Share Market

When it comes to stocks, who finishes first?

John Addis Men might find it hard to swallow but women are better at investing than men and there's lots of evidence to prove it.

Quirky Investments

Crime pays for bidders

Cartier Diamond Ring

Quirky Investments It seems to be common these days for police departments to promote their crime-fighting prowess by displaying the proceeds of crime, as they are usually described on television news.

Under the Radar

New thinking on value of old

Richard Hemming For investors ''old'' versus ''new'' media shouldn't matter. Many argue about the decline and decline of ''old media'' and the rise and rise of ''new media'', but Geoff Wilson of Wilson Asset...

Mark Bouris

Soar on the upsurge of a windfall

Mark Bouris

Mark Bouris I'm used to hearing ''I don't have enough money'', but what about the people who do?

Quirky Investments

Ka-ching to their bow

Violin.Sydney.March 21st, 2013.Photo.Sahlan Hayes.SMH Money.Dene Olding violinist with the Goldner Quartet and Sydney Symphony, with his 1720 Joseph Guarnerius violin.

George Cochrane The value of antique instruments has been steadily rising for decades, with some violins valued in the millions.

Share Race

Oracle sees past the Cyprus bust to predict a growing fortune

Digital image by Peter Schofield for Next 2-9-2003.  sod020523.001.001.jpg
Photo: Simon O'Dwyer. Gen News. Pic Shows. Julia Macura, artist and fortune teller with her reflection in her crystal ball.
Julia comes from a line of English gypsies, although they prefere to be called Romany. Julia resides in Bendigo.

David Potts We’re vying to see who can amass the most from the sharemarket in four weeks. Each contestant picks any 10 stocks trading on the ASX.

Intelligent Investor

Ten signs your stock will double

Stocks.

Nathan Bell Everyone loves the idea of buying stocks that double in price. But how do you spot them? Here are 10 quick pointers:

HOT STOCK

Sun rises with general insurance the star

Suncorp logo.

Hot Stock Suncorp is making strides on its path to delivering value to shareholders by stripping out cost, winding down non-core banking, improving general insurance margins and returning capital.

US INVESTING

Round up some bargains

texas .  010614 AFR picture by greg newington
 Picture shows generic: environment, cowboy, rancher, cattle

Barbara Drury Thanks to the high dollar, investors could strike it rich by investing in American stocks, but they need to watch out for currency fluctuations.

GETTING STARTED

Market yields to upturn

Stockmarket

David Potts Never have so many chief executives, from BHP Billiton to Network Ten, been rolled just before or during a profit-reporting season.

Mark Bouris

At this rate, prospects are for a rise

Mark Bouris

Mark Bouris Every economy has cycles and we may be approaching the end of one that has been good for mortgage-holders.

INSIGHT

Tread carefully, it's all a little fragile

PEK01:BEIJING,11DEC97 - A mother retrieves her child's school bag while a friend grips her belt as a safety measure after an after school prank left the backpack stranded on thin ice covering a central city lake December 10.  Most lakes in China's national capital freeze over but this early in the winter despite consistent sub-zero overnight temperatures, the ice has yet to thicken.  Frozen lakes provide citizens a wealth of recreation including sledding, ice skating and ice fishing.        wb/str   REUTERS

Clancy Yeates Is the sharemarket's strong start to the year justified by a brighter outlook for companies? Or are stock prices simply rising because the world is awash with cash, in search of a return?

INVESTING

Precious little to recommend gold

Gold ingots on display during a press conference of Germany's Central Bank.

The "safe haven" metal's bull run is waning, with loud talk among investors that 2013 may mark the end of its spectacular 12-year bull run.

Hedge funds

Financier caught after five years on the run

Handcuffs

Flamboyant former hedge fund manager Florian Homm has been arrested on fraud charges, after more than five years in hiding.

PROPERTY

Investors scramble as rental crisis bites

Investors will buy for income, rather than capital gain, in a slow housing market.

From Sydney's inner suburbs to the mining towns of Western Australia, investors are scrambling to take advantage of a growing rental crisis and the lowest mortgage costs in years.

INTELLIGENT INVESTOR

Lowy family signs up to doubter list

Nathan Bell When the smart money sells down, why wouldn't you follow suit? That's a question shareholders in Westfield Retail Trust are asking themselves.

TOP TIPS

How to get your share of rallying bull market

GENERIC BULL MARKET, SHARES, SHARE PRICE, INDICES, SHARE TRADING
030626 AFR 

Photo by ANDREW LEE.

John Collett The rally on the Australian sharemarket holds the promise of being long-lived. Though share prices never go up in a straight line, and there will be plenty of setbacks, investors who wait on the...

Insight: retail

Clancy Yeates If our economy is in pretty good nick, why are retailers always complaining about how tough things are?

Hot stock: News Corporation

News Corp logo.

Brian Han News Corporation's second-quarter results comfortably exceeded market expectations, with normalised net income up 5 per cent and earnings per share (EPS) jumping 13 per cent.

Bank on banks

David Potts

David Potts The best way to deal with a bank is by owning a bit of it. Take your typical term deposit. You'll be lucky if you're getting much more than 4 per cent - unless it goes back a couple of years - but...