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22 December 2024
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The rise of the Magnificent Seven and their large weighting in US indices has led to debate about concentration risk in markets. Whatever your view, the crowding into these stocks poses several challenges for global investors.
Stocks have had a barnstorming run of late, breaking to new highs in many markets, as they anticipate imminent cuts to interest rates in the US. Can the run continue, and if so, what are the key signposts to look for?
Australian retail investors appear pessimistic about the market outlook with cash allocations at record highs. Those buying prefer materials and energy stocks, while fallen angels such as Magellan are out of favour.
Some of nabtrade’s most popular stocks are trading substantially off their highs, and investors should consider whether the stories that drove their popularity in the early stages of Covid are still intact.
In 2020, new investors were keen to build wealth in the sharemarket and were actively investing to ‘buy the dip’. But as markets have rallied to new highs amid Covid doubts, investing patterns have changed.
Experienced traders on nabtrade boost their 'buy and hold' portfolios with shorter-term strategies based on their personal views of the world. These are not for everybody but show how some individuals react.
Nobody knows how to pick the bottom of the market, but new investors did well in 2020. They captured most of the returns since the lows, and contrary to popular opinion, they are not punting away on tech stocks.
There is a popular view that retail investors panic when markets fall, but in the recent COVID selloff, they were waiting in cash for buying opportunities. What's equally interesting is the stocks they bought.
The traditional notion that retail investors buy high and sell low has not been supported by activity at this broker, who has seen investors looking for bargains after the Covid-19 sell-off.
Traditional SMSF asset allocations to cash, banks and property are changing as ultra-low interest rates start to bite, and SMSFs take on more diversified equity and fixed interest exposures.
Substantial changes are underway in SMSFs which until recently held a narrow range of assets dominated by cash, term deposits and Australian equities. Trustees have never faced so many choices.
If you have been maintaining a small inactive superannuation fund purely for insurance purposes, you need to act quickly to avoid losing cover which might be difficult to replace.
In our Federal Budget 2019/20 coverage, we present summaries and analyses of the Budget from Cuffelinks' sponsors, including newsletters and videos, plus a summary of Labor's overall strategy.
Notwithstanding the popularity of ETFs, Australians are increasingly trading directly on foreign exchanges as online brokers make execution easier. But traditional local names remain popular.
The 2008 GFC actually started a year earlier in the global credit markets, but the equity markets ignored the warning signs. With hindsight, everyone had the chance to exit shares at elevated prices.
There are strategies for this EOFY which could reduce your tax bill while supporting other objectives such as charitable giving, insurances, personal or spouse super contributions, or asset purchases for business.
Many people are overlooking the rule that allows anyone eligible to make a super contribution to claim it as a personal tax deduction, but make sure you follow the rules and meet the deadline.
The use of separate SMSFs for accumulation and pensions stages to minimise tax obligations may attract the ire of the ATO, but there may be other, more legitimate, reasons for using this strategy.
Over the holiday season, the moments away from the noise are wonderful for giving perspective, helping to consider what is most important to us and how to improve in the year ahead.
The suite of Exchange Traded Funds available today is extensive, both in Australia and overseas, allowing investors to back the most varied and unusual market views.
The deductibility of personal contributions due from 1 July is a bigger opportunity than most people realise, given many employees were not allowed to salary sacrifice, and some employers abused it.
Estate planning involves making a lot of difficult decisions. In Part 3 of this series, three often-overlooked issues are explored: power of attorney, superannuation death benefits, and insurance.
Part 2 in this series on estate planning focuses on wills. What a will can and cannot achieve, its objective, how wealth is transferred, and the importance of keeping things up-to-date.
Death and taxes might be two of life's certainties but you can influence how they impact you. While estate planning might be awkward, don't put it off until it's too late.
It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Firstlinks’ co-founder and former Managing Editor, Graham Hand, has died aged 66. Graham was a legendary figure in the finance industry and here are three tributes to him.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
Australia is in the early throes of an intergenerational wealth transfer worth an estimated $3.5 trillion. Here's a case study highlighting some of the challenges with transferring wealth between generations.
The Future Fund's original purpose was to meet the unfunded liabilities of Commonwealth defined benefit schemes. These liabilities have ballooned to an estimated $290 billion and taxpayers continue to be treated like fools.
ASFA provides a key guide for how much you will need to live on in retirement. Unfortunately it has many deficiencies, and the averages don't tell the full story of the growing gender superannuation gap.
The Big Four banks have had an extraordinary run and it’s left income investors with a conundrum: to stick with them even though they now offer relatively low dividend yields and limited growth prospects or to look elsewhere.