple. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his Harvard dormitory. The biographies of these tech billionaires who achieved great success in their twenties has helped cement the perception that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game….
Gold miner stocks fundamentals
The mid-tier gold miners’ stocks are in this sector’s sweet spot for upside potential. After a spectacular upleg out of last March’s stock panic, they have mostly been correcting since early August. That is doing its necessary work of rebalancing sentiment, paving the way for mid-tiers’ next bull upleg. These great miners are thriving fundamentally…
New Investors
A Sydney based financial research firm – Investment Trends – conducted a recent survey that yielded some interesting conclusions: over 400,000 Australians placed their first trade in the Australian securities market over the last 12 months. One in six first-time investors is under the age of 25. Given the size and scope of market meltdowns…
