The local earnings season is upon us, with a plethora of listed companies due to announce results this month. This will offer some valuable insights into the state of corporate New Zealand and the broader economy, after a mixed bag of indicators in recent months. There’s been a string of positive signs with business confidence,…

The economic highlight of the week will be the CPI inflation report in the US, which covers the month of July and is out on Wednesday. We’ll also be watching the July retail sales report and the August University of Michigan consumer survey in the US. These releases all take on greater importance after the…

If you’ve only glanced at the S&P 500 index in the US these past few months, you might conclude it’s been a relatively quiet period. The market is up around 11 per cent this year, just slightly below its all-time high. Nothing to see here. Look under the hood, however, and it’s a completely different…

The dust has settled on the Reserve Bank’s July hike in the Official Cash Rate (OCR), the first in three years. There’s been plenty of debate about whether that was the right move or not. However, developments since then suggest it probably was and point to more of the same. For a start, the inflation…

The sharemarket crash of 1987 was a major global event, but it hit New Zealand much harder than other countries. It scarred an entire generation and completely changed the fabric of how we invest. Black Monday saw the S&P 500 index in the US plunge 20.5 per cent in a day, and it fell 33.5…

We’ve seen two significant anniversaries over the last few weeks. One was the tenth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, while the other was the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence. One commemorates Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, while the other celebrates the birth of the United States. If you prefer to listen…

The first six months of the calendar year were volatile, punctuated by the conflict in Iran. Despite that, markets have performed very well. World shares are up an impressive 10.4 per cent, having been 9.5 down from their peak at the March lows. Some markets have been much stronger, with emerging market shares up 22.7…

The news of a potential deal between Iran and the US couldn’t have come soon enough. The conflict had gone on for 15 weeks, much longer than initially expected and hoped. That had raised the stakes for the inflation outlook, threatening to force the hand of central banks and make 2026 a very challenging year….

One of the questions I get asked a lot is how worried we should be about rising government debt. It’s a very fair question. Budget 2026 showed that New Zealand’s books remain under pressure. If you prefer to listen to a podcast episode on this topic:  Alternatively, search ‘On Point Podcast’ and listen via Spotify or Apple Podcast. …

SpaceX is about to become one of the largest listed companies in the world. The Elon Musk-founded business is expected to raise US$75 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) and debut with the sharemarket ticker code of SPCX and a valuation of almost US$1.8 trillion. That would place it among the biggest publicly traded…