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Monday, 21 October 2019
Recently trending Bulls, bonds and brain damageThree strategies for retirees to spend their superFive important lessons on investing for income Elizabeth Bryan and Chris Cuffe on how good boards workDon’t expect too much from the Retirement Income Review
At a time when value investing is under attack, a reminder that Benjamin Graham heavily influenced Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and they have built his ideas into broad investing strategies.
Investors underestimate the power of network effects, which increase the lifetime value of users and deliver high incremental margins with fixed operating costs. It's worth trawling the market for strong network effects.
It is better for management and regulatory bodies to work together to preserve the innovative engines of Facebook and Google, not impose painful government intervention.
How does a small company fund manager identify customer loyalty, pricing power and network effects in a niche business trading at a high valuation, especially when so much value is in the future.
Although some domestic cyclical companies currently offer value, the attraction of offshore growth is a key factor for investors, including strong Australian companies with global aspirations.
Most S&P500 companies are doing well with recent reported earnings above expectations. In the tech sector, the Big Five (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Alphabet) have also diversified their income sources.
Read in their simplest form, it's surprising what rights people give up when they sign into any of the social media sites, and this year's Boyer Lectures highlight where society and social media are headed.
The claims that the leading tech companies are expensive overlooks the sustainable and growing earnings, plus they have new developments which have only scratched the surface.
Facebook, Google and Amazon seem already entrenched in our lives, but with the information they know about their users, their ability to target advertising and products has only touched the surface of change.
Facebook has changed the way we communicate, but more importantly, it knows our viewing and spending habits and can turn this into massive revenues.
The good news about negative media articles is that a story only needs to become slightly more positive to create an investment opportunity. Just look at Facebook and a bad news day.
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.
Markets are overlooking the obvious risks as traders pass the parcel to the next buyer. Even central bankers believe: “There is something vaguely troubling when the unthinkable becomes routine.”
Many retirees simply drawdown the minimum amount allowed under the pension rules. While their money may last longer than using other strategies, is a frugal lifestyle the best way to live in later years?
The search for income and cash flow by people relying on their investments has never been more difficult, so it's worth understanding both the opportunities and the overall context.
Two of Australia's most experienced and successful chairs explain what makes a good board, what to watch for in bad ones, with advice for aspiring board members: understand first what motivates you.
Expectations are already high for what the Retirement Income Review will deliver, but it will make no formal recommendations, and the 'fact base' it establishes will be disputed by other experts.
Investors should not assume all property leases are the same, and long WALE funds have the advantages of tenant quality and term, plus look for the highly-desirable 'triple net leases'.
Specially-selected collections of the best articles
Accredited CPD hours reading Firstlinks
Firstlinks articles are collected in Pandora, Australia's national archive.