Insightful Insights

The equity market can at times seem like a creature of fashion, if not completely bipolar. Particular investment attributes, like high rates of EPS growth or resistance to economic downturn, may attract a premium for a period of time only to fade down the track as other attributes rise to prominence in the minds of investors.

One of the more dramatic examples in recent times was the way the market’s views on gearing evolved through the GFC. Before mid-2007, companies with high gearing levels did not appear to be penalised by the market for the increased risk that comes with debt. Later, when debt became harder to refinance, gearing levels and maturity profiles became primary drivers of the market’s assessment of corporate merit. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights.

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It’s Good Food Month in Sydney so now is the time to come over to our office in Pyrmont and allow us take you to lunch at one of the fantastic restaurants in The Star complex. Uh, well, actually…no. We can’t. Why? Well unless it’s Friday – they’re closed. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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The US Government debt ceiling, according to Treasury Secretary, Lew, will be exhausted by next Friday 18 October 2013.

We believe there are four alternatives that may play out over the next week as the political infighting reaches a crescendo continue…

by David Buckland Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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An insight emerged from some research work we did recently on broker recommendations. What we did was gather historical data on investment returns for a selection of ASX300 companies, together with the “average” broker recommendation for each company over time. continue…

by Tim Kelley Posted in Insightful Insights.

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Much as we used to let our fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages, today’s customers and students now ‘Google’ it. There are many things that don’t work perfectly, but that hasn’t inhibited Google’s growth. The following picture from Statista provides a useful snapshot of Google’s footprint. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights.

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When the Republicans in The House of Representatives and the Democrats in the Senate couldn’t agree on the terms of refinancing legislation, and particularly whether Obamacare measures should be included (Republicans insisted on delaying Obamacare while Democrats held firm), the US government shut down. It has been 17 years since the last shutdown, in which all non-essential governmental operations cease receiving payments. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Insightful Insights.

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Here is an excerpt from George Soros’ (arguably the world’s most successful hedge fund manager) speech delivered last week at the Global Economic Symposium, in Kiel, Germany:

“My conceptual framework consists of universally valid generalizations; therefore its usefulness in explaining or predicting the political economy is strictly limited. But as a hedge fund manager I have used it to develop specific theories about specific situations and my performance record testifies to their usefulness. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Insightful Insights.

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RogerMontgomery.com subscribers can read our in-depth analysis of OzForex in this month’s exclusive white paper later this week.

Despite the buoyancy in the stock market over the past 12 months, we have been surprised to see so few new businesses apply for listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rising markets, maturing term deposits and low cash rates are a good recipe for companies with IPO plans. Investors, who are likely to be more open about putting their hard-earned savings to work rather than reinvesting them in low yielding term deposits, may be keen to take on a little more by investing in companies that are angling to take the IPO plunge. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights.

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Boart Longyear (ASX: BLY) owns the world’s largest fleet of drilling equipment, and in doing so has amassed considerable debt. The downturn in the mining sector brought the company perilously close to breaching its debt covenants, and while management was able to refinance the debt earlier this week, we are unconvinced that this has given the company a lot of breathing space. continue…

by Ben MacNevin Posted in Companies, Insightful Insights.

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News headlines are today fixated on the US Congress leaving itself just one day to end a budget stalemate surrounding another possible breach of the debt ceiling on Oct. 17. continue…

by Russell Muldoon Posted in Insightful Insights.

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