Same-store sales numbers aren’t always what they seem
Same-store sales growth is one of the most important metrics for evaluating restaurants and retailers. Although widely reported by companies in these industries, and followed closely by analysts and investors, this metric can be manipulated in ways that may distort the underlying performance of the company’s stores.
Do not lose sight of the big picture
With so much noise coming in on a daily basis, it is sometimes hard for investors to keep a clear mind. Whether it’s distractions from President Trump, fears of the Fed, missiles launched from North Korea, the Brexit negotiations, the Qatar blockade or rumblings of a Chinese (and Australian) property bubble, investors could be forgiven […]
Understanding the mantra: look for sustainable returns
In this column published in the ASA magazine, Andrew Macken discusses the Australian banking sector and several promising global trends. Read here.
The Decline of Cash
The Montaka team is constantly scouting for longer term technological shifts that may produce opportunities on either the long or short side of the portfolio. One such inexorable trend is the move toward cashless transactions, in place of traditional cash-based payments. Despite being the predominant way of transacting for centuries, cash usage has been in […]
Will Balance Sheet Normalisation Deflate Asset Prices?
For the first time since the Fed began its quantitative easing program in 2009, the FOMC announced in June it would start a gradual unwind of its balance sheet sometime this year. For those who could benefit from a simple explanation of what this means, see the following bullet points: Prior to the Fed embarking on […]
Australia’s credit-fuelled growth story
Every year around this time, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) delivers its Annual Report on the state of the global economy. It is always worth reading, in our view, and is full of a number of really important insights that investors need to be mindful of. One such insight is the difference between those […]
What will be of the new financial year?
Australia is one of the few countries in the world that close out their financial year in June. So to Australian investors, we wish you a happy financial new year and ask what will be of the twelve months to come? The 2017 financial year was kind to equity investors. The MSCI Total Return Index […]
Underestimating the Power of Compounding
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.” – Bill Gates This pithy quote by Gates touches on an important shortcoming many of us face, either knowingly or unknowingly: our brains are not very good at accounting for the […]
The power of scale in our new digital world
If you are an Australian CEO, you are probably wondering if Amazon will one day disrupt your business. The threat of Amazon to Australian business is the topic du jour all of a sudden, so it is worth understanding exactly why Amazon is so scary. Amazon is a big business, for sure. Its market capitalisation […]
The curious case of Fed normalisation
This week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) hiked its target range for the federal funds rate for the second time this year to 1.00-1.25 percent. In a widely anticipated move, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said that the labor market has continued to strengthen, economic activity has been rising and household spending has picked up […]
