Director activity

Knowing when director’s buy and sell their own company’s stocks is a good indicator of the current and potential performance. The director activity column provides insights into these activities. Summary of recent activity in updated on the 29th of October 2010 Continued buying by Ernest Pope, a director of Amcor Limited (AMC) $414K worth of stock purchased... Read More

Reverse engineering ore prices

By David Llewelyn Smith A couple of excellent pieces are available today on the looming iron ore glut. The first is by Malcolm Maiden of The Age on Australian miners and their plans to expand production. The second is by Australasian Investment Review via the IBT on broader statistics in the global seaborne trade. Both are worth your time. At some point this blog will take on the... Read More

Crowded trade

By David Llewellyn Smith If you’ve been wondering why the Australian dollar is so strong, much stronger than anyone in the media has acknowledged, then Bloomberg has a must read piece today. The quotes from bond investors are uniformly and amazingly…uniform: … “The Australian dollar is among what we’re calling the world’s new safe havens,” said Jonathan... Read More

Material Matters: QE2, Base Metals, Thermal Coal

By Chris Shaw With QEII adding liquidity to markets investors continue to be attracted to commodity markets, as evidenced by record highs for copper prices and gold pushing through US$1,400 per ounce at one point in recent sessions. RBS suggests the attraction of commodities can be attributed to a number of factors, including fears of a possible debasing of fiat currencies or upside... Read More

From the fed to the farm

By Bear Feller. I’ve been in the countryside lately and haven’t had the chance to blog, which is a pity because with so much happening in the markets it is easy to fall behind. Yet a rural sojourn also presents an opportunity to step back and take a more long-range view. And that view, strangely enough, leads right back to the farm. At the moment the markets are taking stock... Read More