‘Thrill investments’: excitement with high risk
It’s a reasonably regular occurrence for our clients to be offered the chance to participate in “fantastic”, once-off, investment opportunities, that offer large potential upside, by people they know and trust. And most of these people are genuine in their belief that they are doing our clients a favour. When we are asked to examine…
Concentrated investments are bad bets
Most people are attracted to the idea of becoming fabulously wealthy by being a substantial and early investor in the next Microsoft, or Google. But they generally understand that the chances of selecting such “winners” are slim. However, it is not widely understood that although a large holding in a single investment has the potential…
Explainer: black markets, grey markets, and dark pools
There are a range of markets available to buyers and sellers that allow them to exchange goods and services. But whereas some markets are highly regulated, others are not regulated at all. The sale of tobacco and alcohol is fairly heavily regulated, while there is little regulation governing the exchange of a second hand car…
Is residential property a good investment?
There has been a surge in residential property prices recently, apparently driven by investors rather than homeowners. Like most Australians, their answer to the question, “Is residential property a good investment?” would clearly be “Yes”. And typical reasons given would include: – It’s safe and always goes up in value. In fact, it was recently…
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…
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…
Using Divergence To Detect Bottoms and Tops
By Vito Henjoto, Technical Analyst, GFT Divergence is a fantastic tool to use if you can spot it – but for some people, they miss out and just can’t see the wood for the trees. Considering that the trading world is mostly sentiment driven, price itself does not filter out emotions, sentiments and bias of…
The End Of The Third Industrial Revolution
Are we facing the end of the third industrial revolution and the beginning of a new transition? Wim Grommen’s paper titled ‘The Economic Crisis: Time For A Paradigm Shift’ describes the three transitions – the Neolithic, the first industrial revolution, the second industrial revolution and the third. He argues that today humanity is being confronted…
Economics and the brain: how people really make decisions in turbulent times
By Paul Harrison, Deakin University In a 2008 paper on neuroeconomics, Carnegie Mellon University economist George Loewenstein said: “Whereas psychologists tend to view humans as fallible and sometime even self-destructive, economists tend to view people as efficient maximisers of self-interest who make mistakes only when imperfectly informed about the consequences of their actions.” This view…
Mining Boom To Bust – Why The Experts Disagree
The Canadian and Australian economies are the envy of the industrialised world. Both countries share the common feature of benefiting from booming demand for their resources driven by emerging market economies. In Australia we have an abundance of resources but it is iron ore bound for Asia that has driven our economy. It stands to…
