Thoughts on money, from a Financial Planner in Perth
Here is a 6 minute update on where the Australian sharemarket currently stands, including a brief discussion of the major issues currently impacting on share prices. httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HJ8ZKfQp48 Australia’s sharemarket is scaring people There is a lot of fear and misinformation out in the marketplace at the moment. A good deal of it appears to me … 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
The Reserve Bank today released the minutes of its Monetary Policy Meeting held on the 5th April. You may recall that the end result of that meeting was that rates were left alone, much to the relief of borrowers around Australia. The commentary was interesting, even if only for the suggestion that interest rates were … Read more
The RBA has increased interest rates by another 0.25%. Most people won’t notice for a while, as they are still busy enjoying Melbourne Cup luncheons and the like. It is an interesting move, this one. Obviously, any move of rates is a keenly watched event – much like the 150 year old horse race – … Read more
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 … Read more
i don’t know about you but at this time of the year i don’t sleep all that much. A financial planner looks at the end of the financial year as a one-way farm gate – if you don’t get all of your clients’ assets and details through that gate then there are opportunities that are irretrievably … Read more
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 … Read more
An interesting news feed passed across my screen this morning (courtesy RWE AusBusiness News; via Coretrading market software). It seems that wages in the three months to February grew by 1.1%. Frankly, even i yawned at that. However, the year-on-year figures are where the real interest begins. It seems that in the year to February, AWOTE … Read more
Why is the Australian sharemarket down 29% from its 1 November 2007 high point when the United States S&P 500 index is only down 26%? Is the United States economy doing better over that time period than that of Australia? Looked at another way, why is Australia’s market up only 56% from its 10th March … Read more