A pulse check on the Australian consumer

The Australian economy, like the global economy to be fair, is muddling through. That is, despite significant increases in interest rates, higher cost of living and doing business, economic growth remains positive. Although GDP growth continues to moderate. A key part of the Australian economy is the consumer and below we discuss some indicators related … Read more

Trump policy theories cause markets to jump

In the absence of any significant economic data the market last week was consumed by Trump economic policy conspiracies. This led the equity market to fresh highs and to a significant surge in bond yields. It is hard to fathom the markets economic logic with its Trump economic policy assumptions. He won’t get anything done … Read more

Commodities insights – Grains, uranium, and natural gas

Over the past 2 years we have been very much focused on expanding our global network of investors, economists, analysts and industry experts we regularly touch base with so that we can drive better portfolio outcomes for our clients. Whilst we conduct our own independent research across all asset classes and investments, it’s important we … Read more

EFG Podcast | Beware the widowmaker trades

After a long hiatus, the EFG podcast returns as Mike and Sam catch up to talk through the big issues and talking points in financial markets right now and what to keep an eye on. Here’s a quick summary of what they talked about. Current Market ConditionsThe stock markets, especially in Australia and the U.S., … Read more

Reading between the lines on Aus jobs numbers

Last week’s Australian Labour force data was much stronger than expected but that did not stop some bank economists trying to downplay it by pointing out that a great deal of the employment increase came from government related services (Education, Health and Administration). We view these jobs as a lot more permanent than private sector … Read more

China’s bazooka stimulus & the U.S. Fed’s big rate cut

Australia’s negative gearing back in the headlines. Before we get to what is driving markets globally, it is worth highlighting that the sensitive topic of negative gearing is back doing the domestic headlines. Australians have an affinity to the housing market (often the largest component of their total wealth) and a large part of the … Read more