The Markets IQ

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Elevate your trading by leveraging unique insights from active market participants

Gain a competitive edge with The Markets IQ, an essential resource for investors and traders. Our seasoned experts provide timely, in-depth insights drawn from their daily market participation. Unlike traditional journalism, our analyses stem from real experiences, offering unparalleled perspectives for smarter decision-making. With our sophisticated, actionable intelligence, empower your investment strategy and navigate market complexities with confidence. Elevate your approach by leveraging unique insights from active market participants.

Featured
AISC: Why it's the best Mining Metric, and why it still Sucks!
AISC: Why it's the best Mining Metric, and why it still Sucks!

Mining companies have a lot of moving parts. Extracting and processing minerals isn’t simple—it involves everything from drilling and blasting to transportation, refining, and site administration.

Each stage has its own set of costs, which can swing up or down depending on things like energy prices, regulations, and labor conditions. These variables mean mining costs are always in flux. Understanding these costs is the key to knowing if a mining project will ever be profitable.

Or if you're better placed to take that Christmas bonus to the casino and throw it all on lucky red 27.

Let's break down the key metrics: C1 costs and AISC, where they appear on financial statements, and why they matter to you as an investor. We'll explore how these metrics impact a mine's profitability and ultimately help you decide if it's worth your money.

C1 Costs: The Direct Costs of Production

C1 costs are the basic measure of what it takes to get the metal out of the ground and ready for sale.

They include mining, milling, concentrating, on-site admin, and refining. Basically, the "bare minimum" costs needed to produce the metal.

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Clinical Trials: The Stages and What to Look For
Clinical Trials: The Stages and What to Look For

Understanding clinical trials is crucial if you are interested in investing in pharmaceutical or biotech stocks. These trials are the make or break for a company in this sector, so you need to get your head around them.

Even the most exciting treatments with massive Total Addressable Markets (TAM) are meaningless without successful trial data to back them up.

The Four Phases of Clinical Trials: Breaking it Down

Clinical trials are conducted in four distinct phases, each designed to answer specific questions about the treatment.

Multiple trials can be conducted within each phase. Each trial will have specific targets, which will inform future trials and, finally, regulatory approval.

Let’s break them down one by one.

Preclinical Testing: The First Hurdle

Before a drug even reaches the clinical phases, it undergoes preclinical testing. This can include studies on cells (in vitro) and animals (in vivo) such as mice or monkeys.

These early tests check for basic safety and biological activity. If the results look promising the drug moves on to human trials.

Phase 1: Is it Safe?

The first hurdle for any new treatment is safety.

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Goodwill: A Financial Illusion
Goodwill: A Financial Illusion

Goodwill is one of the stupidest things in the world of finance. It's pure make-believe. It's the bitcoin of balance sheets. You can't see it, use it, and no one seems to know exactly what it is, but trust us, it's there.

Yea, no thanks.

Whenever you see a sizeable chunk of goodwill on a balance sheet, your spider senses should activate. Do a quick assets test. Remove goodwill from the equity and see what's left. You might discover that big bottom line equity is nothing but hot air. A company with billions of dollars in assets at first glance, might just be sitting on a pile of debt

So, how is goodwill created you might ask?

It's simple.

If one business buys another, then the acquired assets show up on the buyer's balance sheet. This includes two types of assets.

l Tangible assets: Real estate, inventory, equipment, loans, vehicles, accounts receivable, cash etc.

l Intangible assets: Brand names, commercial licensing agreements, patents and trademarks. They aren't physical things, but we can identify and isolate them.

But it's not only assets. Liabilities are also inherited, including borrowings, lease liabilities, accounts payable etc.

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The Yen Carry Trade Unwind: A Looming Financial Shock and the Opportunity It Presents
Yen, JPYUSD, Bonds, The Carry Trade
The Yen Carry Trade Unwind: A Looming Financial Shock and the Opportunity It Presents
Yen, JPYUSD, Bonds, The Carry Trade

There’s something stirring beneath the surface of the global financial system. You can’t see it in the headlines. You won’t find it on your CommSec homepage. But it’s there—quiet, monstrous, and ready to burst.

And when it does?

It could trigger the most devastating financial event of this century. Bigger than COVID. Bigger than the GFC. We’re talking full-blown Great Depression territory.

That might sound dramatic. But stick with me, because this isn’t doomsaying. It’s pattern recognition. It’s history rhyming. It’s spotting the rickety scaffolding propping up the global economy—and understanding what happens when the wind picks up.

This story isn’t about inflation or AI or bond yields or Biden or Trump.

This is about a trade. One trade. A trade so big, so lopsided, and so globally entangled that it could ripple through every asset class on Earth.

It’s called the yen carry trade.

You probably don’t think about it much—if you’ve ever even heard of it. But it’s one of the foundational forces behind modern markets. And it’s starting to wobble.

Before we dive into how it works, how it could unwind, and how you might actually profit from it, let’s start by setting the mood.

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Yen, JPYUSD, Bonds, The Carry Trade
Stock Market Correction 2025: Guide to Navigating the Sell-Off
Stock Market Correction 2025: Guide to Navigating the Sell-Off

In Case You Missed It...

Unless you've been living under a rock or binge-watching your favourite series non-stop, you've probably noticed your portfolio looks a bit worse for wear lately. Global stock markets, including our beloved ASX, have taken a significant tumble.

The S&P 500 is now firmly in correction territory, down more than 10%, tech stocks are being hit hardest, and volatility has surged like an adrenaline junkie jumping from a plane.

It's time to sit up and pay attention because these moves scream risk and opportunity in the same breath. It gets confusing out there. We'll get into the key indicators to watch and how we'll know if this is turning around or if the pain is just beginning.

But first, let's get into exactly what's happening so we know which developments we need to watch most closely.

Why the Stock Market is Falling: Interest Rates, Inflation, and Trump's Tariffs

Markets are freaking out for a few solid reasons. Central banks, especially the Fed, are still playing tough on interest rates, signalling ‘higher for longer’ isn't just a catchy slogan.

Gone are the good old days of Draghi's 'Whatever it takes'. We're in upside-down land now.

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CBA is Too Expensive: Time to Reevaluate?
CBA is Too Expensive: Time to Reevaluate?

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is the undisputed heavyweight champion of ASX bank stocks. But in the last twelve months we’ve seen its valuation become unhinged from reality.

CBA shares have surged 60% in just over a year.

And for what?

Selling the same mortgages and skimming the same interest margins? There’s no growth story here. Just a bubble inflating before our eyes.

After the recent 1H FY25 result update, CBA shares fell over 11% in 7 trading days. While the price has since stabilised, the fall is a warning shot for CBA holders. The correction? This could just be the warm-up act.

The sharks are circling and it’s time to sit up and pay attention.

CBA’s recent share price decline wasn’t out of the blue. The meteoric rise in valuation was dizzying, bizarre and unwarranted.

To be clear, CBA is not in financial strife. Far from it.

The result was solid, with 4.7% growth in year-on-year revenue and Earnings Per Share (EPS) up 6.6% to $3.08. The Net Interest Margin (NIM) expanded 2 basis points to 2.08%. That’s the interest margin that the bank achieves between what it borrows and what it lends.

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