Global

While markets have so far shrugged off the inevitable rate rises, there’s plenty more to come – and the global outlook keeps getting gloomier. The Federal Reserve’s decision to unleash massive monetary stimulus in the early days of Covid-19 (and in nearly every economic crisis before it) ushered in a brief golden age for markets….

The Chinese property giant is in trouble again, which is no surprise to those who have followed the Evergrande saga. The company was being kept alive by a government rescue operation since it officially defaulted last year, having not paid US$22 billion in bond repayments. This time, Evergrande says it will miss the due date…

Microsoft’s acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard has turned a lot of heads. While Blizzard makes many famous video games – Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft – the firm has been declining for years. Headlines have focussed on sexual harassment within the firm. Yet Blizzard’s problems extend beyond culture. Thanks to what…

The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price has dipped 4.6% today despite announcing the proposed acquisition of Turquoise Hill. Anchor your portfolio with these top 20 dividend growth ASX shares The iron price fell 6.2% overnight, leading to losses across the iron ore miners including Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). What is the offer?…

Investors are piling into the safe-haven asset following the crisis in Ukraine. Dubbed the “currency of last resort,” gold is often seen as a safe-haven asset in times of market turmoil, because it retains its value during a time of crisis. Going back in history, gold has been considered a store of value for quite…

As the crisis in Ukraine deepens with Russian troops advancing slowly on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, the war is having a huge effect on two metals: palladium and platinum. Moscow-based Nornickel is the world’s largest producer of palladium and platinum, both of which are used in catalytic converters to clean car exhaust fumes. According to ETF…

The buy-now, pay-later  (BNPL) sector was absolutely smashed in February, amid a broad-based market rout. The sell-off came on the back of a potential rate rise in March, regulatory scrutiny, war in Ukraine and the release of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes. The main reason for the brutal sell-off  in the…

Expert investment consultant Angela Ashton of Evergreen Consultants has flagged a return to traditional asset classes amid the first major armed conflict in many years. Commenting on Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, she looks at history as a guide, highlighting that “markets often sell-off in the lead up to an armed conflict but tend to…

Global asset manager, Nanuk Asset Management, which specialises in sustainability, presented its “Hydrogen or Hamburgers” webinar to investors last week. It was an interesting take on some of the confronting issues, such as the global efforts to address climate change and the realisation that technologies like solar, wind and batteries have widely become a success,…

Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG) has finally delivered a bit of good news to its shareholders after announcing a profit beat and increase in dividend in its interim result. On the back of this, the beaten-down share price is are rocketing, up 18 per cent at the time of writing. Interim net profit came in at…

To say the last quarter of 2021 was eventful would be an understatement. Quality continues to pay off for patient investors, as does traditional ‘value’ seeking behaviour. In this article, we provide a short update on some of the ASX’s most popular stocks. ANZ – Fourth largest bank, institutional banking focus 1.4% 30.8% ANZ underperformed…

Throughout the pandemic, forced lockdowns and city-wide restrictions forced the transformation of digital technology, with demand to enable greater transparency, quicker speeds and higher efficiency sped-up by several years. According to a McKinsey report, the pandemic accelerated the digitisation of the customer and supply-chain interactions by three to four years.  And one area that has…