Amid dazzling returns, is now the time to join the diamond hunt?
The local diamond exploration sector has lost its glitter in recent years, but there’s renewed interest in finding the dazzling stones that the ancient Greeks thought were splinters of stars that had fallen to earth. Underpinning the activity is a looming shortage of better quality stones spurred by pandemic-related supply problems and the backlash against […]
Two listed ag stocks that promise a bounteous harvest for investors
As with the miners, agricultural enterprises are driven by the whims of global commodity prices and the vagaries of the weather. In a perennial cycle, euphoric peaks are followed by soul-destroying lows. While steady earnings can never be guaranteed, performance is more assured if the producer can rise above the commodity cycle with a competitive […]
ASX-listed e-gaming stocks show promise but are they in the main event?
Ever been invited to a party offering unlimited merriment – back in the times when such gatherings were legal of course – but instead turned up to one organised by the equivalent of an abstemious maiden aunt? Investors in the fledgling e-gaming sector might well know the feeling. Globally, the industry is booming, with the […]
Hidden gems: the profitable small caps forging export markets
As with so many facets of human nature, it’s natural for investors to covet the next big thing wrapped in glittering paper. It’s why tech stocks have done so well in recent years, as well as anything related to battery metals or the buy-now-pay-later sector. It’s also why home-grown hero Canva is valued at a […]
No signs of mortgage stress – yet – as the regulators tighten the home lending screws
With the average Sydney pile now worth more than $1 million – with a broken drain the only water view – it’s an odds-on bet that the next financial meltdown will have something (or everything) to do with housing. Last week federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the powerful Council of Financial Regulators signalled a crackdown […]
Have the iron ore miners been oversold or should investors steel for more ferrous pain?
The pundits were right, for once: the laws of market gravity were always going to catch up with the price of iron ore, which in a matter of weeks has tumbled more than 50 per cent from its nosebleed territory of $US220 a tonne. Still, no-one quite predicted the extent of the rout which stems […]
That’s the ticket: how investors can snare a prime parking space ahead of the post-pandemic motoring revival
As the pandemic lockdowns grind on, investing in the car parking sector looks a decidedly dead-end option given the expanses of vacant lots across the affected regions. The situation is unlikely to change until Sydney and Melbourne office workers – who account for 80 per cent of usage – are allowed to return to their […]
WAAAXing and waning tech valuations show the danger of treating the sector as an amorphous lump
The founder of one of the ASX’s most unusual ‘tech’ companies is scathing about the business model of tech stocks with billion dollar-plus valuations, with the current climate redolent of the dot-com era. “I find it hard to understand why companies stampede into these businesses,” says David Dicker, founder, CEO and chairman of Dicker Data […]
Can these fallen small-cap angels regain their wings?
One of the trickiest aspects of investing is deciding whether a fallen angel will ever fly again. If they do regain their wings, the rewards of buying in at distressed levels can be enormous. But as they impress on newcomers in Masterchef safety briefings, trying to catch a falling knife can be highly injurious. As […]
The heroes of the reporting season
For a profit reporting season that promised the first bloom of earnings recovery, August’s slew of disclosures lacked a bit of froth and bubble. The numbers themselves were ok, in the context of earnings rebounding from the Covid year But the outlook statements were unconvincing and investors had largely factored in the historical numbers. On […]
