News

Emerging markets including China and India have been among the most popular destinations for investors in recent months, with many attracted to their diversification benefits. There remains a common misconception that these countries are still the ‘manufacturer for the world’, but the companies that now inhabit these countries, in many cases, have surpassed their developed…

Perth in lockdown, ASX flat for the week, retailers smashed  Perth has entered a ‘snap’ three-day lockdown following another hotel quarantine outbreak. Despite this, the market finished slightly ahead on Friday, 0.1%, and finished the week flat. The highlights over the week were Megaport (ASX:MP1) and Monadelphous (ASX:MND), which jumped 10.5% and 8.6% respectively. All attention has been on a number…

AGL CEO had enough, Brambles keeps shipping, markets break losing streak  The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) broke a two-day losing streak, shooting 0.8% higher as business conditions and investment intentions hit their highest level in 27 years. The energy and IT sectors were the main laggards, with energy falling 0.6% as India reported the highest number of new cases…

ASX pares losses, defensives in favour again, Nuix downgrades again  The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) trimmed losses to just 0.3% despite falling as low as 1.6% during the session. The selling pressure was driven primarily by the energy and property sectors as concerns about spiking global COVID-19 cases impacted confidence. The recently listed Nuix Ltd (ASX:NXL), a big data and analytics…

In this regular quarterly analysis, we assess the key economic events of the March quarter and seek to identify key opportunities or drivers for the years ahead. Australia Government bond rates were the story of the quarter, with the Australian 10-year yield, an important input into property and other asset valuations, reaching a multi-year high…

Stylistic investing, or the concept of separating companies into arbitrary buckets due to the perceive growth, value or defensive characteristics tends to dominate discussions these days. Fundamental research and the many rules of thumb applied by investors were founded in a very different world where ‘cigar butt’ companies proliferated and the way we work wasn’t…

We recently hosted our latest Market Thinker’s podcast on the topic of ‘cloud computing’, which despite seeing double-digit growth for close to a decade, is still considered an emerging ‘theme’. The pandemic has forced businesses large and small to accelerate their adoption of cloud computing and other disruptive technologies, and the resulting growth rates have…

Tech sell off weighs on ASX, Challenger downgrades earnings, Latitude finally lists The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) moved further from a record close as a weak global lead and a bevy of early earnings updates sent the market 0.7% lower. The only highlight was the telecommunications sector which added 0.2%, with IT and healthcare falling over 1% each as…

ASX struggles to another record, Sims upgrades guidance, lithium giants to merge The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) struggled to another record close, finishing just three points higher as a sell off in the energy sector, down -1.4%, offset gains in the mining sector, +0.8%. The news of the day was the planned merger between Australia’s pureplay lithium miners, Orocobre (ASX:ORE) and Galaxy (ASX:GXY),…

This week we reviewed the ARK Invest Space Exploration and Innovation ETF. Despite only being in operation for a short time in financial market terms, ARK Invest may well be one of the most well known names in the ETF sector today. Run by the incredible Dr Cathie Wood, the group is reported to have…

Smartpay: A push on digital payments Executive Summary: Despite the potential risks, Smartpay appears to be executing well on its Australian expansion evidenced by its continued growth in active terminals and acquiring revenue. I think this upwards trajectory is likely to remain as small businesses continue to seek a lower cost EFTPOS solution with enhanced…

Rough day but positive finish, tech leads the way, iron ore’s new high, AMP’s new low The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) managed a small gain despite a volatile day on markets, finishing 0.1% higher on Friday taking the weekly gain to 1%. Once again, the tech sector is leading the way, jumping 4.4% over the week as it appears inflation…