The ASX has announced a new index to commence activity on Monday 24th February. The ASX claims on their website: “The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (XTX) provides direct access to ASX’s fastest-growing sector in a single index”. Read about it at the ASX website. Also see a news article at AFR.com .
(15 February 2020, AFR, p33, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘The ASX ended the week fractionally off a fresh record close, with strong earnings-related gains from IDP Education, Breville and Challenger helping investors to look past their fears about the speed of the spread of the coronavirus in China. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 26.97 points, or … Continue reading
[COMMENT: Isn’t it so interesting? The sorts of things that make newspaper headlines, and which in reality are not quite so. For the life of me I cannot see how the local market has made a three-week high. With reference to my chart, I can see a new intraday high for the last 2 weeks. … Continue reading
(12 February 2020, The Age, Business, p23, Stephen Bartholomeusz) ‘The US stockmarket hit yet another record overnight and other major markets, including the Australian exchange, are within sight of their own high points. The world must be in good shape, right? With the death toll from the coronavirus now surpassing that of the SARS epidemic … Continue reading
(7 February 2020, AFR, p30, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘Australian shares rose sharply on Thursday, boosted by a solid performance in the banking sector as well as some strong earnings-related gains, as worries that the coronavirus will dampen global economic growth abated. The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 1.1 per cent, or 73.15 points, to 7049.19. That … Continue reading
(7 February 2020, AFR, p17, Sue Mitchell, Senior Reporter) ‘Festive foods such as crackling ham and chocolate puddings teamed with free wine glasses helped Coles convince customers to loosen the purse strings in the run-up to Christmas. Australia’s second largest supermarket upgraded profit guidance for the December half after stronger than expected food sales and … Continue reading
(7 February 2020, The Age, Business, p27, Stephen Bartholomeusz) ‘With stock exchanges shrinking around the world and private equity and unlisted investments growing rapidly, an interesting conundrum arises. Why is it big investors believe illiquid assets will generate better returns than those in liquid markets? ‘ ‘Stock markets, at least in the developed world, are … Continue reading
(1 February 2020, AFR, p33, Tom Richardson, Markets reporter and commentator) ‘The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.13 per cent or 8.8 points higher on Friday as worries over the potential impact of the coronavirus receded, despite the World Health Organisation declaring it an international emergency. Ahead of February’s interim profit reporting season, the sharemarket closed down … Continue reading
(1 February 2020, AFR, p28, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘The bar has been set low for companies this earnings season but still may prove too high a hurdle for some, given steep share price gains the past year. A combination of surging share prices and subdued earnings could be setting some companies up for losses in … Continue reading
(31 January 2020, AFR, p30, Luke Housego, Reporter) ‘Australian shares ended a day of volatility lower, following confirmation the number of coronavirus cases had risen sharply, overtaking the total infections associated with the 2003 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak. The S&P/ASX 200 ended the second-to-last session for January 23.1 points, or 0.33 per cent, … Continue reading
(29 January 2020, AFR, p26, Luke Housego, Reporter) ‘Australian shares tumbled to their biggest loss of 2020 as concerns about the fallout on global growth from China’s coronavirus outbreak sparked a rout of world stockmarkets. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 96 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 6994.5 points, making it the biggest one-day fall … Continue reading
(29 January 2020, AFR, p23, The Lex Column) ‘China’s woes have caused feverish debate about travel bans and screening. With economic growth near multi-decade lows, Chinese shoppers are already spending less. Time to cash in on luxury’s bull run. China is sneezing. How sick is the rest of the world going to get? Reports that … Continue reading
(29 January 2020, AFR, p1, Michael Smith, China Correspondent) ‘The level of paranoia about a deadly virus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has increased considerably since the woman on the street approached me fearing for my safety.’ <snipped…> ‘Shanghai, while typically quiet during the Lunar New Year, usually picks up on the … Continue reading
(29 January 2020, AFR, p1, Vesna Poljak, James Fernyhough and Sarah Turner) ‘Australia’s close business links to China, which proved so successful in supporting the economy in its record-breaking run of growth, have emerged as a major risk to growth and earnings as the coronavirus outbreak gathers pace. The worst day of the year for … Continue reading
(28 January 2020, AFR, p9, Simon Evans, Senior Reporter) ‘Australia’s wine industry faces a short-term hit if people in China keep staying away from restaurants and bars as the coronavirus outbreak worsens, with industry players nervous about a repeat of the fall-out from the 2003 SARS epidemic. Australia and France compete as the biggest exporter … Continue reading
(28 January 2020, AFR, p3, Mark Ludlow, Queensland Bureau Chief) ‘The future of Australia’s agricultural food bowl could be at risk from changed weather patterns resulting from climate change, according to Credit Suisse.’ <snipped…> ‘ “It’s hugely problematic for the Australian agricultural industry. Whole swathes of what has been the food bowl of Australia is … Continue reading
(28 January 2020, The Age, Business, p26, By David Scutt) ‘Investors are bracing for the contagion of the coronavirus outbreak and the impact of a possible global pandemic on markets, with economists saying a hit to global growth from the disease is now all but inevitable. A rush to safe-haven assets lifted the price of … Continue reading
(25 January 2020, AFR, p23, Simon Evans, Sue Mitchell, James Fernyhough and Jenny Wiggins) ‘… Goldman Sachs has estimated the bushfire fallout could strip 0.4 per cent off Australia’s GDP, with the international dimension a potentially long-term drag. ‘ <snipped…> ‘A raft of profit downgrades from ASX-listed companies in the retail and tourism sectors in … Continue reading
(25 January 2020, AFR, p33, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘Profit downgrades shook confidence in the earnings outlook for a handful of companies but investors shrugged off the news to push the broader market to another weekly gain, stretching January’s remarkable run. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended the week at 7090.50, up 2.5 points, retreating after touching … Continue reading
(23 January 2020, The Age, Business, p24, By Lucy Battersby) ‘Australia’s stock market chalked up a surprisingly strong session on Wednesday with more than a tenth of the S&P/ASX200 reaching record high prices. The index closed nearly 1 per cent higher at 7132.7 points. News that German retail giant Kaufland is pulling out of Australia … Continue reading
(21 January 2020, AFR, p26, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘Australian shares rallied again on Monday to seal the market’s fifth straight day of gains, with CSL and the miners carrying the benchmark to a new historic high and helping the market shrug off a raft of profit downgrades.’ Read more at AFR.com (might need AFR login … Continue reading
[COMMENT: It is always interesting to compare the results of various funds over different time frames. The included bar graph below is over 10 years, and is starkly different to the fund performance graph over just one year. And when you compare the lists of funds, we note that some funds appear on one list, … Continue reading
(17 January 2020, AFR, p29, Tom Richardson, Markets reporter and commentator) ‘The post-GFC bull run for risk assets accelerated this week with the local sharemarket topping 7000 points to deliver the best start to the year since 2000. The latest move higher is on investor relief that a tariff-reducing US-China phase one trade deal will … Continue reading
(17 January 2020, AFR, p27, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index has finally cleared 7000 points, more than two years after it cleared the 6000 point mark in 2017 for the first time since the global financial crisis. While the majority of the market has enjoyed strong advances across those two years, two stocks … Continue reading
(16 January 2020, AFR, p27, Sarah Turner, Reporter) ‘The stakes appear unusually high for companies this earnings season, with short sellers poised to claim the rewards as companies trade on some of the richest valuations in history, inviting ruthless punishment for missed expectations. ASX-listed companies are gearing up to report first-half earnings in February, meaning … Continue reading
[COMMENTS: Because of my own distrust of managed funds in general, including superannuation funds, I always post reports like this one below with some comments like the following. It will be interesting to see how these funds perform over the next couple of years because it is common for a superior fund one year to … Continue reading
[COMMENT: In case any readers are a little puzzled, the All Ordinaries (XAO) index broke through the 7000 level last week, while this index, the XJO, is at a lower level and still heading there.] (15 January 2020, AFR, p26, Luke Housego, Reporter) ‘The Australian sharemarket surpassed last week’s record to close at fresh highs … Continue reading
[COMMENT: As Karen explains here, her piece in the AFR a week ago elicited a lot of response from financial planners, and this follow up article provides a great insight into the financial planning industry in Australia. It’s well worth reading the entire article at AFR.com.] (15 January 2020, AFR, p29, Karen Maley, Columnist) ‘Financial … Continue reading
(15 January 2020, AFR, p1, John Kehoe, Senior Writer) ‘The chairman of the $166 billion sovereign wealth fund, Peter Costello, has warned that record low interest rates are pushing investors into risky financial products akin to “collateralised debt obligations”, which blew up during the 2008 global financial crisis. ‘ Read more at AFR.com (might need … Continue reading
[COMMENT: The old discussion about value investing versus growth investing continues. This article provides some interesting food for thought.] (15 January 2020, AFR, p26, Michael Glennon, Contributor) ‘It’s been a hard few years for investors with a value bias. While we don’t put ourselves into either the growth or value camps, we have definitely taken … Continue reading
