Many in retirement are travelling comfortably, with three key factors contributing to their happiness – good physical and mental health and enough money to enjoy life.
Perhaps the assumption that markets are still anchored by predictable economic policies needs to be challenged. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, political volatility – once background noise – is potentially reshaping investment risk at a structural level.
The Inside Investor Market Update – April 15th
The S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) entered a new bear market on Monday, rallying 1.9% to take its recovery from the 23 March close to over 20%.
The rally was broad-based with:
- Travel-related business Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) up 16%
- Gold miners like Resolute (ASX: RSG) up 15%, and
- Ramsay Healthcare (ASX: RHC) climbing 5%
This has been one of the more difficult to comprehend rallies in our experience.
Shutdown’s Easing
US markets rallied overnight (Dow Jones +2.4%) following the first round of results from JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, as many European Government’s pointed towards an easing of restrictions.
This came as the IMF suggested that ‘The Great Lockdown’ would be worse than the Great Depression, expected Global GDP to shrink 3% for the quarter alone. The ASX will likely move higher again today.
Markets & Earnings
JP Morgan announced its first quarter profit had fallen 69% to $US$2.9bn, primarily due to the provisioning of a further $6.8bn in potentially bad loans; the highest since 2010.
Management expected unemployment to reach as high as 10% and have begun tightening lending standards in contrast to the Federal Reserve’s easing policy.
