SMSF Investment StrategiesSharing Simple Strategies for Self Managed Super Funds
Endgame
I believe 21 September 2011 is a watershed day which we will all remember in days to come. Yesterday, the US Federal Reserve announced Operation Twist which is the equivalent of a QE3 and the US stock market tanked instead of rallying hard like it did when QE1 and QE2 was announced. All the major [...]
End of the road draws nigh for Greece
On May 10, 2010, the IMF/EU announced their “shock and awe” €750bn bailout package for Greece and other troubled European countries. This bailout was equivalent to allowing Greece to do a credit card “balance transfer” to a lender who was prepared to give them a special rate on existing debt. It did not solve Greece’s [...]
Outlook for 2011
I thought I would let a month pass before I give my thoughts on 2011. At the start of the year almost everyone was in consensus that it would be bullish year. I guess the main reasons for being bullish were the improving US GDP figures and increase in retail spending especially in the final [...]
Bullish 2011 unless Day of Reckoning comes
The market commentary is rife with predictions for 2011 and the consensus call is for a bullish double digit gain in the stock market. With over $900 billion of fiscal stimulus from tax cuts and over $600 billion in monetary stimulus from QE2, this looks like a logical call especially for the US market. We [...]
My favourite information sources – Part 2
In Part 2 of this series, we continue with more of my favourite sources of fundamental information. Another book that has greatly increased our understanding of what to expect in the future is Harry Dent’s The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Debt Crisis of 2010 – 2012. He bases his predictions for [...]
My favourite information sources – Part 1
I remember first hearing about the US subprime crisis around July 2007, three years ago. At that time we had no idea of its implications – was it a small problem that would be quickly resolved or the beginning of something much bigger? As new SMSF trustees, I remember feeling very fearful about what the [...]
Three can get you two
“Debt will get you in trouble” is a strange admonition when it comes a guy who helps to lend $1 trillion of it. This was the opening line used by Bill Gross, Managing Director of PIMCO the world’s largest bond fund in his Investment Outlook for June 2010. In this issue, he talks about the [...]
All Ords at 4500 again – where to from here?
The Australian All Ords is testing 4500 again. The last time it touched this level was in February 2010 and the consensus by stock experts was “Hold your nerve, its time to jump in“. That article quoted market heavyweights like CommSec chief economist Craig James, AMP Capital Investors head of investment strategy Shane Oliver and [...]
Too interconnected to fail
The above is a beautiful graphic from The New York Times article Europe’s Web of Debt which demonstrates the European debt crisis very succinctly. As you can see European debt is highly interconnected. If one country defaults, many others in the European Union will be affected. The size of the circles and the width of [...]
Contagion has begun
Back in February 2010 when I wrote my first blog post about the Greek debt crisis, Australian financial advisers were assuring everyone that this crisis is self-contained and unlikely to spread through the global financial system. When the Greek crisis started, everyone assumed that Greece would get bailed out and that would be end of [...]
