Trader Update – black boxes are running markets
Tag Archive for understanding money
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Houses
There is a raging debate flowing through academic, economic and financial markets at the moment concerning the future direction of house prices in Australia. It seems everyone has an opinion, and the stronger that opinion the less likely that any facts are going to get in the way of the argument. On one side we…
This is a time to be cautious of being cautious
There is a lot of worry and fright circulating as news and information about investment markets right now. I don’t want to downplay the potential for dire outcomes from the GFC and various government attempts to reduce its impact on their economies. However, there does need to be a little more informed comment on just…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
Charles Dickens penned these words as the start of his ‘Tale of Two Cities‘ – a stark portrayal of social, political and economic contrasts so vivid that it remains, even today, one of the biggest selling English novels. Why the literary reference? Apart from enjoying the novel immensely, the key phrase most clearly elucidates my…
10 Year Super Fund returns – Part II
A few people have read my earlier post on this subject of 10 year super fund returns and wondered just what point i was making… (thanks for the feedback Neil and others!). The post was primarily aimed at showing the average 10 year return of the average super fund (which was not much over 4%pa) and…
10 Year Superannuation Returns
The front page of the Australian Financial Review today (Friday 23rd July) suggests that ‘Balanced’ Funds “have failed to keep pace with investments such as low-risk bonds and gold over the past decade even after posting double-digit gains in the year to June“. If you move on to page 51 to read the balance of…
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Australia’s amazing job success
The May employment figures showed 36,400 new full-time jobs, and unemployment falling to 5.2%. Sometimes figures can mean nothing when taken in isolation. How about considering the fact that data from the United States suggests private employment rose there rose by only 41,000 in May? That is an amazing result – especially when you consider…
Understanding the Unknown
Why do markets go up? Why do markets go down? What impact do changes have on expectations for the future? Will gold move above $2,000 an ounce? Will Greece default on its sovereign debt? Will the Chinese property market bubble burst? There are so many unknowns in the world today that the arena of investment…
