Reading time: 5 minutes
If, like me, you watched ‘The Last Dance’ during Covid-19 lockdown, you will appreciate what an amazing team the Chicago Bulls were during the 1990s. Flashy, charismatic and awe-inspiring – Michael Jordan rightly commanded the spotlight. In contrast, the slow-talking, relatively shy Scottie Pippen never got the recognition he deserved.

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Reading time: 5 mins
Late last week, German payments giant Wirecard filed for insolvency, owing creditors almost $5.8 billion. The company’s collapse came a week after its auditor, Ernst and Young (EY), found a massive $3.1 billion hole in its books. EY refused to sign off on the company’s 2019 accounts,

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Although the technology sector retains a relatively small weight within the local share market by global standards,  it nonetheless has the potential to offer attractive long-term growth opportunities for investors.  In this regard, a convenient and diversified way to tap into this potential is via the recently launched BetaShares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF (ASX: ATEC).

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Reading time: 4 minutes
Despite the current upbeat mood in global equity markets, the outlook still includes significant downside risks. For investors seeking some portfolio diversification and defence in view of these risks, one potentially attractive option is high-quality, long-dated sovereign bonds issued by the governments of today’s major developed market economies –

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Reading time: 4 minutes
With analysts divided as to whether sharemarkets will pull back and re-test the lows hit on 23 March, it’s hard for investors to know whether to buy or sell at this point. While it is almost impossible to time the bottom of the market,

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Reading time: 4 minutes
On 20 April, the WTI oil futures price fell below zero for the first time in history – in other words, traders were prepared to pay buyers to take oil off their hands!
A negative oil futures price is primarily due to the mechanics of the oil futures market,

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Reading time: 4 minutes
Given current sharemarket instability, we have received a number of questions regarding risk management and how to reduce portfolio volatility in times of market distress. Many of our investors have constructed well-balanced portfolios which incorporate fixed income as a counterweight to equities, but still would like an element of risk management for the equities component of their portfolio.

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Reading time: 4 minutes
Written by Christopher Joye, Chief Investment Officer, Coolabah Capital Investors, Manager for HBRD
A dramatic increase in credit spreads in major bank hybrids presents investors with the potential for attractive gains
Amidst the current market turmoil, ASX-listed hybrids have been one of the more liquid and transparently-traded parts of the fixed income markets.

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Trading volumes in BetaShares’ three Bear equity Funds have increased dramatically as investors seek to protect themselves against – or profit from – falls in the U.S. or Australian sharemarkets.
A number of individuals have contacted us with questions around price movements in these funds, and how they relate to movements in the underlying market.

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Reading time: 3 min
On 28 February, the Australian dollar fell below US$0.65, its lowest point since the GFC. As the chart below shows, the AUD remains in a short and long-term downtrend against the USD that currently shows no signs of abating.
AUD vs. USD: 5 March 2018 to 4 March 2020

Source: www.xe.com.

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