01 July 2008 | Emily Parkinson | The Australian Financial Review
The past 12 months have been a painful reminder of just how fickle the sharemarket can be - a little more than six months ago, shares were poised to break through 7000 for the first time, buoyed by the resources boom and hopes the credit crisis was over: but in the space of four months sentiment soured on fears of rising inflation, stoked by record high oil prices, and concerns of a slowing economy and ructions in global credit markets pushed stocks to their lowest since late 2006.
01 July 2008 | Emily Parkinson | The Australian Financial Review
Usually the first to suffer in uncertain times, small caps performed to type as the global credit crisis fanned the most extreme bout of risk aversion since the 1987 sharemarket crash.
01 July 2008 | Katja Buhrer | The Australian Financial Review
The credit crunch has changed the funding landscape for companies, pushing borrowing costs to historical highs, and has led to a jump in how many companies are expected to default on loans.
01 July 2008 | Jo Clarke | The Australian Financial Review
Volatility replaced super-cycle as the theme of 2008 in the resources sector, but thanks to BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, resources were able to maintain some momentum amid turmoil in the wider markets, while the merger and acquisition bullet train gathered speed.
01 July 2008 | Peter Wells | The Australian Financial Review
Peter Wells spoke to five fund managers about a wild year on investment markets, as well as their hopes and concerns about what lies ahead. Gary Armor, AMP Capital Investors, head of capital funds Dion Hershan, Goldman Sachs JBWere Asset Management, head of equities Crispin Murray, BT Investment Management, head of Australian equities Simon Shields, UBS Global Asset Management, head of Australian equities Paul Taylor, Fidelity Investments, head of Australian equities
01 July 2008 | Peter Wells | The Australian Financial Review
The record run in initial public offerings has been broken as a result of the global credit crunch and experts do not expect a return to the halcyon days any time soon.
01 July 2008 | Katja Buhrer | The Australian Financial Review
It's been a year of milestones for the Australian dollar, ending with a 25-year high. Currency watchers are still bullish on the $A and are bracing for the next frontier: an assault on parity with the US dollar.
01 July 2008 | Michael Vaughan | The Australian Financial Review
Hot on the heels of a record year, high levels of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the Australian market are expected to continue into this year, fuelled by the continued strong demand for commodities and the sharp drop in valuations of most companies.
01 July 2008 | Alan Jury | The Australian Financial Review
A perfect storm has been ravaging financial markets virtually from the first days of the 2007-08 financial year and its impact is broadening. Anyone attempting to promote an improving prognosis is having as much success breaking the cycle of gloom as Bill Murray's weather forecaster in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day.
01 July 2008 | David Bassanese | The Australian Financial Review
The Australian economy has downshifted in the past year, and will probably face further strains in the coming financial year.
01 July 2008 | David Bassanese | The Australian Financial Review
The Australian sharemarket enters the new financial year with valuations that appear relatively attractive. But they are high in part because of a heightened risk premium associated with the twin risks of rising inflation and interest rates on the one hand and slowing economic growth and corporate earnings on the other.
01 July 2008 | Vesna Poljak | The Australian Financial Review
Australia is frequently tagged a two-speed economy but the reality is investors are also dealing with a dual sharemarket: resources versus industrials.
01 July 2008 | Stephen Wyatt | The Australian Financial Review
The resources boom is now seven years old, yet commodities, albeit in a rotational "your turn-my turn" way, continue to hit fresh highs year after year.
01 July 2008 | Patrick Commins | The Australian Financial Review
Tossed and turned by the credit crunch, helped by the ongoing boom in resources, frazzled by the tough economic conditions at home and abroad, investors are anxiously awaiting some signs of a return to normality in equity markets.
01 July 2008 | Anthony Hughes | The Australian Financial Review
Given the crises the United States has faced in the past 12 months (and which continue to plague the outlook), perhaps the most surprising thing is that the US sharemarket hasn't fallen further.
