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If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ve seen the script: The Middle East is a tinderbox, the Strait of Hormuz is a “no-go” zone, and $120 oil is an inevitability according to JP Morgan.

But if you look at the facts and the data, the story falls apart.

Despite the headlines, oil is struggling to hold its gains. Why? Because the “New World Order” of energy isn’t being built in Tehran or Riyadh. It’s being built in North and South Americas and the “war” we’re watching looks more like a managed liquidation of the old guard than a global catastrophe. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Energy / Resources, Market commentary.

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Business is like a piano accordion. Sectors and individual companies expand and grow, then contract, necessarily becoming smaller than they once were. If you keep this metaphor in mind when investing, it can help you understand the business’s stage of life. 

There are exceptions, of course – those businesses that rise above the cycle of invention, adoption, scale, saturation, disruption and destruction, but they are few and far between. Most will eventually reach a natural limit to their size, and then they either sit there, churning customers for lower margins, or are disrupted, or their customers move on to the next trend. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary.

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On statewide drive with Jess Maguire, I explained that recent market volatility reflects investors reassessing some big assumptions, particularly after Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Walsh as the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair.

Many investors had been expecting lower U.S. interest rates, so the nomination caught markets off guard and forced a reversal of those bets. That led to sharp falls in gold and silver, higher bond yields, and weaker share prices. While precious metals may recover over time, I see the bigger influence on sharemarkets as the gradual unwinding of the artificial intelligence (AI) trade. For Australia, stronger U.S. growth can support some companies, but persistent inflation risks and policy uncertainty mean investors are becoming more cautious and re-evaluating risk.

Listen from 1:44:55 here: ABC Statewide Drive. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Global markets, Market commentary, Radio.

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I joined Jess Maguire on ABC Statewide Drive to break down what’s actually on the table ahead of the federal budget. With a large deficit, ongoing inflation and rising government spending, I said this is an important budget and a time when rumours can spread quickly. I pushed back on claims of an inheritance tax and a cash ban, noting there’s little political appetite for either, while highlighting that changes to superannuation for higher balances are already in place. We also discussed how an EV road user charge could be introduced over time as fuel excise declines. On housing, I said policy tweaks like negative gearing changes are unlikely to have much impact, with credit availability and migration remaining the key drivers. Continue…

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

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I joined ABC News to discuss the market reaction to the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Surging oil prices and concerns about supply disruptions have rattled global markets, prompting investors to reassess risks and reduce exposure to equities.

Watch here: ABC The Business. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Economics, Energy / Resources, Global markets, Manufacturing, Market commentary, TV Appearances.

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This week on ABC Statewide Drive, I spoke about how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping sharemarkets, prompting investors to reassess which business models are likely to benefit and which may face disruption.

Major technological shifts tend to reshape markets in unpredictable ways. In times like these, broad diversification and exposure to strategies that are uncorrelated to markets may help build more resilient portfolios. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Market commentary, Radio.

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Worley Limited (ASX: WOR) has spent much of the past decade trying to redefine itself. Once known primarily as a traditional engineering contractor tied to cyclical project work, the company expanded aggressively into energy services through the acquisition of Jacobs’ ECR division in 2019, just before the world turned against fossil fuels. What followed was a difficult period marked by integration challenges, weak energy markets and a sharp de-rating as investors questioned both the strategy and the sustainability of earnings. Today, that same business is being viewed through a very different lens as the importance of energy and infrastructure are being highlighted by headlines and capital allocation. Continue…

by Sean Sequeira Posted in Companies, Editor's Pick, Energy / Resources, Market commentary, Market Valuation, Stocks We Like.

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This week I join Nicola and Di for the first 2026 episode of Over The Money Fence. This series aims to help you take control of your finances with clarity and confidence.

In this episode, we take a look at the changes that are currently happening in the world, and how that could impact our finances. I explain how the tailwinds that have benefited the stock markets in the past, and have benefited the Baby Boomers and Gen X are shifting, and why that means investors may need to consider other investments. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Aura Group, Digital Asset Funds Management, Investing Education, Market commentary, Podcast Channel.

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Yesterday afternoon I joined Jess Maguire on ABC Statewide Drive to discuss how the conflict in the Middle East is affecting global markets. While headlines have focused on oil and petrol prices, we also discussed the potential impact on industries such as airlines, tourism and energy-intensive manufacturing. Continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Radio.

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April 9, last year, Donald Trump postponed his Liberation Day tariffs, fuelling a stock market rally led by artificial intelligence (AI) optimism. That optimism turned to fear this year as joy towards AI’s productivity enhancements morphed into panic about how many businesses it would destroy.

That panic reached an even higher level of urgency last week, when James van Geelen, a thematic investor and former entrepreneur who founded a healthcare company before moving into investment research on Substack, hypothesised that AI would lay waste to the entire global consumer economy, leaving generations of white-collar workers redundant. Continue…

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

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