Where to from here?

So, we’ve woken up this weekend to the very tragic news that tensions in the middle east have escalated into widespread bombing and with that widespread selling has been seen in the local investment markets.

This is only the beginning.

The Australian share market started this morning down with expectations that it would fall further although at the time of writing it has clawed back most of these losses and then some.

Of course, the local markets are really in a holding pattern, as it and other world markets await the opening of Wall Street tonight and they can see just how severely this outbreak of hostilities impacts on investment sentiment in the United States.

It will be an unnerving time for all investors while markets work out whether the events over the weekend are a good thing for investment markets in the long term or not. Whatever else happens investors can expect significant swings in share prices and sentiment over the next few weeks.

So, as you will read in my first article, these events will impact on different parts of the market differently and I expect significant swings in share prices around the world. Read my three tips as to what investors should always do in uncertain times like this.

While no one really knows what the long-term effects of this week-end events on markets will be, it is clear that it will have an immediate impact on the price of gold, the price of oil and share prices in almost every sector.

Some sectors will hold up better than others, but some that are already under strain due to changes in technology may well find a tipping point that they will struggle to return from.

In my second article, I try to make sense of the recent reporting season and what it tells us about the underlying weaknesses in the local markets and how the events of the week-end.

Finally, the concessional contributions are about to be increased. It’s more important then ever to talk to your tax agent to see if additional super contributions can be sued to reduce your overall tax bill.