Reaching for yield into corporate debt takes on a risky hue
Broader financial instability can’t be ruled out. William White, a Canadian, became the top economist at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) over a 14-year career to 2008 at the bank owned by central banks. Among those who heard of him, White became known as “the man no one wanted to hear”. From 2003, in…
Vital Signs: the Greens’ super-profits tax idea
Earlier this year, the Australian Greens proposed a wealth tax on billionaires straight out of the (former US presidential candidate) Elizabeth Warren playbook. This week it added what it called a “tycoon tax” that would tax so-called super-profits made by companies with annual turnovers of more than A$100 million. It might not be the winner…
Navigating the News
In much of the world it appears many finding themselves in “stay at home” environments looked to fill their time with more than digital entertainment. Market experts have noted a wave of new investors who turned their spare time to more productive use — investing in equity markets. Researchers tell us the trend was already…
Electric vehicles are the next revolution in automobiles
But problems need to be overcome to hasten the switch and cement the climate benefits. For Formula E motorsport, the 2020-21 racing season was transformational. Seven years after electric single-seaters first raced, Formula E gained the elevated ‘championship’ status enjoyed by Formula 1, World Endurance, World Rally and World Rallycross. Then came the embarrassment, the…
Gold investors ignoring the Fed
Gold was just hammered lower after the latest FOMC decision. Heavy gold-futures selling erupted after a third of top Fed officials implied they saw a couple potential rate hikes way out into year-end 2023. While leveraged gold-futures speculators panicked, gold investors ignored these faint tidings of slight tightening way off in the distant future. Their…
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…
Buying New IPOs on the Dip
“Getting in on the ground floor” is the bait driving investor appetite for Initial Public Offerings. The breathless hype tracking the post-IPO performance of a stock like Afterpay (APT) gets the blood pumping enough to ignore the alternative outcome – when the ground floor collapses into the basement. The trading year 2021 looks for a…
Climate financing moves into the mainstream
Green finance is a rapidly growing market. Almost US$400 billion of green, sustainability and social bonds were issued in 2019. The great majority were certified green bonds – and sales were up by 53 per cent. Almost US$31 trillion of funds worldwide (encompassing a range of asset types) were held in sustainable or green investments…
Bitcoin: 3 reasons why this rebound is different
Bitcoin is back. Three years after the bubble that inflated its value from US$5,000 to US$20,000 in less than three months burst in spectacular fashion, plunging more than 80%, the cryptocurrency is again on the verge of a record high. In recent days it has been trading above US$19,000, up from US$10,000 in October and…
Super low interest rates come with side effects
Ultra-loose monetary policy could even be counterproductive for economies. Sitting on the desk of Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe most days when he arrives at work are letters from the public. Many are from retirees who have one complaint in this world of low interest rates. “It’s not uncommon for people to say…
