24 February 2025

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Home / Author: Ashley Owen

Ashley Owen

Economic growth does not drive stock market returns

The widely-held belief that good economic growth should be good for share prices, and low economic growth bad for them, is often demonstrated to work in reverse.

Ashley Owen
4 July 2013
2

What export boom?

This will challenge your way of thinking: Australia is one of the smallest exporters as a percentage of GDP in the world, and therefore one of the least reliant on exports for our national income. But we're addicted to imports.

Ashley Owen
20 June 2013
4

How much income tax do you pay?

There's an ongoing debate about income inequality and personal income tax. Looking at the numbers, 45% of Australian adults pay no personal income tax, while 1.5% of adults pay 26% of income tax.

Ashley Owen
7 June 2013
2

Federal Government budgets and their impact on the stockmarket

A look at history shows government deficit years and fiscal tightening have generally been good years for stockmarket returns. 2013-4 will most probably be a deficit year, as is 2012-3.

Ashley Owen
17 May 2013

An historical (not hysterical) look at gold

For much of the last 2,500 years, one ounce of gold has been able to buy items worth the equivalent of around USD500 in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation. But retail buyers are rushing to buy physical gold at current levels.

Ashley Owen
2 May 2013
1

Until debt do us part, Act 2

The debt debate continues. Should a government be using or reducing debt to overcome its country's financial woes? What works, what doesn't, under what circumstances, and how much should we worry about it?

Ashley Owen
10 April 2013

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Investment strategies

UniSuper’s boss flags a potential correction ahead

The CIO of Australia’s fourth largest super fund by assets, John Pearce, suggests the odds favour a flat year for markets, with the possibility of a correction of 10% or more. However, he’ll use any dip as a buying opportunity.

James Gruber
19 February 2025
17

9 ways to fix Australia's housing crisis

Decades of policy failure have induced a fall in housing affordability. Unless painful changes are made, an underclass will emerge in a society that is supposed to boast the one of the world's highest standards of living.

John Abernethy
19 February 2025
84

Australia: why the chase for even higher dividend yields?

Australia boasts one of the world's highest dividend yielding sharemarkets, providing substantial benefits to investors and retirees. Despite this, individuals often stretch for even more yield, to their detriment.

Ashley Owen
19 February 2025
15

MIGA – Make Income Great Again

The Australian sharemarket seems to be rewarding a number of unprofitable companies on the promise of future riches. Yet profits and cashflows still matter, as a recent case study of Domino's Pizza shows.

Andrew Fleming
19 February 2025
1

Mapping future US market returns

Exceptional returns from the US sharemarket over the past decade have driven by sales growth, margin expansion, rising valuations, and dividends. Predicting future returns requires careful consideration of these factors.

Eric Marais
19 February 2025
1

Read this before you go all in on US equities

US equities rule global markets, but history is littered with examples of markets that seemed invincible — until they weren’t. Diversification will be key for investor portfolios going forwards.

Tarek Abou Zeid and others
19 February 2025
2

Property

What impact would scrapping stamp duty have on housing?

Increasing house prices pose challenges for housing affordability. This investigates the impact of stamp duty on the property market, and how removing the tax could help address several key issues.

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