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Most read wires of the June quarter

It was an exciting quarter at Livewire; we hosted the second Livewire Live investor forum at the ASX’s Exchange Square, and we had over 1,000 wires submitted by our contributors. Financial markets have been no less interesting as they seesawed before and after the UK referendum, and in Australia, it seems a 21st Century gold rush has taken off. While markets are in a virtual blackout as fund managers and public companies alike prepare annual reports, I took this opportunity to look back at the most popular contributed wires in the June quarter. Includes wires from Bell Potter, Newgate Capital, Clime Asset Management and more.  (VIEW LINK)

Five signs of a good acquisition

Acquisitions can quite literally make or break a company. When CSL acquired Aventis Behring for $300m less than the value of its inventory, it gave the company the global scale it needed to become an industry leader and allowed significant cost savings. By contrast, Slater & Gordon paid £637m  for Quindell's professional services division, which BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Nadya Nilova valued at only £265m. For the average investor, separating the good from the bad is a challenging task. Thankfully, Daniel Mueller from Forager Funds has explained the key factors they look at when assessing an acquisition:  (VIEW LINK)

The champion stocks

Between quarterly or half-yearly company updates, 12-month price targets from brokers, and the constant market noise, it’s easy to lose a focus on the long-term. A study by Mercer in 2010 showed that out of 900 professional investment strategies; two-thirds had a higher than expected level of portfolio turnover, and some were up to 3 times higher than anticipated. Bell Potter’s Head of Research, Peter Quinton, takes a look past the 12-month price targets at ten stock with a long-term positive thematic. Comes as both a video and a written report:  (VIEW LINK)

Chart of the week

Financial markets in a state of confusion

The chart below generated quite a bit of interest this week. It shows equity prices and bond yields moving in opposite directions - traditionally when equities rally, bond yields are expected to rise.