What causes stock market crashes and bear markets?
We’ve all heard the phrase “timing is everything”, and the stock market is an obvious place where this holds true. Just look at those famous historical stock market crashes and imagine how investors would have felt at the time if they failed to recognise the signs leading toward the crash. Luckily we can now arm […]
Grexit – and the impact on the global market
This year has seen some pretty remarkable events in the global economy, and perhaps none so remarkable as Greece nearly exiting the Eurozone. After a 3 week closure of all banks in Greece, the arrival of emergency funding in July enabled the country to have their banks reopen. Greece has narrowly avoided a Grexit this […]
Four Tips for First Time Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Investors
Investing in shares is a great way to make your money earn better returns than it would sitting in your bank account. In Australia, the average yearly return is 5.5% higher from shares than it is from a savings account. However, with any gain there are always risks involved. Understanding the benefits and potential hazards […]
Market Volatility – it’s Cause and the Effect on Investors
Put simply, volatility is the up and down movement of the market. It is usually measured by any deviation from how the market is expected to perform. A common analogy is that of a ship in the ocean, come volatile weather it will be thrown about as the water swells to rise and fall beneath […]
Mechanical Investment – Removing Fear from Trading
Gary Stone advocates and personally uses, a mechanical investment approach. You will often hear him talk about it in interviews, or write about it on social media. What is mechanical investing? In Gary’s Why I’m a mechanical trader post he defined mechanical investing as: ‘…using a distinct set of well defined rules which instruct the […]
Buying ‘Low’ and Selling ‘High’
To buy low and sell high is a common market timing strategy and an age-old mantra. Investors use methods to determine where stocks and markets are peaking or at low levels. Wait too long and you’ll experience the stock’s next low. If you are too quick you might miss out on further gains. Investing in […]
Are Certain Times of the Year Better to Start Investing?
This is a common question that you’ve probably been pondering if you are new to the investing world! Learning about patterns in market activity at different times of the year can help you in forming a big picture view of the market. While it is important to understand the news and events that occur in […]
The Bulls & the Bears: Share Lingo Defined
Two of the most common terms describing our financial markets are “bullish” and “bearish.” If you’re a financial newbie, learning the lingo might seem daunting, but knowing these terms is actually a good starting point for understanding market trends over time, to help guide future investment decisions. So what is a bull or a bear […]
Take Your Super into your own hands! The Benefits of Self-Managing Super Funds
We’ve all heard the term self-managed super fund or SMSF. You may even be aware that this is the largest and fastest-growing super sector in Australia. But what is an SMSF? In simple terms, an SMSF provides a way to save for your retirement using a trust structure on behalf of the funds members. Unlike […]
Share Market for Beginners (Part 2): Analysis and Techniques
We recently shared Share Market for Beginners to give you an understanding of the basics. When deciding to invest, it can be tough to decide which shares to buy. Here are a two common ways to analyse shares. The first is called Fundamental analysis: This takes into account that you need to research the company […]