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22 January 2025
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It is better for management and regulatory bodies to work together to preserve the innovative engines of Facebook and Google, not impose painful government intervention.
Favourable economics and greater security foster the sharing of remote IT resources, and it has revolutionised how companies meet their computing requirements. The cloud's share will only get bigger.
With Apple through to US$1 trillion, and Google, Amazon, Microsoft hot on its heels, could these megacaps be experiencing ‘runaway returns to scale’?
Most S&P500 companies are doing well with recent reported earnings above expectations. In the tech sector, the Big Five (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet) have also diversified their income sources.
The claims that the leading tech companies are expensive overlooks the sustainable and growing earnings, plus they have new developments which have only scratched the surface.
Facebook, Google and Amazon seem already entrenched in our lives, but with the information they know about their users, their ability to target advertising and products has only touched the surface of change.
Business has always faced changes, but the rapid extent of technical progress means many companies will cease to exist over the next 20 years, including some famous global brands.
Australians love dividends and complain when a company cuts its payouts. But neither Amazon not Berkshire Hathaway are ever likely to pay a dividend, and it doesn't bother most of their investors.
Amazon is changing retailing, and Jeff Bezos has driven his company with paranoid customer focus and 4 rules that avoid going into a death spiral. How many big companies are capable of adopting them?
The stock market is increasingly looking like a 'barbell' of company returns with a few big winners and lots of losers, especially in retailing where new competition led by Amazon is nothing less than a seismic change.
If you had to choose between investing in the bright future of a high-tech, disruptive stock or a consistent, old-economy stock, which would you prefer? It comes down to what you expect in return.
* Is there any major company in the world that has such a focus on the customer as Amazon, sometimes even at the expense of shareholders. Here's Jeff Bezos's explanation.
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.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.