Investing 101

With 2021 nearly done and dusted, it’s time to reflect on ‘what was’ and perhaps reposition your portfolio for ‘what could be’. Looking back at the year, always helps paint a picture of what lies ahead. There’s a lot to celebrate both good and bad. The pandemic is largely behind us with multiple vaccines administered…

Morningstar’s monthly Best Stock ideas for December include the addition of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) but the removal of APA Group (ASX:APA). Westpac has been added because it is trading on a meaningful discount and the upside potential following recent share price weakness is appealing. The banking heavyweight recently disappointed with its guidance on net…

News this week that investment platform operator Hub 24 (ASX:HUB) had acquired SMSF service provider Class Super (ASX:CL1) marks the latest nadir in an arms race that has been going for decades. The deal is a no-brainer for Hub 24, which gains access to a business in Class that manages more data sources than almost…

“Responsible” investments in Australia continue to grow at a mammoth rate, with their popularity soaring toward $1.3 trillion in 2020. This year’s Responsible Investment Benchmark Report, published by the Responsible Investment Association of Australia (RIAA), has shown assets under management (AUM) up $298 billion, or 30 per cent, to $1.281 trillion in 2020 pulling the…

What will the world look like in 2030? It’s an interesting question. With the rapid rate of technological change that has taken place, especially during the pandemic, the picture of 2030 is hard to imagine. Most of us struggle to look ahead more than a few weeks.   Predicting the future with any level of…

It has been a difficult for years for the ASX, operationally at least, with a number of high-profile market outages impacting on trading and then the launch of their new website receiving negative feedback. Despite all the headlines the company remained remarkably resilient during the pandemic sell off, recovering short-term losses quite quickly and subsequently…

Shares in ex-market darling Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) have fallen another 14% today after downgrading guidance citing warehousing and inventory complications. Today’s share price of $8.70 is another 52-week low for the company, which now means its market valuation has tumbled by more than 65% since its high in October last year. KGN share price To put…

Shares in software company Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) have slumped further today along with the broader information technology sector. Nuix listed on the ASX last year at an offer price of $5.31 but rallied to highs of over $11 within the first month of trading. Now, at $3.37 per share, Nuix’s market valuation has tumbled more than…

A large amount of capital has moved into so called “concept stocks” in recent months, as retail investors seek to capitalise on popular ‘themes’. Before we discuss this phenomenon, we first must define a concept stock. In short, a concept stock is a company like a start-up, that is in its early conceptual stages of…

BikeExchange is the latest platform that connects people with one thing they all have in common: a love for bikes. The platform is chock-full of road bikes, mountain bikes, e-bikes, kid’s bikes, wheels, clothing, lights, and wheels. Pretty much anything that is remotely bike-related, this platform has it. It’s even an online friend-dating marketplace of…

Are investors looking at a dividend bonanza in 2021? According to Dr Don Hamson, Portfolio Manager of the Plato Australian Shares Income strategy, the drought may be coming to an end. According to one of the leading active income investors in the country, investors in the ASX 200 are looking at an improved dividend backdrop…

Could Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) be classified as a really good ASX dividend share? The most obvious answer is the dividend yield. Using the last two dividend announcements, Kogan has a fully franked dividend yield of 2.1%, or 3% including the franking credits. In the February reporting season, Kogan’s board decided to increase the dividend by 113.3% to $0.16…