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22 April 2025
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Secular stagnation can result from a sustained lack of demand or low growth in productivity, and can create low or negative investment returns. Could this happen in Australia?
Economic and investment market cycles do not make for a comfortable ride when making investment decisions and they’re not about to disappear despite numerous smoothing attempts. Face it, cycles just happen.
Despite the Federal Reserve's tapering of its QE policy, liquidity in developed economies will remain abundant with the major central banks adding another USD1 trillion in 2014. But watch for global inflation.
Let's celebrate the positive effects of a floating exchange rate and the way it adjusts to make economic policy more effective. With some exceptions, a floating currency acts as a shock absorber to cushion volatility.
Around the world, real interest rates are now unusually low or even negative. The hunt for real yield that’s become a preoccupation of investors is likely to remain a dominant feature of investment markets for several years at least.
The Federal Government should run balanced budgets over the economic cycle, otherwise uncertainties build up and costs are imposed because the bills still have to be paid somehow.
Every crisis throws up opportunities. Here are ideas to capitalise on this one, including ‘overbalancing’ your portfolio in stocks, buying heavily discounted LICs, and cherry picking bombed out sectors like oil and gas.
The ASX is exploring the introduction of dual class share structures for listed companies. Opposition is building to the plan but the ASX should ignore the naysayers and bring Australia into line with its global peers.
New research shows the average Australian woman has $428,000 in net wealth, 40% less than the average man. This takes a deep dive into what the gender wealth gap looks like across different life stages.
Market extremes are where the biggest investment risks and opportunities lie. While events like this are usually only obvious in hindsight, learning to watch out for these two words can alert you to them in real time.
Semiconductors are used to make microchips and are essential to a vast range of technology and devices. This looks at what’s driving demand for chips, how the industry is evolving, and favoured stocks to play the theme.
Gold prices hit new recent highs, driven by a stronger euro, tariff concerns, and steady ETF buying – all while the precious metal’s fundamental backdrop remains solid amid a shifting global economic landscape.
In this interview, Schroders' Helen Mason discusses investing in corporate and financial credit securities, market impacts of tariffs, opportunities for cash investments, and views on tier two and hybrid bonds.