Investor Insights

After cutting their cash rates in the latter part of 2024 and 2025, the Central Banks of Australia, the U. S. , Europe and New Zealand have recently reversed tack.

It may initially seem a stretch to claim the financial quality of your retirement beyond 2026 might depend on the outcome of some heroic assumptions about Hyperscaler artificial intelligence (AI) cash flows. But is it? Equity markets, and especially investors in U. S.

Recently, in an AXIOS email with the subject line, “Not too late,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote, “The White House, Congress and the country’s leading AI companies have allowed AI to grow faster, stronger, more powerful and wildly lucrative (and dangerous), with no serious effort to control it or spread the benefits beyond the super-wealthy, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei…

When the benchmark 10-year U. S. Treasury yields pierced five per cent on September 14, they reached their highest level since October 2023, and signalled a potential conflict between sovereign debt realities and a relentlessly optimistic equity market. What makes the latest breakout particularly alarming is that it occurred despite active government efforts to suppress borrowing costs. The U.

In financial markets, it’s said history doesn’t repeat, but it frequently rhymes. The recent bond market moves seem to reflect a market rhyming with the 2023 bond tantrum, threatening to disrupt everything from home mortgages and corporate credit to government financing and equity valuations. U. S.

In recent months, the chart shown in Figure 1. , has been doing the rounds, inspiring fear among some observers that a stock market crash is imminent. Figure 1. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) margin debt Source: FINRA Figure 1.

July and August 2026 have delivered a useful reminder that even the strongest investment narratives eventually collide with economics. According to The Wall Street Journal, US momentum stocks suffered one of their worst stretches in decades. Bank of America noted July 2026 was one of the worst months for momentum trading in nearly forty years.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has waded into the artificial intelligence (AI) debate again, this time with a near-6,000-word essay on the transition to the AI era, describing it as one of the most turbulent periods in human history, and warning, “AI is improving faster than anyone expected…and could begin to act against our interests and we could lose control.

  I explain how we’re using AI in two key areas: to support investment research by synthesising information, generating ideas and identifying changes or inflection points in company reporting, and internally to improve how we allocate capital across the portfolio. Our internal AI operates offline, allowing us to use our proprietary research while keeping that information secure.

  In this video, I discuss why we see the build-out of AI in Australia as an investable opportunity, from the infrastructure supporting it to the businesses positioned to benefit. I also explain our approach to investing early, starting with smaller positions and increasing exposure as potential winners emerge.

  In this video, I discuss why Megaport (ASX: MP1) has become one of our highest-conviction holdings, including its position in AI infrastructure, differentiated data centre strategy and potential to benefit from growing demand for AI inference. Disclaimer: The Montgomery Small Companies Fund owns shares in MP1.

Harvey Norman Financial Year 2026 (FY26) results: Australian squeeze, overseas drag, and what it signals for the broader economy Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX: HVN) released its FY26 full-year financial results and early FY27 trading update.