Every once in a while, you hear talk of how much worse off you’d be if you’d missed the ten best days in a given period. It usually happens during a rough patch, in the hope it’ll calm investors down and ensure they stay the course rather than panicking and selling at the wrong time….

Term deposit investors have had it pretty good in recent years, but that’s changing quickly and many savers are on borrowed time. Interest rates are headed lower, and those sitting comfortably on the sidelines should prepare for that. If they take too long, they’ll not only miss opportunities elsewhere but they’ll be facing a hefty…

The German election will be a highlight of the international week, with the first results due early Monday morning here in New Zealand. The key release in New Zealand will be the ANZ Business Outlook, due on Thursday. The Australasian earnings season continues this week, and it’ll be another busy one with a raft of…

We’re a month into President Trump’s second term and there’s 47 more to go, which means investors need to make peace with a less predictable market backdrop. While sitting on the sidelines for the next four years is one strategy, it’s unlikely to be a very good one. The S&P 500 increased 58 per cent…

This week’s economic highlight will be the global flash PMIs for February, which are due on Friday. Last month these pointed to a good start to year for the global economy, and we’ll be watching for further improvements, particularly in Europe. There’ll be plenty of action in this part of the world too. Another 50-basis…

The local reporting season begins this week, and I’ve got high hopes for a more optimistic tone. To be fair, the bar is low. It’s been a very difficult couple of years for most businesses. The New Zealand economy has contracted for seven of the past eight quarters on a per capita basis (with the…

Looking ahead, this week’s economic highlights will include the latest inflation report in the US, as well as the NFIB survey and the retail sales report for January. On the central banking front, investors will be watching the semi-annual testimonies by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial…

Term deposit rates have fallen sharply over the past several months. After hitting 15-year highs of more than six per cent last year, they’re sitting in the mid-fours today. They’ll keep going lower, with the Official Cash Rate (OCR) likely to be slashed by another 50 basis points this month and a couple of smaller…

This week, the focus will be on President Trump’s tariffs, how markets react and whether we see any retaliation from major US trading partners. Key economic releases in the US this week will include the jobs report, the ISM indices and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. The global earnings season will be in…

Over the last month or two the Wall Street gurus have firmed up their forecasts for where the S&P 500 will finish 2025. The majority have a year-end estimate of between 6400 or 6600, which implies a gain of 9-12 per cent this year. That’s close to the long-term average return from US shares, which…