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21 January 2025
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ASX market bulls point to corporate balance sheets and earnings, while bears highlight company valuations and persistently higher inflation. It's best to ignore short-term noise and focus on investing in quality companies.
There can be both good and bad reasons behind a company that has become a large cap. It is not always apparent, but understanding the reasons can help focus on what matters when finding large-cap stocks.
In Australia and globally, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) continue to grow rapidly. A new report suggests investors can expect more products in active ETFs, alternative strategies, cryptocurrency and ESG.
It's doubtful 2023 will return to the speculative nature of 2020-2021 markets. Rather, investors will gravitate toward newer themes, such as non-US markets and real assets, including energy and infrastructure.
In a sentence or two, global experts across many fields are asked to summarise the biggest surprise of 2021, and enduring challenges into 2022. It's a short and sweet view of the changes we are all facing.
Housing market sentiment has eased from record highs and confidence has ticked down as house price rises slow. Construction costs overtook lack of development sites as the biggest impediment for new housing.
Last November, the heads of four investment platforms identified the key themes they anticipated would guide investment decisions in 2021. With the year half over, we see how they’ve played out and check the outlook.
Australian banks appear cheap and their shares trade below broker targets. But three analysts offer deeper explanations that suggest stronger credit standards will affect house prices and credit growth.
Given the strong returns from most real estate markets in recent years, investors are asking whether there is more upside potential in this cycle, and what is likely to do well.
The best end-of-year wrap of asset class performance in 2015. Aussie equities was a loser but who were the winners, and what's the outlook for each asset class in 2016?
It's not low or high commodities prices, or even rising or falling prices, that matter for the share market. A pattern relating to changes in the rate of change can be observed as far back as the 1950s as a useful forecasting tool.
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.
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.
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.
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.