After many years of under-investment in infrastructure, Australian governments have recently been on an infrastructure spending frenzy. Some projects have been worthwhile. Others have not. Is it time to pause and think more carefully about the way public money is spent? Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Insightful Insights.

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Australian households are far and away the most indebted among English-speaking nations. To my mind, it means the next interest rate move by the Reserve Bank will be down. If I’m right, then it may be time for investors to think about increasing their exposure to businesses that benefit from a weaker Aussie dollar. Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Editor's Pick, Market commentary.

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In this week’s video insight, Andreas discusses Codan, its share price has soared 32 per cent in the last year. So let’s take a look at four reasons why we like it.

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by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Stocks We Like, Video Insights.

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If you’ve seen recent headlines about falling property prices, you might form the impression that housing is on the verge of becoming affordable, and that owning a home is again a realistic goal for young people. But the latest data shows that the price falls in most capital cities have been modest at best. Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Property.

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What happens when pesky, disruptive upstarts take on the big incumbents in an industry? More often than not, they find themselves in a battle royale over market share. And that’s just what’s happening in the wealth management industry, where Westpac is fighting back against the likes of Netwealth, HUB24 and Praemium. Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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Westpac (ASX:WBC) has just announced that, come the end of July, it will stop lending to self-managed super funds (SMSFs) looking to invest in property. It will also not allow SMSFs to roll any existing interest only loans onto another interest only period once the existing amortisation free period runs out. What’s prompted this change? Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Editor's Pick, Financial Services.

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Although interest rates remain at historically low levels, we’ve seen a continuing increase in mortgage stress over the past two years. Today, over 30 per cent of owner-occupier borrowing households across Australia are in mortgage stress. And things could get even worse if the major banks raise their rates. Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Financial Services.

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Australia has more than 257 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas resources and 885 TCF in prospective resources.* And we’ll soon be the largest gas exporter in the world.  But, somewhat shockingly, new gas import terminals are about to be built on our east coast to cut the price of gas. I hate to be a doomsayer, but I don’t think this is going to work. Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Editor's Pick, Energy / Resources.

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Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Australia has soared over the last year. With lofty premiums being bid by many would-be suitors, it makes you wonder: is there a way for investors to profit from all this M&A action? Continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Investing Education.

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