Brisbane petrol prices spike; Higher inflation
Job ads hit 12-year high after JobKeeper expiry Brisbane petrol prices spike; Higher inflation Job ads; Petrol Prices; Inflation gauge; Used vehicle market Job ads: ANZ job advertisements rose by 4.7 per cent in April to a 12-year high of 196,612 available positions. Ads have lifted for 11 successive months to be up 198.8 per…
8 cyclical stocks to play the recovery
The environment of the market has shifted dramatically. With whispers of inflation, bubbles and bond yield prices rising, we have adapted our portfolio to reflect the evolving market. In this article Vince Pezzullo, Deputy Head of Equities discusses why cyclical stocks are an attractive part of the market and reflects on reporting season and the…
Covid-19 drives petrol prices; Car prices soar
Covid-19 drives petrol prices; Car prices soar Petrol Prices; Used vehicle market Fuel prices: Last week the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 3.6 cents a litre to 139.2 cents per litre (c/l), according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. Used car prices: Used vehicle prices rose by 2.4 per cent last week….
Vital Signs: the pros and cons of diversity in organisations
Breaking down the old boys’ club in business, government and other organisations is intrinsically important. Ensuring greater diversity in organisations – on gender, racial, ethnic and other lines – is, simply put, the right thing to do. But some advocates of greater diversity make an extra claim: that it improves the quality of decisions, and…
Regional unemployment: Winners & Losers
Regional unemployment: Winners & Losers Regional jobs Regional jobless rates: Of the 15 SA4 regions with the highest unemployment rates in the land, Queensland had the highest representation with six regions in March followed by NSW (four) and Victoria (three). Sydney – South West had the highest unemployment rate of 11.2 per cent, but the…
Risk in retirement: finding the right balance
For many of us, retirement means dream holidays, reading books and spending time with grandchildren. However for some Australians, the notion of enjoying their golden years after a lifetime of hard work hit a roadblock last year when COVID-19 struck, and hit economies and markets hard. Many businesses were affected by COVID-19 and the associated…
Divergent tides: The ebb and flow of financial markets
Most of the time, financial markets ebb and flow like the tide. All boats are lifted or fall together. On occasions, however, different assets part company, responding to the same influences in divergent ways. The first three months of 2021 has been such a period. Last week, the S&P 500 rose above 4,000 for the…
Aussies tested again
Aussies tested again Consumer confidence; CBA credit/debit card lending East Coast floods: The Insurance Council of Australia has “declared a Catastrophe for large parts of NSW following the devastating storms and flooding of the last few days.” Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 0.5 per cent to 110.4 (long-run average…
Economic review: A hard bump ahead?
The vast arsenal of fiscal, monetary and legal measures used by Australian governments to offset the COVID-induced economic crisis have worked well. They did not prevent a recession (popularly defined as two quarters of negative GDP growth) but things could have been much worse. What is particularly interesting is that the expected consequences have not…
Investing in realigned companies
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Vince Pezzullo, Deputy Head of Equities, praised businesses like Qantas, Flight Centre and Boral for their willingness to reinvent themselves in response to the global pandemic. COVID and associated market disruption rocked global markets in March last year but the rebound was just as sudden. Those who…
