The US market continues to rise despite uncertainty lingering in the background. Earnings season is getting underway and the major tech companies will report later this week. Investors are being cautiously optimistic the worst of the tariff talk is behind us. At home today we should expect to see continued improvement but all eyes will be on the CPI.
- S&P 500 = +0.60%
- Nasdaq = +0.50%
- Aussie dollar down 0.6% to 63.90US cents
- Iron ore up 0.1% to $98.55 US a tonne
Canada’s new (but not new) Prime Minister, who is Mark Carney?
Yesterday Mark Carney was elected as Canada’s new Prime Minister. He had been in the seat just for one month after replacing Justin Trudeau and then promptly called an election. Given he ran on a strong anti-Trump campaign it is worth understanding who Carney is.
Carney is a former central banker. He was the governor of the Bank of Canada during the GFC and more recently, the first non-Brit to hold the top position at the Bank of England. This is his first foray into politics. He seems to be doing fairly well at it.
If you’d like to read more about Mark Carney, this overview by the BBC is great. Here’s hoping he can have a productive relationship with his neighbour.
Of course, we’re in the middle of our own election. I got out and voted on Monday. I thought it would be a quick process but I still had to line up for close to 30 minutes. To my surprise every single candidate in my area was working the queue.
Usually when we have an election it’s a major talking point for the potential investors I speak with. It has not come up once. The only thing I’ve heard people mention this election so far is all the texts they’re receiving from Clive Palmer.
I am seeing his billboards everywhere and the growing graffiti of them is very amusing. The closest one to me, on Lygon Street now has a carton bum stencilled over his face and letters of Trumpets of Patriots have been crossed out to read “Rump Riot”.
Looking to profit from the Rump Riot? Check out Ooh!Media Limited (ASX:OML). When you see an electronic sign at a bus or tram stop, a billboard etc. think Ooh!Media. Year to date it is up 29%. As always, the market is always forward looking, pricing in the rumps.
MinRes makes an ass of me
Speaking of…from now on every time I write about negative Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN) news, buy the stock (not advice!). Yesterday MinRes provided its quarterly update. Investors reacted very positively to the CFO ruling out a capital raise. It was a shadow hanging over the embattled lithium and iron ore play. As a result the stock increased 13%.
Dividend trivia
Finally, yesterday Owen and I recorded a fun episode on income for the Australian Investors Podcast. I decided to do a bit of pub trivia for him. He did ok. Here’s a sample for you:
Question 1: Out of the four big banks, two have returned their dividends to pre Covid levels and two have not. Which two banks dividends are back to pre Covid levels? The answer is Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) and ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ).
Questions 2: You’ve heard of a dividend reinvestment plan but what is bonus share plan? Did you know some companies, like the banks, older listed investment companies and even ARB Corporation Limited (ASX:ARB) offer bonus share plans or BSPs? A BSP is where you opt to not receive a dividend or DRP units but receive bonus shares instead. You are not taxed on the bonus shares like you would be with a dividend but it goes to reducing your cost base.
As always, if you want to have a chat with me you can reach me via the chat function in the bottom right of the page, the Rask Community or by jumping across to the Rask Invest site.
Have a great day and I’ll catch you tomorrow.
