Most investors would be familiar with the sorts of returns a successful stock-picker might aim to produce. Often, a fund will have an explicit target of beating the market by an amount of, say, 5 per cent per annum over rolling 5-year periods. It is interesting then to think about... Show More
The sky is not falling was the message in September 2017. Our message was that the overall market did not show excessive valuations, which generally is a precursor to stock market corrections. However, our market outlook dimmed due to recent ‘risk-on’ rally, where most of the year’s return was delivered... Show More
There seems to be a theme developing in the Australian market at the moment. We have further evidence of a cooling in the housing market, and a coincidental lift in the value of the ASX hinting that those with money to invest are avoiding the ultra-expensive, low yielding housing market,... Show More
In this Buy Hold Sell thematic discussion, the ‘two JB’s, Justin Braitling from Watermark and Julian Beaumont from Bennelong, discuss inflation, rates, and how important they are to equity markets. They finish by highlighting some sectors presenting opportunities, and some to stay clear of. Show More
Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, explains why the opening of the Stock Connect between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is good for traders and investors. He says that global investors will now get access to China’s tech sector and MSCI could finally add China to its emerging-market indices. It... Show More
Floats have got bigger and more foreign companies are listing. Show More
So you’re thinking of starting a portfolio, evaluating how your holdings have performed, or considering some portfolio spring cleaning? Show More
I spoke with Swiss financial television station Dukascopy TV about geopolitical event uncertainty, Australian AGM season and how can investors be smarter in their stock selection. Over the last 20 years, big positions in traditional Australian blue chip stocks have been rewarding for investors. BHP Billiton Limited and Rio Tinto... Show More
Long U.S stocks and short gold has been a nice trade in the past week. While I have my own reasons for the positions which I will outline at the end of the post, I often feel the markets price action is representing hope that stocks will provide the yield... Show More
One of the themes that has driven some stocks in the last 6 to 12 months has been food quality and safety in China. Stocks such as Bellamy’s (ASX: BAL) and Blackmores (ASX: BKL) have experienced extremely strong share price appreciations recently on this theme as demand from Chinese consumers... Show More
Cochlear shares took a step back this week following an underwhelming full year profit report. While the business continues to grow, the market expected more, and some scale back of FY16 expectations was required. Having looked at Cochlear recently, we think that it may be a victim of its own... Show More
When you last bought a parcel of shares, were you investing or speculating? The term speculation carries some negative connotations, evoking thoughts of risk and recklessness, and is probably not one many of us would want to identify with. It’s a distinction that often arises in financial journalism and marketing,... Show More
The Montgomery Fund originally purchased shares in Virtus Health when the company listed on the ASX in 2013. We have subsequently sold down our holding based on valuation grounds. The recent earnings downgrade and share price weakness in Virtus has prompted us to revisit the stock. In this video Portfolio... Show More
SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) this week released a trading update that contained some disappointing news. SEEK’s learning division has not performed as well as hoped in the 2H15, and SEEK now expects the 2H15 NPAT to be broadly in line with the 1H15 – some 10% short of what was... Show More
We have often discussed market power as a driver of competitive advantage. Last week a major player in the travel industry launched a campaign to assert dominance, which, if successful, could have profound implications for Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) and Webjet (ASX: WEB). Show More
Another bizarre tale from the Chinese stock market... "Alex Wallis, one of my best comrades and earliest supporters has alerted me to this stock after tweeting to the world https://twitter.com/amwal87, it is up 3081% (Thats 4873315% annualized!!) since February. It is ironically a simple plastic umbrella designer and manufacturer, called... Show More
The battle for GrainCorp seems to be over, with Treasurer Joe Hockey blocking the sale of the grain handler to US company Archer Dennis Midlands. The Treasurer called an early morning press conference in Sydney on Friday to say the bid was one of the most complex cases to come... Show More
Asian investors are aggressively short mining services. Charlie Aitken from Bell Potter has returned from a three day Asian roadshow where he met with a number of funds and family offices (managing more than a trillion in assets). He says the investors were universally bearish to outright aggressively short on... Show More
Roger Montgomery provides a balanced view on the Dick Smith IPO. Under Anchorage Capital control, the business has boosted NPAT from $7m in 2013 (an abnormal year given heavy restructuring) to a forecast NPAT of $40m. This suggests to us that a proposed $520m market cap upon listing is not... Show More