This week on Equity Mates

Hey there Equity Mate,

This week marks the end of the Summer Series on both Equity Mates Investing and Get Started Investing and we return to regular scheduled programming.

On today’s episode of Equity Mates Investing, we start the year with our annual traditional - making bold predictions and picking our stock of the year.

But that is just the start of a big week for us here at Equity Mates. Here’s what you’ve got coming to your preferred podcast app:

• Equity Mates Investing (Apple | Spotify)

  • Monday: We're back with our Stock of the Year & Bold Predictions

  • Tuesday: Expert: Andrew Brown - Bold Predictions for 2024

  • Thursday: Big Tech keeps ripping, but what about the rest of the market?

• Get Started Investing (Apple | Spotify): 

  • Tuesday: How we’re investing for 2024

Your questions, answered

Amelia asked via email:

How do I get started investing with limited funds? Are there beginner-friendly options?

We put Amelia’s question to Luke Laretive, CEO & Portfolio Manager at Seneca Financial Solutions.

If you have under $1,000: Look at micro-investing/round up apps, like Raiz or CommSec Pocket.

If you have over $1,000:

• Get a HIN [unique number that is issued by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) when you become a client of a broker, that connects your shares to your unique number] at a discount broker – Stake, Commsec, NabTrade, Selfwealth

• Buy a multi-asset ETF aligned to your risk profile – these are the ETF’s that are labelled “Conservative”, “Balanced”, “Growth” and “High Growth”. Most of the major ETF providers have them (Vanguard, Blackrock iShares, State Street, Betashares)

• Set yourself up dividend reinvestment plans - this is where any dividends from the ETF is reinvested back into the portfolio

• Set up a regular saving plan to make regular contributions to your investment (I’d say every time you accumulate $500-$1,000 as a rough guide)

• Don’t try and time the market, invest as soon as you’ve got an investable amount spare

• Don’t buy anything else or change your strategy

• Discipline, diversification & patience are your edge over everyone else

If you would like Luke to book a time to review your portfolio, discuss the markets or help you with your financial goals, click here to get started. 

If you have a question you’d like answered, hit us up at ask@equitymates.com

Take the next step on your investing journey with Rask + Equity Mates courses

Together with Rask, we bring you the best courses to learn about the nitty-gritty of investing in shares and companies — from beginning to dividend.

For starters, we have the free Get Started Investing course. It covers all the basic of what is the stock market, how do I start investing and how do I build a portfolio.

For the more advanced investor, we have the highly-rated Value Investor Program. Normally priced a $499, we are excited to offer $100 off if you use the promo code: MATES.

What we’ve been reading

The ESPN-Fox-WBD sports venture is a counterstrike against Big Tech and rights fees inflation. Here's how.

Last week, right as the world was preparing for the Super Bowl, three legacy TV networks stunned the American sporting world. Disney (owner of ESPN), Fox (owner of Fox Sports) and Warner Bros Discovery (owner of TNT Sports) announced they would be launching a joint sports-only streaming service.

These three companies had been discussing the project in secret and America’s major sporting leagues - NFL, NBA and MLB - were only informed right before the public.

Why is this such a big deal? Together, these three companies own 55% of American sports rights. And the skyrocketing value of these rights have been a big reason why sports leagues are enjoying record profits and sports teams are selling for record prices.

This is the TV networks striking back.

To illustrate the state of TV rights deals, look at the NBA which is currently negotiating its next TV rights deal. In 2014, the NBA signed a 10 year, $24 billion deal. Reports are the league wants $75 billion for its next 10 year deal.

Live sports is the most valuable asset in entertainment. It has kept free-to-air and cable TV relevant well into the streaming era. Now, as the streamers start trying to get into live sports (for example, Apple bought the rights to Major League Soccer and Amazon bought the rights to Thursday Night Football) the legacy cable TV players are looking to flex their muscle.

24 Global Developments to Watch Over the Next Five Years

The start of the year is always time for predictions for the year ahead. (And in that spirit, listen to our bold predictions episode out now on the Equity Mates Investing Podcast). Many of these predictions don’t come off, but help us think about the possibilities for the year ahead.

As the great Scott Galloway writes, “if we made 10 predictions that all came true, that wouldn’t be predicting but stating the obvious”.

In the spirit of thinking about what is to come, we enjoyed reading this article speculating on 24 developments that may come over the next 5 years. Some were quite obvious: America’s national debt continues to grow and interest payments start to crowd out discretionary spending, or deepfakes are acknowledged as a major threat to society. Then others we hadn’t thought of: deep sea mining starts and the first underwater human colony is established in the Clarion Clipperton Zone.

We love bold predictions and some of these predictions certainly fit that billing:

• SpaceX going public is the start of a multi-trillion dollar space economy emerging 

• Bitcoin hits $250,000 per coin and gold reaches $10,000 per ounce

• America finally embraces nuclear energy 

And unfortunately for Australian’s:

• China attacks Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, located in the middle of Australia, that controls US surveillance satellites in Asia

Obviously, the likelihood of many of these predictions coming true is low. But it is an interesting exercise to think about how the world will change to 2029. And as investors, what countries, industries and technologies we want to be investing in. 

Want to pick up a free copy of the hottest summer read?

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To grab a free copy, just refer 4 people to this Equity Mates mailing list using your unique referral link below.