The internet these days is packed with self-proclaimed gurus and influencers promising to show you the secret to beating the market. But when everyone seems to have the answer, how do you know who is actually worth listening to? This week, we tackle three questions: what a trading guru really is, whether you should pay for a course or mentor, and when paying for investment research can make sense.
Read MoreMarkets have a funny way of making old investing mistakes feel completely new. A new technology arrives, prices surge, investors pile in and suddenly the usual rules no longer seem to apply.
Read MoreOver the past four weeks, we’ve explored the three pillars of market analysis: technical, fundamental and sentiment. Fundamental analysis tells us what is happening inside the business. Technical analysis tells us what is happening to the price. Sentiment tells us what investors think and feel about both. On their own, each provides useful information. But when the three start telling the same story, things get interesting.
Read MoreWe’ve already explored technical analysis, which helps us understand the market’s medium-term direction, and fundamental analysis, which helps us estimate a company’s long-term value. Now we come to the final, and perhaps most fascinating, pillar of investing: sentiment.
Read MoreWhile technical analysis studies what the market is doing, fundamental analysis asks a different question: why? Instead of focusing on price movements, it examines the underlying business to determine whether it is becoming stronger or weaker, and whether its current share price reflects its true value.
Read MoreEvery day, millions of buyers and sellers interact in the financial markets. Every transaction contributes to one thing: price. While news headlines often dominate conversations among investors, technical analysts begin somewhere much simpler. They begin with the chart. The purpose of technical analysis is not to predict the future with certainty. Instead, it interprets the signals hidden within price action to identify where the probability of success may be greatest. By understanding what the market is communicating, investors can make more informed decisions about when to buy, when to sell, and when to simply wait.
Read MoreEvery trading day, the stock market generates an enormous amount of information. Share prices move, companies release results, investors react to news, and market sentiment shifts. Individually, these events may seem random. Together, they create signals that can help investors better understand where opportunities and risks may be emerging. We’ve previously discussed the three pillars of investment analysis: technical, fundamental, and sentiment analysis. Each approaches the market from a different angle, and each provides its own set of signals that investors can use to make more informed decisions.
Read MoreOver the past two weeks, we’ve explored why companies list on the stock market and how they decide whether to reinvest profits or pay dividends. But dividends aren’t the only way companies can return value to shareholders. Increasingly, companies are choosing to buy back their own shares.
Read MoreLast week, we looked at why companies list on the stock market and how investors can share in their growth. But what happens after a business becomes profitable? Does it keep investing every cent back into the business, or does it start rewarding shareholders? The answer often comes down to dividends.
Read MoreEvery day, millions of investors buy and sell shares on stock exchanges around the world. Yet few stop to ask a surprisingly simple question: why do public companies exist in the first place?
Read MoreOver the last three weeks, we’ve explored some of the hidden forces that drive markets.
We started by learning that prices don’t move simply because a stock is cheap or expensive. They move because of liquidity. When there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall.
We then looked at how institutional money influences markets. Large funds can spend weeks or even months building or reducing positions, creating sustained buying or selling pressure that often drives long-term trends.
Last week, we explored why gaps happen overnight. New information changes what investors are willing to pay for a share, and the opening auction process helps establish a new equilibrium price before the market opens.
But what happens when the market can’t easily agree on that new equilibrium price?
What happens when thousands of investors suddenly realise they are positioned for the wrong outcome?
That’s when volatility explodes.
While retail traders make up part of the markets, the biggest moves are often driven by institutions. Pension funds, hedge funds, asset managers, insurers and investment funds control billions of dollars and can hold positions that are larger than the daily trading volume of some companies.
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