Lockdowns hit consumer confidence and home sales
Lockdowns hit consumer confidence and home sales Consumer confidence; Home sales What happened? The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment fell by 4.4 per cent in August to an 11-month low 104.1. All five major components of the index fell. The biggest falls in sentiment were for para-professionals and tradies (-15.2 per cent), sales and…
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,…
What’s next for Chinese equities?
Shares in many Chinese companies sold off sharply in recent sessions, after the publication of harsher-than-expected regulations targeting education companies fuelled fears of deeper policy uncertainties across China’s corporate space. At first glance, the market’s shiver is understandable given the severity of regulatory measures that threaten to effectively bring a halt to private tutoring services…
Support to fossil fuel research is more than apparent
Australian governments direct billions to fossil fuel companies. Among the projects funded by Commonwealth and state governments are work on coal ports, railways and power stations, and research into “clean coal” or “coal innovation”. Whether worthwhile or not, this funding is visible and can be debated on its merits, as The Australia Institute has done…
Investor Signposts: Week Beginning 12 July, 2021
Australia: Jobs data is the highlight The highlight in the coming week is the June jobs data. But both consumer and producer sentiment gauges vie for attention. The week kicks-off on Monday when the Australian Institute of Petroleum (AIP) issues the weekly data on petrol prices. And Datium Insights issues the weekly update on used…
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,…
Implications of soaring crude oil prices
Implications of soaring crude oil prices Oil market; Resources Quarterly; Regional migration What happened? Global oil prices posted a fifth straight weekly gain. Brent crude rose by 3.6 per cent to US$76.18 a barrel and the US Nymex added 3.4 per cent to US$74.05 a barrel. Of importance to Australia, the Singapore gasoline price rose…
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…
Why has growth slowed globally?
Even before COVID-19 hit, Australia was experiencing slow growth in GDP per capita and real wages. There has been a distinctly lower rate of both economic and real wages growth since the financial crisis of 2008-09. Advanced economies around the world have, to varying degrees, witnessed the same trends. If anything, Australia has done slightly…
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…
