Insightful Insights

TPG Telecom Limited (ASX: TPM) has been sold off sharply over the past few days presumably post the Government’s response to the Vertigan Panel’s review of the National Broadband Network & telecommunications industry which you can find here.

The report contains a lot of material, an analysis of which could extend for several pages, so below we attempt a more concise review of some of the changes and their potential implications for TPG as we currently see them. continue…

by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Insightful Insights, Investing Education, Technology & Telecommunications.

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The Sydney Morning Herald today reported, what appears to be shocking behaviour, by Woolworths (ASX:WOW) and suggests the company is really feeling the pressure at the moment. If the allegations reported by Fairfax are correct, one must wonder how the methods are any different to the stand-over tactics employed by the gangsters of the 50’s and 60’s.  It certainly doesn’t seem to be the behaviour of responsible corporate citizens, rewarded with millions in salaries and bonuses. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights.

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We have watched the share price fall in Sirtex Medical over the past week with some interest, and whilst we don’t take our cues from price action alone, we did a fair amount on enquiry as to what had spooked investors over such a short space of time. continue…

by Russell Muldoon Posted in Health Care, Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

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Australia is now facing a commodity bust and the outlook is for lower growth and pressure on public finances with the budget deficit for Fiscal 2015 blowing out to $40 billion. Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar has declined from US$1.05 to $0.82 in the past twenty months and a low of US$0.75 is on the cards. continue…

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

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Commsday ran a test of the various major mobile networks to see which performed best in various environments on their shiny new 4G services. A full copy of the report can be found here.

Telstra took first place with solid results across the board. This wasn’t unexpected result, Telstra owns the most and highest quality mobile spectrum as well as the most expansive network of wireless infrastructure in the country.

Optus was second, whilst Vodafone was third having been weighed down by poor results when the mobiles were streaming from Youtube. continue…

by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights, Technology & Telecommunications.

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No doubt you’re starting to thinking about puddings for Christmas Day, last minute gift buying, present wrapping and packing for the annual holiday.  But spare a thought for the plunging price of oil. There’s a couple of things you need to know, beyond giving the petrol station attendant a smile because fuel is only costing $1.20/litre.

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by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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Like many things in financial markets, exchange rate movements are very difficult to predict. At Montgomery, we don’t claim to possess unique insight into future exchange rates, and so they typically don’t play much of a role in our investment process.

Having said that, in recent years it has seemed to us – as well as many others, including Glenn Stevens – that the $A was at levels that would be difficult to sustain long term, and in structuring our portfolios we have tended to look a little more kindly on high quality businesses that generate significant revenues offshore. continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Insightful Insights.

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As you know we cannot predict where share prices are going next week, next month or next quarter. Valuing a business is simply not the same as predicting its price. What we do know however, is that over the long run, the price of a company’s shares will follow the economic performance of that business. ARB fell 40 per cent or more during the GFC, but its shares have increased almost four-fold over eleven or twelve years. It’s a similar story for CBA. Its shares also slumped during the GFC, but step back and the true picture of performance appears. Our estimate of CBA’s intrinsic value and the company’s share price have tripled over a decade. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Consumer discretionary, Insightful Insights.

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A key requirement to generating long-term returns is minimising losses, or what we like to call avoiding the landmines. As the latest results demonstrate, The Montgomery Fund has done a superb job at navigating the minefield that was 2014.

There was a clear divergence in the sectoral performances of the S&P/ASX 200 in 2014. Let’s first examine the sectors that are trading below the levels from the start of the year. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

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There have been volatile times recently on the ASX. With prices for oil, iron ore and coal falling sharply, the mood in the resources sector has turned decidedly sour. Further, the negative mood seems to have been adopted more broadly by the market, with a wide range of stocks showing meaningful price declines. continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Insightful Insights, Investing Education, Market Valuation, Value.able.

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