Investing can be scary and confusing at times. But the basic principles of successful investing are timeless and quotes from some experts help illuminate these. This note looks at those I find most insightful. Download pdf Aim “How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?” Robert […]
The past few weeks has seen several predictions of a share market crash by some perennial high profile bears. The broad claim is that share markets – namely US shares – have disconnected from fundamentals and that the Fed is to blame for a poor recovery and/or doesn’t know what it is doing. And of […]
Two years ago some (mainly foreign) commentators were convinced Australian housing was in a bubble that was in the process of collapsing as the China driven mining boom faded. Instead, lower interest rates have led to the usual response of rising house prices & approvals for new homes. But has it gone too far, taking […]
The increasingly complex nature of investment markets leads many to adopt simple rules of thumb often based on common sense, when making investment decisions. Unfortunately though, the forward looking nature of investment markets means such approaches often cause investors to miss out on opportunities at best or lose money at worst. This note reviews some […]
It seems there is always something for investors to worry about and right now the crisis involving Ukraine is it. Following its latest “revolution” tensions in Ukraine threatening a war on the European Union’s doorstep, which could disrupt Eurozone gas supplies and possibly drag in the US and Europe against Russia, investors have been rattled […]
One of the big swings in thinking around investment management relates to the perceived importance of asset allocation, ie the relative exposure to asset classes like global shares, Asian shares, Australian shares, bonds, unlisted property and cash. Through the long strong secular bull market that went from 1982 through to 2000 (or up to 2007 […]
February seemed full of bad news in Australia with layoffs coming from various companies including Toyota, Alcoa and Qantas, unemployment rising to 6% and very poor business investment intentions. And yet, the share market rose 4.2% last month and has had two good years and December quarter GDP growth even perked up a bit. So […]
The problems with the US economy are well known. Its level of public debt is too high, its spending on social security and health is unsustainable, its health system is woefully inefficient – spending more relative to GDP than most OECD countries but with worse life expectancy – its level of savings is too low, […]
China bears have always been around. At their core seems a disbelief a so called “communist” country could grow so fast. But with China now being the world’s second biggest economy and the largest contributor to global growth their concerns get a lot of airplay. Last year it seemed “ghost cities” were the big worry. […]
Sometimes being at one with a crowd can be nice, eg at rock concerts it adds to the ambience and safety in numbers can provide comfort. However, when crowds turn they can be dangerous – you might get trampled! In fact a wariness of crowds is essential to successful investing. The Japanese bubble of the […]
