Could A Lithium Shortage De-Rail The Electric Car Boom?
We\’ve gone electric, and there\’s no going back at this point. Lithium is our new fuel, but like fossil fuels, the reserves we\’re currently tapping into are finite-and that\’s what investors can take to the bank. You may think lithium got too popular too fast. You may suspect electric vehicles are too much buzz and…
Tracking the Metcash Turnaround Plan
Everybody loves a bargain. In share market investing the thrill of plucking a beaten down stock from the bottom and watching the share price eventually begin to rise is hard to match. Unfortunately the thrill may never materialize as the seemingly ridiculously low share price keeps getting lower. How then does an ordinary retail investor…
The curious incentives and consequences of negative gearing
Negative gearing was one of the federal election campaign’s fiercest battlegrounds.While the Labor opposition claimed that the major beneficiaries of the tax policy were almost all in the very highest earnings bracket, the Coalition attacked any proposed changes, saying they would “smash” house prices and unfairly punish “mum and dad investors”.The fact is, negative gearing…
Understanding global debt and what it means for investing
In brief• The word “debt” is often thought of in a negative context, but the usefulness of debt can actually be placed on a spectrum.• While a healthy amount of debt creation is necessary to support economic expansion, too much debt can drag on growth and/or cause financial distress.• Global debt levels have been elevated…
Wealth and poverty in Australia
Helen Westerman and Wes Mountain The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, which started in 2001, collects information on Australian households, focusing on economic and subjective well-being, labour market dynamics and family dynamics. The infographic below charts the changes in wealth and poverty of Australian households over the 15-year history of the…
Geospatial Mapping Companies on the ASX
In 1858 a French photographer perched in a hot air balloon took the first aerial photograph the world had ever seen. Despite the limitations posed by clumsy photographic equipment the enormous potential for aerial photographs started a cycle of development leading to contemporary orbiting satellites recording images of the earth from the stars. However, even…
Cracking the happiness code
Imagine holding in your hand a winning lottery ticket of $1 million. This is the ticket that will empower you to live out your dreams. You will be able to buy and do whatever you please. Life will be happy forever after. Or not? The quest for happiness reminds me of that song, “Somewhere Over…
Investor Signposts: Week Beginning December 21 2015
Savanth Sebastian – Economist – CommSec The final countdown · The cupboard is largely bare in terms of key domestic economic indicators or events until January 4. Still, the private sector credit or lending figures are released on New Year’s Eve. · In terms of private sector credit, lending…
How 1.5 became the most important number at the Paris climate talks
One of the final obstacles in the way of a binding agreement at the Paris climate talks comes down to a simple number: 1.5. Limiting warming to a 1.5? temperature rise above pre-industrial levels is one of three potential targets on the table as negotiations approach the crucial final days. The other options are a…
Australia still dragging its feet on climate change
Marc Hudson, University of Manchester A divided government firmly on the back foot ahead of a major climate conference, its green credentials shaky, and riven with bubbling tensions between those who want serious climate action and those resistant to it. Sound familiar? But the government I’m describing is not today’s version, but Bob Hawke’s federal…
