Today
- Opinion
- Opinion
Why Australia’s No.1 hospitals business poached a supermarkets boss
Ramsay Health Care chairman David Thodey is trading in deep industry knowledge and expertise for a consultant’s mindset. Will it work?
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
$3b deal shows how BHP dusted itself off and tried again
Mike Henry was disappointed his $75 billion takeover bid for Anglo American failed. But his latest deal helps to show investors he has many other ways to play the copper bull story.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Investors are asking the wrong questions on interest rates
From the RBA to the BoJ to the Fed, the market’s obsession with interest rates will go into overdrive this week. But it may be leading investors down the wrong path.
- James Thomson
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Opinion
When politics and miners mix, investors get hurt
The last thing investors need in Australian mining is more shocks like the ban on uranium mining at Jabiluka. The industry is doing it hard enough.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
Car yards are full and dealers worry they are racing to the bottom
There’s been little economic data to offset expectations that the RBA needs to raise interest rates. A review of conditions at car dealerships caught our eye.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
CBA isn’t the only valuation puzzle for Australia’s biggest LIC
AFIC has almost $1 billion tied up in CBA stock, and is watching its eye-watering valuation closely. But it’s not CEO Mark Freeman’s only worry.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
How to end the $22b private health war
Many things have changed in the 22 years that Mark Fitzgibbon has spent at the helm of NIB. The tension between private health insurers and private hospitals isn’t one of them.
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
There’s a frightening new bubble building in China
China’s property bubble has popped, its economy is spluttering and its sharemarket is all over the place. Now there’s a new problem to watch.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Macquarie has partly reversed its ban on banking coal deals
Sentiment against part of the coal industry has softened, and Macquarie has read the tea leaves.
- Anthony Macdonald
This Month
- Opinion
- Opinion
Three ‘grown-up’ questions investors must ask themselves
It feels like a plethora of risks emerged during a wild week on world markets. One $24 trillion investor says it’s time for asset allocators to start asking hard questions.
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
ANZ boss Elliott makes big call on bonds scandal
If Shayne Elliott is right, he’ll get out of this with a docked pay-packet. If not, the bank’s succession planning and strategy could be in ruins.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
Macquarie investors will need patience as deal drought rolls on
Macquarie is well-positioned to win from the big shifts in markets – but the deal drought will delay those gains, despite a spring in the step of some bankers.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Markets are being shaken by big tech and Trump. It could get ugly
For two years, FOMO has built around artificial intelligence, the promise of a soft landing and belief in rate cuts. All of a sudden, different fears are driving stocks.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
What brokers, fund managers do when ‘mkt dead quiet’
This week is unlisted companies week. Macquarie, UBS and Citi are all parading unlisted companies or investment themes – ostensibly, in the name of research.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
How to stop mortgages becoming just for the rich and old
Jonathan Mott’s six ideas for how first home buyers could better access credit are not perfect, but they deserve attention from politicians and regulators.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Top Barrenjoey banker’s two fixes to restart IPOs
Barrenjoey co-executive chairman Guy Fowler says rethinking prospectus forecasts and some other reforms could help revive the quiet IPO market.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
Elon Musk is right. AI doubters should sell
Tesla’s first wave of growth is under severe pressure from competition and politics. But the chief executive says none of that matters.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Opinion
Rock stars happy to discuss fixes, but super isn’t the big problem
Tinkering with super allocations is one thing, but it cannot replace our desire for bolder economic and tax reform.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
Takeovers risk turning into money grabs for directors
Special exertion payments are legal, but we would argue they don’t befit a blue-chip company. Fund managers and governance experts also have concerns.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Opinion
This is what could spark the next market correction
Scepticism about how AI investment will translate into earnings is starting to build. That’s a worry given how heavily the market is invested in tech.
- Updated
- James Thomson