At its November meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced a package of stimulus measures, largely as expected by economists and market participants, as both the Governor and Deputy Governor of the RBA had well flagged their intentions in the lead up to the meeting.

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Below is a summary of market movements this quarter and major changes to some of the key asset classes:

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Is it September already?

It is almost unbelievable that family discussions around how we will spend Christmas will start very soon and with the end of the year in sight, it seems to have gone quick in terms of the lack of social events and interactions, holidays and the general variations of life.

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Bad news sells!

When you read the news, sometimes it can feel like the only things reported are terrible, depressing events. Why do the media concentrate on the bad things in life, rather than the good?

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We have seen a roller coaster ride in investment markets over the last couple of months with a recent rebound.

The US equity market fell more than 34% from peak to trough this year, before rebounding more than 27%. In Australian dollar terms, the fall was only 25%, given movements in the Australian dollar. Therefore, being unhedged on currency for US equity investments, as Financial Keys clients predominantly are, assisted materially. The Australian equity market fell more than 36% before rebounding more than 20% more recently.

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With all the changes we are witnessing to our own working and living arrangements, as well as those of our family and friends, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide an update. The Financial Keys team are currently working from home to do our part in reducing the amount of people travelling to and from the city. It is, however, business as usual, and we maintain the same capabilities as we have in the office.

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We have all been inundated with negative news flow over the last few weeks. We have been looking for some positives to write about of late, to help everyone’s psyche at present. We have come across some interesting information pieces over the last couple of days and elaborate below.

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Some of you may have seen or heard of the recent policy action from central banks around the world in response to the significant economic and market impact caused by the response to control the spread of the virus.

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We understand many of you would have seen the incredible share market volatility during the last few weeks, which has seen trading days of up or down 10%. Overall share markets have experienced falls which appear to be a function of panic regarding the inability to model the impacts of Coronavirus containment on the economy and asset prices. Once panic sets in, rationality is hard to come by. 

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In relation to the outbreak of the Coronavirus, we have introduced an infection control measure with the aim of keeping staff and clients safe.

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During this period of market volatility, we remain available to discuss your portfolio and investment strategy. We will continue to provide regular communication and keep you up to date with investment markets and the global economic environment.

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As many of you would have been following, investment markets locally and globally have fallen sharply this week on renewed concerns regarding the Coronavirus, or Covid-19, as it’s known.

At the time of writing, both the Australian and US equity markets are down more than 8% for the week, with Europe down more than 6%, and Japan down more than 5%. US technology stocks are down almost 8%.

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………and like that, the decade came to an end.

Bushfires, a Royal Commission, Brexit, Trump v China and the Hong Kong turmoil - the year that was 2019. The global economy was rife with market changing events not limited to those mentioned.

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This commonly used idiom or cliché describes the feeling of time passing by very quickly. Most scientific research was able to explain away this perception of phenomenon as simply the desire to do, see, hear, read and observe more and not enough time in which to do it all. In scientific circles, it was also referred to as Time Pressure.

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One of the topics asset allocators are grappling with at the moment is whether asset class valuations are expensive or not. Whether you’re an active asset allocator or an active bottom-up stock picker, valuation will most likely form the core or at least a significant part of your analysis when making a decision to enter or exit an investment. 

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