Insightful Insights

Veda Group Limited (VED) is one of the more successful IPO’s we have participated in recently. Listing in early December 2013 at $1.25 the stock went on to subsequently double in price hitting a high of $2.55 just a few months later.

Adding to this success was the exceptional 2014 full year results that came in ahead of the prospectus guidance, producing one of the best reports over the August reporting season. continue…

by Russell Muldoon Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights, Market Valuation.

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It’s a bloody disgrace! It’s un-Australian and it’s nothing more than stealing from your own neighbour.

Finally, The Australian Financial Review, who received 28,000 pages of leaked tax information, forwarded it to ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan. The information reveals how 343 local and foreign companies used accounting firm PwC to slash their tax bills through total swap returns, royalty payments, hybrid debt structures and secret deals with tax havens like Luxembourg. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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Some times you just wake up with a clear view of our current condition. I think my friend Chris Joye, a columnist for the The Australian Financial Review and a director at YBR Funds Management, might be feeling a little like Neo did in the movie The Matrix, when he woke up to see reality for the first time.

In his article today, Why Capitalism Is Not Doing Its Job, Chris makes the observation:

“There is absolutely a role for governments to vouchsafe a minimum level of liquidity when markets temporarily shut tight in crises. I argued this in March 2008 apropos the securitisation market, which the government ended up (very) profitably supporting with $15 billion. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Value.able.

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I sat next to David Murray AO, Chairman of the Financial Services Inquiry (FSI), at a breakfast meeting yesterday and I understand his final report is scheduled for presentation to Treasurer Hockey before the end of the month.

David is a quiet and very thoughtful guy and with a chuckle he said, “I have been trying to leak the recommendations of the FSI but no one seems to be listening”. continue…

by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Value.able.

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For those of you looking for some relief from the trails and tribulations of investing; we had to laugh when we read this excerpt from the transcript of a conference call between analysts and Cliffs Natural Resources Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lourenço Gonçalves. 
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. is a higher-cost iron ore producer in North America.

There’s no question about the humorous value in this dialogue. However, the question that remains is whether analysts are less likely to put a negative rating on a stock following such interactions. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights, Value.able.

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SARS, bird flu and swine flu had a material impact on global financial markets, yet the long-term impact on economies and businesses was relatively minor. Even though there is a precedent of pandemics passing relatively quickly (this is not to downplay the value of lives that were lost), it is unsurprising to see the volatile response of financial markets to the Ebola outbreak. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Insightful Insights.

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What is an Exabyte, exactly? It’s 1 million terabytes or, if you’d prefer; 1 billion gigabytes. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australians have downloaded nearly 1 exabyte of data in just three months from April to the end of June 2014. continue…

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

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Hot on the heels of data showing GDP in China is growing at its slowest rates since the GFC, the Chinese property industry displayed signs of continuing deceleration. Housing sales have declined 10.8 per cent by value from a year earlier in the first nine months of 2014, and average city home prices declined 1.3 per cent in September – the first fall in nearly two years. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights, Property.

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Amongst the doom and gloom in some sectors, one business that has reported strong figures and is held by Montgomery Investment Management is Burson Group Limited (ASX: BAP). The stock has done well since its listing in early 2014. continue…

by Scott Shuttleworth Posted in Insightful Insights.

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Nearly five years ago – in January 2010 – the five-year bank bill swap rate was 5.915 per cent. Westpac was offering five-year term deposits at 8 per cent for sums from $5,000 to $5 million with interest paid annually. The Commonwealth Bank and the NAB were paying 6.75 per cent for sums up to $500,000, while Bankwest offered 7.1 per cent. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Financial Services, Insightful Insights.

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