Weekly market & economic update – 18 February 2011

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Headline developments of the past week There was good news out of China with January inflation coming in lower than expected owing to a lower than expected rise in food

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Where are we in the investment cycle for shares?

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Key points While mainstream global shares may be due for a short term correction, the cyclical recovery still has further to go. Shares are still cheap, confidence in the sustainability

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Share prices, consumer spending and the GFC

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In this issue we look at share markets in Australia and around the world – how they have fared in the GFC and what may lie ahead as the debt

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Why are Australian shares lagging? Will it continue?

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Key points Australian shares have disappointingly underperformed traditional global shares over the last year on the back of monetary tightening, worries about a housing bubble, the strong $A and Chinese

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Weekly market & economic update – 21 January 2011

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Headline developments An acceleration in Chinese economic growth in the December quarter to an estimated annualised pace of around 12% along with ongoing inflation worries have reinforced the case for

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The implications of the floods for Australia

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Key points Like the fires of two years ago the floods have wrought terrible tragedy in terms of loss of life and disruption to people’s lives. Beyond the human suffering

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MLC Investment Management changes Australian equities strategy

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MLC Investment Management today announced that it has made changes to its Australian shares strategy, creating separate domestic equities strategies for the Horizon series and MLC Australian Share Fund. The

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Flat sharemarket poses questions for investors

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Sharemarket perspectives The CommSec ‘Mums and Dads share index’ – a way of tracking the performance of commonly-held shares – fell by 7.4 per cent in 2010, exceeding the decline

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Weekly market & economic update 07 January 2011

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Headline developments In a move that had been anticipated for some time, China raised one year lending and deposit rates by 0.25% as part of an ongoing effort to keep

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What’s ahead for Australian investors in 2011

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While there are many macro issues around the world affecting the markets, one of the world’s largest fund managers believe the outlook for the Australian market is positive, especially if

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