Gold has been used to make royal crowns and other items of value since the beginning of the ages. Since its discovery, gold has managed to maintain its relevance and stature, and due to recent economic instability it looks as though gold could be making a comeback in the minds of investors.  

With the recent passing of the Brexit vote which saw an increase in the instability of the British economy, gold and junior mining stocks have been no exception to the post-Brexit effects. Brexit’s impact has been profound, credit ratings have already been downgraded with agencies like Fitch and S&P finding the British government to be a less safe option when it comes to lending. The pound has also suffered as it weakens against the US dollar. The interesting fact out of all of this however is, as a number of stocks including the Pound have been going down with fears of inflation in the coming future, gold prices and junior mining stocks have been on the rise.

As a young investor, newly introduced to the world of money management, this is how you should get started; figure out how much to put in stocks and how much to put in bonds and cash. But how do you do that? Luckily for you there’s one simple rule; subtract your age from 100 and invest that percentage of your assets in stocks, and the rest in bonds or cash. You see, there’s wisdom behind this.

As the old adage goes, death and taxes are the only certainties in life. Well, in 2016 we can safely add volatility to that list. This year has seen unpredictable worldwide affairs rock the landscape of financial markets. Be it the shock of Brexit, the U.S. election race between two tarnished spearheads, or the sporadic unspeakable acts of violence in Europe and other continents to name a few contributing events, financial markets have been swinging to and fro around the globe. When considering these factors, compounded by broadly depressed interest rates and stagnant growth, it cannot be argued that gold has once again been the safe haven for investors from all four corners.

An extremely important thought which has been bouncing around my head was; “with investing, is it better to be proactive, rather than reactive?”  In my market research, there was one area which stood out to me as an opportunity in which I could be proactive and make the most of predicted future gains.  That area is uranium.

The situation of the USD to uranium price has been well documented over the years with the last major event being the disaster in Fukushima, Japan 2011, which sent the price of the resource through the floor.  The uranium price has stabilised recently and, relative to Australian dollars, has actually increased in value.

SMIF was founded by a group of students with a passion for investing and trading, and a desire to connect similar minded students at UWA. Now two years on, with many fresh faces on the committee, and many of the original committee transitioning on, it is an exciting time for SMIF! But first, lets check out what’s been happening this semester. 

We began with bold plans, and the start of the semester marked an exciting time. Despite having committee members all over the world and in different parts of the country over the holidays, we were still able to coordinate our event plan, and reach out to new sponsors (notably, Oanda, AtlasTrend & Deutsche Bank). More information on our sponsors here; (uwasmif.com).

Whether you’re new to trading or have years of experience under your belt, the Simply Wall St application is essential to improving your trading and investment decisions. 

Simply Wall St is a Sydney based startup that helps people become better investors by turning complicated financial data into easy to understand infographics. The application empowers investors to make profitable, non-emotional long term investment decisions that aren’t based on news hype or random hunches. The app helps investors make informed decisions by giving access to institutional quality data and analysis presented visually, making investing simpler and more enjoyable! 

Choosing who you are going to spend the rest of your life with is the second most important decision you can ever make in your lifetime. Choosing which career you are going to do is the first.

Whether we like it or not, we will have to add some kind of value to the world. And this value comes in the form of work. The more value we can add to the world, the richer we become. And the less value we add to the world, the poorer we become (in theory.) Money is just a way to measure that value. (But sometimes society doesn’t value certain things correctly. For example, teaching is not paid as well as what an investment banker is paid. However teaching creates more value than what an investment banker could ever create.)

So in theory if you want to be rich, you don’t really have a choice. You have to work.

But what you do have a choice over is what kind of work you are going to do. You can choose between doing something that you love, or something that you hate.

Surprisingly, many of us don’t choose at all. We let fate decide it for us. We think that we will ‘figure it out’ when we are older. But really, that is just an excuse. We want to hold off that decision as late as possible because we don’t know how to make that decision. And so we let our parents or what we hear about the economy make that decision for us.

Or maybe we do make a decision.

We choose a career that our best mate is doing because it pays well, or because he looks like he is enjoying his job. But what another person enjoys doing is not necessarily what you will enjoy doing. And if you don’t enjoy doing something, you won’t be the best at it.

So in this article, I am going to give you the tools you need to choose the career that is right for you.

How do I find my calling?

“Management consulting” strikes many as a rather nondescript phrase. You have probably interacted with a wide variety of people who call themselves “consultants” – whether it be a salesperson, financial representative, or business analyst. The phrase “management consulting” is more precise and considers how an organisation works – its strategy, structure, management and operations – in order to maximise growth, generate a competitive advantage or improve business performance. 

Management consultants work on broad range of projects, from helping to determine what kind of business model a client should follow to restructuring programs, building new products, growing new services and advising on management structure after two companies merge. The client organisations are typically businesses, but management consultants also advise governmental agencies and non-profit organisations.