Insights

Lion has half of the craft beer market and wants more, writes Eli Greenblat.

Billabong International chief executive Neil Fiske has vowed to make the surfwear brand "cool" again, setting out a seven-point plan to turn around the ailing retailer, which lost $860 million last year.

Lost in the fact that economists have been cutting their forecasts for next year is that they still expect growth to improve.

Investors are being well compensated for their confidence, John Collett writes.

It's the $500 billion heavyweight bout between the country's big four banks - Westpac, ANZ, NAB and the Commonwealth Bank. The prize is control of Australia's fastest-growing superannuation sector - the self-managed super funds market.

There is nothing like the Christmas holidays for sinking your teeth into a book or two that helps with the finances. From buying and selling real estate to investing in shares, there are some great reads that could also be one of those gifts to friends and family that keeps on giving.

What are the big themes that are likely to affect little companies next year? Carrying on from last week, we spoke to six small cap fund managers to get their thoughts.

Forget blandly generous Santa Claus for a second. Consider the enduring charm of popular culture's stingiest character: the monstrous Ebenezer Scrooge.

Each week, financial adviser and international best-selling author Noel Whittaker answers your questions. noelwhit@gmail.com

While the Australian share market is sitting well below its pre-financial crisis highs the broader US market, represented by the S&P 500 index, is in record territory. It moved past its pre-global financial crisis peak of 1576.09 in April and now sits in uncharted airspace inviting talk of a bubble as this week's chart, produced by Philip D'Souza of the Australian Technical Analysts Association, shows.

Another year and another 100-odd articles on the sharemarket put away. Every year I think about putting them in a book, but the last one I wrote, even though we've almost sold the 10,000-copy print run, earned me only $4 a pop, which worked out on an hourly basis to be somewhere just less than half the minimum wage.

For many people, the very mention of Christmas shopping conjures images of manic crowds on spending sprees at malls and department stores.

You can buy your loved ones something traditional for Christmas and chances are it will be swapped the next morning for something they really want, or you can get them something quirky they can keep for a decade and, hopefully, sell for a small profit.

More and more people are banking on a comfortable retirement. Quite literally, more people have their retirement savings riding on the fortunes of the big four banks and the continuing good performances of their shares.

Rates are low, super's soaring and the dollar's no longer too high.

The relatively successful debut of Brambles' document management business and Redcape's pub chain on the Australian Securities Exchange will give ammunition to company boards to push the go button on demergers and asset sales to unlock shareholder value during a period of flat income growth.