Any real estate agent worth their salt would tell you there has never been a better time to buy, or sell.
So CBD was pleased to see that News Corp veteran and former Foxtel boss, Richard Freudenstein, became a shareholder of Realestate.com.au (REA) last week.
And it was no half-hearted measure, Freudenstein picked up 1470 shares for just over $100,000.
We know this because, as a director of REA, he has to declare any shareholding interests.
And he did not have any despite joining the board in November 2006 – that's right, more than a decade ago. This includes five years as REA's chairman.
To give you an idea of how things have changed since joining all those years ago, those 1470 shares would have cost Freudenstein something like $6600.
So, we can assume that Freudenstein does not believe in all that talk of a property bubble.
CBD tried getting word from REA about what led Freudenstein to this decision, but there was no response.
It's not like he has to worry about appeasing the retail shareholders – he is still a nominee of major shareholder News Corp. That was made clear when he stepped down as Foxtel boss last year.
"News Corp is now the world's largest player in digital real estate and Richard has been integral to our domestic and international growth," said News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, when Freudenstein resigned from Foxtel last year.
"His leadership and guidance were pivotal in the acquisition of realtor.com in the US and I am delighted he will remain involved in this dynamic part of our business."
Maybe the break from full-time employment gave Freudenstein time to appreciate what a gem the business is. It's a pity he didn't have this epiphany when the stock was trading at $4.50 in 2006, rather than the record high of $68 which it hit this week.
Amazon, Shamazon
Ruslan Kogan's online retailer, Kogan.com, has soared in recent months to record highs and the only regrets its founder would have is that he offloaded $15 million worth of shares in last year's float at $1.80.
Ruslan Kogan, founder and CEO of retail website Kogan.com. Photo: Wayne Taylor
He could have picked up shares at $1.49 when they tanked on the day of the float.
But he did even better in December, acquiring 335,000 shares for as little as $1.40 each. This means he has doubled his money on this stock in eight months with the stock testing the $2.60 mark on Friday thanks to numerous upgrades that meant it has blown through its prospectus forecasts.
And who cares about Amazon.
"Any retailer that has a unique and compelling proposition to the customer should be seeing Amazon as an opportunity," he said.
The only question for Kogan now is what he does with the 23.5 million shares, worth more than $60 million, that come out of escrow this Monday.
His co-founder David Shafer, will also see half of his stake, roughly 9 million shares come out of escrow.
King Coal
Former Nationals leader and deputy PM, Mark Vaile, must be having a good laugh at the antics of Barnaby Joyce – given how much grief he put up with for all those years when he would happily defy his party and cross the floor.
Mark Vaile must be enjoying himself. Photo: James Brickwood
But Vaile has a few more reasons to smile, thanks to the massive turnaround from the coalminer he chairs: Whitehaven Coal.
It looked to be down for the count, like its former shareholder Nathan Tinkler, in February last year when the share price hit a low of 37.5¢. But the resurgence of coal saw its shares hit a multi-year high of $3.61 before its records earnings announcement on Thursday, taking the value of Vaile's 2 million shares above the $7 million mark.
It will be interesting to see what he, and fellow director, Tony Haggarty, get up to when the next trading window opens.
Vaile cashed in $1.5 million worth of shares in March, while Haggarty has sold more than $16 million worth of shares since last November at around $3 each. It meant Haggarty made a tidy return on the 1 million shares he picked up at 37.5c earlier that year.
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