Now is not the time to try and time the markets     After showing great resilience, and perhaps a degree of complacency, equity markets have fallen sharply in recent days. A relatively sudden surge of confirmation of corona virus outbreaks outside of China has been the main trigger for the correction. However, Apple's removal of previous earnings guidance and a deterioration in some leading economic indicators (such as the preliminary reading of the U.S. Purchasing Mana...

The Hunt for Dividend Income in 2020 With interest rates at historic lows and likely to stay that way for some time, retirees and other investors who depend on income from their investments are on the lookout for a decent yield. Income from all the usual sources, such as term deposits and other fixed interest investments, have slowed to trickle. Which is why many investors are turning to Australian shares for their reliable dividend income and relatively high dividend yields. The aver...

Like it or not, we live in interesting times. More than a decade after the Global Financial Crisis, the global economy is facing fresh headwinds creating uncertainty for policy makers and investors alike. This time around it's not a debt crisis, although debt levels are extremely high, but geopolitical instability. The ongoing US-China trade war and Brexit confusion in Europe have increased market uncertainty and volatility and put a spoke in the wheel of global growth. The Internatio...

What a difference a year makes. In recent months, Australian shares hit a record high, the Aussie dollar dipped to levels not seen since the GFC and interest rates were cut to historic lows. Towards the end of 2018, shares were in the doldrums and while experts agreed the Aussie dollar would go lower most tipped the next move in interest rates would be up. All of which goes to show that when it comes to predicting financial markets, the only sure thing is uncertainty. There's no avoidin...

February 2019 Review - Markets continue strong recovery
The share market recovery experienced in January picked up further pace in February with leading indices across the globe recording solid gains. Some of the notable developments for the month included: Positive sentiment stemming from the hope of a trade agreement between the US and China Global bond yields remained steady, while Australian yields fell The benign outlook for interest rates supported listed infrastructu...