One handout was a recent article in the Financial Times about the 4 big banks. With the bank shares slipping over the last 6 months and only average dividends this article highlights some issues that have resulted; however the Bendigo Bank not in the top 4 is still paying 6% dividend.
​
We welcome two new members (Liz & Graham) on the sheets and hope to see them at our August meeting,
 
On our Long Term Sheet Jeanette & Nola still lead with their SRL selection.

On our Real Time Trading sheet Pauline, Sue, Neville, Jeanette, Bill, Malcolm, Neena, Trevor, and Jo have all chosen a new stock. I hope you do well when the dividends are announced and the share prices rise. Often  the share price drops when the dividend is announced, but not always. Current leaders are Brent with ARG and Margaret J with RIO.
 
As August approaches the reporting season will begin, so any shares on the Real Time Trading sheet will attract a dividend after the ex-dividend date.  Hence you may consider trading to a new stock to gain early dividend.
 
We also decided that the Monthly Sheet will now include cryptocurrency lines for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and FBTC to allow us to track their performance.

Our next meeting will be Monday 3rd August 2026.
​
 
Malcolm Sanders

If you knew the full name of our Australian Born Queen of Denmark Mary Donaldson you won the first ASX souvenir bag. Three other bags were won; Brent won by naming  the feature Car in U3A Car Torque last week - a Chrysler Valiant 1962 SV1 S Series. Everyone received some  pens and a couple bottle cooler bags, all free from the ASX Information Day on 16th May.  A day program was also distributed.

With the 2026 Federal Budget brought down on the 12th May Capital Gains Tax was a feature that concerns all our age group. Around the table we all have a view it will have an effect, but perhaps wait and see the final detail when the Bill passes both houses of parliament.

On 19th May I circulated the link to budget information.  Among the proposed Budget changes, four stand out for investors: 
​

• From 1 July 2027, the Federal Government will replace the 50% CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost-base indexation. Superannuation is not included in the changes to the capital gains tax discount, with current CGT settings for superannuation remaining unchanged.[2]
  
  
• A minimum tax rate of 30% will apply to real capital gains from 1 July 2027, with no impact until the gain is realised.
  
  
• From 1 July 2027, the Federal Government is restricting negative gearing for residential property investments to new builds. 
  
  
• From 1 July 2028, the Federal Government will introduce a minimum 30% tax on discretionary trusts’ taxable income with some exceptions. Rollover relief will be provided for three years from 1 July 2027 to assist small businesses and others that wish to restructure.

On our Long-Term sheet Pauline has settled for EVN rather than COH. Our three leaders at this point are; Jeanette, Nola & Trevor as per the table below.  

        Jeanette     $5,249 SRL 1
        Nola           $5,249 SRL 2
        Trevor        $2,811 OBM 3

On our Real Time Trading there were no trades and WAM was disappointing with its shares dropping 18 cents with a dividend of 7.8 cents paid 18th May. Let’s hope those three members with WAM see a positive recovery before our July meeting. Jill, Margaret J, Bill, Nola & Brent are all doing well as per the table below.

       Jill                $13,645   1   LTR
       Margaret J   $12,589   2   RIO
       Bill               $12,248   3   RIO
       Nola             $11,798   4   STO
       Brent            $11,795   5   ARG

On our Monthly Sheet only two changes - Sue has chosen JBH and Peter DTL. Neville, Malcolm & Jan lead.

      Neville     $7,970   PC2  1
      Malcolm  $4,277   AKN  2
      Jan          $3,058   MIN  3

To all who were away and wish to change/trade their selection, please let me know in the next few days.

Our July meeting will Monday 6th July at 2pm.
​
Malcolm Sanders

With the Trump factor still having significant influence on world markets the Australian market is not immune. Only RIO, and STO have held or improved on their share value. Dividend reporting is almost complete for the period. Shares in ANZ, NAB, WAM, WBC & WAX  are still pre-ex-dividend date as of our meeting, hence you can purchase and collect a dividend in the next few weeks. The banks have only a few days between announcing their dividend and ex-dividend date that you must own any shares.

On our Long-term sheet our overall value has improved since April but we are still $8,000 negative to our invested value of February.

On our Short-term Monthly sheet only Margaret J chose to change NEM to DDR. Overall, we are $17,000 positive from our $169,660 February values. A good result.

On our Real Time Trading sheet Sue has chosen WAM, Jeanette corrected back to WAM, Malcolm ANZ and Margaret W to WAM. With everyone now seeing that trading can often gain a dividend and a capital gain (sometimes capital a fall) this sheet has provided greater understanding and interest by our group. Overall, this sheet shows $183,000 value from $169,000 investment.

Market Index remains a great source of share market/commodities prices and news.
https://www.marketindex.com.au/

To all who were away and wish to change/trade their selection please let me know in the next few days. I hope to report on an ASX seminar of 16th May that I have booked into at our June meeting. Last year I brought home some handouts.
​
Our June  meeting will Monday 1st June at 2pm.
 
Malcolm Sanders

With Easter and school holidays we had 11 members attend and of course Easter Bunny visited after morning tea break with some chocolate eggs, followed by some informative background on beta shares by Jo Wise.

Jo's selection Code “OOO’ on the monthly sheet was a standout during March. “OOO’ code is a BETASHARES CRUDE OIL INDEX CURRNCY HDG COMPLEX ETF. On 2nd March they were $6.34 and at the end of trading today 7th April were $10.54 up 9.4% today.

“Jo explained that Beta bit of the ETF.  (Exchange Traded Fund)  Betashares Capital Ltd is the company that administers “the fund” - a packet of shares ( or properties) in an industry or sector that make the fund. So if you have OOO you have shares in crude oil businesses, not in Beta.  Beta have a range of ETF's they manage.

A competitor is Global X.  Have a look at ACDC ETF - it is an ETF in battery technology managed by GlobalX (Australia) Ltd. If you have them on a CommSec watchlist scroll down past the graphs to news and announcements and have a look - the PDS or financial report  will list all of the ETF s they administer. Hope this helps. Cheers, Jo”

This link  provides more information -  www.marketindex.com.au/asx-etfs
​
The handouts during the session were on Life 360, JB HiFi, HVN . 
​
During March the market was up and down highlighted in a video from CommSec about this unpredictability as shown in the slides below.

​On the Long -Term sheet Margaret J leads with RIO; on the monthly sheet Jo leads with OOO and on the Real Time Trading sheet Nola is ahead with STO. All dividends have been added except for NAB, LTR due in May. Both Peter’s NVDA and Brent’s AFL are unlikely to announce any dividend. Jo, Brent, and Bill have  all selected new stock to watch on the monthly sheet. On the Real Time Trading Jeanette has traded MAH  to WAM and Brent from AFL to ARG.

To all who were away and wish to change/trade their selection please let me know in the next few days.
​
Our May meeting will be back to normal being Monday 4th May at 2pm.
 
Malcolm Sanders

We now have everyone’s  Long Term, Monthly and Real Time Trading selections for review with the ASX /AXO is still holding near record highs even with the US war with Iran. Oil prices will rise which will show up with Woodside shares. 

There was a discussion about investing  a sum of money in shares and where to begin such as with a bank, or with a Broker. It all depends on where you feel comfortable as Brokers will charge much higher fees. Most of the big 4 Banks have a trading arm and CommSec, and NAB and Bendigo Invest Direct fees are approximately $20/ transaction for sums under $20,000. An Investment Adviser can also help if you do not wish to self-manage  your portfolio.

On the Long-Term sheet Jo, Pauline and Sue lead with OBM, EVN and BHP respectively. On the Monthly sheet Neville, Jill and Margaret J lead with PC2, AZJ  and NEM respectively.

On the Real Time Trading Sue, Malcolm and Wende lead with HLI, HLI, and CBA  respectively . Most of the selections have had their March dividend added even though the due date is a couple days in advance of today 2nd March. Overall, the whole 18 selections are up 2.2 % since February.

Our next meeting will be 9.30am Tuesday 7th April 2026 due to the Public Holiday on Easter Monday on 6 April.

​Malcolm Sanders

Around the new open end “V” table layout our new and returning group members were more comfortable to see and meet each other. This layout will be repeated in March and can accommodate 18 members. Only two members were away and we welcomed Trevor Yates, Jo Wise, Pauline and Brent Bailey to our 2026 group. I hope you have a rewarding year.

Jan picked up her bronze medal from our last year awards.

The Australian share market again is near an all-time high. We noted some continuing staff losses at CSL means no research will happen in Australia and will be all America centric. BHP has shown a gain over the last few weeks of $5 per share and was selected by 4 members on the long-term sheet.

Around the table everyone now has 3 selections each listed on the Monthly, Long Term, and Real Time sheets for review at our March meeting.

To conclude the afternoon, we watched a short video by on the CommSec web site by market analysts Steven Daghlian and Laura Besarati.

Finally, to create a watch list of stock everyone was asked to pick two stocks in the one of the 11 nominated sectors so they can be entered into at the March meeting.

​Due to Easter Monday falling on 6th April this coincides with what would be our April meeting. Optional free spaces on the U3A timetable are limited however we could still meet on Easter Monday, defer our April meeting, or move our meeting to 9.30am Tuesday 7th April.

​Our next meeting will be Monday 2nd March 2026
 
Malcolm Sanders

​Following enrolment day on 14th January 2026 we have 15 members currently listed for our first meeting on Monday 2nd February in Room 1 at 2pm. Welcome to the 4 new members and to our members from 2025.

At our first meeting you will need to nominate 3 selections for the spreadsheets. We can view any of the 2000 plus listed stocks on the ASX with live figures on the screen and charts, before you chose your selection.

I will email out a reminder email on 29th January with a listing of the top 300 stocks to help you select your stock you may wish to follow. The full listing of the 2000+ stocks document is too large for easy viewing. A one-page simple document will be included in the email for you to jot down a couple stocks in each grouping to bring to the 2nd February meeting.

With the Stock Market (ASX) All Ords (XAO) indices at an all-time high you may consider your selection on the long-term stock sheet difficult hence if we allow another month before we lock in your choice. Market Index is a good resource for you to find a lot of stock market information, and this can be found on the link below.
https://www.marketindex.com.au/asx-listed-companies

For our new members all your 3 stock selections on the sheets do not involve real money; it’s only a paper figure for comparison monthly within our group.

I look forward to another profitable year for the share market in 2026.
 
Malcolm Sanders
​
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

We had a look at the Bendigo U3A Watchlist for 2025 and again this was overall positive 10%; with LYC a standout up 124% for the YTD.

Neville gave an explanation of why Coles shares rose and Woolworths dropped dramatically from 28 August.

I presented short power point slides of the ASX information day I attended at the Savoy Hotel Collins Street Melbourne on 15th November with free pens I brought home for all our group, and a summary of the hourly program presentations in the Green and Gold rooms was distributed to all yesterday.

If you have an opportunity in 2026 it gives another insight to stock investing. Margaret J gave us a “be aware” warning of changes to the Commsec web site update that is ongoing and has resulted in debiting wrong accounts for purchases and sales withing your online banking platform.

Our winners / awards for the whole year were given out at 3pm to Neville a jar of jam and Gold medal for his selection of EVN on the Long-Term Sheet, Silver and Bronze medals to Neena & Les and wooden spoon to Jeanette.

Likewise on Real Time Trading Jeanette a jar of jam and a Gold medal, Silver to Sue and Bronze to Nola, a wooden spoon to Neville.

On the Monthly sheet Wende a jar of jam and a Gold medal, Silver to John (absent) and Jan (absent) a Bronze medal, and wooden spoons to Les & Malcolm.

Rare Earth minerals are currently the talk around the world. Australia holds quite a lot of deposits. The minerals are samarium, praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium all in the periodic table range 59-66. 

A sample of 20mm diameter Rare Earth magnet was handed around the room and no one could pull them apart. Les found the slide off trick. There are 2 rare earth minerals critical to produce these magnets used in wind turbines. Some 400kg is needed in fighter jets, 2600kgs in submarines and many other electrical components.

At the afternoon tea break the Christmas cake and fruit slice was enjoyed by all. After the long tea break and taking of photographs (see previous post), we concluded 2025 at about 3.30pm.

Enrolment day will be Wednesday 14th January 2026 from 9.30am.

Thank you everyone for your participation in 2025.

​Malcolm Sanders

Our winners/awards were given out at our final session for the year on Monday 1 December:

Gold Medallists:  ​

​Long Term Sheet - to Neville a jar of jam and Gold medal for his selection of EVN on the Long-Term Sheet, Silver and Bronze medals to Neena & Les and wooden spoon to Jeanette.
 
Real Time Trading - to Jeanette a jar of jam and a Gold medal, Silver to Sue and Bronze to Nola, a wooden spoon to Neville.

Monthly Sheet - to Wende a jar of jam and a Gold medal, Silver to John (absent) and Jan (absent) a Bronze medal, a wooden spoon to Les & Malcolm.

Silver and Bronze Medallists:

​These results are shown on the sheet “Trading Summary to 1 December 2025” which has been emailed to you and on which you will find your name and sorted listings by value.
​
I will catch up with medal winners who were absent to deliver your medal later this week or soon after.

Congratulations to all concerned!

Malcolm Sanders

We had a look at the our Bendigo 2025 U3A Watchlist, which is still positive by 12% for the year.

​We looked at how the 11 sectors fared for the month - Energy up +3%, Materials and Industrials down -1.6%, Consumers and Health Care down -8%, Financial up +1%, Information Tech down -11% so generally the market slipped in October. Two handouts were outlooks for Regis Resources and Woolworths. 

On the Long Term sheet our paper profit slipped during October overall $60,000 to $47,000. Les still leads with his Life360, but is under pressure as his total dropped $3,000 as the Health Care sector slipped 8%  during the month..
 
Our Real Time Trading sheet nears an end - only 4 people chose to sell and re-purchase to gain some dividends. Westpac Bank came out on Monday with a 77 cent fully franked dividend. That leaves ANZ next week to announce their dividend that should have an ex-dividend date before our final meeting on 1st December. 
 
On the Monthly sheet 8 members chose a new stock. This is your last chance to change your selections, with not a lot of stock reports due other than ANZ in the Large Cap sectors. Coles has been a standout with its share price of $20.70 mid-September to Monday of $22.00. Woolworths has been slipping, now down $5 in 2 months. Neville hopes to report why Coles has gone up and Woolworths has gone down at our December meeting.
 
If you wish to change your selection on the Monthly or the Real Time Trading sheet, please let me know asap. Any suggestions on our format presentations for 2026 welcome.
 
Our final meeting for the year on Monday 1 December 2025 at 2 pm, featured the usual tops, wooden spoon awards and more.

​Malcolm Sanders

With a few members away at our meeting on October 6, we watched a short video on China’s breakthrough on Thorium Reactors.  Thorium Reactors that will have a huge impact on the world's energy supply if the construction of a full-scale plant is successful. This discovery not only promises to revolutionise sustainable energy, but lower electricity prices and can deliver 24/7 for 100 years. A handout on Australian company Vulcan Energy's (VUL) project in the Black Forrest area of Germany reports that it has progressed to completion of a trial plant that offers a source of heating to local residents, power generation and Lithium production, all self-powered by the super-heated brine extraction.

During September Austal (ASB) has remained steady with NAOS, CADENCE CAPITAL, POWER MINERALS and DRONESHIELD all making significant gains.

A surprise observation by Neville that (BBL)  Brisbane Bronco Limited from Friday 2 pm rose 80% from $1.30 to $2.00. Yet the grand final match didn’t start until Sunday.

On the Long-term sheet Les with 360 is ahead by a mile; on the Monthly sheet John with DRO is 220% ahead of his initial (our) paper $9,980 starting investment. On the real Time Trading sheet Sue and Margaret J are leading.

With September company reports completed, there are limited dividend returns from now until December. WBC and ANZ are a few of the large companies yet to report.  Nanos (NCC), a small investment company are ex-dividend Wednesday 8th October, offering 9.6% dividend 100% franked - several of our group chose Nanos on the Monthly sheet.

If you wish to change your selection on the Monthly or the Real Time Trading sheet, please let me know asap.
​
Our next meeting will be Monday 3rd November 2025 (not 31st October 2025 as noted at our last meeting).

​Malcolm Sanders

A short video interview with Droneshield CEO highlighted that while sales were strong research and development were imperative to stay ahead of other competing technologies.

After the mid break Neena chose Woolworths (WOW) as today's live market had WOW at $28.75.

On our long-term sheet Les with Life 360 and John with ZIP are respectively  $9,356 and $8,667 leading on paper overall, on the 20 member selections we are positive 19%.

On the Real Time Trading sheet again ASB (Austal) was again a good selection last month by Margaret, Jenette, Malcolm & Les. They are unlikely to pay any dividends. Sue with Elders and the two Margarets and Janette are the top 4 leaders. Good selecting  for the next 3 meetings. Currently on this sheet we are 18% positive for the year. Our U3A Bendigo Watchlist is 11% positive since February.
​
On the short term monthly sheet John leads by a mile with Droneshield (DRO) and Wende with Silver bullion is second and 20th is Sue with Wisetech (WTC).

If you wish to change your selection on the Monthly or the Real Time Trading sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be Monday 6th October 2025.


Malcolm Sanders

​At our August meeting we had a good attendance of members. It was good to see Colin back. Peter is still wandering somewhere in Europe. Jan is enjoying 24 C weather at the Sunshine Coast, John is still having trouble with his ankles but keeps in touch and he has hard copies of the sheets dropped off at his house which keeps him up to date.

We looked at KOV (Korvest) that has just announced a 50c dividend and the share price is still rising; COB yesterday $13.35  that has been a good selection for Garth. He intends to trade them after the ex dividend date of 14 August that way he will accumulate the dividend and hopefully some capital gain.

Neena confirmed she will sell TLS after 26 August and buy WOW  in September as the ex dividend dates follow about 10 days apart.

Our handouts were BHP, WAM, WLE; WAM & WLE are ex dividend mid-October. Previous returns for WAM & WLE have been very good.

On the Long-term Les leads with his Life 360 some $6,221 on paper profit. On the Real time sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders now $16,443 gross paper value. On the Short-term  John leads with his Droneshield being $17,465 in paper profit.

There were some selection changes ASB (Austal ), WAM, & KOV (Kovest) were popular additions. Good luck to all. The stock market is positive across all sectors but US Trump Tariff’s could still cause issues.

Our session finished with 8 minutes of power point photos of my flying trip in 2 days to Birdsville, over Lake Eyre, William Creek and back to Shepparton last week on a 10 seater Piper twin. Lake Eyre is full but Lake Eyre South is still dry. South of Birdsville the green floodplain is 35 miles wide and receding as all the flood waters have passed.

If you wish to change your short term monthly or trade on the real time sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be 2pm Monday 1 September 2025.
                                                                                                                                
​Malcolm Sanders

At our August meeting was well attended by members. It was good to see Colin back. Peter is still wandering somewhere in Europe. Jan is enjoying 24 C weather at the Sunshine Coast, John is still having trouble with his ankles, but keeps in touch and he has hard copies of the sheets dropped off at his house which keeps him up to date.

We looked at KOV (Korvest) that has just announced a 50c dividend and the share price is still rising; COB yesterday $13.35 - that has been a good selection for Garth. He intends to trade them after the ex dividend date of 14 August, that way he will accumulate the dividend and hopefully some capital gain. Neena confirmed she will sell TLS after 26 August and buy WOW  in September as the ex dividend dates follow about 10 days apart. Our handouts were BHP, WAM, WLE; WAM & WLE are ex dividend mid-October. Previous returns for WAM & WLE have been very good.

On the Long-term sheet, Les leads with his Life 360 some $6,221 on paper profit. On the Real time sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders now $16,443 gross paper value. On the Short-term John leads with his Droneshield being $17,465 in paper profit.

There were some selection changes ASB (Austal ), WAM, & KOV (Kovest) were popular additions. Good luck to all. The stock market is positive across all sectors but US Trump Tariff’s could still cause issues.

Our session finished with 8 minutes of power point photos of my flying trip in 2 days last week to Birdsville, over Lake Eyre, William Creek and back to Shepparton on a 10 seater Piper twin. Lake Eyre is full, but Lake Eyre South is still dry. South of Birdsville the green floodplain is 35 miles wide and receding as all the flood waters have passed.

If you wish to change your short term monthly or trade on the real time sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be 2pm Monday 1 September 2025.

Malcolm Sanders

​At our Monday 7th July meeting we welcomed new member Ken, to our group. We covered some basic online information sources such as Market Index and Commsec web sites. Click on the link below to view market index;
https://www.marketindex.com.au/

On this site you can find lists of upcoming dividend dates, unit prices of iron ore, gold, silver etc and a full listing of stocks that make up the ASX  grouped in ASX 20, ASX 50, ASX 100, ASX 200 , ASX 300 and the All Ord’s AXO. The latest news on local and world stock markets showing live prices. Handouts today covered Pro Medics, Santana Minerals, Lynas Rare Earth and an update on Gold Hydrogen (ASX code GHY).

Nothing to do with the Shares, Les presented a comprehensive slide coverage on smart door locks that unlock with facial recognition on both the outside and on the inside of your house door. Cost of these start at approx. $700 without installation. If you are considering a new door lock and want hands free unlatching door contact Les.

On the Long -Term sheet Les leads with his choice of Life 360 stock some $3,788 positive for the year followed by Neville with EVN $3,767 positive. Our whole group is 10% positive for the year to date.

On the Real Time Trading sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders after selling in June her  NAB and buying Elders. Elders had an ex-dividend date of 3 June hence she collected a dividend on today’s 7th July sheet.  Both Margaret W with TLS and Colin with BXB are going really well being No 2 & 3 respectively. Neena has decided to sell WOW today and  buy TLS  and then in September buy back WOW as the ex-dividend dates follow about 10 days apart.

At our extended afternoon tea break we enjoyed assorted sausage rolls, party pies and snack bites from our a 1970’s fry pan oven. The result was very few were left over to take home. If you were away today, I am sorry to say this was a celebration of the 30th June financial 24-25 year being positive and financially good for all investors and super fund balances. I hope your end year statements that are due now are rewardingly positive.

On the monthly sheet John is miles ahead with DRO  followed by Wende with silver base metal. Five members have chosen a new stock today for review at our August meeting. If you were away, please drop me an email on your new selection choice asap.

Overall, on all sheets our stock nett total values are up since June, so let’s hope July also is positive.

Our next meeting is Monday 4th August 2025.
​

Malcolm Sanders

​At our Monday 2nd June meeting we had a good attendance again and welcomed a new member Garth to our group. On the market news that day was the announcement that Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Brickworks had agreed to transformative $14b merger. Shares in Sol Patterson rose 16%, likewise Brickworks by 27%, a rise likely to fall back a little in subsequent days..

Les ran a very informative presentation on buying in the dip. This power point slide show of 24 slides will be emailed to all our group and can be accessed in the link below.

Suggesting for Buying in the Dip

• Don’t be a day trader
• Be careful with selection of target shares
• Need an adequate reserve of cash
• Timing of purchase

In one hand out today the ASX 200 listing had been reduced by all the stocks in the ASX 100, leaving 100 stocks that were data sorted to the largest rise in the last 12 months. This listing while interesting, cannot be a guide to the next 12 months, Stocks such as Ora Banda Mining, Spartan Resources, Regis Resources, Austal, and Gold Road Resources were in the top six.

A note that with the 30th June approaching, any portfolio that has made substantial capital gains during the financial year could consider selling stocks that have made a capital loss.  
​
On the Long term sheet Neville leads with his selection of EVN with a paper profit of $5,597, followed by Les and Jan. Garth has selected Brickworks BKW to be his long term stock with the hope they will continue to rise.

On the Real Time Trading sheet Margaret W leads with her WBC choice followed by Sue and Colin. With reporting season about to commence in August and September Sue , Colin, Margaret W, Nola and Malcolm have all chosen to trade to a new stock.

On the Monthly sheet, overall stock values have improved  with only 3 members in the red. The ASX index of 8,660 on Friday 30 May is nearing the highs of February 2025. Let's hope we see some stabilization across the market now some of Trump's “TACO“* affect is being ignored.

Our next meeting is Monday 7th July 2025.


Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

*In May 2025, weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced and hit pause on his Liberation Day Tariffs, a Financial Times columnist came up with a name for how the market has been behaving ever since Trump came into office. He called it 'TACO', or the 'Trump Always Chickens Out' theory.  

During April the share market improved some 7% but not back to February 2025 levels. As we began our stock selections in February our review listing of 2nd May shares prices on the sheet are still below the February levels generally. Most people on Real Time trading sheet are doing ok because of added dividends.

We again spoke about the impact of the Trump Tariff issue on world trade and shares and superannuation and that his 90 days hold on implication might still cause issues in July. There was a four-page handout on US-Australia Trading that gave some insight into two Australian companies in the US. The full document is 48 pages long and is available by email if you wish to have it sent out. The largest is Pratt Industries recycling paper into corrugated boxes with some 8000 employees. Second is Lendlease property developer and high-rise builder with 13,000 employee/subcontractors. Thanks, Jeanette, for your research and some facts that some medicines will be exempt from tariffs and export/import shipping around the world is currently disrupted because of uncertainty of the tariffs.

We also noted Westpac bank (WBC) came out with a 76cent dividend today and their shares fell roughly $1. Both ANZ and NAB  banks will announce dividends later this week. As all three banks have only 3 trading days between announcement and the ex-dividend date that makes it almost impossible to purchase any of these shares on the announced date and collect the dividend. There needs to be at least 3 business days between purchase and your transaction is confirmed on the company share register. Some share brokers or direct online trading accounts may be able to have the share purchased registered in time, but it has not been my experience. If you purchase several days before the announcement date you are much more likely to be added to the company share register before the record date and so collect the dividend.

On the Monthly sheet Wende leads with “Silver” metal. On the Long-term sheet Neville leads with his selection of “EVN”. On the Real Time Trading sheet Margaret W has shot to the lead with her WBC choice last month. There were only 2 changes on the Monthly selection sheet for the June review.

A one-page handout on Meeka Gold (MEK) vs Gold bullion prices over 11 months indicated the shares gained 350% and Gold only 38%. Risk on shares in small companies is very high, beware! A table of 14 small Rare Earth miners share prices over 4 months ranged from -35% to +268%. Again, the risk is very high if investing in any of these is companies. 

Please let me know if you wish to change your monthly selections or trade on the Real Time sheet. As several members were away you can let me know of any change after you review the email that I will send out.

Our next meeting is Monday 2nd June 2025.

​
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

We had 15 members attend our Monday 7th April meeting. The topic we discussed around the room was what will happen with the Trump Tariffs to our shares and superannuation balances. The Australian shares fell 4% Friday and are in a hold pattern today however, tomorrow anything can happen. The XAO (All Ordinaries Index) is down 7% for the March period, and 10% since early February.

The main handout was on gold miners in Australia (330 listed companies on the ASX ) with some small miners with incredible share price rises of​ 400%; while gold bullion rose some 30% over the last six months. There were 14 small gold miners on the handout page 6, all worth watching today and over the next 4 months. All 14 have gained 23% to 150% in the January- February period.

Thanks to Les for his resume of Opthea (OPT) research into retinal diseases and trials that showed early improvement, but under phase 3 trials were disappointing and the company value has now fallen and are in a trading halt.

Wende your “Silver” choice in the Monthly sheet performed very well. Winner for the month! Gold did ok for Neville.

On the monthly selection sheet nine members have chosen a new stock for April—May period. Sue on the Real time trading you lead with MPL (Medibank Private) which held up very well Friday when I did sheets; - but today it fell 6.7% to $4.32. Four members have traded on the Real Time Trading sheet with the three banks (ANZ, WBC & NAB) yet to announce their dividend that will be known by our next May meeting.

It’s worth noting Woolworths WOW and Challenger CGF both rose Friday and today are still in positive territory.

Our next meeting will be Monday 5 May at 2pm.
​
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

​On Monday 3 March, guest speaker Declan Cassidy from Fixed Income Solutions BGC presented for 45 minutes, explaining bonds. Typically, bonds are bought at $100 with a fixed interest rate, and the principal is returned at maturity. Interest is paid semi-annually.

Bond types include:

1. Fixed-rate bonds (semi-annual coupon payments)
2. Floating-rate notes (quarterly coupon payments)
3. Inflation-linked bonds (capital indexed and annuity bonds)

Issuers: State/Federal Governments, Banks, ASX 200 companies, international corporates, supranationals (e.g., World Bank), PPPs, and smaller institutions.

Investors: Sovereign funds, industry super funds, family offices, councils, credit unions, NFPs, aged care providers, and individuals (SMSFs).

Corporate Bonds/Hybrids: Companies like Woolworths, Coles, Ampol, and Ausnet offer corporate bonds. These provide higher yields (5.0–7.5%) than major bank Tier 2 bonds but are less liquid.

Declan was thanked and presented with a U3A pen. A video of the session was recorded by Rene Martens for review and is currently available on YouTube at:

We welcomed Jeanette for her first meeting and thank all our members who phoned in their selections before the meeting. We now have 20 members of our group for 2025.

We began with excerpts from a Commsec video on the outlook for 2025 that gave a mildly positive out look that would not see any huge variations. That said AI could still create some surprises along with Donald Trump executive orders that no one can foresee what  MAGA (Make America Great Again) will cause to global economies and markets.

We had a quick review of a Watchlist of 2024 noting stocks such as EVN, GNG, QAN, RRL and SIG (Sigma) all had capital gains of more than 50% with Sigma gaining 160%. I will start a new listing for 2025 from member selections handed out and returned on our meeting day. A  listing awaits members who were absent at our first meeting to complete a selection of 2 stocks so we have a full coverage across the 11 sectors of the ASX.
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Don’t forget we will have a guest speaker - Declan Cassidy from BGC - Fixed Income Solutions for our 3rd March meeting to present information on all types of “Bonds” as a form of invest and retirement income. The presentation will include handouts and on-screen information and time for questions starting at 2pm. This will likely run for 60 minutes. After 3pm we will review our selections on the Long Term, Monthly and Real Time Trading lists
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

Following enrolment day on 15th January 2025 we have 17 members currently listed for our first meeting on Monday 3rd February at Room 1 at 2pm. Welcome to the three new members and also to our other members from 2024.

At our first meeting you will need to nominate three selections for the spreadsheets. We can view  any of the 2000 plus listed stocks on the ASX before you chose your selection.

I will email out a reminder note on 30th January with a listing of the top 200 stocks to help you select your stock you may wish to follow. The full listing of the 2000+ stocks document is too large for easy viewing.

With Donald Trump now President in the US the Australian stock market rose 100pts soon after opening on Tuesday 21 January but finished the day only 53 pts ahead. The Australian exchange rate against the US dollar rose 1cent to 62.4 cents. 

I look forward to another interesting year for the share market in 2025.
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

​Our meeting on Monday, 2nd December 2024, was attended by 19 members. We began by thanking Bev Lee for her work behind the scenes, which helped me run the program and keep our website updated with meeting notes and the newsletter. She was presented with a jar of jam. A group photo taken by Bev last month, inscribed with the words “U3A Australian Shares 2024,” was distributed to all members.

We discussed scams and fraud, which are particularly concerning over the Christmas period. It is essential to be extremely careful and avoid clicking on links such as “Enter here” or similar wording. The MyGov website is being upgraded, and you should not access it through any links in emails. Instead, go to your stored login page and enter the site in the usual way. Email notifications from MyGov may be scams. Scammers can also raid letterboxes, obtaining full names from correspondence with companies like Link Marketing or Computer Share, and use your Holder Identification Number (HIN) to open bank accounts elsewhere. Most HIN numbers now display only the last four digits as a precaution. To protect against this, ensure you clear your mailbox daily after each postal delivery.

We reviewed the Bendigo Watch List, which I created based on your selections in February across 11 sectors. The list showed a 2% increase in total holding value. Handouts were provided with values as of last Friday. I returned original selection sheets to about six members where names were included. Some selections were unnamed, so those sheets could not be returned.

Margaret J was the winner for “Long Term” selections, with PME showing a $13,162 increase. She received a jar of jam. Les received the wooden spoon for his AGE selection. For the “Real Time Trading” sheet, Les was the winner with a final holding of $14,819 for PME and was also awarded a jar of jam. Peter M will receive his wooden spoon in due course.

​During the mid-afternoon break, we enjoyed shop-bought fruit cake. Although it tasted good and was moist, it fell apart easily.

Graeme had the best performance on the “Short Term Monthly” sheet, finishing with $21,386 for SLC, earning him a jar of jam. Margaret W’s selection of DRO performed poorly over the last four months, earning her the wooden spoon.

Thanks to Wende for taking photos of the awards throughout the meeting.

Registration for 2025 courses will begin at 9:30 am on Wednesday, 15th January 2025.

Our first meeting of the year will be at 2:00 pm on Monday, 3rd February 2025. Please prepare three selections for review so I can update the spreadsheets. A reminder email will be sent out the Thursday before the meeting, including a list of the top ASX 200 stocks to help guide your selections.

The meeting closed early at 3:15 pm. I hope to have a guest speaker in March to discuss bonds as a form of investing.

Have happy and safe Christmas, and may the new year bring much joy.

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Malcolm Sanders
Convenor, Australian Shares and Stock Market
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 0408 194 469

We commenced with reviews from the Commsec website on the eleven sectors in the ASX. In particular, the Materials Index (XMJ) up 16% for the month and Real Estate (XRE) up 3% for the month, with the All Ords. (XAO) now at 8416 up 8%  for the year to date.

One of the sheets handed out today covered the current World Oil Export listing in which Iran is 16th in the world, so any impact of hostilities in the Middle East should not affect world oil supply to any great extent. Other handouts were on Select Harvest, Telix, Droneshield and Firetail Resources.

On the Long-Term sheet John still leads with DRO, followed by Margaret W with TLX and 3rd Margaret J with PME. During our meeting checking Wende’s stock pick WC8 (Wildcat Resources) rose from 26 cents on Friday to a peak of 33cents - almost a 26% rise.  It will be interesting if this price rise holds, as there were no significant announcements on the website.

On our Real Time Trading Les leads with PME, followed by Neville and Colin. Most of our members have received a dividend on this sheet.  Only a couple of stocks have not advised their ex-dividend date or dividend as of today, one being ANZ and the other WBC. You can still trade any time before our next meeting to get another dividend if it’s a financial advantage to do so.

​Our 2024 group photo was taken but we will, at our next meeting on 4th November, have Bev Lee retake another photo so we can include you in our archive photo lists.

On the monthly sheet Graeme still leads by large margin with SLC, followed by Malcolm with FTL and then Wende with JBH. There were 7 new monthly selection changes being Neville (FLX) Nola (BHP) Colin (FBU) John (BHP) Les (GOR) Jill (CIA) to report on at the November meeting.

Please let me know of you wish to sell and buy on the Real Time sheet or change to a new stock on the Monthly sheet.

Our next meeting will be Monday 4th November 2024.


Malcolm Sanders

Twelve members attended our meeting on Monday 2 September. We welcomed back Peter from his extended trip to UK and beyond, then commenced with several videos from the Commsec website, being updates on the reporting season for Wesfarmers, Woolworths, and BHP.  All were positive but subdued in their outlook. We had a quick look at a listing of ex-dividend dates from today until 30 September. There were a couple stocks which, if purchased today or tomorrow, would provide a dividend in the next six weeks. A couple of stocks that have performed well - such as BSE, MWY, SEQ and CUE -have had huge gains and should be viewed as highly speculative.

Handouts related to Pilbara Minerals; the Tiwi-Santos gas project including a map of the Barossa gas pipeline route to Darwin, and an updated sheet to 29 August on four stocks (CBA, WES, BHP, and RIO) respective sectors, ASX 20 to ASX 300 and the performance of the eleven sector codes; all were positive in the two months since 30 June 2024.

On the Long-Term sheet, John still leads with DRO followed by Margaret J with TLX and 3rd Margaret W with PME.

On our “Real Time Trading Dividend” listing, Colin leads with Brambles (BXB) with $12,474, closely followed Neville, Brent, and Wende. Dividends have been added for six of our members since the 5 August meeting. Les missed having his dividend added today as it will be due on 4th September - it will be added to the sheet by our next meeting. Jan had her dividend added today one day early by exception. In reality, there is no pay date included on this 2024 sheet for simplicity. Dividend is added after the ex-dividend date. Neville chose to hold RIO after a successful trade of WHC last month to gain the RIO dividend. You have one more trade available before you will reach the maximum of four for 2024.  John chose to sell YAL and buy WDS, likewise Malcolm chose to sell EBO and purchase BWF. If you wish to trade before our October meeting, please email or phone me.

On our Short-Term monthly selections Graeme leads with SCL with a profit value of $21,871, followed by Peter, TPC  with $3,096 profit, followed by Wende with JBH. There were four new monthly selection changes being Susan (CBA), Neville (HMC), John (DRO), Malcolm (LYL) to report on at the October meeting.

Our next meeting will be Monday 7th October 2024 at 2pm. 


Malcolm Sanders