Shareswatch Australia

The ASX All Ordinaries Index and S&P/ASX 200 Index finished much lower than I expected in 2011, so this makes me somewhat reluctant to go on record and make an Australian stock market forecast for 2012. However the process of looking at the various economic data and trying to guess where the market will end is a useful one, so foolishly I will outline once again my Australian stock market forecast for the year ahead.

Welcome to the Shareswatch Australia – one of Australia’s premier stock market and investment blogs plus a free source of independent stock market investing views and analysis.

Welcome to the Shareswatch Australia discussion forum. The aim of this area of the website is to allow people to discuss more freely a variety of issues related to previous blog topics or provide site feedback.

The one sure thing about a bear market is that it provides fertile ground for the rise of investment myths and for people talking up certain assets classes by feeding on the fear of investors. But before you leap into some new investment it is probably a good idea to be aware of some of the common shares related investment traps, tricks and myths that exist.

The stock market crash of 1987 is often overlooked these days when the current economic crisis is debated. The major reason for this I suspect is that the crash of that year was driven by factors much different to those driving the current stock market falls. However it is still very interesting to reflect on the events of 1987 and consider how much and how little the operations of the financial markets have changed over the last 20 years.

Most investors in the stock market are today looking at some nasty losses in their portfolios. Some investors may have already sold shares and incurred losses while others may be nursing stocks that have lost 50% or more of their value since late 2007 and hoping they will recover some value. The question that confronts all of us now is: what do I do from this point onwards?

You will often hear people talking about how the stock market is driven by the human emotions of fear and greed, and at the moment it is pretty obvious that the market is being driven down by fear. So how can you stay calm in this environment and not let fear cloud your judgement?

Here are some easy to understand investment tips that may help you put together an investment strategy. These tips or guidelines are by no means the only factors you should consider when making investment decisions, but they may help you avoid costly mistakes.

There appears to be an ever increasing number of stock market related websites and no shortage of stock tips and market advice available to us all. But who should we listen to, and where are some good sources of stock market insights?