The reporting season is starting to reveal a pretty gloomy story. The cheery assertions that everything is fine in Australia because of high employment levels is about to get a caning. The Australian economy has had some protection from the travails of the developed economies because of the resources boom, but the full impact of
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) yesterday released an interesting report (below) arguing that the US sharemarket will face considerable headwinds over coming decades as the retiring baby boomer generation shifts from buying stocks to selling equities to fund their retirement (h/t Bernard Hickey). According to the report, a key reason why the
The S&P/ASX 200 rallied strongly today alongside other risk assets, closing up 91 points or 2.18% to 4173 points. Asian markets experienced gains, with the Nikkei 225 closing up 1.22% at 8733 points, and the Hang Seng up 1.3% at 19740 points. In other risk assets, the AUD bounced back against the USD, now at
At MB, one our key reasons for being is to expose ‘the spruik’ wherever we find it. Many of the bloggers at the site have very successfully done so for the perma-bullish housing brigade that used to dominate the national media. No doubt readers have noticed the insistent call to “buy” shares over the past
Following on from Monday’s post on high-yield dividend stocks, today we take a quick look at Infomedia Ltd (IFM). Note: I haven’t done my usual job of thoroughly examining the last 5 years of financial data (time constraints of my full-time job), so I’ll be relying on equity, NPAT and assets figures from a proprietary,
The S&P/ASX 200 climbed through midday before wiping out all gains and then some, closing today down 19 points or 0.486% to 4082 points. Asian markets experienced broader losses, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 1.04% at 8628 points, and the Hang Seng down 1.37% at 19133 points. In other risk assets, the AUD slipped
It’s a slow data day today so for something a bit different here is the Global Proxy/Melbourne Institute Shareholder Confidence Survey for August. It doesn’t take Einstein to figure out that sentiment is falling but I guess some attempt to measure how far and fast is welcome. Doing so quarterly, however, isn’t terribly useful. GPS
Political economy, once considered an interesting academic aside, is now front and centre in investment thinking. Decades of ideology masquerading as economic truism have resulted in the predictable polarisation of wealth, and that is now starting to become an unavoidable fact in anticipating the direction of markets. Even the investment bank Morgan Stanley is starting
Throughout Friday, the azure blue sky above Brisbane was marred by the criss-cross pattern of contrails, as investors panicked and took the first flights to safety they could find. Gold was a popular holiday spot, whilst Equityville and Commodity City were deserted come close of business. And really, who can blame them? This graph shows
The S&P/ASX 200 closed today down 52 points or 1.26% to 4251 points. Asian markets experienced similar lossess, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 1.25% at 8943 points, and the Hang Seng down 0.5% at 20184 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the AUD slipping against the USD, now at $1.0502, WTI crude down
The RBA released the quarterly Margin Lending – D10 data tables today (XLS table), and its not a pretty picture for the Australian stock market. One of the key factors in a new bull market in stocks, just like property, is a propensity for investors to borrow more on expectation of higher earnings – alongside
Qantas’ move to develop more of a regional strategy is something worth watching. Although we are in the Asian region, and heavily export to Asia, very few big Australian companies have developed strategies into the region. One that did, AMP (Axa Asia Pacific), just sold off the juicy Asian operations and concentrated on developing its
The S&P/ASX 200 closed today up 56 points or 1.33% to 4303 points. Asian markets experienced mixed results, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 0.5% at 9057 points, and the Hang Seng closing up 0.93% at 20400 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the AUD slipping against the USD, now at $1.0468, WTI crude
The “volatility” in the market — for which read, “what the hell is going on”? — is pushing brokers inexorably in the direction of dividends and capital management. If you can’t pick the direction of the capital gain, go to the income or the capital tricks. After the odd $100 billion GFC capital raising on
Seven companies reported earnings on the ASX on the 16th of August: CFS Retail Property Trust (CFX), Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA), James Hardie (JHX), Onesteel (OST), OZ Minerals (OZL), Carsales (CRZ) and Tabcorp (TAH). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall
Five companies reported earnings on Monday on the ASX: Ansell (ANN), iiNet (IIN), Leighton (LEI), UGL and Newcrest Mining (NCM). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Ansell (ANN) Ansell, the manufacturer and distributor of healthcare protection products announced a
The global economy is entering a two speed phase, both in an economic and financial sense. The economic growth is mainly occurring in developing markets, especially China and India. The financial sophistication is still heavily concentrated in the developed markets. That is creating something of an illusion. The developed markets are clearly in a state
Five companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: Dominoes (DMP) Alumina (AWC), Aquarius Platinum (AQP), Telstra (TLS) and an update from Singapore Telecom (SGT). Further, we saw sales updates from retailers David Jones (DJS) and Harvey Norman (HVN). David Jones announced a 10% drop in sales in the fourth quarter, with a full year drop
The S&P/ASX 200 jumped on the open on overnight rallies in the US and Europe and is up 56 points or 1.35% at 4197 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing a mix of gains, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.17% at 8997 points, and the Hang Seng up 1.5% at 19896 points. Other risk assets
Markets are nothing if not volatile at the moment as last nights price action again showed. From the low yesterday after the employment number the AUD has rallied 230 pips to sit at 1.0336 as I write. The Dow finished up 423 points or 3.95% and equities and so-called risk assets generally had a much
The reporting season is in full swing, but the extreme gyrations of the market make it hardly seem to matter. What we may be witnessing is the amplification effect of algorithmic trading, which is likely to occur when anxiety increases and fewer buyers are available. This is of course impossible to know with certainty —
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped on the open, but then strongly recovered as the unemployment figures were released but is still down 20 points of 0.5% from yesterday, at 4120 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing ructions, with the Nikkei 225 down 1.2% at 8922 points, and the Hang Seng down 0.5% at 19687 points. Other
Four companies reported earnings today on the ASX: Flexigroup (FXL), Commonwealth Bank (CBA), Computershare (CPU) and Stockland (SGP). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Flexigroup (FXL) Flexigroup, a point-of-sale lease/rental finance company, announced a 27% increase in net profit
The S&P/ASX 200 jumped again on the open, and is now up over 124 points or 3% at 4158 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar big gains, with the Nikkei 225 up 1.15% at 9047 points, and the Hang Seng up further, up 3.3% at 19935 points. Other risk assets are mixed, with the
The ideological assault of the market worshipers on government is starting to have its inevitable result — extreme market uncertainty. In a system of rules, which is what a financial system is, endless denigration of the rule setters (governors and regulators) because of alleged incompetence or wicked constraint on basic liberties will always result in
Five companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: Reckon (RKN), Bradken (BKN), Cochlear (COH), Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) and an update from National Australia Bank (NAB). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. Reckon (RKN) The accounting software company posted its
The S&P/ASX 200 slumped again on the open, after absorbing one of Wall Streets biggest one day falls in history. The market is down over 168 points or 4.4% and stands at 3817 points. Other Asian markets are experiencing similar sharp losses, with the Nikkei 225 down 4.5% at 8692 points, and the Hang Seng
JB Hi Fi released its FY11 result yesterday. Given the shellacking retail has been taking in recent months, and the ongoing market ructions, we have been eagerly awaiting the results of our favourite retail stock. Sales Revenue increased 8.5% to just under $2.9 billion. Consumer electronic sales (which represent 75% of total sales) grew by
Two companies reported earnings yesterday on the ASX: JB Hi-Fi (JBH) and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank (BEN). Macrobusiness will be reporting on earnings and valuing the key companies throughout the earnings season. Remember to bookmark the overall update here. JB Hi-Fi (JBH) JBH reported a profit of $134.4 million in the 12 months ended 30
So, where is the bottom? To begin to fathom an answer, me must first understand why markets are falling. Last night’s action offers some clues. Although there is plenty of press blaming the US downgrade, it is far more than that. For starters, the downgrade has seemingly done nothing to the attractiveness of Treasuries as
