Shareswatch Australia

There is nothing particularly exciting about the Australian stock market these days. The malaise which has essentially paralysed the government seems to have spread to the business sector which in turn is slowly sucking the lifeblood out of the share market. It’s unlikely that things will improve soon and so investors should prepare themselves for the market to move lower over the next few months.

Almost daily the mainstream finance & business media churn out headlines regarding the stock market that would imply that stocks are either surging to new highs or falling to new lows.  The truth however is much more boring and so today I will try and have an emotion-free look at what the S&P/ASX 200 Index has been doing over the last few years & months.

This week was quite a ride for stock market investors with the ASX All Ords and ASX 200 both trading at one stage under 4000 points.  However as the week progressed the markets started to claw their way back up and things are not quite as worrying as they were a few days ago.  What investors will be trying to work out now is if the stock market rout is over, or is it just having a rest before it once again sends stocks falling?

The Australian stock market is still a long way below the last market high reached in 2007 and so I can’t help wondering when we might see the ASX All Ordinaries reach a new market high.  Perhaps it will just be a few years time before the market recovers lost ground, or maybe it’s going to be a long wait before share market investors see stocks once again post gains year after year.

Another week is over and the ASX All Ordinaries Index has finished just above 4600 and the S&P/ASX Index just below 4600.  Here we are again at the bottom end of a fairly narrow trading range in which the Australian stock market has traded within for more than a year. It’s enough to make you sleepy.

Despite the best efforts of many analysts to talk up a stock market rally the Australian share market continues to move sideways with the ASX All Ordinaries and S&P/ASX 200 both unable push clear of the 5000 level.  But should this worry investors or is the market now simply reverting back to the long term trend?  Also what factors might be at play that are preventing a major market rally?

Over the last few weeks the tragic events in Japan and the political unrest in the Middle East have shown just how fragile the Australian stock market is. Investors appear ready to move quickly out of shares and shift funds to less riskier assets when they sense trouble. This suggests to me, that people don’t quite believe that the Australian economy is as robust as many market commentators would have us believe.

The Australian stock market has been trading in a fairly narrow range since hitting a yearly low in late May, however over the last few weeks it has pressed above 4600 and we could see it move further towards 5000 in the weeks ahead.  In addition some interesting trends are emerging in terms of gold, oil and gas prices and and they might be giving us a good indication of where the market is heading next.

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It is time once again to put my ramblings, rants and ruminations for the previous 12 months under the spotlight. Did I correctly spot any stock market or economic trends or should I be standing in the corner with the dunce cap on for most of 2010?

Another year, another decade and time once again to look at our shares portfolio and perhaps review our positions. Although the global financial crisis has been tough for investors the fact is that the Australian stock market did bounce back in 2009 and if history is any guide then we are likely to see it finish higher in 2010.

Well 2009 is almost over and although stock market investors did it tough in the first quarter, overall the ASX All Ordinaries and S&P/ASX 200 posted healthy gains of around 30%. This means stocks & shares were in fact a good place to have your money over the last 12 months.

Over the last few weeks I have found it difficult to write much about the Australian economy or stock market simply because events have pretty much unfolded as I guessed they would some months ago. Despite the hype from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and some sections of the business media the fact is that the Australian stock market is still trading around 30% below the highs of 2007.

Over the past few weeks most of the economic news from Australia’s major trading partners has been fairly good. As a result the Australian stock market has continued to rise along with markets in Europe, Asia and the United States. But before we get too carried away it is probably a good idea to look beyond stock prices in order to check how the global economy is really faring.

Here we are in the dreaded month of September and yet stocks are still on an upward trend. But as each day passes the bulls become more bullish and those suggesting a major correction is due become more adamant that this rally cannot last. So who might be right?

It seems that many financial journalists and commentators have decided that Australia has escaped a recession, and that the economy is doing just fine now based on the  June Quarter GDP figures that have just been released. But I wonder how many of them looked into the GDP data in detail and spotted the warning signs?