August Market Review
Since the very late release of last month’s newsletter, I thought I might keep this one short. Elsight The portfolio is already on track for a very good September month, as one of Elsight’s design win partners, Airobotics, just received the first U.S. FAA ‘Beyond-Line-of-Sight’ (BVLOS) Type certification, which is the highest echelon of airworthiness […]
July Market Review
I must apologise for the late release of this note for The Equity Fund, but we had a very unusual situation with Helios. I didn’t want to send out the note showing a negative print for the month, when I wasn’t able to comment on the one stock causing the poor performance. At the start […]
June Market Review
June can be a tough month for any equities that have underperformed over the financial year as they can be subject to tax loss selling, where investors sell weaker stocks to offset any capital gains they may have had for the year. Two of The Equity Fund’s larger core holdings, Helios and Elsight, were both […]
Downgrades, rising yields and inflation
As the Federal Reserve prepares for its annual symposium from Aug. 24-26 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, markets are trying to come to grips with the latest move higher in yields post the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the recent U.S debt downgrade which has seen long end yield rise and a resurgence of the […]
FOMC reacts to stronger-than-expected economy and slower decline in inflation
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept U.S. interest rates unchanged but signalled in new economic projections that borrowing costs will likely rise by another half of a percentage point by the end of this year. Trading was choppy and volume was heavy after the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reacted […]
May Market Review
The ASX 200 sold off nearly -4% in May. Investing in early-stage illiquid companies isn’t always smooth, our two main core holdings were under pressure, with another write-down in one of the unlisted investments. The result of -8.4% will no doubt be confronting to most, but we continue to hold these names and I’ll outline […]
April Market Review
A reasonably quiet month in terms of index moves after several weeks of sideways consolidation, with the ASX 200 finishing up 2.1%. April was earnings season for the US, and was largely better than expected, although most companies had set very low bars to beat. Deteriorating data and a looming crunch suggest limited upside for […]
March Market Review
Rising interest rates finally saw things break in March, with the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse. Only after the Fed backstopped the entire deposits of all banks did markets recover, with the ASX200 managing to close in the green up just 0.39%. The portfolio was down -3.15%, although we were largely on […]
February Market Review
February markets were weaker, with the ASX 200 losing -4.6%, the S&P 500 down -2.6% and the Nasdaq down -0.5%. The portfolio ended down -2.75%, partly the result of one of the unlisted positions, Yumble, going into administration costing the portfolio ~4%. This was a position I inherited on taking over the fund, and, unfortunately, […]
SVB Financial Group shares plunge
Wall Street’s three major stock indexes closed lower on Thursday, with bank stocks creating the biggest drag while investors also worried that Friday’s jobs report could spur more aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500’s bank index finished down 6.6% after hitting its lowest level since mid-October. Investors fled the sector after tech-industry […]
