Insights

Investors who stick to their allocations strategy stand a better chance of hitting their targets — and avoiding heavy loss.

Weaker overseas share markets, pressure on key industrial commodities and futures indicating a fall at the Australian opening - sound familiar?

We take a look at the power of shorting, while Eureka Interactive resumes for 2016.

An ability to profit from falling share prices is paying off handsomely for selected fund managers.

VTG has some easy runs ahead and we're watching its new growth plans closely.

The hospitality equipment finance business is one of the most interesting on our income watchlist.

1. Despite all the bad news, diversification helpedInvestors were riding high in the first half of the year and it looked like we were heading for a bumper year, then it all got a bit trickier. Interestingly, markets shrugged off worries over the break-up of the European Union but the prospect of slowing Chinese economy really changed the landscape, especially in Australia. In the end, some asset classes still produced double digit returns.

The strength of this downtrend in equity markets is creating its own momentum. The size of recent market declines demands respect and is likely to make buyers cautious unless and until some signs of stability emerge.

The stock market looks like racking up its second positive day for 2016. In what has been the norm for trading so far this year, there was no particular macro catalyst for this morning's stronger opening.

The Australian share market is likely to hit its lowest level since mid-2013 after European and US traders ignored better than expected numbers out of China. Commodity markets also reversed early gains, adding weight to trading today and snuffing out the short term rally in energy shares. Australia jobs numbers will bounce around despite a timid consensus of a loss of 10,000 jobs in December.

A prosperous new year to all our subscribers!

No time to relax. SMSF trustees need to consider the risks ahead in 2016 and act now.

Watch out for these major events when investing this year.

Despite volatility, there's hope for the US market in 2016.

Letting the market's average performance guide your investing could mean missing big opportunities.