Geopolitics and wars rage as markets look past the noise Credit: File It’s a common refrain that markets hate uncertainty, which makes it odd that they continue to function – indeed flourish – against a geopolitical backdrop that feels anything but calm. From his usual leather recliner at the Club, Dollar Bill has watched a grinding war in Ukraine roll on, a combustible Middle East, an unpredictable United States edging towards another Trump-shaped chapter of global politics

Three calls and three hits for Dollar Bill - what’s next? Credit: File Bulls N’ Bears Dollar Bill reckons any “I told you so” column is a dangerous path to tread. It tempts fate, offends modesty, and invites the gods to short your next position. But sometimes, in a rank display of self-indulgence, Dollar Bill likes to glance at the scoreboard. After all, a record’s a record and for the past few years Dollar Bill’s been humming the market tune at least a bar or two ahead of th

The Santa rally – real or imagined? Credit: File Bulls N’ Bears’ Dollar Bill was splayed out on the chesterfield at the Club holding high court when he heard an occasionally sensible bloke drain his glass and then offer an explanation on the ASX’s recent strength - and his expectation of more to come. With a straight face he said, “You can bet on the Santa Claus rally, particularly when Jupiter is in a favourable position.” Jupiter? Favourable position? Dollar Bill has heard

Dollar Bill: The algorithm ate my broker – but should it? Credit: File Bulls N’ Bears Dollar Bill has enjoyed (but often ignored) the advice of the same broker for nearly thirty years. George was an old university friend and never much good at anything but somehow turned a shared love of cheap wine and bad poetry in the back room of the Club into a career dispensing financial advice to a tight circle of members. None of us really cared that he was a Muppet, because he was our

First The Louvre; now how to spot a heist on the ASX. Credit: File The ladder. The smashed window. The stolen jewels. Dollar Bill expected to see a Bond villain, not a few men dressed in high-viz scooting past outside the famous Louvre Museum in Paris with backpacks stuffed full of priceless treasures. Yet there it was: four thieves, an electrically powered ladder on a truck, through a second-floor window into the Apollo Gallery and out again. It was all done in seven minutes

With gold on a tear, Dollar Bill is trying his best not to look at the price ticker every five minutes. Credit: File When gold refuses to...

Dollar Bill has been watching the order book chatter lately and has noticed the market is starting to remember how to take a risk without...

It seems the good people at the Bank of America hold a different view to Dollar Bill’s recent small-cap cheerleading. Credit: File It...

Dollar Bill writes that something is stirring in small-cap land - and it’s not just the usual background hum. Credit: Supplied It’s been...

“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune….” Read literally, the words of Brutus in...

One of the great parts of my role as State manager at Shaw and Partners is that occasionally, I get to impart a bit of hard-earned...

Every cloud has a silver lining and Dollar Bill reckons silver IS that silver lining right now. Once considered a poor man’s gold, silver...

I remember starting life as a young futures broker and listening to a passionate sermon from a seasoned investor who was “long” on gold...

Bubbles in nature may be beautiful – for some – but in financial markets they are a right pain. Some see no bubble at all, while others...

As we enter a new year, a sense of optimism and promise generally pervades for the year ahead with a genuine expectation that the market...

More than 2300 years ago, Alexander the Great – on his pathway to becoming one of history’s greatest ever conquerors – entered the...

It was 2009 and I found myself in the beating heart of Zambia. I remember heading down a steep ravine carrying a big rubber raft, along...

Some age-old adages invariably keep ringing true in financial markets. Anniversaries of stock market crashes spring to mind, as does the...

Board dynamics remain a fascinating combination of personalities and business where the best interests of shareholders meet with a mix of...

Throughout my years in the market, particularly working on a range of capital market transactions, the lesson that I have perhaps learnt...