I'm guessing your stock market is similar to Canada, mainly banks and miners.  These two sectors are large parts of our economy, but not 75% of it.  So it makes sense to hold stocks from other developed economies, and possibly emerging, since this is where most of the consumer staples/discretionary...

Check this link: https://www.vanguardinvestments.com.au/retail/ret/investments/funddetailVIFIIFH.jsp Once there, download the fund fact sheet - you'll see the fund composition (Treasury, country-diversified). Alternatively, for a mix of government and high grade corporate bonds, check this on: http...

Without a doubt.

This thread is revolting.

Critique's of CM While I applaud you for having read the Manifesto (many people act as if reading the primary text is above them) - I really need to point out that you undermine your own point. You're argument can be summarised as "The USA is as Marxist as it is Marxist" - you refer numer...

"do what you want and if you don't hurt others and play by some arbitrary-but-doable rules you'll live a happy life," Marx (and Plato) would argue that you are not free: simply because the barometer you use to measure freedom (do what you want) is entirely constrained by the mechanisms of...

So many silly people talking about Marx, and only one quote. People should read what he wrote and consider what his analysis is. Anyone basing their opinions of someone's writings without reading the writings is being completely ignorant. What, are we trusting that the USSR didn't warp and distort h...

It is fantastic.

One of the better expressions of a detective/mystery story I've seen.

I understand the appeal of the idea of cycles that Kondratieff was talking about. A similar idea is the "wealth cycles" that Mike Maloney talks about with regard to gold vs stocks http://youtu.be/tj2s6vzErqY However I agree that nothing about these "cycles" (length, severity etc...

I'd certainly struggle to see how anyone could call Tolkein anything but complex and, in many ways, inaccessible. Compared to Jacques Derrida or Noam Chomsky, Tolkien reads like Dick, Jane and Sally. I don't find him inaccessible, save for The Silmarillion. Derrida, sure, Chomsky? I don't find Chom...

LonerMatt, I appreciate your comments, especially from someone in the business.  You're right about Orwell and Scott-Fitzgerald, since I read these books in high School.  I'll admit that I haven't read a Brave New World , but I did look at the Amazon preview and the writing appears to be very acces...

Have you guys read anything on Kondatiev cycles?

Craig's discussion on  a change in market via technological breakthrough reminded me of my rudimentary understanding of Kondatiev theories.

Fantastic podcast!!

Very informative, very clear, good questions and answers.

Would love to have one with Clive.

I find it interesting that you're using Tolkein as an example of a 'straightforward' writer, especially juxtaposed with Huxley. Taking their two seminal works: Lord of the Rings (and even The Hobbit to an extent) and Brave New World, there is stark difference between accessibility and straightforwar...

Thanks Hal!

Really interesting stuff there.

So, now, we can basically we can set up a low cost ETF PP here too!

I ran the numbers on a FTM/PP mix in Australian assets  (domestic currency and stocks only) and found a few interesting things: - The risk/reward is remarkably similar to the PPs - The off years, on the whole, tended to be the same (negative results) - Different rates were achieved at different time...

Not so much negatively correlated LonerMatt, as just different (not highly correlated). But otherwise you're near enough spot on, but its not so much just balancing each other out (reducing overall volatility) but also potentially adding some value (better overall gains for less risk) as well. Over...

Clive, I don't really understand what the FTM divided by PP shows - the chart's perhaps a little beyond me. Am I right in assuming (based on the content of your post) that the two strategies seem to be, relatively, negatively correlated, and in some ways balance each other out? Or am I simplifying w...

As always, Clive leaves with something interesting to consider.

35% SCV?

As 25% is cash and 25% is bonds, I'd divide these in to Short Term (cash) and Long Term (bonds). I think the problem with this is that our longest term government bonds are only 15 years and that's not enough to provide the interest rate volatility that's required by the PP.  Hence the suggestion f...

Hi AB, Must admit I found the bond component of the PP the most difficult to set up. While I am not an expert on Bonds, the accountant advised: 1. In the PP the lower maturity bonds are sold and always replaced with higher maturity dates. Therefore as the bond allocation will always be roughly the ...

Hi AB, As another PP'r from Australia, I thought I would share with you my approach to the Bonds Have a 50% allocation using a ten year bond ladder. See Clives earlier helpful advice for further details. When I started this, the 10 year bonds were the longest duration, but its interesting to note t...

Well, I don't drink alcohol, but generally people are laid back. It's very ethnically and culturally diverse, and I do have a lot of enjoyment of my little country. There are a lot of formative issues, and more so than many places Australia is still trying to find who and what we are. I love to ram...

Thanks for your comments. LonerMatt, I sent you a private message after coming across one of the threads you started. The Reserve Bank of Australia both sells and buys bonds in denominations of $1000.  They charge an administration fee of $2.50 per $1000 face value for each transaction and the spre...

If there isn't a highly liquid secondary market, how would an investor capture gains in the event of a fall in interest rates? Broadly speaking, I don't know. There's an Australian Vanguard Fund that deals in bonds, but it's a roudnabout way of doing things. Apart from industry contacts, it's trick...