Hello and welcome to the first edition of the MFM Group newsletter for 2016. We trust everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Yearâs break and excited about what this New Year holds. All of us in the Box Hill and Greensborough offices enjoyed catching up with our families from near and far away over the break, and now that weâre back at work weâre looking forward to working with you and also launching some fantastic new initiatives over the next month that weâre confident that you will find of value.
After a rocky end to last year with the market volatility hitting us, the start to this year has continued on in much the same vein. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.4 per cent to 15,988; benchmark Brent crude oil fell to $US29.84 a barrel, the lowest since 2004; European stocks fell into a bear market, defined as a drop of over 20 per cent from last year’s highs; and Shanghai’s Composite Index fell 3.5 per cent, wiping out gains driven by the People’s Bank of China efforts earlier in the week to stabilise the currency.
Despite this drop many analyst are still optimistic about the share markets prospects for 2016. Macquarie division director Martin Lakos said last week that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the either the Chinese or US economies, underpinning the bank’s forecast of the ASX200 reaching 5900 by year’s end. In Macquarie’s view, said Mr Lakos, the Chinese share market was not representative of the bulk of the Chinese economy. Citigroup has a 5900 forecast for the ASX200 by year’s end and Commsec chief economist Craig James is also holding to his 5500-5700 prediction for the ASX by year’s end. “There’s no change. It’s just day 17. A lot can happen over the year,” he said. To Read more click here
Nevertheless, uncertainty in investment markets can put even the most experienced investors’ resolve to the test. Franklin Templetonâs Five Things You Need to Know to Ride Out a Volatile Stock Market flyer provides a handful of strategies for investors who may be wondering how – or if – to respond to turmoil in the market. It also includes some thoughts on resisting the urge to convert investments to cash, and how volatility can in fact present great opportunities for strategic investors
On a different note, for many the New Year is about revaluating goals and finances. With Australians spending an estimated $46.8 billion in the six weeks before Christmas with much of this, we expect on credit. With this in mind we are sharing the article âKickstarting your year with a financial health checkâ with information about boring but important things like taking care of your budgeting and debt to help get peoples spending back in check. Read the full article here
As always if you have any questions or feedback please donât hesitate to give the office a call, and please feel free to share any of these articles with any friends or family members you think might find value in this, especially if they are worried about the volatility in the share market.
Kind Regards,
Gary, Garry, Maurice and Gerard and the staff of MFM Group
