November is here, beginning with the “race that stops a nation”, and some welcome rain for much of Western NSW. Lets hope they get some follow-up over the next few weeks.
October began with the Reserve Bank cutting the official cash rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 0.75 per cent and ended with the US Federal Reserve cutting its federal funds target range by the same amount to 1.5-1.75 per cent. Slowing global growth and ongoing trade tensions were major concerns. The IMF downgraded its forecasts for global economic growth to 3 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent in 2020. Australia is tipped to grow 1.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. China’s economy is holding up well despite the trade war, with growth of 6 per cent in the year to September.
Global stocks had a positive month on signs of a breakthrough in trade negotiations between the US and China. Despite the cancellation of the November APEC summit in Chile where phase one of a trade deal was to be signed, the Trump Administration has signalled it is keen to press ahead (at least for now – until the next tweet).
October was a special month for us, as we celebrated our millionth giving impact through our involvement with the Global Giving movement Buy1Give1. Over the past few years we have been able to provide over 390,000 days access to clean water to families in Ethiopia, over 270,000 days grain seed to feed children in Malawi, over 260,000 days irrigation support to rural villagers in Kenya, and over 55,000 bricks to build schools in Cambodia and Nepal. We’d like to say a big thank you to all our clients for their support – without you we would not be able to do this.
Now the rush of the first tax deadlines is behind us our attention will focus on the quarterly Business Activity Statements, financial planning, a few home loans to arrange and getting some of our self-managed super fund audits completed before the Christmas break – only 7 weeks to go now (but who’s counting).
Stuart Fitzpatrick and Excel Financial Advisors Pty Ltd are authorised representatives of Interprac Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFSL 246638 registered office at Level 8, 525 Finders Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information. Investment Performance: Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns as future returns may differ from and be more or less volatile than past returns.
