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18 December 2025
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It's too easy to look at a long-term chart of rising share prices and be reassured about performance. But adjusted for inflation, many of our largest companies have gone nowhere in half a century.
Australian companies have a long and frustrating history of wasting billions of dollars of capital on overseas dreams, and institutional investors should be taking a harder line to protect their capital.
The Australian market again delivered strong returns in 2017-2018 with big sector differences, but there were large variations in global performance depending on the currency hedging strategy.
Investors are complacent and expect double-digit profit growth to continue for many years, but the market consensus for EPS growth is now in dangerous territory with more downside potential than upside.
After test matches resumed in 1993, Australia held the upper hand and peaked at the bottom of the GFC. In stock markets, South Africa is edging it in US$ terms but killing it in local currencies.
The Australian share market offers a dividend yield of about 4.2% at the moment, supported by franking credit of 1.5% to give an attractive 5.7%. The focus is on the refund of this credit.
Two years ago, I wrote an article suggesting that the odds favoured ASX shares easily outperforming residential property over the next decade. Here’s an update on where things stand today.
I’ve been comparing property and shares for decades and while both have their place, the differences are stark. When tax, costs, and liquidity are weighed, property looks less compelling than its reputation suggests.
Trump may be right on two trends: nations are shifting from aspiration to essentials and from global dependence to self-reliance, pushing capital toward security, infrastructure, and energy.
Gold has had a remarkable 2025, with the spot price likely to post its strongest return since 1971. This explores the key factors that will shape the outlook for the yellow metal next year, and long-term.
Critics like Clime's John Abernethy have questioned many aspects of defined benefit pensions for public servants. This is an attempted rebuttal, suggesting these pensions aren't the problem they're made out to be.
Aircraft constraints are holding back global air travel. Those constraints should soon ease which combined with a structural boom in travel demand could be a boon for global airport stocks.
Search is changing fast. AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are reshaping how we find information, opening new opportunities for innovation, user engagement, and future revenue growth.