Independent financial education newsletter for Australians investing in US markets. Weekly insights on stocks, ETFs, currency, and tax — every Sunday.
stock-spotlight
General Dynamics builds the nuclear submarines the ASX cannot. Funded backlog is not cash, yard execution is the risk, and AUKUS depends on US capacity. The tax and FX leaks for Australian holders remain the same.
newsletter
Issue #27 | Sunday, 8 November 2026
market-moves
Democrats swept both chambers of Congress. Stocks rallied on clarity, then sold AI infrastructure names over new build-out limits. 10-year closed near 4.84%. Oil plunged. The AI trade now prices political & power constraints, not just demand.
playbook-series
Successful investing often creates hidden concentration risk. This playbook shows Australian investors how to set position-size limits, monitor drift, and rebalance winners—protecting accumulated gains in US technology compounders without abandoning long-term upside.
investing-101
Sector and thematic ETFs let Australian investors express targeted economic or trend views in a single trade, without the single-stock risk of individual picks. They work best as modest satellites around a broad core holding.
stock-spotlight
Caterpillar is not a second BHP. It sells the machines and the parts that dig the ore the ASX already owns. Same mining cycle, different P&L line, and a set of tax and currency leaks Australian holders do not face at home. Part 1 of ASX Blind Spots.
newsletter
Issue #26 | Sunday, 1 November 2026
market-moves
Anthropic’s S-1 briefly lifted AI-related names. Amazon’s and Alphabet’s free-cash-flow outflows and Intel’s guidance reversed it. The 10-year closed at 4.93 per cent. The AI trade is now pricing the cash outflow, not just the prospectus.
tax-corner
VOO or QQQ looks 0.01–0.02% cheaper than IVV. The full cost includes withholding, US estate exposure, and reporting. For most Australians the ASX-domiciled route wins once those three are counted. The headline MER gap is small. The failure modes are not.
investing-101
Diversification reduces the risk that belongs to one stock. Beta measures the risk that remains and moves with the market. A portfolio beta of 1.2 means the whole book is expected to move 1.2% when the index moves 1%. The number is a description, not a promise.
stock-spotlight
CEG keeps the grid running. BE keeps individual sites running when the grid cannot. Bloom’s fuel cells let data centres bypass multi-year interconnection queues. The economics are speed and reliability, not the cheapest electron. The series ends here.
newsletter
Issue #25 | Sunday, 25 October 2026