While December itself was weak, the 12 months ending on 31 December were a good year for international stocks. Being overweight internationally, with a healthy exposure to AI, our portfolios all outperformed their benchmarks. Our international fund finished up 20%, and our Australian fund finished up around 9%. Our tactical growth finished up around 11%.
International Reading: EU Freezes U.S. Trade Deal After Trump’s Unhinged Davos Speech – New Republic Majority of CEOs Alarmed as AI Delivers No Financial Returns – Futurism The U.S. debt now equals $229,000 per household—and a hefty tax hike looms as the most probable outcome – Fortune ‘This is sell America’ — U.S. dollar, Treasury
Asian share markets pivoted around inflation prints and other macro news as the chaos from Davos dies down although the TACO trade remains in play. The USD remains under pressure against almost all major undollars particularly antipodean with the Australian dollar pushing through resistance to head above the 68 cent level while bond market stress
The latest data from Stats NZ reveals that immigration into New Zealand remains historically low, with only 10,691 net migrants landing in the year to November 2025: This level of net overseas migration is well below the decade average of 49,000 and is a fraction of the circa 130,000 peak migration recorded in 2023. Arrivals
That gold has not come off post-Greenland tells us it is now in the blowoff phase. If gold has become attached to the mind of the American madman, then this is going to be epic. RSI at 95 is mad. Vol is entering blowoff. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Can’t buy this, alas, even if the
This is my fourteenth year of working from home. I brew my coffee, and when I need a hit while driving, I almost always purchase a cheap $2 coffee from a service station or convenience store. While travelling around New South Wales and regional Victoria over the Christmas break, I visited several cafés and was
Westpac is unmoved by the good jobs report. The December LFS clearly landed on the firmer side and the wash-up for the last few months suggests that the ‘gradual softening’ narrative, which characterised the bulk of last year, paused or completely halted. This leaves us with the question of whether further gradual softening is still
China’s population fell for the fourth straight year in 2025, dropping by about 3 million people, as the country recorded its lowest birthrate since 1949. Births fell to 5.63 per 1,000 people, the lowest since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. Only 7.9 million babies were born in 2025, down sharply from 9.5
With the release of the most recent Newspoll revealing that support for the Coalition on primary vote has fallen behind One Nation and to its lowest level on record (i.e., 22% for One Nation vs 21% for the LNP), it’s worth exploring what demographics are shifting their vote behind Pauline Hanson. Using granular data from
In 2024, The Age reported the YIMBY (‘Yes In My Backyard’) manifesto as follows: “Key to the YIMBY manifesto is the idea that a restrictive planning system, including existing height and heritage controls, is blocking a potential deluge of apartment construction in inner and middle Melbourne that – if allowed – would force down prices