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7 January 2025
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Investors are determined to cling to the idea of a goldilocks scenario for the Australian economy. Meanwhile, company updates paint a picture worse than any we’ve seen post-COVID.
Index fund inflows to the US market are relatively tiny. Yet a new research paper suggests that they have distorted the size of the market's largest stocks to a surprising degree.
US market concentration in large technology companies has captured investor attention. Here explores how this concentration compares to history and what typically follows periods of extreme concentration.
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?
US Presidential elections can be divisive and unsettling, and at times, it can seem like the fate of the world hangs in the balance. But when it comes to investing, do elections really matter all that much?
In his latest memo, Marks outlines how today’s markets are dramatically different from those of the past 40 years, that equity valuations are mildly expensive, and the most compelling opportunities for investors.
Trend-following strategies have been around for a long time though they're still seemingly underappreciated. These strategies can provide diversification benefits and help protect downside risks to portfolios.
News nowadays seems to have become even more negative with constant stories of disasters, conflict, wrongdoing, grievance and loss. These risks can’t be ignored yet the history of investing suggests that pessimism doesn’t pay.
What went up in 2020-21—cryptocurrency, commodities, real estate, and economic growth —has retreated in perfect sequence starting late 2021 and early 2022. Now it is inflation’s turn, though don't tell the Fed that.
Human beings are storytelling animals yet it’s the job of investors to separate truth from fiction. And the truth lies in numbers, the company earnings and the multiples attached to those earnings.
The past three years seem representative of the history of stock returns: two steps forward and one step back. It provides important lessons about how you should prepare your investment portfolio for future market outcomes.
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 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.
Unlike family trusts, testamentary trusts are activated posthumously, empowering you to exert post-death control over your assets. Learn how testamentary trusts offer unique benefits and protective measures.
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.