There are many market maxims that investors hold close to their hearts. Here are just a few of them: It's time in the market not timing the market. Buy the rumour, sell the fact. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful! It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong.  But perhaps one that should also be added to the list is "Two views make a market" - highlighting that...

Back in May, Livewire sat down with the chief investment officer of a family office - i.e. the steward of a billionaire client's wealth.  The main takeaway, for this anonymous writer at least, was that Australia's ultra-wealthy are on the hunt for concentrated, high-conviction funds - those that hold a smaller number of stocks, look very different from the benchmark, and generate returns far different from the index too.  So in this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we're hoping we can learn what...

Growth stocks have had a truly spectacular 12 months, with many fortunes being made from investing in stocks like NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI), which have soared 154% and 170%, respectively.  In the last year alone, the NASDAQ 100 has lifted 26% - meaning, over the past five years, the bourse is now up 153%. Ahh! The benefit of retrospect.  So, is there any value left on offer among the world's greatest growth stocks?  To find out, Livewire's Ally Selby was...

Healthcare stocks have been some of Australia's most consistent wealth generators, with stocks like CSL (ASX: CSL) skyrocketing more than 6000% since listing on the ASX 25 years ago.   Over the past 20 years, the S&P/ASX Health Care Index has far outperformed the rest of the market, lifting 994% compared to the S&P/ASX 200's 121% over that same period. By a long shot, it has been the ASX's best-performing sector over the past 20 years.   And yet, while COVID-19 put our health back...

Consumer stocks are split into two distinct categories - those that are sensitive to economic cycles (discretionaries) and those that aren't (staples). Both, however, have been on a tear over the past 12 months, despite a cost of living crisis that is continuing to take a bite out of Australians' wallets.  Take Lovisa, for instance, which has soared 59% over the past 12 months. Or Wesfarmers, up 35%. Or Nick Scali, up 44%. Meanwhile, consumer staples stocks, like Bega Cheese, Inghams, and...

Over the past 12 months, the S&P/ASX All Tech Index has soared more than 28%, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ has skyrocketed nearly 33%, with investors betting big on the revolutionary change promised by artificial intelligence.  That's not to say there aren't risks - inflation remains stickier than we would have hoped, interest rates are likely to stay higher for longer (in Australia at least), and earnings need to deliver for companies to keep pushing higher.  So in this episode,...

Everyone loves a theme these days. Whether you’re an individual investor looking to capitalise on both short and long-term trends, or a product issuer looking to provide access to opportunities, themes are dominating the way we think and the way we invest. And while themes will fall in and out of fashion (lithium, for example), it is important for us as investors to be aware of them and to understand how to access them, should we choose to participate. In that vein, in this episode of Buy...

Boy oh boy, it has been a big first half. Interest rate expectations have whipped around, sticky inflation has confounded central banks, most commodities are surging - paticularly silver and gold - and AI has lit a fire under.... well, everything.  Did we miss anything? That's right, the ASX 200, like many global markets, is trading at all time highs, at the same time many are calling for a recession in the next 12 months.  By any stretch, that's a lot to unpack. To help untangle the market...

End of financial year can be a drag. With tax time upon us, we need to give up an evening, possibly a weekend, to get our affairs in order. But EOFY also affords us the opportunity to look over our investment portfolios, pat ourselves on the back for what has gone well, and undertake the cathartic experience of culling the underperformers.  It has been a surprisingly strong first half, despite high interest rates and inflation sticking around for longer than we would like, so hopefully it...

Franking credits are important for many investors, particularly those operating in a low or no-tax environment. A company paying a 5% fully franked yield, for example, gets grossed up to around 7% after franking. Juicy.  More than half of the companies listed on the S&P/ASX200 either fully pay or partially pay franked dividends, and it is important to know the relevant franking level.   With that in mind, Livewire's Ally Selby recently sat down with Peter Gardner from Plato, and Andrew...

There are currently 10 stocks with double-digit yields on the ASX, exactly half the amount there was this time last year.  While double-digit yields certainly sound enticing, investors should be aware that they could indicate that the market believes a company has limited growth prospects, a falling share price, or a one-off dividend.  For those not in the know, dividend yield is calculated by adding up all the dividends (both special and normal) paid over the last 12 months and then dividing...

With interest rates up 4.25% in the space of two years, investors have entered a Goldilocks era for income. But while many retirees live happily off the income generated by some of the market’s dividend stalwarts, there are potential traps out there. To help ensure you’re investing in companies with sustainable dividend yields, Livewire's Ally Selby was joined by Plato Investment Management’s Peter Gardner and Merlon Capital’s Andrew Fraser for their analysis of three widely owned dividend...

Do you spend your days searching for the next spicy mining stock headed for the moon, a biotech promising revolutionary health advances, or a tech company changing the status quo?  If that sounds like you, you've come to the right place.  While Buy Hold Sell typically focuses on companies at the larger end of the market cap spectrum, this week, we're digging deeper in search of speculative stocks with upside potential.  This includes punter favourite Brainchip (ASX: BRN) - which we repeatedly...

From 1981 to 2022, the MSCI World Quality Index outperformed the MSCI World Index by 2.6% per year - while the growth and value styles generated returns that were pretty much identical to the broader market.  So, is the trend your friend?  In this episode, Livewire's Ally Selby was joined by IML's Daniel Moore and Tribeca Investment Partners' Jun Bei Liu for their thoughts on why investors should be taking a closer look at quality stocks right now - including the factors that investors...

Time and time again, investment experts tell us punters the same thing - that earnings drive share prices.  When earnings per share is positive and continues to grow in each reporting period, it means that your share in a company's profit pie is continuing to grow as well. Higher EPS can often translate to a company's share price trading higher, as investors are willing to pay more for a company generating elevated levels of profits - particularly if this growth has been consistent over the...

If there is one thing investors have heard on repeat over the last 12 months, it's that there's a massive opportunity in small-cap stocks, which were, at the time, massively undervalued compared to their large-cap counterparts.  And while experts' predictions seem to have come to fruition, with the Small Ordinaries Index outperforming the ASX 100 since the beginning of the year, a handful of stocks - plagued by negative news - have been left behind by the benchmark.  Take IDP Education (ASX:...

Given interest rates remain at decade-long highs, and hopes of cuts continue to be pushed out into the future, it may be surprising for some that growth companies have continued to go from strength to strength.  The S&P/ASX 200 Growth Index, for example, has risen 7.76% over the past 12 months. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Value Index has lifted just over half of that at 4.71%.  According to OC Funds Management's Aaron Yeoh, this is because a lot of companies have readjusted to a...

Growth stocks are the bread and butter of investors who are happy to stomach typically higher prices for exceptional above-market earnings growth.  These companies typically exhibit high earnings and sales growth, a unique product or service, significant market share in their industries, impressive moats, and loyal customers.  Take WiseTech Global, for example, which has seen its earnings grow at a compound annual growth rate of 43% since listing on the ASX, seeing its share price lift 2,319%...

Just as in science, catalysts are the starting point for major change or action in life. It may be a whistleblower whose revelations lead to significant systemic change, or an enzyme that helps speed up a chemical reaction.  In investing, however, catalysts trigger a drastic change in a stock's share price trajectory. And while no one can know the future, the prediction of catalysts to come can help investors profit over the short term.  This could be new management, an earnings report, a new...

Want to learn how to identify undiscovered stocks before the rest of the market does? Of course, you do - what else are you going to talk about at your next dinner party... Or at the pub over a lukewarm beer... Or around the office coffee machine?  In this episode, Livewire's Ally Selby was joined by LSN Capital's Nick Sladen and Elston Asset Management's Justin Woerner for a deep dive into how investors can do exactly that.  They share why investors, like you and I, may have an advantage in...

There's something to be said about discovering a gem of a stock the rest of the market missed. Like uncovering a musician before the world does, or being the first to watch a TV series before everyone else's eyes are glued to the same screen. It's a great feeling - and one that may leave you asking, 'Am I better than everyone else?'  In most cases, probably not. But to help you on your way, this episode is dedicated to covering under-covered and undiscovered stocks. This anonymous writer is...

As the name would suggest, future-facing commodities are those that will carry humanity forward as we take on the momentous task of decarbonising the world.   These are the commodities that are essential to the energy transition, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite and copper.  Much of the demand for these commodities is expected to be driven by the uptake of electric vehicles over the next two decades, with governments around the world - including Europe, China, the US and...

There are a couple of hot commodities right now, including uranium, cocoa, and gold. The latter exploded higher in February this year after being stuck in a range for the best part of five years. Several reasons have been posited for gold's renaissance, the primary being that investors who expect the Fed to cut rates have been buying the commodity.  A low-interest rate environment reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold and weighs on the US dollar, making bullion cheaper for...

The law of supply and demand determines commodity prices. Currently, the uranium market is undersupplied, just as more nuclear reactors requiring fuel are being brought online. Some reports suggest the market will remain in structural undersupply for more than a decade. It’s one thing for an underlying commodity to rally. Where the rubber meets the road for investors, however, is in equities. In that vein, we engaged Rick Squire from Acorn Capital and John Forwood from Lowell Resources to...

Over the last five, 10, 15 and 20 years, mid-cap stocks have managed to outperform both their large and small-cap counterparts. They've done this with the same volatility as small caps and, over the last decade, they've grown earnings at around 7.5% per annum - more than double that of the small and large-cap indices.  So, why is this? According to Blackwattle's Tim Riordan and Auscap's Will Mumford, it all comes down to quality. These businesses are more likely to have established themselves...