Investment markets and key developments over the past week While share markets had a great bounce from oversold levels early in the last week they fell back to varying degrees as worries around US interest rates, the US trade conflict with China, tech stocks and Italy’s budget deficit continued along with escalating tensions with Saudi […]
continue readingChinese economic data The Chinese economy grew at a 6.5 per cent annual rate in the September quarter (forecast: +6.6 per cent), down from 6.7 per cent in the June quarter – the slowest annual growth rate in 9½ years. Chinese retail sales rose at a 9.2 per cent annual rate in the year to September, (forecast: […]
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22
Oct
2018
Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets fell sharply over the last week led by the US share market primarily on the back of worries about rising interest rates and bond yields and the deteriorating US/China relationship. Bond yields generally declined though reflecting safe haven demand which also benefitted the gold […]
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15
Oct
2018
Investors are constantly warned of an impending crisis in financial markets with the resultant damage to asset prices. Yet while a crisis can have a severe impact on markets, investors who avoid herd-like selling can often ride out the slumps. For active and contrarian fund managers, such periods of disruption can also present opportunities. The […]
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15
Oct
2018
Sharemarket trends; Reserve Bank speech Global sharemarkets fall: Shares in the US and Europe slid by around 2-4 per cent on Wednesday. Speech from Reserve Bank official: Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Luci Ellis delivered a speech: “Supporting Growth in the Short Run and the Long Run”. Global shares: What happened and what does it mean? Sharemarkets across Europe […]
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12
Oct
2018
Consumer sentiment; Building activity Consumer confidence: The Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer sentiment index rose by 1.0 per cent to a reading of 101.5 in October. The sentiment index is in line with its long-term average of 101.5. A reading above 100 denotes optimism. Home building: The number of dwelling starts fell by 5.9 per […]
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11
Oct
2018
The US Federal Reserve hit the brakes for first time in 13 years, policy is now economically ‘restrictive’ The US Federal Reserve (the Fed) lifted interest rates to 2.25% as was widely expected in September and commented that monetary policy is no longer ‘accommodative’. Previous rate hikes have merely lifted their foot from the accelerator, […]
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11
Oct
2018
The latest Munro Global Growth Fund report has been released. In it, chief investment officer Nick Griffin says: “We continue to believe US equity markets can grind higher supported by strong corporate earnings growth, however this requires a normalisation of interest rates without materially slowing the US economy. We are mindful of some recent signs […]
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10
Oct
2018
Since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration has announced a series of increasingly aggressive trade policies. In the recent detailed paper titled ‘Protectionism through a corporate lens’, Ronald Temple, Co-Head of Multi-Asset and Head of US Equities at Lazard Asset Management, a leading global investment manager, says “While much remains uncertain about the […]
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09
Oct
2018
What do AT&T, Heathrow Airport, General Motors, and Thames Water all have in common? All four companies have recently engaged with the Australian fixed income market in a bid to diversify their debt funding profiles. There are various reasons why these firms are looking at the Australian corporate bond market. Some are doing it to […]
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09
Oct
2018
Earn CPD Points
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