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9 May 2024
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Typically, higher interest rates are associated with lower share market valuations, but not always and the relationship hasn’t been that strong over the long term. Company fundamentals will matter more over the next few years.
Ophir Asset Management's Andrew Mitchell on lessons learned from managing money over the past decade, Graham on the next targets to redistribute wealth, and Peter with the reporting season's highs and lows.
Now is a good time to look at what investors should expect if a recession does arrive in the US soon. Here are seven recession 'truths', including who will be to blame for a recession and the prospects of timing the bottom.
Owning bonds is less risky than owning shares, right? The evidence suggests that while this may be true in the short term, it isn't over longer time horizons, with important implications for asset allocation.
There's a common belief that the outperformance of 'growth investing' over 'value investing' since the GFC is simply due to the fall in longer-term interest rates, but is this really the case? The answer may surprise you.
Even if you possess godlike skills, you can’t avoid big drawdowns. The lesson for investors is they need to back the long-term track record of their fund manager through the volatility to outperform in their portfolios.
Smaller listed companies tend to fall first and furthest when an economic downturn hits but they recover the strongest. Here are three reasons why small caps may see strong returns after the recovery takes hold.
In the 12 US recessions since WWII, the S&P500 index has contracted from peak to trough by a median of 24%. We were almost there in June 2022 but trying to time the bottom of the market can be a costly strategy.
Market volatility is back and might be staying. Should investors be worried or is this part and parcel of investing in shares? Here are seven truths of volatility that will help investors ride the market’s gyrations.
Omicron and central bank policy changes have spoiled Christmas, especially for the value of businesses with the most profit growth far in the future. Has the pullback in parts of the global market been overdone?
Understanding your own biases and behaviours is even more important than learning about markets. Overcome four major cognitive biases that may be sabotaging your investing and recognise them in others.
How do you separate skill from luck in the performance of a fund manager? Investing is a mix of art and science in a highly-competitive industry full of smart people. Here are tips on what to look for.
Small cap investors face less mature companies with zero profit that need significant capital for growth. Without years of financial data to rely on, investors must employ creative ways to value companies.
There are only three sources of returns when investing in companies. Whether an investment delivers on dividends, earnings or valuation expansion determines performance, and the contribution of each varies over time.
Even the best long-term performing fund managers have shorter-term periods of underperformance. It’s not a failure, it’s a feature of the industry. Investors need patience when backing a good track record.
Peter Thornhill shows how his personal portfolio has thrived under an 'all-in equities' strategy, but Warren Buffett's favourite valuation indicator says stock markets are priced at their most extreme ever.
At the top of every market, there are signs that investors look back on and say the excesses were obvious. While many parts of the market are fairly valued, here are four bubbles which show irrational exuberance.
Lower bond yields have been used to justify higher share market valuations for much of the last decade. Now bond rates are rising and there is an inflation threat, what determines whether equities will be hit?
Some fund managers take as much money as they can raise in the interests of generating fees, but especially in the smaller and mid cap space, limiting capacity gives flexibility and a competitive advantage.
New technologies and markets are driving opportunities for small to medium cap companies, as well as the global tech giants. Many Australian companies have jumped on the wave.
Life has radically shifted with my brain cancer, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same again. After decades of writing and a dozen years with Firstlinks, I still want to contribute, but exactly how and when I do that is unclear.
How useful are the retirement savings and spending targets put out by various groups such as ASFA? Not very, and it's reducing the ability of ordinary retirees to fully understand their retirement income options.
Australia will have 3.7 million more people in a decade's time, though the growth won't be evenly distributed. Over 85s will see the fastest growth, while the number of younger people will barely rise.
The $3 million super tax will capture retired, and soon to retire, public servants and politicians who are members of defined benefit superannuation schemes. Lobbying efforts for exemptions to the tax are intensifying.
Recently, I compiled a list of ASX stocks that you could buy and hold forever. Here’s a follow-up list of US stocks that you could own indefinitely, including well-known names like Microsoft, as well as lesser-known gems.
We're nearing the end of the financial year and it's time for SMSFs and other super funds to make the most of the strategies available to them. Here's a 24-point checklist of the most important issues to address.