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6 October 2025
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The TV streaming business has become increasingly competitive, yet Netflix has managed to grow market share and become the dominant player. Here's how it's done that, and the opportunities it has moving forwards.
To fly capital city routes such as Sydney-Melbourne, an airline needs landing slots at Sydney Airport. An extraordinary government policy prevented Rex Airlines from getting these slots and set them up to fail.
There are 75 brands owned by LVMH which operate as largely independent businesses, keeping them agile and entrepreneurial. The company’s response to the Covid pandemic was a great validation of this strength.
Australia prides itself on being an open, trading nation, but we rank a poor 106th in the world on trade system productivity. We have not digitalised, failing to set up a competitive recovery from COVID.
Many new 'disruptive' businesses are simply older-style businesses dressed up, and even if it's an attractive and ultimately profitable new space, competitors will join the party.
In Part 2 of this two-part series, Hamish discusses how the most dominant businesses of the last 50 years might struggle, faced with new threats, and even Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are worried.
Facebook, Tripadvisor and Alibaba - they’re great businesses because they require no inventory, have low capital costs, relatively few staff and their own customers generate the content.
Valuations of technology companies are driven by both external and internal factors, but it's still more art than science. There's no magic formula amid the guesswork but there are some basic principles to follow.
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.
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.
Australian housing’s 50-year boom was driven by falling rates and rising borrowing power — not rent or yield. With those drivers exhausted, future returns must reconcile with economic fundamentals. Are we ready?
Younger Australians think they’ll need $100k a year in retirement - nearly double what current retirees spend. Expectations are rising fast, but are they realistic or just another case of lifestyle inflation?
This week, I got the news that my mother has dementia. It came shortly after my father received the same diagnosis. This is a meditation on getting old and my regrets in not getting my parents’ affairs in order sooner.