The Wilsons Australian Equity Focus List has been updated following a number of earnings announcements and company updates in the past month. A rollover in earnings momentum has continued for the S&P/ASX 200. Some of this is a function of falling iron ore prices and domestic lockdowns, but several stock-specific situations have seen earnings slip from FY22E and into FY23E. We see the key implication for investors being the need to be more selective around portfolio positioning.

While the RBA maintained its cash rate and left the pace of QE unchanged, it did announce it is dropping its yield curve control policy along with its guidance for no increase in the cash rate until 2024. While the RBA has conceded some ground, it continues to emphasise patience.

Does a rising A$ create a headwind for the equity market? Our short answer is that headwind is not insurmountable, given the earnings recovery thematic is likely to still win the day. We explore several underlying reasons around the composition of the Australian market to explain why a potentially stronger $A is not a threat.

After plunging to multi-decade lows in mid-2020, global energy prices have soared in recent months. Multiple factors on both the demand and supply side have combined to drive up the price of oil, and even more dramatically gas and thermal coal prices.

Major bank reporting season gets underway this week. We see FY21 results as being more about stock-specific issues rather than being driven by macro factors that have dominated recent results. We unpack the four key themes of reporting season.

High inflation readings across many economies in recent months has led to talk of “stagflation”. To help put investors’ minds at ease we detail why the characterisation of the current (or near-term) economic environment as “stagflationary” is a fair way wide of the mark.

The gaming industry, which has traditionally delivered GDP-like growth rates across many decades, is now facing a period of digitisation and profound structural change. We unpack the drivers behind the reorganisation of a number of global companies and identify where we believe opportunities are currently mispriced.

Our quarterly managed funds report outlines the pathway best-suited to deliver on our current asset allocation strategy.