Thoughts on money, from a Financial Planner in Perth
A look at world economics, from the point of view of an investor. The aim of this area is to interpret the continuous barrage of data, sales pitches and propoganda and bring it into a form that is actually useful to investors.
It’s fascinating how our minds work. Place a keyword in front of your eyes, and your mind will immediately prepare your thinking for whatever it assumes will follow. Hence the title of this post. We have all heard the schoolyard trick of asking a person a series of easy questions, followed by one with the … Read more
It has been an eventful couple of weeks. Time is short at the moment, so todays’ post will make comments without directing you to a lot of the underlying data. In other words, we are going to mainly consider my thoughts and judgements as opposed to facts and analysis. There is an enormous level … Read more
Market Strategy Update – Carbon Tax Details of the long awaited Labor/Greens carbon tax have arrived. As Australia embarks on this course, not necessarily shared at the present time by major trading partners and competing economies in south-east Asia, the cause and effect implications are extremely complex for business, employment and households alike. … Read more
Everyone has most likely heard enough about the European Union and their problems with the debt loads of Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece. There has certainly been enough in the news over the past year. i have posted a comment or two on the issue to try to provide a little more balance on the … Read more
Isn’t it great when someone actually gets around to doing something that you’ve been nagging friends and family about? You know, when Great Idea No 726 actually comes to life? Well, here is my example… The New York Times has being doing its patriotic duty, and following the trials and tribulations of US politicians trying … Read more
Sometimes it seems like the whole world is holding its breath. That is about where we are at right now in financial circles. The major currency and debt markets are hushed in tension as they await the outcome of the standoff between the IMF, ECU Central Bank, Germany, the Greek government and the population of … Read more
Yes, that’s right. You heard all about it here first. The good news of the day is the successful launch of Fosters’ wine business as a company of its own – Treasury Wine Estates. I for one, intend to celebrate that with a lovely glass of red at the earliest convenience. And while i’m at … Read more
When is inflation not inflation? A rather rhetorical question for a Friday, to be sure. However, this particular pondering has been brought on by one of WSP’s business partners – John – who has been looking at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA’s) recent attempts to keep inflation under control. John’s comments are that big … Read more
For those devoid of quality literature or just lacking a real life, take a look at page 6 of the Australian Financial Review (the good ol’ AFR) for today. Tucked away in the corner you will see a tiny little article looking something like this… For the past year or so i have spoken with many people … Read more
Much has been made over the last year on the relative merits of a “mining tax”, which has also been called a “super profits” tax. Very learned folk have invested a lot of time and energy into looking at Australia’s economy and trying to work out how to better spread around the benefits of the … Read more