A Finsec View – A quandary, 8 billion people, housekeeping matters, Non-Fungible Trump and More
10th February 2023Welcome to the first issue of the View for 2023. After a January sabbatical (editorially speaking), it is good to be back, and we trust all our readers had an enjoyable holiday break. This year, more than usual, it feels like a time to stocktake and check one's goals for the year ahead. Nobody hands out a card that profiles the future, and everybody needs to plan their own 2023 objectives, including financial and investment goals based on their life, their resources, their desires, [...]
Weekly Market Update – 3rd February 2023
Investment markets and key developments over the past week Global share markets rose again over the last week continuing their rally seen so far this year, helped by confirmation that central banks led by the Fed are becoming less hawkish, albeit with mixed earnings news from US tech companies. For the week US shares rose 1.6% despite a fall back on Friday in response to stronger than expected US jobs data which reignited concerns about rate hikes, Eurozone shares rose 2.1%, Japanese shares rose 0.5% but Chinese [...]
Weekly Market Update – 27th January 2023
Investment markets and key developments Global shares rose over the last week continuing their rally so far this year on signs global inflation has peaked and hopes central banks will become less hawkish and that there will be a soft landing. For the week US shares rose 2.5%, Eurozone shares rose 1.4% and Japanese shares gained 3.1%. Despite worse than expected CPI inflation data and increased market expectations for RBA rate hikes (with the market’s expected cash rate peak this year rising from 3.45% to 3.79%) [...]
Weekly Market Update – 20th January 2023
Investment markets and key developments After rising solidly in the first two weeks of the year, US and European share markets pulled back over the last week on the back of recession and earnings worries and hawkish ECB comments. Falls were curtailed by a strong rally on Friday though helped by more optimistic Fed comments with US shares ending down 0.7% for the week and Eurozone shares down 0.5%. Japanese shares rose 1.7% though and Chinese shares rose 2.6%. And the Australian share market rose 1.7%, [...]
Weekly Market Update – 13th January 2023
Investment markets and key developments over the past weekSharemarkets have started the year on a strong footing after a disappointing December, because of the easing in China’s Covid restrictions which will boost global growth, further signs of a deceleration in inflation and expectations of a slowing in central bank rate hikes. US shares were 2.3% higher over the week (with gains across all sectors except health care and consumer staples), Eurozone shares lifted by 2.7%, Japanese shares rose by 1.8%, Chinese stocks were up by 0.2% and Australian [...]
A Finsec View – The 2022 Wrap and 2023 Outlook
16th December 2022 'Tis the season when the world's strategists, economists and analysts gaze into their crystal balls and make predictions for the year ahead. And on the surface, at least, it looks like a pretty 'meh' year ahead, with both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley tipping the S&P 500 - the key benchmark for global share market sentiment - will finish 2023 either flat or slightly lower than 2022. But dig a little deeper, and the next 12 months (much like 2022) looks anything [...]
A Finsec View – 5 seismic shifts, Kaizen, The Dunning-Kruger effect, Director ID update and more
2nd December 2022 "Sorry" probably isn't the usual rhetoric to feature amongst the barbs traded in Parliament House. But, when Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe appeared before the senate economics committee on Monday, it was mea culpa all the way. It seemed a classic political move when Greens Treasury spokesman Nick McKim asked Lowe whether borrowers who had been "induced" into taking out mortgages based on the central bank's guidance were owed an apology. Surprisingly, it was not just one sorry, but three! "I'm certainly sorry if [...]
Weekly Market Update – 25th November 2022
Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets resumed their rally over the last week helped by further signs of a slowing in rate hikes from the Fed and a decline in bond yields. While the latter may partly reflect recession fears, lower bond yields also make shares more attractive from a valuation perspective. Reflecting this, US, Eurozone and Japanese shares rose for the week, but Chinese shares fell on Covid lockdown worries. The positive global lead saw Australian shares rise around 1.6% to [...]