In this week’s video insight Gary and David discuss how the reopening of China is having a positive impact on the resources sector, specifically copper. The Montgomery Small Companies Fund is currently overweight industrial metals and Gary shares three stocks we like in this space as well as three lithium producers that we think have bright prospects.

The conclusion of the Term Funding Facility and conclusion of the Federal Government Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme means approximately $9 billion of SME credit will require refinancing by Australian non-bank lenders over 2023 and 2024.

This week, the December 2022 quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported the fourth consecutive quarter to show a rise greater than any seen since the introduction of GST in 2000. With the persistent inflationary pressure not yet showing any signs of slowing, further RBA rate rises are certainly on the cards.

2022 was a challenging year in the market, particularly for growth stocks, and now we enter 2023 with the consensus expectation for a recession. Portfolio activity for the Polen Capital Global Growth Fund picked up during the fourth quarter of the year. Four long-term holdings were sold during the December 2022 quarter – Nike, Adidas, Starbucks, and Meta Platforms.

The share price of Australia’s leading gold miner, Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM), has been somewhat disappointing for the last few years. That could soon change if the recent recovery of gold price continues, recent corporate actions start to bear fruit and if investors start to take note of the company’s significant copper assets.

In this week’s video insight David takes a closer look at IMDEX’s (ASX:IMD) acquisition of Devico AS.  The strategic combination expands the product suite and client footprint offers extended market presence in key mining regions as well as cross-selling opportunities for IMD’s integrated solutions, with the global number one position in each of Rock Knowledge Sensors, Drilling Optimisation Products and Real-Time Data and Analytics.

The fourth quarter of 2022 echoed themes that endured throughout the year, and despite posting double-digit returns over the quarter, 2022 ended with the largest annual decline since 2008. While multiple compression was behind the broad decline over the year, the fourth quarter saw multiples expand for the first time since Q4 2021.

While the market experienced some recovery during the fourth quarter, the speed of the market decline and the aggregate losses as of year-end made 2022 one of the most challenging years for the market in many years. Portfolio performance The fourth quarter was notable for being the only one to post positive returns in 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic smashed the earnings of travel businesses across the globe. But here in Australia, Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) not only withstood the tourism downturn – it was able to grow.

Many commentators point to the twelve months to December 2022 as being one of the toughest annual periods for the performance of the share market and the bond market for several decades. This was led by the severe sell-off in Government Bonds, aggressive tightening of most Central Banks’ official cash rate and the 33.