News

It wasn’t that busy in financial markets, as the US kicked back for the 4 July holiday and there was light trading in Europe. The big focus remains on the uptick in new COVID-19 cases both in the US and elsewhere, and domestically. The focus will be on Melbourne and...

As published in The Weekend Australian on 26 June 2020 In the frenzied final days of the sale of Virgin Australia, more than 5000 local bond investors suddenly found themselves centre stage. The surprise departure of Cyrus Capital meant that for a very short time there were two remaining bidders for...

On Friday, investors continued to fret about COVID-19, especially the surge in new cases in the US. The US recorded more than 42,000 cases on Saturday, which on the positive side of things was lower than the record 45,255 recorded on Friday, but it was second straight daily total...

Global investment manager Blackrock has introduced two new fixed income corporate bond ETFs to investors as part of their iShares ETF portfolio. The two new funds complement the broader iShares fixed income ETF suite of products, offering Australian investors increased flexibility to optimise fixed-income allocations in their portfolios. Christian Obrist, Head...

Friday was another quiet session in the markets – is this the part in the Jaws’ films before the inevitable happens? US equities started strongly but slipped throughout the trading sessions. In Europe, there was more of a risk on sentiment and most equity bourses managed to finish in...

As published in The Australian on Saturday 15 June 2020 Virgin Australia’s administration is a recent low point for Australian financial markets, with mums and dads being caught holding corporate bonds that may prove worthless. The airline business is inherently risky. Oil prices, currency fluctuations, a commodity-like service and the threat...

Today, the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin purchasing up to US$250 billion in individual corporate bonds as part of its previously announced measures to backstop corporations and their employees. The Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility will begin buying a broad and diversified portfolio of corporate bonds to support market liquidity...

Just as life in Australia seems to be getting back to normal, it was also more of the same in financial markets, as we saw a small recovery from the savage sell-off on Thursday. As I suggested on Friday, there appears to be more cash on the sidelines looking...

Betashares has launched BetaShares Global Government Bond 20+ Year ETF – Currency Hedged (ASX:GGOV), its seventh cash and fixed income fund, designed to invest in government bonds from G7 countries. It will be benchmarked against the S&P G7 Sovereign Duration-Capped 20+ year AUD Hedged Bond Index. While the fund is...

It is difficult to comprehend that the S&P500 is now pretty much unchanged on the year; how does that happen? Well, don’t fight the Fed is as good a place as any to start. In fairness, whether you believe the US jobs data or not, it was enough to...