Will Electric Vehicles Usher in a Transportation Revolution?
Investors searching for opportunities in “next big thing” disruptive technologies are frequent visitors to futuristic websites. RethinkX.com. was co-founded by a London based investor in disruptive technologies and a Stanford University instructor, creator of the Seba Technology Disruption Framework™. This site bills itself as an “independent think tank that analyzes and forecasts the scope, speed…
Three charts on: who is the typical investor in the Australian property market?
Contrary to the image a property investor might conjure up – a wealthy full-time property speculator – most residential investors in Australia don’t actually rely on it as their primary source of income.In reality, Australia’s residential investment market is dominated by people who, having bought their own home, have moved onto buying an investment property….
Family trusts often cause more harm than good
There is very little, if anything, to commend discretionary trusts. The benefits they bring, and it’s hard to see many, are dwarfed by their destructive and damaging features.Trusts are usually used to allocate money to members of a group, usually a family. Under a discretionary trust, the only way a beneficiary will get income or…
ASX Out of Home Advertising Stocks – Buy or Stay Away?
Historians tell us humankind’s first venture into Out of the Home (OOH) Advertising can be traced back to billboards in use in ancient Egypt. The invention of the printing press propelled the industry with the availability of posters and handbills suitable for transmission to the masses.The digital age is now driving Out of Home Advertising…
Looking for Best of Breed in ASX Animal Health Stocks
Australians are no exception to the growing trend of consumers around the world spending more on their pets. We rank near the top of percentage pet ownership, with about 63% of Australians owning pets. We spend somewhere around $12 billion a year on a variety of pet care products and services, a reported 42% increase…
Strategies for a Strong U.S. Dollar Environment
1. The U.S. Dollar appreciates… another currency depreciates USD/GBP: +28% USD/EUR: +27%USD/MXN: +45% USD/BRL: +37%USD/RMB: +14% USD/JPY: +6%…and the list goes on. Is there a currency that the U.S. Dollar (USD) has not appreciated against in the last three years? We identified the start of the rise in the USD in a 2013 report titled…
Are these exploration stage stocks for punters only?
Back in 2010 BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) made news for its attempts to broaden its already diverse base of resource assets by acquiring Canada’s Potash Corporation (TSX:POT), the world’s leading producer of potash at that time. BHP was eager to get a foothold in an agricultural sector exploding with demand for more and better food…
5 portfolio pitfalls to avoid
A new reader asked this week for my advice on successful investing. Like too many investors, she had a “cocktail” portfolio – a mismatch of stocks that promised quick gains. There was no investment strategy, she overtraded and returns were not benchmarked. I’ve seen this problem too many times over the years. In the hunt…
How the Australian dollar affects the results of companies
Like any other major currency, the Australian dollar (AUD) plays a crucial role in the economic and financial system. Exports and imports, domestic and international investors are all affected by, and react to, exchange rate fluctuations. One way to see this in action is by looking at the latest round of company results. The past…
The ‘retirement spending smile’
Retirement spending shown to decrease with age We have written a lot about the pattern of retirement spending, with “Will spending remain constant in retirement?”, from 2013, and “How much do I need to retire, revisited?”, of only three months ago, being particularly relevant. The underlying theme of these articles is that we don’t believe…
