John Beveridge
John is a highly experienced business journalist and formerly chief business writer for the Herald Sun. He has covered Federal politics in Canberra, was Los Angeles Bureau chief for News Limited and was also chief of staff for the Herald Sun. He has covered a wide range of small and large cap ASX stocks and has a special interest in mining, technology and biotech.
When Averages Turn Mean and Steal Your Joy
It is very true that comparison is the thief of joy and that is particularly the case when it comes to superannuation balances. It seems that every second day there is another piece of financial propaganda warning about how high average superannuation balances are at various ages. The not so hidden meaning is it if […]
Property Boom Flatters Victoria’s Troubled Budget
There’s nothing like a property boom to gladden the heart of any state premier. So Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan must be delighted to see that Melbourne’s median house price has now marched to within $10,000 of its record high. While these higher prices make it harder for first time buyers to get into the market, […]
Weekly Wrap: Can the ASX Overcome Trade Turmoil? Investors Brace for Volatility
It was one of those weeks on the share market when the good news and the bad news fought for domination. In the end, both had a reasonable claim to have won the week, with the Australian share market posting a weekly gain of 0.3% to record its second straight week of gains. On the […]
Super Backdown Fantastic News for Those on Modest Incomes
One of the great things about Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s embarrassing backdown on superannuation tax is the boost it will give to low-income earners. While most of the controversy around super changes has been around those with $3 million or more and how much tax they will pay, the far more important change that has emerged […]
Aussies Packing on the Wealth
One of the most exciting pieces of news recently was that Australians have increased their wealth dramatically. Indeed, our wealth went up by the biggest amount of anyone in the world. Naturally there are some caveats to this achievement – this wealth increase won’t apply to everyone – but just the same it is an […]
Weekly Wrap: Political Uncertainty Causes a Pullback from Record Highs
Political uncertainty led to a weaker Australian share market on Friday as investors went back to gold and jumped off energy and technology shares. With a meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump due in the coming week, even shares in critical minerals miners fell as extreme uncertainty surrounded what the meeting […]
How to Save Thousands by Running Through a Rare Open Door
Sometimes governments leave the door open just a crack when it comes to accessing valuable benefits and on a very rare occasion they swing the door wide open to allow just about everybody in. The latter is what has happened with the Seniors Healthcare Card, with the interesting result that many people who are eligible […]
How to Spend up Big Using a Tiny Percentage
The world is full of useful money rules—some endure; others fall by the wayside. One of the more interesting recent rules helps anyone to decide when and how much it is OK to spend without really thinking. The basic rule was arrived at by Nick Maggiulli, chief operating officer of US financial advice firm Ritholtz […]
Weekly Wrap: Middle East Ceasefire Drives Down Oil and Gold Prices
Some much-needed peace in the Middle East led to weakness in oil and gold prices, while BHP’s China dispute also saw shares in big miners fall. By the close on Friday the risk-off sentiment had pushed the ASX 200 index down 11.5 points, or 0.1%, to 8958.3 points even though eight of the 11 sectors […]
What if Interest Rates Stay Right Where They Are?
Can we all get used to a future in which interest rates stay exactly where they are now? That is the real question after the Reserve Bank board held official interest rates steady and stated that it is fairly bullish and where it sees the Australian economy at the moment. While financial markets might have […]
Big Batteries Slowly Saving the Grid
It is sometimes hard to envision but Australia’s power system is rapidly going through a renewables revolution as it transitions away from coal power and towards solar and wind power. One of the key parts of this transition is the provision of large batteries capable of turning the at times intermittent renewable supply into an […]
Weekly Wrap: Will the ASX 200 Break Records? Investors Hope for Continued Momentum
The Australian share market overcame a poor start to rise and salutes the end of the week on Friday, well within reach of record highs. A broad rally in sectors such as healthcare, IT, consumer discretionary and real estate stocks helped to overcome weakness in energy and utilities, helping the ASX 200 to rise by […]
Overcoming the Gender Earnings Gap
There are many ways in which women get a raw deal in society but the gender pay gap is one of the most invidious. Not only are women on average paid less than their male colleagues, they are also penalised because they take more breaks from full-time paid employment to have children and sometimes also […]
Could You Discover a Missing Fortune?
Nobody wants to throw away money but when it comes to superannuation, life sometimes just gets in the way. You may change jobs and start up and use a different superannuation account, move overseas and forget about an old account, or simply lose track of an old account or two after changing address a few […]
Weekly Wrap: Trump’s Tariff Threat: Aussie Pharma Stocks Take a Hit
President Trump tried his hardest to derail the Australian share market but in the end, it was not quite enough to prevent the market from rising on Friday. Healthcare stocks were firmly in the crosshairs for investors after President Trump announced a 100% tariff on imports of branded or patented pharmaceutical products from October 1, […]
The ‘Own Home’ Pension Exemption Is Standing in the Way of Downsizing
Sometimes government payments can come with some contradictory conditions that seem to go against everything the tax, income and benefits system should stand for. One that is becoming more perverse with every passing day is the exclusion of the family home when calculating the level of age pension payment somebody is entitled to. To give […]
At Almost $1 Trillion, Australia’s Government Debt Is Surprisingly Seen as Small
It says a lot about the state of the world that Australia is considered to have a low government debt, when by our own standards our debt is very high. At some stage this year or early next year gross Government debt is expected to cross over $1 trillion for the very first time. At […]
Weekly Wrap: ASX 200 Rises Amid Wall Street Gains but Faces Third Weekly Decline
The Australian share market rose again on Friday but not enough to stop its third weekly fall in a row. Fresh record highs on Wall Street due to falling interest rates and more technology optimism helped our market to propel higher but we are still well short of our record high close of 9019.1 points […]
The Tobacco Tax Is Australia’s Worst Policy Failure
If you are looking for a massive policy disaster in Australia at the moment, it would be very hard to go past what is happening around the sale of cigarettes and vapes. The official numbers tell a terrible story, while the consistent crime reports of fire bombings by rival illegal tobacco gangs add a human […]
Governments Can Invest Well, Too
It may come as a shock to many arch capitalists but on (admittedly rare) occasions, governments can be visionary investors. One great example was the purchase of the important abstract expressionist painting Blue Poles by US artist Jackson Pollock by the National Gallery of Australia way back in 1973. The purchase was then so large […]