(17 August 2019, AFR, p33, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘Australian shares fell heavily for a second week running, as global recession fears mounted following the inversion of the US yield curve. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 178.9 points, or 2.7 per cent, to 6405.5 while the broader All Ordinaries lost 177.5 points, or 2.7 per cent, … Continue reading
(16 August 2019, AFR, p29, David Randall and Jennifer Ablan) ‘New York | The summer sell-off is finally here – and not all US investors are rattled by it. After a record-setting first half of the year that pushed US stock markets to new highs, a more than 760-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial … Continue reading
(16 August 2019, The Age, p4, By David Scutt) ‘Australian stocks were thumped on Thursday, logging their worst trading session in a year after moves in the US bond market stoked fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy. Around $60 billion in sharemarket value was torched as the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 2.85 … Continue reading
[COMMENT: In trading Thursday, the major US equity indices all fell almost 3 percent. Now that is a large amount for an index to fall in just one day.] (15 August 2019, New York Times online, By Matt Phillips) ‘Trade-war worries hammered financial markets again on Wednesday as data from Germany and China showed trouble … Continue reading
(15 August 2019, AFR, p29, Patrick Commins, Columnist) ‘There are scenarios where a US-China trade deal happens sooner than the market believes, which could lead to a “violent” reaction in a very one-sided market. As 10-year bond yields in Australia fell below 1 per cent for the first time last week, my colleague wondered whether we … Continue reading
(10 August 2019, AFR, p33, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘Australian shares were unable to recover from a heavy sell-off at the start of the week, as trade war concerns pushed the local sharemarket to its worst week in nine months. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 184.2 points, or 2.7 per cent, to 6584.4 this week while … Continue reading
(7 August 2019, The Age, Business, p23, By Colin Kruger) ‘Australia’s high flying tech stocks bore the brunt of Tuesday’s market rout, lead by global logistics tech group Wisetech. It was one of four of the so-called WAAAX stocks – the others being Appen, Altium and Xero, – which have collectively lost more than $4 … Continue reading
(7 August 2019, AFR, p26, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘The Australian sharemarket saw $53 billion wiped from its boards on Tuesday as a global market sell-off entered its second day, reversing two months worth of gains in the local market. The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 162.2 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 6478.1 while the broader … Continue reading
(7 August 2019, AFR, p1, Robert Guy and William McInnes) ‘The Australian sharemarket plunged 2.5 per cent after the US escalated hostilities in its tit-for-tat trade war with China by labelling it a currency manipulator, pushing yields on Australian 10-year government bonds below 1 per cent for the first time. The Trump administration’s aggressive response … Continue reading
(6 August 2019, The Age, Business, p27, By William McInnes) ‘Tech stocks led a sharemarket slump on Monday, as the Chinese yuan dropped below a key level, sparking selling across Asian markets and pushing local shares to their worst session since December. Selling in growth stocks was heavy as investors looked to exit riskier stocks. … Continue reading
(6 August 2019, The Age, p8, By Shane Wright and Lucy Battersby) ‘The Australian sharemarket shed more than $36 billion in value, the dollar was pushed to its lowest point in 10 years and expectations have increased of an interest rate cut over growing fears the US-China trade battle is now a full-blown currency war … Continue reading
(5 August 2019, AFR, p21, Jonathan Shapiro) ‘Wall Street’s main sharemarket indices registered the largest weekly falls of the year while bond rates plunged the most in seven years, after a dramatic week of central bank disappointments, unexpected trade war tweets and solid jobs data. On Friday, July US non-farm payrolls showed a solid gain … Continue reading
(3 August 2019, AFR, p33, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘The local sharemarket’s record breaking milestone was brought crashing down at the end of the week after a ‘hawkish cut’ by the Federal Reserve and the US’s decision to increase tariffs on China pushed the market lower. The S&P/ASX 200 Index ended the week 24.8 points, or … Continue reading
(3 August 2019, AFR, p28, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘For 20 of the past 30 years of investing, there were some certainties. Investing in equities would give you a higher rate of return coupled with a higher risk premium, bonds were a steady and stable form of income, and cash, while delivering only low returns, came … Continue reading
(3 August 2019, CNBC online, Fred Imbert) ‘Stocks fell on Friday as President Donald Trump stoked U.S.-China trade fears with the announcement of more tariffs while investors digested U.S. employment data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 98.41 points lower at 26,485.01 after plunging 334.20 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 lost 0.7% … Continue reading
(1 August 2019, The Age, Busienss, p27, By William McInnes) ‘A loss on Wednesday wasn’t enough to dampen a milestone month for Australian shares as sliding interest rate expectations and record low bond yields drove the market to a record high. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 32.5 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 6812.6 on … Continue reading
(31 July 2019, AFR, Vesna Poljak and William McInnes) ‘Interest rates drove the Australian sharemarket to a fresh record high on Tuesday, completing an 11-and-a-half year journey, but it will take improved corporate earnings to sustain prices at these levels. A 19.3 point, or 0.3 per cent, advance in the S&P/ASX 200 Index enabled the … Continue reading
(31 July 2019, The Age, Business, p31, By David Scutt) ‘After years of underperforming other major equity markets – most noticeably those in the United States – Australian stocks have finally managed to hit fresh peaks. But it means investors face a difficult question: how long can this rally last? Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager … Continue reading
(31 July 2019, The Age, Business, p30, By Colin Kruger) ‘There’s more to life than Afterpay. Minneapolis-based Sezzle showed there is plenty of room for rivals in the ‘buy now, pay later’ sector, with a stunning ASX debut on Tuesday. The stock closed more than 80 per cent above its $1.22 IPO price after the … Continue reading
[COMMENT: This is an interesting article for all of the investors who are interested in the discussions about ‘quality stocks’, or value versus growth investing.] (29 July 2019, AFR, p28, James Thomson) ‘If the Merlon research shows us nothing else it’s that lazy investment slogans – such as “always buy quality” – shouldn’t be followed … Continue reading
(29 July 2019, AFR, p21, Jun Bei Liu) <snipped…> ‘…With August reporting season now mere days away from commencing, the wave of recent earnings guidance downgrades will be telling. With actual earnings performances now tallied and awaiting release, will there be enough positive surprises to drive continued share price out-performance?’ Read more at AFR.com (might … Continue reading
(27 July 2019, CNBC online, Fred Imbert) ‘Stocks rose on Friday after strong earnings from tech giants like Alphabet and Intel and a better-than-expected GDP print pushed the S&P 500 to a new all-time high. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to close at 3,025.86, posting a record high. The Nasdaq Composite also hit an all-time high, … Continue reading
COMMENT: I can’t help but feel the need to help explain why a lot of news in the last couple of days has proclaimed that the All Ordinaries (XAO) index has surpassed its all-time pre-GFC highs; but very little has been said about the S&P/ASX 200 (XJO) index of Top 200 stocks. The reason for … Continue reading
[COMMENT: The views expressed in this opinion piece are not necessarily those of this commentator – everyone is entitled to their own opinion. ALSO, note that even though the All Ordinaries index (XAO) has breached its all-time record high, the S&P/ASX 200 index (XJO) still has not – perhaps next week?] (27 July 2019, AFR, … Continue reading
(26 July 2019, AFR, p31, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘Australian shares continued to test record highs on Thursday as local investors took optimism from US earnings and a dovish tilt in a speech from RBA governor Philip Lowe. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 42.3 points, or 0.6 per cent, to end the session at 6818, just … Continue reading
(26 July 2019, The Age, Business, p22, Stephen Bartholomeusz) ‘The record levels at which the Australian sharemarket has traded this week only highlights the extent of the continuing disconnect between equity markets and real economies. In the US the market is up about 20 per cent this year despite faltering corporate earnings. The majority of … Continue reading
(26 July 2019, The Age, p8, By Malcolm Maiden) ‘The sharemarket’s new highs are a cause for nagging unease as much as confidence. This is, in part, because the previous record in November 2007 was set weeks before the market plunged into a crisis that pushed the entire financial system to the brink of collapse. … Continue reading
(26 July 2019, The Age, p1, By Clancy Yeates) ‘A cocktail of ultra-low interest rates, high iron ore prices and a stabilising housing market has pushed Australia’s sharemarket to a new record high, surpassing levels last seen before the carnage of the global financial crisis. The All Ordinaries index, which tracks the nation’s 500 biggest … Continue reading
(25 July 2019, AFR, p30, William McInnes, Reporter) ‘Australian shares rose firmly on Wednesday as a flurry of positive news pushed the All Ordinaries to an all-time closing high and the S&P/ASX 200 Index to a post-GFC high. The S&P/ASX 200 Index ended the session 52.1 points, or 0.8 per cent, higher at 6776.7 while … Continue reading
(25 July 2019, AFR, p16, William McInnes and Vesna Poljak) ‘Record low interest rates and tumbling bond yields have pushed the All Ordinaries index to a record high on Wednesday, completing an 11-and-a-half year recovery from the depths of the financial crisis. Australia’s oldest index closed the session at 6862.4, after rising 49.9 points, or … Continue reading
