Category: News

The lithium-ion battery revolution is here and it’s powering our way into a 100% renewables future at scale.  In 2017, the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage system went live in South Australia. It provides backup power to 30 000 homes in a state infamous for its blackouts. The following year, Hyundai installed a similar system in the South Korean town of Ulsan. AES Energy Storage is set to complete a similar project in California by 2023. 

Steve Jobs was famous for nurturing Apple’s enormous cash pile even when he was advised to spend it. He knew that even the most successful companies are vulnerable to market changes and the ups and downs of the industry

If you’re a trader in the Bear camp like me then you are probably perplexed each day watching the strength of this current market rally and wondering what will it take for investors to see what you see in order to propagate a shift in market direction ending this rally.

Staying home can quickly become a dull experience. But that also means now is a great time to pick up a new skill, such as trading. The ASX Options Trading Game which is launching on April 27 is a good opportunity to get started.

It is impossible to overstate the unprecedented disruptions the world is facing with COVID-19. Stock markets have plunged worldwide and our healthcare system is overworked. It seems every time you turn on the television or open your phone there is more breathless coverage of the epidemic. There is little time for anything else in the media and the collective attention than the threat of COVID-19, both as a disease and as a crisis.

When Alessandro Volta invented the first battery in 1800, it was so simple it was crude; a stack of zinc and silver discs separated by a cloth soaked in brine.  When he connected a wire to both ends of the stack, Volta could produce a steady current of electricity that he could increase or decrease by changing with different types and amounts of metal. 

Baron Rothschild said ‘the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets’ – but timing is incredibly important, isn’t it!The GFC lasted eighteen months before it started to turn. Recently, we saw our markets drop 38% in just four weeks and, whilst it has stabilised over the last two weeks, it may still be early days.

Yesterday, Graham O’Brien joined us for a live session to discuss what has been happening at ASX during this time of high volatility, the impact on market makers, and his vision for the options markets.

History has shown time and again that trying to predict the bottom of a bear market is usually both pointless and incredibly hard. 

Following its peak on February 19, the S&P 500 reached a bear market in a record-breaking 16 days. Few would have expected a pandemic to be the end of the world’s longest running bull market. It was the epitome of a black swan event: a rare and unexpected occurrence with severe consequences. 

Today’s global governments are mitigating the COVID-19 downturn by passing historically massive stimulus packages, which would otherwise be contradictory to their political beliefs and agendas. 

As part of our one month lock-down trading crash course, we were joined by special guest Brien Coram who discussed how to trade long straddles during reporting season.