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I joined Phil Clark on ABC Nightlife yesterday to discuss what’s driving today’s market. Falling inflation, steady growth, and record central-bank liquidity continue to fuel this bull run. But with artificial intelligence (AI) spending soaring, returns need to justify valuations. We also discussed the rising demand for gold, with many investors viewing it as a hedge against uncertainty. Although physical gold might be nice to look at, exchange-traded options may offer more efficient exposure for investors.

Perhaps considering alternative asset classes that are uncorrelated to public markets such as private credit or arbitrage strategies may help to manage risk in these uncertain times. You can listen to the full episode here: Nightlife Finance with Roger Montgomery. Continue…

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

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The father of a field of mathematics known as fractal geometry, Benoit Mandelbrot, in his fantastic book, The (Mis)behaviour of Markets, observed that market price movements, unlike the smooth curves assumed in traditional financial models, are jagged and irregular, meaning that large price swings are more frequent than expected, and periods of high volatility can be followed by more high volatility. His work provides a more realistic framework for understanding and modeling risk, noting also that volatility in markets tends to cluster.

In my experience, I’ve observed those volatility clusters often mark turning points in markets. To be clear, not all periods of heightened volatility are turning points, but almost all turning points are accompanied by greater volatility. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Market commentary, Market Valuation.

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As investors, we have a particular interest in Australia’s condition, its desirability as a destination for living and its quality as a destination for investing. For some time now, I have feared better destinations exist elsewhere. Whether deliberate or unwitting, the government is not prioritising the betterment of the nation. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in In the Press, Property.

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Nvidia is increasingly finding itself at the centre of a growing list of round-robin style transactions between artificial intelligence (AI) players that are collectively raising the eyebrows of a variety of reputable investors and industry stalwarts, from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to famed short seller Michael Burry. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Market commentary.

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In this blog post, I (finally) take the focus off the artificial intelligence (AI) boom/bubble. Instead, I want to look at whether there are other factors investors should be considering when it comes to time to rebalance portfolios, and as 2025 concludes and 2026 commences.

First – and granted this one’s a bit of fun – the Santa Claus rally. Is there any evidence that such a thing exists? Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Global markets, Market commentary, Market Valuation.

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Yesterday on ABC Statewide Drive, I discussed how Australia’s rising unemployment rate has lifted the odds of an interest rate cut – a move that could support valuations even as the economy softens. I explained why investors shouldn’t react to monthly data but instead stay focused on quality businesses and consider diversifying into alternatives like private credit or arbitrage funds to stay balanced in a volatile market.

Listen in from 1:48:17 on ABC Statewide Drive.

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by Roger Montgomery Posted in Radio.

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In this week’s video insight I take a closer look at record stock markets, what’s driving them to new highs, and what that might mean for investors. The S&P 500 is trading at historic levels on measures such as price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, with much of the enthusiasm powered by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Companies are spending billions on cloud, semiconductors and infrastructure, while revenues are still catching up. It’s an exciting period of innovation, but also one where history reminds us markets often price in future growth well before it materialises. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Aura Group, Digital Asset Funds Management, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Video Insights.

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Fourteen years ago, in 2011, a commodity boom in iron ore saw BHP’s share price hit $40 for the first time. It was the 8^th of April 2011. There was great excitement, surrounding Australia being the ‘lucky’ country yet again. Peter Richardson, Morgan Stanley’s then global metals chief economist, put forward a strong investment case for the “crucial” steelmaking commodity.

We will see Morgan Stanley again soon.

By contrast, on April 11 that year we published a blog Will China demand Iron… or…?, where we wrote that iron ore prices would henceforth decline, ending the commodity boom and causing buoyant share prices to fall. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary.

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In this week’s video insight, I highlight the folly of buying physical gold amid the recent surge in prices. When people were lining up at Sydney’s bullion stores paying nearly $225,000 per kilo, it signalled a market nearing its peak – exponential rallies like that are rarely sustainable. Beyond timing risk, buying bullion involves steep frictional costs, with a spread of around 7 per cent between buy and sell prices. Since then, gold prices have fallen sharply, leaving many buyers facing losses. If you really want exposure to gold, I argue it’s far more efficient to buy a low-cost exchange-traded fund (ETF) rather than lining up for physical bullion. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Video Insights.

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National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) delivered its full-year 2025 (FY25) results on 6 November, posting cash earnings of $7.091 billion – essentially flat on FY24 and a touch below the market’s $7.18 billion consensus.

The share price sold off about two per cent on the day, and we believe the relatively soft trading since is due to investors focusing on two things:

1. Higher-than-expected loan impairment charges (up 14 per cent to A$833 million), driven mainly by missed payments, a handful of individual business banking exposures and some unsecured retail lending stress, and
2. Relatively flat earnings and final dividend 85 cents per share, bringing the full-year dividend per share (DPS) up one cent to 170 cents, fully franked.

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by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

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