(12 October 2018, AFR, p1,by:Vesna Poljak, Sarah Turner, Michael Smith, Jacob Greber) ‘Donald Trump escalated the sell-off sweeping global markets by firing a shot at the Federal Reserve, laying the blame for the worst losses for shares since February at chair Jay Powell and saying the central bank has “gone crazy”. Sharp falls in high-flying … Continue reading
(12 October 2018, The Age, Business, p27, William McInnes & Nick Toscano) ‘Australian shares have suffered a sharp fall amidst heavy selling in global markets as investors worry about the prospect of a trade war with China and the impact of rising interest rates in America. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 166 points, or … Continue reading
[COMMENT – Now I have a real problem with this article. It talks about buying opportunities in the market, even though the share prices of some stocks might still be falling. This is crazy “advice”.] (9 October 2018, AFR, p28, by William McInnes) ‘Investors keen on snapping up a bargain could use recent falls in technology … Continue reading
(6 October 2018, AFR, p27, by Sarah Turner) ‘A spike in US 10-year bond yields to seven-year highs this week is sending a clear signal that the days of equity market strength may be numbered. Treasury yields moved over 3.2 per cent this week for the first time since 2011 after a flurry of upbeat … Continue reading
(6 October 2018, AFR, p33, by William McInnes) ‘Three positive trading sessions in the back half of the week were not enough to wipe a poor start to the week for the Australian sharemarket, which closed the week lower. The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 9.2 points, or 0.2 per cent, on Friday to close at … Continue reading
(4 October 2018, AFR, p24, by Simon Evans) ‘Australia has managed to avert a recession for 27 years, and the extent of a house price surge in Sydney and Melbourne after the country came out of the Global Financial Crisis relatively unscathed, had many experts baffled. But there are some worrying signs starting to emerge … Continue reading
(2 October 2018, AFR, p27, by Joyce Moullakis) ‘Small and mid cap fund manager Ben Griffiths has an unequivocal view that sharemarkets are at the start of a euphoric stage, offering plenty of upside rather than teetering toward a correction. He draws on the theory coined by the late Sir John Templeton, a legendary stockpicker, that bull markets have four … Continue reading
(2 October 2018, AFR, p13, by Simon Evans) ‘A growing number of founders selling down part of their stakes in ASX-listed companies has added to fears the Australian sharemarket could be in for a correction because of high valuation levels after a strong run, with dangers increasing that the housing slowdown could spill over into … Continue reading
(20 September 2018, AFR, p33, Lex Column, Financial Times) ‘Americans who resent Wall Street are not just angry towards the people who helped crash the economy a decade ago. They are also annoyed by the ability of finance professionals to benefit from a recovery that eludes others. The Office of the New York State Comptroller … Continue reading
(19 September 2018, AFR, p24, by Elio D’Amato) ‘The dust has settled after the reporting season, with most pundits saying it was a winner. Seasoned investors will know, however, that being flippant is not the way to establish a view as to whether the recent run in the market is sustainable.’ <snipped…> ‘Most investors focused … Continue reading
(18 September 2018, AFR, p17, by Duncan Hughes) ‘Westpac will announce a new round of residential lending policy changes for existing borrowers on Monday as it prepares to become the first of the majors to lift standard variable rates. It is the fifth round of tightening in the past six months aimed at ensuring borrowers … Continue reading
[COMMENT: An interesting insight into the world of financial market derivatives, and the Nasdaq.] (17 September, 2018, AFR, p19, by Philip Stafford) ‘Swedish markets regulators are to investigate the Nasdaq as the exchange and its customers began rebuilding their defences against defaults in the derivatives markets, after they were badly damaged by soured bets from … Continue reading
(14 September 2018, AFR, p5, by John Kehoe) ‘The stock market’s most popular dividend-paying stocks including the banks, miners and Telstra could have billions of dollars wiped off their valuations if Labor wins the next federal election, as polls suggest. A new report by Citigroup financial analysts finds that Labor’s proposal to curtail the generosity … Continue reading
(14 September 2018, AFR, p31, by Sarah Turner) ‘Most Australian active fund managers in a majority of categories failed to beat their benchmarks in 2017-18, lending further ammunition to the case for passive investing in the enduring active versus passive debate. Over the past year, general Australian equity funds recorded an average return of 12.3 … Continue reading
(14 September 2018, AFR, p31, by: Sarah Turner, Jonathan Shapiro) ‘One of Australia’s most esteemed short sellers, Phil King of Regal Funds, believes growth stocks have entered ‘bubble’ territory but says they could inflate even more before the inevitable correction comes. “It’s possible some of the growth stocks in Australia are in a bubble but equally, … Continue reading
(7 September 2018, AFR, p9, by: Sarah Turner, Ben Potter) ‘Superannuation funds turning to passive investing styles to lower their costs may have contributed to wild swings in company share prices during the latest reporting season, according to Goldman Sachs. The US bank’s Australian equity strategist, Matthew Ross, noted a very large increase in the … Continue reading
(7 September 2018, AFR, p31, by Thomas Heath) ‘If markets weren’t bouncing because of presidential tweets, global debt, trade wars, coming elections and Senate hearing circuses, then they got another push this week from a top JPMorgan Chase analyst who says a stock crash spurred by electronic trading could unleash social upheaval not seen since … Continue reading
(31 August 2018, AFR, p31, by Olivia Engel) ‘There is something very interesting about the acceleration of the value theme’s current underperformance during 2018: it has largely occurred within high earnings per share growth stocks. This isn’t the first time this has happened. We’ve observed this phenomenon before, during the global financial crisis, beginning at … Continue reading
(29 August 2018, AFR, p31, by Patrick Commins) ‘People love round numbers and investors are no exception. So it was that a broker note arrived in my inbox on Tuesday morning: “Next stop 3000,” the Credit Suisse report proclaimed. Three thousand is the number of points Wall Street’s S&P 500 index appears destined to achieve … Continue reading
(20 August 2018, AFR, p1, by Patrick Commins) ‘Investors are feeling confident that a better than expected earnings season will extend into its third and busiest week as anticipated weakness in companies exposed to soft consumer spending has so far failed to translate into poor profit results. August has proved “a lot better than people had … Continue reading
[COMMENT: Some investors are firm believers in particular stocks. Over the years, some investors in Myer Holdings would have been firm believers. Many of these investors ignore warning signs that things are not right, and continue to hold the stock. I am sure there were many investors in Myer throughout time. But some investors would … Continue reading
[COMMENT: This news story covers a perplexing topic that frequently puzzles (share market) investors and traders – How do we account for the proceeds from trading activities? Is it regarded as income, or a capital gain? This is a very grey area with accountants offering differing opinions from time to time. This news article reports … Continue reading
(3 August 2018, AFR, p29, by John Authers) ‘Whatever else there might be to worry about, US earnings are a source of comfort. This earnings season has picked up very much where the last one left off and was locked into positivity long before Apple’s very strong results this week. At the latest count, according to … Continue reading
(2 August 2018, AFR, p27, by John Plender, Financital Times) ‘If value investors have been on the rack in recent times, their experience has stemmed, at least in part, from inadequate exposure to Faang stocks — the fabled Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google/Alphabet. Since last Thursday’s spectacular $US120 billion fall in Facebook’s market capitalisation … Continue reading
(1 August 2018, AFR, p26, by Stewart Oldfield) ‘Professional investors are clearing their desks and sharpening their pencils ahead of the onslaught of the 2018 reporting season. Over a period of about six weeks managers will first pore over published data, then participate in follow-up result conference calls and finally meet with the management of … Continue reading
(31 July 2018, The Age, Business, p21, By Stephen Bartholomeus) ‘Last week something, two things really, happened that would have sent a frisson of concern through those monetising “Big Data’’. First, Facebook shares plummeted on Thursday, wiping more than $US120 billion off its market capitalisation. Then, on Friday, Twitter lost 15.5 per cent of its market … Continue reading
(28 July 2018, AFR, p3, by William McInnes) ‘Self-funded retirees could face further pressure as the the big four banks look at cutting their already low term deposit rates in order to offset rising funding costs. The major banks are facing increasing funding pressure due to increased funding costs squeezing net interest margins.’ Read more … Continue reading
(28 July 2018, AFR, p31, by Christopher Joye) ‘I hear a lot of ostensibly smart people relentlessly recite the meme that we are “late cycle”, with the implication that a recession is right around the corner. In this vein, there are many overpaid equity investors spruiking the next financial crisis. That’s interesting given investment-grade credit … Continue reading
[COMMENT: Even with positive news and company profit reporting, if the actual numbers are less than the analysts predicted and expected, then the share price can take a hit. Here is a good case study example.] (25 July 2018, AFR, p16, by Sue Mitchell) ‘Shares in Kogan.com fell to seven-month lows after the online retailer missed profit … Continue reading
(21 July 2018, AFR, p48, by Chanticleer) ‘The divergence in performance between the leading fund managers focused on investing for value and those investing for growth is now so entrenched that it may prompt the true believers in value investing to think again. A longer-term analysis of value and growth funds by Lonsec Research prepared … Continue reading
