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22 January 2025
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Taking the path less travelled led to a remarkable return from this small-cap. Here is the inside track on how our investment unfolded, and why we don't think the story has finished yet.
Members of the Reddit army who believed they were inside the tent sharing views with fellow rebels cannot know who is on the other side of their trades - or even who they are talking to in their group.
A fund manager that can short sell stocks with weak investment characteristics while reinvesting the proceeds in long positions in preferred stocks has a high degree of flexibility.
It's as legitimate an investing technique to short sell an expensive company as it is to buy or go long a cheap company, with the added advantage of less competition on the short side.
The rapid price fall of Blue Sky following a poor report from a foreign seller makes it look as if short selling is easy, but there are many risks and details to consider along the way.
Although the amount of shorting on the ASX has fallen, there are many opportunities among the different types of shorts to enhance performance while managing the risks.
Disruption across many industries often makes it easier to pick the losers than the winners. Short-selling can play an important and legitimate role in an investment portfolio, although it continues to attract criticism.
Hedge funds have been short selling Australian banks for a while now, mainly due to perceptions about the property market. However, it is not house prices but unemployment that matters most for bank prosperity.
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.