Insights

As interest rates fall, the numbers on borrowing to invest add up.

We are in the middle of a fundamental cultural change as the pressure builds to work beyond age 65.

After today's unexpected $6.5 billion takeover bid for Toll Group, we look at other potential targets.

Working out tax on retirement village exit payments, simplifying two private companies and calculating stamp duty in different states.

Pressure is building for major change on retirement incomes. Which bitter pill will we be asked to swallow?

Struggling hybrid notes from other banks and better offers offshore will probably not deter local investors from NAB's new hybrid.

Demergers have performed strongly in recent decades. As BHP prepares to split from South32, we look at the reasons for their success.

Bank hybrids, international portfolios and small investors.

My opinion is that 2015 will be known as the year of volatile spirits. Markets of all types will be impacted by the nascent recovery in the US, the market's take on the Fed's take of when interest rates there should be raised, as well as the cross-currents of Eurozone QE and commodities prices. Added to all of that will be unexpected shots in the international currency wars; we've already seen numerous howitzer shells unexpectedly lobbed over the line by a number of the world's central banks.

This is the first article in a three part series. Combined, the articles explain that bonds are appropriate investments across all economic cycles. There are three different bonds that work best under different economic conditions: fixed rate, floating rate and inflation linked.

The takeover bid for Toll Holdings at a 49% premium to yesterday's closing price is a positive atmospheric. Traders will be raking over their list of potential takeover targets in search of similar opportunities.

It's been an interesting day on the Australian share market, marked by some notable volatility early on. The ASX200 index firmed after the open, before diving around 40 points, and then recovering plus some to be now trading around 5911, near the day's high.

Seven years. That's how long it's taken U.S. stocks to claw their way back from the depths of the financial crisis to a place called expensive. Companies of all sizes - small-, mid-, and large-caps - are trading well above their average historical valuations. The trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P 500 was 18.6x as of the end of January, compared to a long-term average of about 15.5x.

Given the Reserve Bank of Australia's demonstrated concern over economic growth, we (Betashares) now expect the Bank to cut the official cash rate to 1.5% p.a. by late 2015, with the next interest rate cut seeming likely next month.

While European investors fret about the possibility of a Grexit, unusual behaviour in selected local stock prices over the last week point to further gains for Australian shares. These gains may come regardless of the corporate results delivered by sixteen top two hundred companies today. Underpinning likely strength is further stability at higher prices of oil, copper and iron ore.

This week we look at Transurban, Cochlear, Computershare, Ansell and SCA Property Group.