Gold-Stock Futures Ramp Nears
The battered gold miners’ stocks are languishing deeply out of favor again, drifting listlessly through their summer doldrums. They were flying high a couple months earlier, before being crushed by a big-and-fast gold plunge. But the heavy gold-futures selling driving that has passed, leaving speculators’ positioning very bullish for gold. They will soon buy back…
Scarcity becomes common
The impediments to supply are likely to last and disrupt growth and provoke inflation. Abbott Nutrition, which controls 48% of the US$2.1 billion US infant-formula market, in February recalled three product categories and closed a plant in Michigan after four babies who had consumed its powdered milk became sick with life-threatening bacterial infections even though…
Introducing land tax impacts property prices
In Tuesday’s budget, NSW will announce a switch from stamp duty to land tax. It will become the second Australian jurisdiction to do so, with the ACT halfway through a 20-year switchover. Homebuyers who accept the offer will be taxed annually on the value of their land, instead of hit with an upfront fee (that…
Inflation vs growth: what matters more to investors?
High inflation is on everyone’s mind, but perhaps growth should be more concerning when taking investment decisions. It is true that to understand the present and face the future, we need to first understand the past. We have talked at length about the current inflation risks and, ultimately, stagflation scenarios and what this all means…
Economic trends to watch in the second half of 2022
Rate hikes may slow growth this year, but the longer-term outlook could strengthen as monetary policy shifts to neutral and prices stabilize. The war in Ukraine has driven up the price of oil, gas and other commodities—leading to weakened global growth. Add soaring inflation and tight monetary policies to the mix, and the economic outlook…
Can the way we invest help the planet?
It can feel like there are endless ways that businesses’ or countries’ activities can harm the planet. But can our investments also make a positive difference? Can they not only avoid harm but also contribute to solutions to challenges like climate change? Here’s what some of Schroders’ experts have to say on the different ways…
Silver mining stocks 2022 update
The silver miners’ stocks collapsed from mid-April to mid-May, suffering heavy collateral damage from a serious stock-market selloff. The big fear that spawned sucked in gold, hammering silver and therefore its miners’ stocks sharply lower. That carnage left them battered technically, looking like huge bargains. Silver stocks’ latest earnings season wrapping up in mid-May revealed…
Investing – Backing the ugly duckling
As an active value manager, we like investing in companies where we believe there are hidden assets not being properly valued by the market. And sometimes it takes a demerger for parts of a business to really show their worth. Portfolio manager Anthony Aboud and Deputy Portfolio Manager Sean Roger look at some recent demergers,…
Water and waste investing
In 2015, the United Nations launched its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) as a blueprint for a more sustainable future. Along with heightened awareness of the risks presented by climate change,1 the UNSDGs elevated the importance of ESG issues within the global and economic agenda. Water and waste are now a direct focus for five…
Gold miner fundamentals May 2022
The mid-tier and junior gold-miners’ stocks in their sector’s sweet spot for upside potential have been clubbed like baby seals since mid-April. Sucked into the parallel serious stock-market selloff, that’s left these smaller gold stocks deeply out of favor. Yet their fundamentals remain strong as revealed in the just-finished Q1’22 earnings season. That recent brutal…
