Insightful Insights

The year to June witnessed enormous variation in sharemarket returns. The Australian All Ordinaries Index recorded a miserly 1.3 per cent return, excluding dividends. The Shanghai Composite Index was easily the best performing major market with a return of 108.8 per cent. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights.

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One suspects when a blacksmith first spotted the horseless carriage driving past his workshop, had he considered it more than a fad, he might have realized his business would be disrupted. But would he have referred to the car or it’s manufacturer as a disrupter? Probably not. Disruption is the new buzzword to describe change or transition. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights.

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For a firm to grow in value, it must earn returns in excess of its cost of capital. Typically we expect that firms will achieve this by developing a competitive advantage difficult to replicate by competitors and exploiting said advantage for all it’s worth. But what if the firm has no competitive advantage? continue…

by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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We have previously warned of the perfect storm looming in Australia’s LNG market, as substantial export commitments threaten domestic supply. The ACCC has launched an inquiry into this opaque market, and the preliminary findings suggest the market has changed dramatically. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Energy / Resources, Insightful Insights.

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While gold companies generally don’t meet our quality requirements at Montgomery, I thought I would nevertheless focus on a company going through a significant transformation. Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN), led by gold entrepreneur Jake Klein, has completed two significant acquisitions in recent months. continue…

by David Buckland Posted in Energy / Resources, Insightful Insights.

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If you haven’t already seen it, this recent memo from Howard Marks at Oaktree contains some very worthwhile insight into what it takes to beat the market as an investor. 

If you follow the investing media, you’ll recognise that the first-level thinking Marks refers to is as endemic as it is useless.

continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Insightful Insights.

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In this interview with Ross Greenwood on 2GB Money News, Roger talks with Ross about the leadership changes, what conditions we need for economic growth for Australia and shares his views on supporting small business.

Click here to listen to the radio clip.

You can listen to any of Roger’s radio interviews through browsing our media library, listen to more clips here.

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights, Market commentary.

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Let’s define the term ‘competitive advantage’, what does it mean? There’s unfortunately many definitions, confusing a vital tenant of investment theory. Bruce Greenwald of Columbia University defines it as “being able to do what rivals cannot.” We can extend on this in such a way to suggest that having a competitive advantage will enable a firm to earn abnormally high returns.

Interestingly, competitive advantages when defined in this light, can both be thought of as the same as barriers to entry. continue…

by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights, Manufacturing, Market Valuation.

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Myer (ASX: MYR) recently surprised the market by pre-announcing its financial year 2015 (FY15) results and launching a deeply discounted 2 for 5 entitlement issue. While the FY15 results were roughly in line with market expectations, the greatest focus was on the company’s new strategy announcement. continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights.

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While filming our next Boardroom Breakfast, the Montgomery team had an extensive discussion about disruption. As an appetiser for our clients interested in the power of disruption in today’s shared economy, Airbnb’s latest figures are well worth a read. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Insightful Insights.

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