Understanding how the cycle is progressing has been especially difficult in the post-GFC years. The apparent impotence of monetary policy via its traditional credit (and inflation) creation channel contrasts with the relative strength of labour employment. Yet monetary policy has become much more important for markets, as central banks have... Show More
Someone (maybe it was Albert Einstein) once opined that: “Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results” Show More
U.S. consumer confidence is high, unemployment is well below historical averages, while supply constraints mean that plenty of jobs are now within reach for many Americans. However, some forward indicators are showing signs of risks brewing on the horizon. Show More
January 1996. My wife was 8 months pregnant with our first child. I was a proprietary trader at Bankers Trust (had been since 1991), meaning I took macro views on interest rates and currencies. Indeed, very similar to what I do now, but with the bank’s capital rather than investors’... Show More
Excess in the Australian housing market has been widely discussed by investors and commentators for a number of years. Underpinned by cheap money, house prices have risen significantly resulting in extreme valuations (house prices are nearly 9x average incomes). Show More
I distinctly remember one investor telling me how lonely he felt undertaking the task of running his super. Alone with lots of information and no one to speak with or use as a sounding board. I’d never really thought about it until this man described the challenges of making important... Show More
2017 was a great year for well diversified investors – returns were solid (balanced super funds returned around 10%) and volatility was low. So optimism was high going into 2018 but it turned out to be anything but great for investors who saw poor returns (average balanced super funds look... Show More
In recent months, interest rates have been rising globally, exerting a downward gravitational pull on the value and price of most assets. It’s a trend that’s likely to play out for some time. Show More
Overnight, we have seen a rally for Treasuries and the biggest surge in major U.S stock indexes since March. We have seen the NASDAQ 100 gain 3.2%, the S&P500 gain 2.3%, and the NYSE Composite gain 1.88%. Across other asset classes, we have seen: Show More
For an entire generation of investors, the market has been underpinned by falling rates, increasing leverage, and relative geopolitical stability. But today all those tailwinds are becoming headwinds. Adrian Warner, Managing Director and CIO of Avenir Capital lays out the challenge ahead and a strategy to tackle it. In this fascinating... Show More
There was much fanfare on the 22nd May 1994 when millionaire Japanese dentist Akihiro Kabe and co-driver Takeshi Okano approached the start of Australia’s inaugural Cannonball run in a $750,000 Ferrari F40. At the time the most expensive new Ferrari in the world, it was about to tackle Darwin to... Show More
The trend in global interest rates appears to be upwards in the foreseeable future driven largely by the US Federal Reserve’s stated interest rate normalisation strategy. Whilst the Australian economy is growing at a slower rate than the US at present and may not be as suited to rising interest... Show More
Are you the hunter? Or the hunted? Never thought about it like that when it comes to investing? Well then you are the hunted. The hunter is patient. Very patient. Always aware. Watching, calculating. Then pouncing. Fast and lethal. When I sit down with my trading coach, it is a... Show More
With rates marching higher in the US, higher risk asset classes such as emerging market equities are seeing rising volatility. As risk reprices across the market, this will cause problems for weaker companies and countries. There’s one group in particular that faces significant challenges, explains Alex Duffy, Portfolio Manager at... Show More
Making accurate predictions is hard, especially about the future. Chris Rands, Portfolio Manager at Nikko Asset Management, says that he likes to focus on demographics when trying to forecast what people will be doing in the future. “When you try to forecast what somebody would be doing, their age is a... Show More
Chris Rands, Portfolio Manager at Nikko Asset Management, believes that rates are unlikely to rise significantly from current levels. With debt at very high levels across the world, servicing that debt would raise major challenges, which could steady the hand of central bankers. “In Australia, it’s the household sector; in the... Show More
When a young Charlie Jamieson arrived at work in London on September 11th, 2001, little did he know how much that day would affect his views on markets. At the time, he was trading US Dollar bonds from Merrill Lynch’s London office, having just left the New York office three... Show More
The global economy continues to show trending improvement in growth, especially in developed countries where we are seeing the strongest, most consistent growth since 2007. Many central banks are promising a slow but steady normalisation of interest rates. How does this impact property? Show More
I have a friend who is mildly wealthy but not gainfully employed. He has been a customer of the same bank for the past 40 years. Like me, he doesn’t own a house. Unlike me, he has been thinking about it. Show More
In this short interview, Charlie Jamieson from Jamieson Coote Bonds discusses his outlook for Australian mortgage rates, and explains the impact that the Fed is having on them. He also touches on what he expects from the RBA, and one potential driver of much tighter lending. Show More