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(30 September 2016, The Age, BusinessDay, p31, David Stringer) ‘China’s drivers will increasingly demand rust-proof cars. That’s good news for the price of zinc, theanti-corrosion fighter that’s already this year’s top performer among base metals. Annual passenger vehicle sales in China will rise to 24 million in 2020, from 19 million last year, McKinsey forecasts. But … Continue reading
(30 September 2016, The Age, BusinessDay, p30, Brian Robins) ‘It could take at least a week before power is fully restored to all parts of South Australia following the unprecedented state-wide power blackout on Wednesday which was brought on by a ‘one in 50-year’ weather event, electricity industry sources have warned.’ Read more at TheAge.com.au
(30 September 2016, The Age, BusinessDay, p20, Jessica Sier) ‘Energy shares rocketed higher on Thursday, following the surprise decision by OPEC to cut production for the first time in eight years, though companies that rely on the spot price may benefit more than those locked into supply contracts. Oil surged more than 6 per cent, boosting … Continue reading
(30 September 2016, AFR, p36, By LANDON THOMAS Jr., New York Times) ‘In a market full of crowded trades, few have become as fashionable as the bet that Deutsche Bank’s stock price will keep on falling. Hedge funds, large and small, are shorting the stock. Long-term institutional investors are dumping their positions. And Wall Street’s … Continue reading
(29 September 2016, AFR, p49, by Robert Harley) ‘The boom in housing construction will continue for at least the next two years, and longer than many expect, according to Deutsche Bank Market Research. In a major Australian Housing Update, analysts Emily Smith and Lee Power, forecast that Australian housing demand will remain at strong levels, based on … Continue reading
(29 September 2016, AFR, p31, by Vanessa Desloires) ‘The policy decisions of central banks continue to capture the attention of the markets, but fund managers have plenty of other concerns to factor into their portfolio positioning. From Italy’s banks on the brink of default to political risks in Europe, the extreme valuations in growth stocks and a rising US … Continue reading
(29 September 2016, AFR, p9, by Su-Lin Tan) ‘The number of Brisbane apartments selling at a loss has accelerated in the past year, Corelogic’s June quarter Pain & Gain report says. Some 15.6 per cent of Brisbane CBD unit sales are now loss-making compared to 12 per cent last year. “And it’s not just a CBD problem, it is a … Continue reading
(28 September 2016, AFR, p7, by Su-Lin Tan) ‘Only scraps were left after another mid-week auction in Sydney cleared out on Monday night. Buyers, particularly babyboomers and upsizers, continue to overwhelm agents with demand for property as nine out of 11 properties worth more than $14 million sold under the hammer at the Double Bay auction centre. Over in the southwest, all ten … Continue reading
(28 September 2016, AFR, p3, by Su-Lin Tan) ‘Sydney is at risk of a “housing bubble” but Vancouver and London are riskier markets as property prices overheat again just a few years after the last global correction, according to a report from UBS Wealth Management. The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index report analysed residential property prices … Continue reading
(28 September 2016, AFR, p1, by Angus Grigg) ‘China must allow its economy to slow otherwise a “disorderly deleveraging” could trigger contagion in emerging markets and dent asset prices in advanced economies, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund. In assessing the potential impact on the world economy of a major shock in … Continue reading
[COMMENT: Of course, the information herein does not constitute “advice”. It is the opinion of the named author. And many other seasoned investors might also think the same way.] (28 September 2016, The Age, MONEY supplement, p4, Marcus Padley) ‘… With the US markets on the highest price-earnings ratio since 2009, the next illogical sentiment … Continue reading
(28 September 2016, The Age, BusinessDay, p32, Reuters) ‘The World Trade Organisation has cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third, reflecting a slowdown in China and falling levels of imports into the United States. The new figure of 1.7 per cent, down from the WTO’s previous estimate of … Continue reading
(27 September 2016, AFR, p41, by Larry Schlesinger) ‘Melbourne’s house and land market – the biggest in the country – powered to a record 22,000 lot sales in the past financial year, according to the Victorian Planning Authority. A “slight decrease” in the number of approved lots coming to market over the year coupled with rising … Continue reading
(27 September 2016, AFR, p34, by Larry Schlesinger) ‘BRW richlister Ashley Williams says Melbourne’s off-the plan apartment market has peaked with fewer investors participating amid heightened concerns about oversupply and higher taxes imposed on foreign buyers. Mr Williams, who runs developer Evolve alongside fellow rich lister Ron Walker, told the Australian Financial Review the market was “steady, but not super strong”. … Continue reading
(27 September 2016, AFR, p26, by Philip Baker) ‘Just like every other sharemarket on the planet the Australian equity market has been a winner from falling bond yields over the past eight years. But ever since the bond market has shown signs of blowing up over the past month or so there’s been plenty of … Continue reading
(27 September 2016, The Age, p10, Jessica Sier) ‘HSBC has weighed in on the house price debate, saying the measures the Reserve Bank of Australia used to determine that the property market is cooling are correct. Despite discrepancies between the four major indicators, the bank says the fact that housing loan approvals and credit growth have slowed point to an … Continue reading
(26 September 2016, AFR, p22, by Allister Heath) ‘One of the greatest problems for business, investors and anybody seeking to understand the world is distinguishing real, relevant events from useless, misleading background noise. This is especially true in an age of costless digital publishing and social media. Anybody who manages to do this successfully more … Continue reading
(26 September 2016, AFR, p22, by Viral Acharya, Diane Pierret and Sascha Steffen) ‘European banks’ high litigation and restructuring costs have resulted in major losses on their books and abysmal stock-market performance. As the industry and European regulators now reflect on this dismal state of affairs and search for solutions, they should consider banks’ revenue … Continue reading
(26 September 2016, AFR, p3, by Su-Lin Tan) ‘The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority will need to “act soon” if strong auction clearance rates continue, SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher says. The rise in volume of properties for sale – expected during this time of the year during the spring … Continue reading
(24 September 2016, AFR, p27, by Jessica Sier) ‘Shares surged to their first weekly gain in six weeks, after the US Federal Reserve lowered its outlook for future interest rate hikes, dispelling investor worries that an end to the era of easy money is nigh.’ Read more at AFR.com (might need AFR login access, or … Continue reading
(24 September 2016, AFR, p17, by: Vesna Poljak, James Eyers, Jessica Sier) ‘The ASX has blamed an “unprecedented” hardware failure for its outage on Monday that forced the early close of trading, but hit back at any suggestion its handling of the meltdown prevented stockbrokers taking orders to rival Chi-X. A faulty disk in its data centre and a … Continue reading
(24 September 2016, AFR, p15, by Karen Maley) ‘As the haze of battle settles, it is clear the world’s major central banks have once again stared the markets down.’ ‘Both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan were able to dispel fears that gripped markets in the past few weeks that central banks … Continue reading
(23 September 2016, AFR, p28, by Jonathan Shapiro) ‘In the endless quest for information, insight and most importantly validation there wouldn’t be many investors that haven’t been sucked into the vortex of online stock forums. And now, after it listed last week, shareholders in Hot Copper, one of Australia’s most popular stock forums, will be … Continue reading
[COMMENT: Please note – this news article does NOT contain and advice, nor any recommendation to take any action. It is simply a report of someone’s opinions.] (23 September 2016, AFR, p31, by Philip Baker) ‘It’s game on. To make money from now until the end of the year investors should be ditching the yield play … Continue reading
(23 September 2016, AFR, p17, by Vesna Poljak) ‘The Bank of Japan’s surprise decision to target the level of Japanese bond yields has another purpose beyond figuring into the central bank’s inflation ambitions. It means the BoJ has killed off any chance that an epic bond market sell-off begins in Tokyo – for now. Bond … Continue reading
(23 September 2016, AFR, p15, by John Kehoe) ‘The decision to hold US interest rates steady was rejected by three of ten voting members on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee, underlining how the central bank is growing increasingly divided about how soon to lift borrowing costs from crisis-level lows. Though Federal Open Market Committee … Continue reading
(23 September 2016, The age, BusinessDay, p25, Vanessa Desloires) ‘The two September roadblocks that halted the smooth ride of the market have passed, but equity strategists warn investors should not expect the rally that took the market to year highs in July to resume unfettered. The Bank of Japan and US Federal Reserve policy meetings this week … Continue reading
(22 September 2016, AFR, p30, by Michael Bleby) ‘A record year for Australia’s volume home builders raises concerns that the country’s largest-ever housing construction cycle has peaked. Australia’s largest volume builders made 69,161 starts in the year to June, just topping the previous record of 69,100 in 2004, the latest Housing 100 report produced by … Continue reading
(22 September 2016, AFR, p26, by Karen Maley) ‘First Draghi. Now Kuroda. Central bankers’ retreat from aggressive monetary stimulus is now clearly under way. Less than fortnight after Mario Draghi, European Central Bank boss, dismayed investors by keeping monetary policy on hold, the Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda decided not to plunge any deeper … Continue reading
(22 September 2016, AFR, p25, by Jonathan Shapiro) ‘The Bank of Japan has added a new central bank tool to its kit – bond yield curbs. While reaffirming its commitment to keeping policy rates negative, it has not abandoned what many believe is a failed and harmful experiment. But, crucially, it appears to have heard … Continue reading
Aussie Sharemarket Barometer 