.Double Vision Quest. by Jobi One on Flickr.

We sent our maiden weekly newsletter yesterday. Here it is…

Welcome to the first edition of our weekly financial newsletter, We Money!

Straight off the bat, I would like to congratulate the two winners of our David Jones competition, Isaak Dury and Lien Stewart, who have won a $100 voucher and a $50 voucher respectively. I will be in touch with you both shortly to arrange delivery.

For the rest of you, We Money is giving away another $50 DJs voucher next week… Simply visit our website, enter your email address, then share your personalised link with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter to be in with a chance to win.

But for now, it’s on to the newsletter… As I explained last week, the finance industry drowns us in statistics and commentary 24/7, but at the end of the day it’s 99.9% noise. That’s where We Money comes in - we cut through the B/S to focus on the underlying theme of what is really going on and how it impacts on you.

So, without any further ado…

Confidence

You can’t dig it out of the ground nor manufacture it, let alone buy it and sell it, yet confidence remains the most important element of any financial market.

This week, the Melbourne Institute released their latest Household Financial Conditions Report, which found that Australians are now more worried about their financial well being than at any other time since the survey began.

“How can that be?”, you ask. Unemployment is low, the GFC passed us by and, despite recent weakness, the share market is still miles above where it used to be… So, are we just a nation of worriers or is there something more sinister in this result?

There can be no doubt that stormclouds are still brewing overseas - with the US Government getting ever closer to maxxing out its seemingly infinite credit card, rising concerns over the sustainability of China’s growth and Greece narrowly avoiding collapse (again) after receiving a last minute bailout (again) - but shouldn’t that make us feel more confident relative to our international peers?

Not necessarily… Rising interest rates have taken the heat out of our post-GFC economic recovery and utility bills are on the way up, placing further strain on household budgets. But at least incomes are still rising - in fact, our record terms of trade ensure that we, as a nation, are bringing home more bacon than ever.

So why the sombre mood? Call me a skeptic, but I believe that we are finally feeling the pinch after years of property addiction. House prices have sky-rocketed over the past decade or so - those already in the market reaped massive capital gains, which they were then able to reinvest in the market and/or treat their home as an ATM to fund lifestyles that were otherwise beyond their means.

For that cycle to go on ad infinitum, it requires property to continue its upwards trajectory. However, as is becoming painfully clear, that is no longer the case - indeed, it looks like the best case scenario for house price growth in the years ahead is to flatline.

With that in mind, there isn’t much for Australians to get excited about for at least the next few years - after which time we will hopefully have reduced some of our debt burden and built up some fat in household budgets again. Watch out if house prices start falling though… We’re a nation of property investors, so a declining market means that not only will the “equity maaaate” tap be well and truly turned off, but a few over-leveraged spectators could find themselves taking a serious hit!

In The News & On The Markets…

• The Barefoot Investor tugs on our heartstrings, calling for some accountability amongst the financial forecasters who churn out predictions year after year, but rarely (if ever) do they amount to much more than a stab in the dark. If only  those “masters of the financial universe” spent less time prophesising and more time following The Barefoot Investor’s advice… After all, “when you drop the crystal ball, you begin focusing on the things you can change right now; your behavior, your expectations, and your investment strategy” - and that is what really counts!
• As wise as ever, the Financial Times’ Martin Wolf explains why it’s time for some common sense on Greece’s financial fiasco, drawing parallels with Albert Einstein’s classic definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and again, expecting a different result.
• After months of negotiations, NBN Co and Telstra finally agree terms for the rollout of NBN, decommissioning of Telstra’s copper network and migration of millions of customers in exchange for compensation in the order of $11 billion. Telstra is counting its money all the way to the bank, the Government is proud as punch and MalcolmTurnbull isn’t impressed, but could Telstra’s ex-shareholders be the biggest winnersafter all?
• The Board of Fosters have rejected a $9.5 billion takeover offer. Despite being the bigger half of a duopoly in what is, let’s be honest, a pretty thirsty country, Fosters has battled a six-year hangover ever since its takeover of Southcorp. Could this be another case of one too many? For a tongue-in-cheek look at the situation, check outBoganomics POV.
• Analysts always talk about when to buy a share, but less attention is paid to the other (and equally important) side of the transaction. Thankfully, MacroBusiness revisits the lost art of selling.
• And Future Fund chairman and prominent business figure, David Murray, reignites calls for Australia to establish a sovereign wealth fund to invest the proceeds of Mining Boom Mk2… Hear, hear!

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you again next week.

Love Traveling to Sydney Australia come see the specials on our Fan Page for discounts you can use! http://on.fb.me/eHCRud

Love Traveling to Sydney Australia come see the specials on our Fan Page for discounts you can use! http://on.fb.me/eHCRud

Once upon a time, there lived two young Perth ladies. Both were travelling to Melbourne, and to ensure that the two girls could see all that there was to see in a week of July, they thought about all the buses and trams that they might want to catch.

The one day, one of the girls said to the other “why don’t we hire bikes?” to which the other grinned cheekily and asked “why didn’t I think of that?”

And so it was planned. They would hire two vintage bicycles from the Humble Vintage Bike Hire company.

“In the end the only thing you really own is your story. I’m just trying to live a good one.”

- Hugh Jackman/Drover, Australia

On a concert in Brisbane..

“…con la pioggia o il sole, con il vento o la neve, i neozelandesi non rinuncerebbero mai e poi mai ai loro sport. Non sono sicura che siano la popolazione più attiva del mondo (ci sono sempre gli australiani…) ma poco gli manca. In Nuova Zelanda si può nuotare, surfare, fare bungee jumping dalla Sky Tower di Auckland, trekking urbano (e non), sciare sulle Alpi dell’Isola del Sud, fare kayak in acqua salata (mare) e in acque dolci (fiumi, laghi), volare in mongolfiera e lanciarsi giù da una collina chiusi dentro un pallone d’aria, nuotare con i delfini, avvistare balene, giocare a golf, provare il rugby, mescolarsi agli indiani per giocare a cricket o scalare un ghiacciaio, attraversare il porto di Auckland a nuoto o fare sandsurfing sulle dune della Ninety Miles Beach. Ci si può anche piazzare su uno dei tanti divani che popolano i portici delle ville di Auckland con una birra in mano. Ma io un paio di scarpe da ginnastica e un costume in valigia li metterei.”

- 10 motivi per visitare la Nuova Zelanda | No Borders Magazine

Today I did not hang myself because here I come, desert adventure!

I’m off travelling with family for three weeks, and then embarking on an archaeological field trip recording rock art in a remote Aboriginal settlement called Barunga.

Internet access will be severely limited in the Red Centre, but I’ll be taking plenty of snaps and I’ll find a way to share them here later.

.Double Vision Quest. by Jobi One on Flickr.