Investing 101

A large amount of capital has moved into so called “concept stocks” in recent months, as retail investors seek to capitalise on popular ‘themes’. Before we discuss this phenomenon, we first must define a concept stock. In short, a concept stock is a company like a start-up, that is in its early conceptual stages of…

BikeExchange is the latest platform that connects people with one thing they all have in common: a love for bikes. The platform is chock-full of road bikes, mountain bikes, e-bikes, kid’s bikes, wheels, clothing, lights, and wheels. Pretty much anything that is remotely bike-related, this platform has it. It’s even an online friend-dating marketplace of…

Are investors looking at a dividend bonanza in 2021? According to Dr Don Hamson, Portfolio Manager of the Plato Australian Shares Income strategy, the drought may be coming to an end. According to one of the leading active income investors in the country, investors in the ASX 200 are looking at an improved dividend backdrop…

Could Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) be classified as a really good ASX dividend share? The most obvious answer is the dividend yield. Using the last two dividend announcements, Kogan has a fully franked dividend yield of 2.1%, or 3% including the franking credits. In the February reporting season, Kogan’s board decided to increase the dividend by 113.3% to $0.16…

Shares in Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) jumped higher next week after Zip said that it achieved record quarterly revenue of $102 million, up 88% year on year. The December revenue was $40.2 million, up 94%. The revenue growth was driven by record quarterly transaction volume of $1.6 billion, up 103% year on year. The…

Micro-investment platform Raiz Invest (ASX: RZI) capped off a stellar year by announcing the launch of its Custom Portfolio product this week. The option joins the seven existing automated investment portfolios that have seen one of Australia’s first FinTechs grow to over $600 million in assets under management. In a personal letter to shareholders and…

By now 5G has become more than just a tech buzz word. The fifth-generation mobile network is about to become reality for most Australians as major telco providers are well into their 5G infrastructure build. The new network will transform Australia’s entire telecommunications ecosystem into “smart cities.” This transformation allows people to connect not only…

The announcement this week that National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) will redeem (repurchase) all National Income Securities (ASX: NABHA) on issue has been a long time coming. Issued in 1999, the perpetual or never-ending preference share raised around $2 billion to assist the bank in meeting its ongoing capital requirements. After trading as low as…

What drove markets in November? Markets delivered an early Christmas surprise with November’s market performance delivering one of the best months of the entire year. The ASX 200 Index posted a whopping +9.96% gain while the Small Ords rallied +10.20%. In the US, it was a similar story with the S&P 500 Index posting its…

It has been an incredibly busy few months for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, with news this week that fund manager Pendal Ltd (ASX: PDL) had established positions in the currency. This follows a number of high-profile hedge fund managers including Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones confessing their own allocations. Given the currency is…

It seems like National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) is recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. Are NAB shares a buy for dividends? What has the NAB share price been doing? The NAB share price is still down 16.5% from where it was before the COVID-19 decline. But it has gone up 23% since the start of November and…

A big-spending budget focused on improving regional Victoria, health, housing, education, and transport infrastructure but at the same time pushing debt to eye-watering levels during a recession were the main hallmarks of the Andrews Government’s state budget. To sum it up, it is a Budget tilted towards rebuilding the state economy from the ground up….