October is “crash” month. Think back to the “Wall Street Crash” of October 1929, “Black Monday” of October 1987, the “Great Financial Crisis” that started in October 2007 or even the “mini-crashes” of 1989, 1997 and 2002.

Are investors correctly sniffing rising distress in the mortgage belt, or is it another false alarm and the shares make for value buying into what’s been a Teflon-coated sector for so many years?

Times are tough for investors looking to add value through a defensive portfolio. For most investors, defensive investing means bonds.

Update on shares, property prices and the inflation scare.

Global shares fell over the past week amidst a long worry list including the US debt ceiling, the impact of power shortages and rising bond yields.

After a month of relative quiet, investors have found plenty to take their interest this week.

Have the iron ore miners been oversold or should investors steel for more ferrous pain?

Here’s what to expect over this week at home and abroad.

The Prime Minister and the Premiers are arguing over when our borders will be open, making vaccination rates critical to our economic fortunes.

Global shares fell sharply early in the past week but then rebounded as fears around China’s Evergrande receded and the Fed meeting was out of the way.

How can we be ‘going to hell in a hand basket’ on Monday with the stock market diving and now we’re buying stocks like there’s no tomorrow?

A downturn in the Chinese property market will reduce demand for steel and iron ore, but Australia's big miners remain the most traded stocks of the week.