For those in a quandary over whether they should be fixing their home loan interest rates or gambling on the more volatile variable rate of interest, this is your chance to see what’s going on in my head about this thorny, hip-pocket dilemma. A reader called Jessica recently sent me an interesting question, which I […]

It’s the stuff made of nightmares, nevertheless it does need to be taken into consideration. I’m stating the obvious here, but children are just as susceptible as adults to debilitating diseases or injuries that may result in permanent disability or death. What many parents don't realise until it’s too late is that it’s just as […]

The big news during May was of course the Federal Budget. On June 3, we got ‘great’ economic growth figures, but I will leave that until later. A lot of the Budget information was leaked before the actual night, so most were prepared for what was in store. I did an economics wrap-up for PriceWaterhouseCoopers […]

It’s official — Australia is NOT in recession! And no matter what negative, doomsday merchants want to say to justify their incorrect calls, there’s no official recession here. This is great news and will help a recovery in consumer and business confidence. This in turn will boost business investment sooner rather than later and that’s […]

The question I am fielding all the time right now is — how do I play this rally? A related one is about whether the worst is behind us and is it time to buy shares? Regular readers know I have pointed out that the US stock market has a history of bouncing around 26% […]

This article focuses on some of the more important and common records that business owners are required to keep for income tax, Fringe Benefits Tax, GST and capital gains tax purposes. For taxation purposes, records generally need to be kept: For five years after they are prepared, obtained or the transactions completed (whichever occurs later) […]

Upcoming economic and financial market events Australia 22 June Car Sales (May): We expect that car sales were up five per cent seasonally adjusted. 26 June Financial accounts (March quarter): Reveals data on financial wealth and business balance sheets. Overseas 23 June US Existing home sales (May): There is just over 10 months supply of […]

In the lead up to 30 June 2009, business owners should consider topping up their superannuation by making either tax deductible and/or undeducted contributions.        Tax deductible contributions The maximum tax deductible superannuation contributions (which includes both super guarantee and salary sacrifice amounts) that can be claimed for the 2008/09 year by employers on behalf of […]

The 200 day moving average (MA), is simply a line plotted based off the close price of the past 200 days added together, and divided by 200. While actual price action may jump around on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis, the 200 day MA is a smooth line, which assists to differentiate normal volatile price […]

The bear market isn’t over, but bullish language made an appearance over the second half of March. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner finally released details about plans for the bank’s toxic assets, something that was holding the market back, and the reaction was positive. It’s great or at least better-than-expected leadership that will keep the […]