FDC Consolidated Holdings Limited (ASX: FDC), a major Australian construction, fit-out, and building services company, has had an auspicious beginning as a public company after listing for $3.00 per share on the ASX on 13 July 2026. FDC reported a 13 per cent increase in revenue for the year to June 2026 to $1.69 billion, whilst underlying Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (excluding listing costs) rose 18 per cent to $96.5 million. Continue…

by David Buckland Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Small Caps, Stocks We Like.

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SkinKandy (ASX: SK1) is Australia and New Zealand’s self-proclaimed leading specialty piercing and body jewellery retailer. Operating a ‘service-led retail model,’ the company delivers over 60 distinct types of professional body and ear piercings alongside a range of high-margin jewellery and specialised aftercare products. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Editor's Pick, Feature Article, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Small Caps, Stocks We Like.

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Supermarket giant Coles Group released its FY26 full-year earnings this week, delivering metrics that were modestly ahead of market expectations.

Despite persistent cost-of-living pressures facing Australian households, the company reported solid execution, robust supermarket growth, and strong efficiency measures.

Initial market excitement, however, is being tempered by an elevated capital expenditure outlook and a softer-than-expected early trading update for FY27.

Consequently, investors will weigh the solid historical performance against near-term cash-flow headwinds and competitive threats. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Consumer discretionary, Editor's Pick, Feature Article, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Popular.

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At a conference in October 1975 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, UK, Margaret Thatcher critiqued socialism.  Despite her insights 51 years ago, left-leaning leaders today still try and fail to make socialism work.

From Canada under Justin Trudeau, and New Zealand under Jacinda Ardern, to the U.K under Keir Starmer, and even the U.S. under Biden, nations have elected officials to enact ideological promises with disastrous fiscal, economic and social consequences.

While no one’s policies are perfect and many were flawed, let Margaret Thatcher’s criticism of the socialist agenda 51 years ago be a reminder to our voters today that we can’t tax our way to prosperity.  Prosperity requires financial discipline, enterprise, affordable energy, productivity, and investment. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary.

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In this video, I discuss Computershare (ASX: CPU), a global provider of share registry and shareholder administration services, and why it caught our attention during the year. I explain how the company’s decision to sell lower-returning businesses and refocus on its core operations has improved the quality of the business, while a significant fall in the share price presented a more attractive valuation. Together, these factors led us to establish a position in Computershare. Continue…

by Sean Sequeira Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Feature Article, Financial Services, Insightful Insights, Manufacturing, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Stocks We Like, Video Insights.

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Australia’s housing crisis has reached a tipping point, but listening to the federal government, you’d be forgiven for thinking everything is running smoothly and under control!

2026 would have to be the first year the budget is still in the headlines three months after it was delivered. And that’s because it is proving to be an unmitigated disaster for the economy, investors, and homeowners, and now renters.

At the centre of the latest policy storm is the Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil’s insistence – backed by Treasury ‘modelling’ – that recent tax adjustments impacting property investors will lead to a mere $2-a-week rent increase.

As an aside, we have to remember the almost universal failure of all modelling Labor has relied on, from electricity bill reductions of $275 by 2025 to house prices rising by a gentle two per cent. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Property.

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Well into the penultimate quarter of the calendar year, institutional and private investors face the paradox that record infrastructure capital expenditure, particularly by AI hyperscalers, coexists with heightened geopolitical risk, sticky inflation, and an apparent structural shift to the relationship between equities and bonds.

And if institutions are changing their asset allocations to reflect these shifts, should private investors do the same? Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Editor's Pick, Feature Article, Insightful Insights, Investing Education.

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If you haven’t noticed already, allow me to point out that investment discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) frequently devolve into almost insulting debates between AI evangelists, who cite massive total addressable markets (TAM) and explosive user growth, and sceptics, pointing to trillions of dollars in capital expenditure (capex), a buildout based on speculation, exorbitant compute costs, and an unclear path to profitability.

Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern professor and widely respected value investor, believes this debate has largely gone off the rails, noting in a recent post, “The debate about AI, in my view, has gone off the track with advocates and sceptics often talking past each other”. Optimists cherry-pick usage metrics, while pessimists focus on heavy spending, with both sides ignoring the rigorous business analysis that needs to take place in the middle. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Manufacturing, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Technology & Telecommunications.

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