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18 September 2025
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Welcome to the fifth episode of Inside Investing.
James Marlay, co founder of Livewire Markets, and I take you inside the investing world we experience each week. Inside Investing Episode #5 features:
Please click on the podcast, and links to the articles are listed below. All Inside Investing podcasts are available on iTunes here.
The retail stock most likely to go bust
How 25 staff deliver to 66 countries
The good news story Australia is missing
It’s a super Royal Commission, but what can it achieve?
IPOs, information asymmetry and house prices
Amazon: Lessons from the US for Australian retail
The content on Livewire complements Cuffelinks as it has a greater focus on stock picking, often sharing the ideas of prominent fund managers in an entertaining video format. Livewire publishes each day and for those of you managing your own portfolios, it can give new investment ideas and thoughts to start the day. For Cuffelinks readers not familiar with Livewire, I recommend visiting their website and registering for the daily newsletter.
In Episode #6, we discuss the Future Fund versus SMSFs, Telstra's prospects, Geoff Wilson's outlook, ETF trends, LIC reporting and the business case for the stadium rebuilds.
Episode 4 focusses on the revival in retail stocks, goals based investing, global LICs, the Australian housing market, short selling, those pesky bikes on our streets and a practical use for Bitcoin.
Episode 3 focusses on the small cap rally, how to recognise good startups, Bitcoin, retirement spending, tourism, a new product misrepresenting its features and a Chris Cuffe classic from our archives.
Australia could unlock smarter investment and greater equity by reforming housing tax concessions. Rethinking exemptions on the family home could benefit most Australians, especially renters and owners of modest homes.
The creator of the 4% rule for retirement withdrawals, Bill Bengen, has written a new book outlining fresh strategies to outlive your money, including holding fewer stocks in early retirement before increasing allocations.
This AI cycle feels less like a revolution and more like a rerun. Just like fibre in 2000, shale in 2014, and cannabis in 2019, the technology or product is real but the capital cycle will be brutal. Investors beware.
An explosion in low-skilled migration to Australia has depressed wages, killed productivity, and cut rental vacancy rates to near decades-lows. It’s time both sides of politics addressed the issue.
Are franking credits factored into share prices? The data suggests they're probably not, and there are certain types of stocks that offer higher franking credits as well as the prospect for higher returns.
LICs are continuing to struggle with large discounts and frustrated investors are wondering whether it’s worth holding onto them. This explains why the next 6-12 months will be make or break for many LICs.
Super and housing dwarf every other asset class in Australia, and they’ve both become too big to fail. Can they continue to grow at current rates, and if so, what are the implications for the economy, work and markets?
With rising home prices and falling affordability, political leaders preach reform. But asset disclosures show many are heavily invested in property - raising doubts about whose interests housing policy really protects.
Retiring with debt may have advantages. Maintaining a mortgage on the family home can provide a line of credit in retirement for flexibility, extra income, and a DIY reverse mortgage strategy.
The ASX is shrinking not by accident, but by design. A governance model that rewards detachment over ownership is driving capital into private hands and weakening public markets.
The AI boom has sparked investor euphoria, but under the surface, US big tech is showing cracks - slowing growth, surging capex, and fading dominance signal it's time to question conventional tech optimism.
Trade is now a strategic weapon, reshaping the investment landscape. In this environment, resilient companies - those capable of absorbing shocks and defending margins - are best positioned to outperform.
The next generation of wealth creation is likely to emerge from founder influenced firms that combine scalable models with long-term alignment. Four signs can alert investors to these companies before the crowds.