Archives for Markets - Page 8
The past couple of months have seen daily headlines about sharply rising Australian house prices. Is it good, is it bad, is it a bubble, or is it a shortage? Various talking heads at the Reserve Bank think it is a bubble that will end in tears. Their dilemma is…
We regularly hear from successful investors, and others, about greed, fear and the like. And how we should buy when others are fearful and sell when other are greedy. The following selection of quotes delves a little more deeply into the subject, and links investing to life. “An investment…
The Shanghai Containerised Freight Index (“SCFI”) measures the rate to ship containers from Shanghai to the US and Europe. For example, the rate to Northern Europe is now around USD399, per TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit), down more than 60% over the last year. It is a “companion” index to…
Just when the resource boom has collapsed. And manufacturing too. But at least the housing bubble is still going strong.I have just updated a post from February on Australia’s banking sector. I feel that a quote from Donald Horne’s 1964 book about Australia; “The Lucky Country” is apposite. He used…
This is one of the biggest bubbles in the world, in any sector. By any metric, Australian residential real estate is off the chart. We are approaching “blow off” territory. The Australian median house price to income ratio is around 7 nationally and approaching 9 in Sydney. The median house price…
There are five large listed companies in Australia. Four of them are banks and the fifth is BHP, one of the world’s largest mining companies. The financial sector amounts to around half of Australian stock market capitalisation. The vast majority of the sector is comprised of banks and “diversified” banks.…