Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Transurban (TCL) was one of Australia’s great corporate success stories – until it was hit by a triple-whammy of Covid lockdowns, inflation, and public/political backlashes. Do the new CEO and chairperson have the political cunning and connections to revive Transurban’s once-golden yellow brick road? Here's my take on Transurban for long term investors.
Ever wondered where our big dinosaur banks came from, and how they got so big? And why they are all virtually the same? How Australia became the richest country in the world per capita - without a central bank, without a national currency, and without bank regulation? How the dozens of small, independent, competitive banks became the big-4 government protected oligopoly we have today?
I am neither a buyer nor a seller - so why does it matter? Why CBA is the 'Steven Bradbury' of the banking world? Its share price is soaring but its fundamentals stalled a decade ago. What sort of returns can we expect in future? Here's my quick take in 7 charts.
Australians have always had a love-hate relationship with their banks. (OK, so it’s mostly hate). But it was not always the case. Believe it or not, there was a time when the Australian public loved their banks so much they kicked out a Federal government that was trying to close the banks down! Here is the remarkable story of Banks -v- Politics, Capitalism -v- Socialism right here in Australia.
Quick 2-question Quiz on Aussie Banks - Q1 - Which of the big Aussie banks has had the largest % share price gain this year? - No it's not CBA, despite all the media attention and hype. Q2 - Which of the big banks has been the best for shareholders over the past one, two, and three decades? - No its not CBA either, despite the widely held belief that it is!
Last week I wrote about the Virgin Airlines disaster for shareholders. That was only half of the story of Virgin's last shot as a listed public company. Here is the other half of the sorry tale - the fate of the buyers and owners of $325m of Vigrin Notes - on the debt side of the balance sheet. It makes a great case study in high-yield / high-risk debt. Are there any new lessons to be learned? &
Virgin Airlines is in the news again. It is being tarted by shifty private equity trickers hoping to lure another batch of gullible investors into parting with their hard-earned cash - again. Before getting into the merits of Round 2, it’s worth taking a look at what happened in Round 1. What are the lessons from the last sorry tale? Has anything changed?
This company is sitting on the richest copper-gold mine in the world, but it has been locked up for 35 years and can't touch it. Political risk crippled what was once a highly profitable 'blue chip' stock. All investing involves political risk, but political risks can be the most volatile, hardest to quantify, and most wealth-destroying. Or perhaps wealth creating - in the right circumstances and at the right price!
In 2021 and 2022, when the prices of nickel and nickel explorers/miners were soaring, my inbox was flooded with emails asking which nickel stock(s) to jump into. Since all mining booms follow a familiar pattern, and end the same way for the same reasons, I responded by referring to my story about the mother of all nickel boom-busts – Poseidon, involving the very same nickel mines. How’s a one-year gain of 46,000% sound?
Woolworths CEO forced out early - despite good profit margins and returns on equity. How to balance maximising shareholder value versus other key stakeholders.
JB Hi-Fi: Misunderstood growth star or the next Myer?
With the lithium bubble bursting, I am now receiving emails from readers (and hot stock tip-sheets) about how to jump in on the latest ‘hot’ commodity – uranium, as a possible solution in the transition from fossil fuels.
Case study: CSL – growth superstar at a rare bargain, or over-priced mature low-growth behemoth?
This is the story of my adventure with Qantas shares – and proof that the ‘Bigger Fool’ theory works! Media headlines writers are having a field day with all the recent dramas surrounding Qantas.
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