BFS insights - Summer Newsletter

With advances in technology, we are inundated with lots of different innovations to save time and make tasks less laborious. One area which has undergone huge changes within the latter part of the last century is food – what we eat, when we eat and how we prepare food.

Now more than ever we have access to food which has been prepared for us - in whole or in part. But is this a good thing?

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Trust can be tested in many ways.

Consider this situation. You are sitting at a conference with 1000 or so industry colleagues – effectively professional strangers – and you are asked to unlock your mobile phone and hand it to the person sitting next to you. They have 30 seconds to do whatever they like with it...

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Highlights:

• As was strongly anticipated by the market, the US Fed lifted the funds rate to 1.5% in mid-December.

• The US economy appears to be operating near capacity, with an unemployment rate of just 4.1% and an underemployment rate of 8% – the lowest since 2006.

• The recovery in Europe continues to defy expectations, with no sign of confidence diminishing despite political uncertainty in Germany and Spain.

• The Chinese economy has also exceeded expectations in 2017, expanding by just under 7% in the first three quarters.

• The Australian economy is being impacted by weak wages growth, but December saw an encouraging jump in consumer sentiment.

If you have any questions regarding this report or would like to discuss your portfolio, please contact me directly on 03 9832 0768

Read full January 2018 market update report  >>

Which key events have been driving markets? Watch this video of NAB Asset Management's Senior Economist Bob Cunneen talking to Head of Investment Communications Jason Hazell to find out.

They discuss:

• the implications of the US tax cuts

• implications of US interest rate rises and

• the decline in the Australian dollar.