Insights

Contemplating shares paying extremely high dividends? Be careful.

Look out for higher interest rates in housing loans and more tinkering with super.

Banks have core capital of double the minimum requirement and recent raisings will boost this further... the recent sell off in banks stocks looks overdone.

Self-managed super funds will be able to continue to borrow to buy assets, mostly property, for the foreseeable future.

This week we look at Treasury Wine Estates, Domino's Pizza Enterprises, Regis Resources and Whitehaven Coal.

Mortgage Choice and Origin.

Overnight market action was dominated by a response to Chinese GDP, retail sales and industrial production numbers released yesterday.

Don't miss Alan Kohler's webcast on what we can learn from the Future Fund, plus we meet the bosses of renewable energy supplier Dyesol and pharmaceutical firm IDT.

Westpac's capital raising highlights the pressure on bank profits and the need now for investor scrutiny.

Some listed investment companies have been squirrelling away profits to pay dividends in a winter of lesser returns.

The New Zealand dollar and stocks are rising as a delay in a US rate hike lures investors to embrace risk.

US stocks gained for a third consecutive week and some indicators are bullish.

China's economic data will be the key macro focus for markets today. Traditionally the data has not deviated far from expectations. However, there is potential for relief if China's GDP is at least in line with expectations for 6.8% year on year growth.

After a confidence boost from US markets last night, local investors will be encouraged to push share prices higher this morning.

Impressive rallies in safe haven assets such as bonds and gold indicate further nervousness from global investors.

Local investors ran out of steam on Thursday as early trade saw the local bourse drift sideways. Most major sectors sat in black with the exception of Gold-based stocks, which surged upwards of 5 % as a sector.