It’s been a fantastic run for the US sharemarket. The S&P 500 index is up 18 per cent in the past 12 months, and 83 per cent over three years. Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has commented on this, noting that “equity prices are fairly highly valued” during a recent speech. To be fair,…

A big week looms here in New Zealand, with the latest Official Cash Rate decision from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) the clear highlight on Wednesday. Another cut is assured, but will it be another 0.25% or will the RBNZ opt for a larger 0.50% move? Subscribe or follow for the latest insights,…

The first three quarters of the calendar year are behind us, and investors have again been well rewarded for ignoring the noise and staying the course. It’s been a cracking period for investors, despite the volatility. World shares fell 16.3 per cent in the wake of President Trump’s tariff announcements in April. This was an…

The latest quarterly investor confidence survey from ASB has got a lot of attention in recent days, with media reports noting that optimism was at its lowest ebb since the pandemic. This survey covered the June quarter, and the ASB team pointed out that concerns were very high around April, near the beginning of the…

What a week! The S&P 500 index rose 1.2% to fresh highs last week, buoyed by solid economic indicators and the first rate cut from the Federal Reserve since last year. The Russell 2000 (a US small-cap index) was up for a seventh straight week, while credit spreads tightened to levels last seen in 1998….

Gold continues to be a topic of conversation across financial markets, with the precious metal rising almost 40 per cent so far in 2025 and hitting fresh record highs. It’s doubled in value the last three years and even outpaced the mighty S&P 500 index in the US. That’s no small feat, with the US…

The Federal Reserve will be the clear highlight this week, with markets expecting a resumption of the easing cycle that has been on hold all year. Here in New Zealand, the key release will be the GDP report for the June quarter. Subscribe or follow for the latest insights, first

There’s hope emerging that our economy is turning a corner. Is that possible with so much bad news still around? As always, whether your glass is half-full or half-empty depends on where you’re looking and what you’re paying most attention to. If you prefer to listen to a podcast episode on this topic:  It’s also…

France will be in the spotlight early in the week, with a confidence vote being held on Monday in the National Assembly. The key event of the economic calendar will be the US CPI report for August, due Thursday, ahead of the Federal Reserve decision next week. The central banking highlight will be the ECB…

New Zealand‘s long awaited economic recovery has been delayed, rather than cancelled. A more prosperous period is likely ahead, although we do need to exercise some patience. The Reserve Bank not only cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) last month, but it slashed its forecasts for where it goes from here. If you prefer to…