Fear & Greed Q+A

Listener David asks: With the fight against inflation, are there not more innovative ways to reduce consumer spending compared to simply lifting interest rates? As you have discussed many times, raising interest rates generally only negatively impacts the spending habits of particularly demographics and often actually benefit older generations with large savings accounts. Could we consider raising...

Listener Dave asks:  Sean uses various terms for share price movements and I wonder which ones mean something and which ones are just to make more interesting copy. I assume bounced is different from rose. And spiked is different from increased. Plunged is different from dropped. Or is it? For me anything less than a 5% change is just noise if you’re not a day trader. Can Sean please give us a def...

Listener Jonathan asks:  I am aware of West Texas Intermediate oil and Brent Crude oil, but I was wondering is that it, or are there loads of other oil variants with many other names that for some reason we just don’t care to remember or mention? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our ...

Listener Buster asks:  What are the major factors that affect the strength of the Aussie dollar? What conditions would we need to see in order for me to get more bang for my buck next time I exchange currency on holiday? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Ins...

Listener Falgun asks: What is your take on the shrinking ASX 200 following the number of exits from big names in 2023-24? New IPOs are also not coming at the same rate. Do you see a potential fear from overseas investors or institutional investors avoiding future investments due to concentration? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own questi...

Listener Jacob asks: You were talking about consumer sentiment and business sentiment. How is it actually measured? I get measuring something like how much we're spending or saving, or how much businesses are investing, because those are dollar values. But sentiment is how we feel, so how do they measure it? And who does the measuring? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listene...

Listener Benjamin asks: " In your newsletter last week you said the right to disconnect will change the way we work - because workplaces will be forced to have better communication around what’s expected. I manage a team within a larger organisation and want to get ahead of this. How best to do it? Is it an all-in meeting, so that everybody knows the ground rules for the workplace? Or one on one?"...

Listener Rebecca asks:  Can you explain the wealth effect? We’ve had house prices rising, but people are spending less - so does that mean the wealth effect doesn’t always work? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Instagram  or  Facebook ! Find out more: https...

Listener Luke asks: Is it just me, or are markets way off in pricing in rate cuts, more so than normal? I’m not old enough to have paid much attention to market changes prior to 2014, but it seems that the COVID pandemic was completely unprecedented and the shock waves are unable to be managed as a result. We have high inflation, strong eco growth, good unemployment numbers, decent real estate and...

Listener Shalyce asks: Guys, can I ask a question about bonds. Does yield = the amount of interest a bond pays you? If you buy a 10 year bond at say 5%, does that yield stay consistent? Eg, you’re guaranteed to get 5% every year for the full 10 years? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via...

Listener Paul asks: I have a question for you about ETFs. How much of the overall market is owned by ETFs and as they become more popular will they reach a point where they are driving the share price of individual companies either up or down? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  web...

Listener Lily asks:  I know it's earnings season, every day we're hearing about companies meeting expectations etc etc. But there's so much information when a company gives its results. What should we be looking at, or looking for? Where do you even start??? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in tou...

Listener Brian asks: Last Monday, the ASX tumbled but there was a lot of talk about "interest sensitive stocks" falling disproportionately relative to the index. Given that interest rates have started to fall across the globe, and that the RBA's launch on that rate-cutting cycle appears (relatively) imminent, the reaction of the market seems totally counterintuitive (that stocks sensitive to risin...

Guest: Brent Smart, Chief Marketing Officer at Telstra Original publication date: 6 April 2023 Original description: Telstra is one of the most trusted brands in the country. But it’s also a company that’s evolving, following the rollout of the NBN. Sean Aylmer talks to Brent Smart, Telstra’s Chief Marketing Officer, about maintaining the integrity of an iconic brand while still growing and changi...

Friday 9 August 2024 Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce has his final pay docked $9 million for a deterioration in the culture of the national carrier.  And more, including: Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock says the central bank won’t hesitate to lift interest rates if necessary Monthly pace of rental growth slows to its lowest in four years And NASA might need Elon Musk’s help to get some astron...

Listener Locky asks: I understand that most of the countries/economies in the world are in debt. If that’s the case, who has all of the money? If there is more debt than credit in the world, how is it reconciled? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Instagram  ...

Listener Hayley asks: Can you please explain what it means when you say "Markets have now priced in a 60% or 75% chance of the Fed cutting rates". Particularly, I want to understand how we know that markets have priced in something and where does the % rate come from? Is it economists that provide that data or is it reflected in the futures market? I hear markets talk about it all the time "this n...

Listener Duncan asks: Why does the government policy always seem to be at loggerheads with Productivity Commission guidance? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Instagram  or  Facebook ! Find out more: https://fearandgreed.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener f...

Listener Joey asks: “The ASX hit 8000 points this week” - we hear this type of statement all the time, but what are these 8000 points? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Instagram  or  Facebook ! Find out more: https://fearandgreed.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/...

Listener Ben asks: If the Republicans win in November there are many economic plans they will implement. But the one I'm really interested in is the plan to devalue the US dollar which I believe the VP nominee JD Vance is particularly keen on. What are the best strategies to take advantage of this do you think?  Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have...

Listener Bryan asks: Instead of the reserve bank varying interest rates why not scrap that and vary GST accordingly? Yes it would be tricky to navigate initially, but once implemented would be smooth. Look at petrol prices. They go up and down all the time and no one riots. Doing this everyone is affected not just people with loans. Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener q...

Listener Russell asks: Where does all the extra interest go? With interest rates up, and the cost of lending higher, who's the ultimate beneficiary of higher rates? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our  website ,  LinkedIn ,  Instagram  or  Facebook ! Find out more: https://fearandgre...

Listener Sally asks:  I’d love to hear a simple explanation of how the NEM works. That’s the national electricity market. What’s the criteria to participate? How does the pricing work? Which state has the lowest prices?   Join Sean Aylmer & Julian King as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask Fear & Greed, get in touch via our website , LinkedIn , Instagram...

Listener Cara asks: You talked about Telstra upping mobile phone prices above the rate of inflation, and the fact that this is an example of services inflation. Doesn’t Telstra, as the country’s biggest telco, have an obligation to help the economy and not  put more pressure on prices? Join Sean Aylmer & Michael Thompson as they answer listener questions. If you have your own question for Ask...

This week the federal government accused a group called APT40 of working on behalf of a Chinese spy agency to target government and business networks. It’s a major escalation in the war on cybercrime, and a stark reminder of the ongoing threat to Australian companies. Thomas Fikentscher, Area Vice President for Australia New Zealand at  CyberArk , talks to Sean about the challenges for organisatio...