Where are we in the Cycle?
Of the five PortfolioDirect cyclical guideposts, four are flashing ‘amber’ and only the Chinese growth momentum remains ‘red’, a slight cyclical improvement over the course of the past quarter. Sluggish productivity growth, exacerbated by war in Europe, intensifying trade restrictions and central bank efforts to quell inflation, remains a constraint on raw material demand expansion.  Global monetary conditions are becoming less restrictive. A rising US dollar, one previously overt negative factor, has stalled after a modest reversal of prior gains.  Metal market supply anxieties have become less severe. The cyclical positioning is consistent with a nearing change in direction.    More...

Market Directions
Capital flows connected to retail equity investors contracted with the withdrawal of unprecedentedly supportive monetary and fiscal conditions and the inflation surge which cut the value of personal income and savings. Professional money, by continuing to discount a recession, has provided market relief for the most growth oriented and well-established businesses.  Heavily hyped energy storage innovations are yet to affect metal demand meaningfully.  Nor have higher metal price risk premiums had a correspondingly beneficial impact on related equity valuations.  New tax incentives are diverting capital for mine development and downstream processing capacity to sponsoring nations. Persistence of a 1990s-style investment performance - when modest sector equity price gains occurred in the midst of sometimes highly disruptive macro conditions - remains the underlying theme.         More...

Portfolio Performance and Positioning
A significant majority of stocks posted losses in the past week as earlier Phase I strength has not been sustained.  A continuing dearth of discovery success remains a significant drag on Phase I stock performance.  Phase I returns are likely to display the greatest leverage to eventual monetary policy easing. The Phase II development category remains hard pressed to benefit from the rising demand for mine output despite their demonstrable production potential.  Although further along the development path and closer to profitability, Phase II companies carry risks arising from relatively high indebtedness and heavy reliance on execution success in sometimes unfamiliar markets and untested management. Performance within the Phase III category is more likely to be driven by capital allocations responding to longer term views of changing macro conditions and cross sector valuations, both primary concerns of institutional fund managers.   More...

Stock Reviews and Rating Analysis 
PortfolioDirect rating reports analyse the quality and risk attributes of proposed mineral developments.  Rating criteria apply to mining and oil and gas stocks at any stage of development.  PortfolioDirect uses a five point rating scale to measure the risk adjusted quality of proposed mineral developments or companies.    
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The 'Steak or Sizzle' blog provides summary judgements on the top performing ASX-listed resources stocks. More...