Reading Time: 1 Minute Hello everyone! So the dreaded “R” word has finally come for Australia. Our federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has confirmed that yes, we are in recession. In this video, learn about what a recession means, what happened during the last recession, what to expect this time round and also how to prepare yourself for the upcoming recession… My outtake? Be prepared for what’s to come but don’t over-react! There will always be opportunities in the market. Speaking of… I might hit up a more detailed piece on a recession if things get REALLY bad. Here’s hoping we’ll come out of it OK. Did you enjoy this post?…
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Are Things Back To Normal?
Reading Time: 2 Minutes MrsFrugalSamurai told me an interesting story today. Whilst she was at the shops, an elderly lady was using her umbrella to maintain social distancing in a “forceful manner”. Apparently the sheer number of people going about their business made this a thankless task. I can just imagine our heroine, battling against the horde with her brolly-cum-sword like a crazed Mary Poppins. I guess the moral of the story is that we’re all heading outdoors now and everything is back to normal? Certainly it’s not true in other parts of the world, where escalating cases in the US, Brazil and India among others makes COVID-19 as big…
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“COVID19 – did it even happen?”
Reading Time: 3 Minutes This was a question posed in our investing group recently. It’s a little facetious I know, because Covid-19 undoubtedly DID happen – just look around you to see how the world has changed. But what the question was regarding, is the fact that the markets – the Australian stock market (ASX) to be specific, is charging full steam ahead for a V-shaped recovery. Case in point, there are now stocks whose prices are above their pre-covid levels! Stock A (well-known iron ore producer) Stock B (lesser well-known IT company) Of course, these are only two companies – but if I dig deep enough, there are…
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60% of Australian Renters Are Facing Affordability Issues
Reading Time: 3 Minutes The Australian economy has been stopped in its tracks due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Personally I’ve been fortunate that I am still employed (for the moment) and have a paycheque coming in. But as you guys know, the majority of our net wealth is in residential real estate, so I’ve been mentally preparing myself for the increasing likelihood that one, some, or God forbid, ALL of my tenants will seek some form of rent relief. And lo and behold, it happened today: Hello The Frugal Samurai, The drastic measures that the government has put into place right across Australia to ensure a flattening of the curve,…
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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Reading Time: 2 Minutes Hey what’s up everyone! There’s been many prickly issues which have popped up as a result of COVID-19. A major one of course, is jobs. Or rather, job loss. Some estimates state almost 1 million Aussies have lost their jobs, implying a jump in the April unemployment rate to 11% (for context, March was 5.2%). Ouch. Today’s post is on some insights into the current Australian job market in the midst of this pandemic. Thanks to Indeed for these stats! Supermarket jobs FTW A big surprise has been the sharp spike in searches for supermarket jobs… then again maybe not. Seems like two of the major “beneficiaries”…
