Educational articles

The 7 causes of exchange rate movements that you need to know

Share investors need to have an understanding of exchange rates because they will influence stock prices. Companies with overseas operations may be impacted positively or negatively depending on the direction on the exchange rates. Not only that, but exchange rates can influence the amount of overseas funds being invested in Australian shares. This article describes the 7 major causes of exchange rate movements. We have also discussed the effects of exchange rates on stocks in a previous  article on stocks …

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What you need to know about the cash rate

The RBA sits down every month to determine what direction to take the cash rate. This cash rate is also called the overnight rate which is the rate on overnight loans in the money market. It is currently 1.5% which is the lowest rate in Australian history. Banks make a profit from lending out money and charging a higher interest rate than the cost of the money. Their main source of funding is from the deposits that they receive from …

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Reasons for Stock Market Falls

The US and Australian share markets have seen some significant falls in the last few months. The Dow Jones hit an all time high of 26,617.71 but then fell 4 per cent by the end of the following week. Many investors are surprised at why markets can fall away so quickly, especially when not much seems to change with the underlying companies. In this article we discuss some of the reasons causing stock markets to fall. Inflation There have been …

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Delisting – What You Need to Know

Why Companies Delist Companies need to maintain certain requirements by the stock exchange to continue as a listed company. Some of these requirements for the ASX include a minimum of 300 non-affiliated investors and a market capitalisation of A$15 million. Stocks can voluntary or involuntary delist.  Involuntary delisting can occur when the company has breached one of the requirements of the stock exchange. Another reason may be the company is in liquidation and unable to operate. Voluntary delisting means the …

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Stochastic Oscillator Simplified

What is the Stochastic Oscillator Indicators can be leading or lagging. The difference is that leading indicators gives signals before the uptrend or reversal occurs and a lagging indicator gives signals after the trend has started. The downside of a lagging indicator is that they identify trends that have already started so there is less profit to be made. Leading indicators can identify the trend before they take place. However, they should be used in conjunction with moving averages and …

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