Existential risks to our planetary life-support systems
By Andrew Glikson We’re simply talking about the very life support system of this planet. – Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, chief climate advisor to the German Government It is not news that we are over stretching our planetary support systems: we have known for some time. In a 2009 keynote paper in Nature titled “A safe…
How To Invest When Rates Hit Rock Bottom
One of the best investment books I’ve read this year, The Australian Guide to Fixed Income, by Fiig Securities, briefly outlines a few key strategies for when the economy and official cash rate reach the low point in the cycle – a topic that will becoming increasingly timely over the next 18 months. How to…
Takeover Targets – 7 Gold Miners Under Watch
Should gold stocks be lumped in with speculative resource stocks as risky investments to avoid? But what does that say about gold’s recent run up? The gold price dipped below $USD1200 per ounce in June but has been trending up ever since, currently sitting at USD$1371.90. The following chart from the ASX shows the movement…
The Dow 30 is the Greatest of All Ponzi Schemes
By Wim Grommen (with Lorimer Wilson) The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index – the oldest stock exchange in the U.S. and most influential in the world – consists of 30 companies and has an extremely interesting and distressing history regarding its beginnings, transformation and structural development which has all the trappings of what is…
Property bubble? That’s the theory, anyway
By Philip Soos, Deakin University As Australian housing prices have boomed over the last decade and a half, there has been much discussion over whether a bubble exists in the residential property market. More recently, the concern is the record-low interest rate of 2.5% may cause a housing bubble. Conspicuously absent in the debate over…
We Test 6 Dividend Payers for Total Shareholder Return
When buying stocks for yield, many investors focus on dividends alone and forget about total shareholder return. Indeed, the best stocks are those that deliver both – dividends plus capital appreciation over time. The trouble is, how do you know if a high-yielding stock is becoming too popular for its own good? UBS recently downgraded Telstra…
A Trader’s Daily Routine
“I have a full-time job and rarely sit in front of the computer when the markets are open. All my trading decisions are done when the market is closed, but I am having problems deciding exactly where to place my entry orders, with the current market being so volatile. Can you please give someadvice on…
The Great Bank Bubble of 2013
Welcome to the Great Bank Bubble of 2013 is the title of a UBS research note sent to clients earlier this month. UBS believes that Aussie banks are at bubble valuations considering our lacklustre lending environment. Citibank analysts wholeheartedly disagree, running with the contradictory title: Popping Claims of an Australian Bank Share Price ‘Bubble.’ So…
Professional Trader: Never Lose Sleep On A Trading Loss Again
By Dr Alexander Elder, SpikeTrade.com Most traders focus only on winning, on making the big trade. It is much safer to think first about losing and how to manage and control losses. When you learn to ski, one of the first things your instructor will teach you is how to fall safely. Not knowing how…
The Best LICs On The Market
Finding value in Listed Investment Companies is becoming harder. After strong gains in the past 12 months, the LIC sector is trading at almost parity to its net tangible assets (NTA). The big discounts that plagued the sector in recent years have rapidly narrowed. The sector traded at an average 2.87 per cent discount to…
