Vanguard Australia is to add additional ETFs to their current offer. The new funds will track market sectors, including small companies, large-cap stocks and high-yield equities.
Source: http://www.morningstar.com.au/etfs/article/vanguard-to-offer-new-etfs/3352
In The Endgame Headwinds (link), John Mauldin, touches on important issues facing the Western world in the next multi-year period. It is a very worthy read.
There are lots of references to the issues further explained in his recently-published book. The excerpts from the book "Endgame: The End of the Debt SuperCycle and How It Changes Everything", by John Mauldin, Jonathan Tepper, is available for preview on Google Books.
Some great quotes from the text are below:
"There are only two ways to grow an economy. Just two. You can increase the working-age population or you can increase productivity. That’s it. No secret sauce."
Herald Sun has a nice compilation of top investment tips from several well-established investors and fund managers. Read here.
Collin Twiggs, in his market commentary "No such thing as free lunch", explains the roots and causes for increase in the money supply in the market and its effects.
This explains the current moment, where bonds are being sold off, the inflation is at the door, and the prices of real assets, like stocks and commodities, are going through the roof.
BBC, April 1, 2011 - The unemployment in the Euro zone has started to fall. Positive version of the same statement would be that the employment is on the rise. This is a very good sign. It has taken a while for the EU economies to catch up on the recovery but it is finally happening.
Have in mind that the stats differ wildly by country. Some countries are well into double-digit unemployment while others are in the range of natural unemployment (around 4%).
Here's a really interesting article on the 'Super-Rich Delusion' and the consequences for the society:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tax-the-super-rich-now-or-face-a-revolution-2011-03-29
There is an overview of the forecasts and conditions affecting the position of the Australian Dollar this year. While the Australian economy is strong and the comodity prices have gone up on one hand, rate rises are expected in the Northern hemisphere on the other.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/top-dollar-forecast-for-australian-currency-20110401-1crqm.html
The recent high growth in company profits points that the job market in the US is to improve significantly.
"... economy-wide corporate profits rose 9.7% annualized in Q4 2010, which was roughly twice what we were expecting. Since the recession ended, profits have grown at a sturdy 27% annualized pace."
and
"... profits per private sector employee are at an all-time high-well above their pre-recession peak."
The correlation is usually two quarters apart so mid-2011 should mark a hot labor market.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-profits-vs-labor-market-2011-3
Here is another tip for investing overseas in local currency. In this case it is Australian Dollar but tips work for any currency. There are times the currency is high, compared to other currencies, and this happens often with Australian Dollar because it is closely related to the price of commodities, mostly mining ore.
During these periods it is a good idea to buy units in funds that invest in international shares, unhedged. This way we are using the high position of AUD to buy more units in local currencies.
When times change and AUD is low, relative to other currencies, the opposite applies. Buying units in funds that are hedged for AUD variations provides more value. This way, when AUD goes up again the price of the fund portfolio will grow automatically with the currency.
Here is a continuation of the previous post, with more insight and analysis in the inequality that is rapidly increasing in the United States.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph
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