Data Diary

The good news keeps on coming – the RBA released its commodity price index yesterday (here): And from the RBA: Over the past year, the index has risen 53 per cent in SDR terms. Much of this rise has been due to increases in iron ore, coking coal and thermal coal export prices, although all components [...]

Leverage, like many of our hedonistic pleasures, can be a pernicious addiction.  With the benefit of hindsight the Great Moderation that met it’s demise with the onset of the GFC was as much a product of consistently rising debt levels as any other variable.  It has left the majority of the developed world with ‘too [...]

A hung parliament. Is that a gallows metaphor?  Is it equine in origin?  Or is something that you do to dead meat? Either which way, sounds like we could be headed for the abbatoir. One intriguing development from the Australian election is that the Greens polled over 10% of the primary votes.  They will not [...]

Australian equities have benefited from two major trends over the last couple of decades (casting aside the credit bubble on the grounds that it hurt).  They are 1) the growth in our compulsory superannuation investment pool and 2) the growth in China’s demand for all things resources.  It’s interesting then to compare and contrast the [...]

Reflecting on the following chart via Pragmatic Capitalism (here) – got to thinking about how the same might apply to Australia: So herewith is the log chart of the All Ordinaries price history since 1875: Now you might argue about the choice of market cycles – I admit to liking the symmetry of ~27 year [...]

The following chart plots the relative running speeds for men over various distances from 100m to the marathon.  The red line is based on those world records that stood at the time of the London Olympics in 2008.  The blue line represents current world record times.  It’s startling to think that we humans have improved [...]

Nothing like being trapped in a tin can 10,000 metres above sea level to get a little perspective on things.  Couple that with the a month long break, and here’s hoping that it’ll be a little easier to ignore the trees… When we last looked (here), the stage was set for a relief rally into [...]

Posts will be a little thin on the ground over the next month as the family and I are off to Europe.  Still maybe there’s a silver lining – if travel broadens the mind, I’m hoping a little synaptic obesity will throw a different perspective on world events.

Gratuitous plug for an engineer with imagination – check out his website (here) – these are real, breathing machines…

John Taylor at FX Concepts has timed the recent market rollercoaster better than most.  We last noted his bearish call back on 19 April (see here). I just caught up with FX Concepts latest market insights – see here – it’s worth a quick read.  For the time challenged, the short version is that risk [...]