Market Matters Q&A

The new Fed Chair.

Hi

From what I’ve been reading it would seem that Trumps pick for the new Chair of the Fed, Kevin Warsh, isn’t going to start slashing interest rates down towards 1% which, judging by his various comments in recent months, is where Trump has thought they should be.

So why do you think Trump went for Warsh instead of just installing a puppet who would do what he told them to do when it came to setting interest rates? Do you think Trump (or his advisers) had a moment of clarity and decided that it was better for the Fed to maintain the appearance of independence after all? Does the fact that setting interest rates is a majority decision by the FOMC make it too hard for Trump to actually influence those decisions? Or have I missed something about Warsh and he’s actually likely to be influenced by Trumps bullying tactics?

Regards, Carl

Carl

Duratec Ltd (DUR)

Hi James and Team

Back in 2024 you gave your views on Duratec when it was a $350M company. It has now grown to a $567M organisation and expanded its operations by takeovers.

It has won sizeable Defence and Commercial Contracts with long Term Annuity type recurring Revenue streams. With plenty of Cash on the Balance sheet. Also, a strong Pipeline for the future

I would appreciate your views

In hindsight this would have been a good inclusion in the emerging Cos Portfolio

Richard

Forward dividends and growth potential of Amotiv (AOV), GrainCorp (GNC) and Magellan (MFG)

Hi MM,

Can you advise expected future dividends for AOV (Amotiv), GNC (Graincorp) and MFG (Magellan Financial).

Both AOV and GNC appear to be beaten up stocks. I understand the reasons for GNC (lower crop volumes, small loss on Grain Connect, lower NPAT etc) but not sure on AOV.

Going forward, are they growth stocks? GNC being agricultural will presumably require a good harvest season to rebound.

Regards,
Peter

Peter

Child care stocks – G8 Education (GEM), Embark Early Education (EVO), and Mayfield Childcare (MFD)

Hi guys,

Thanks again for your great commentary and analysis.

The federal government removed the activity test from Jan 1, 2026, for eligibility to childcare subsidies for up to 3 days per week. Now any parent – regardless of income – can receive subsidies without having to work, study or look for a job.

This creates a fairly strong tailwind for ASX listed childcare stocks, I would have thought.

With these stocks being in the doldrums at present, does this provide a catalyst for a re-rating for some/all of these companies? Could you provide your analysis of this sector and the individual companies please.

Cheers,
Stuart

Stuart

WiseTech Global (WTC) and Xero (XRO)

Hi Guys,

Both of the above stocks are certainly out of favor at the moment. What are your thoughts on both stocks long term?

Interesting times for AI.
I agree that suggesting AI will allow plumbers to write their own invoicing software or injection moulding companies to write freight forwarding software doesn’t stack up.
The main threat to large industry software companies future profits might be to what extent they have used AI to create their software. If AI is essentially a computer program, can it understand a business, create supportable and configurable code, see coding efficiencies, use software libraries etc? Perhaps companies should declare to what extent they are using AI coding tools and if they are mitigating risks such as support.
What do you think?
Hamilton

Peter

ZIP Co Ltd (ZIP)

Hi I just wondering your thoughts on ZIP after reaching $3.50 down to $2.46 which is quite a large movement in stock without any announcements.

Regards
Wayne

Wayne

Web Travel Group Ltd (WEB)

I am a long term holder of Webjet and for months there has been very little movement. Suddenly it went down dramatically this morning – even with the general sell-off it seems to be excessive. Do you know why?

Judy

Maas Group Holdings Ltd (MGH)

Hi guys,

I hold shares in Maas Group (MGH) which has been a solid performer over the 3 years or so I’ve owned them.
Yesterday they announced the sale of one of their divisions, which should have been a positive for the company. Sadly the share price has now fallen about 30% since then. Can you throw any light on why the market has reacted so negativly at an action that the company clearly sees as a positive? Many thanks. Rob

Robert

The AI stock carnage and data centres.

Hi

Do you think the current negative sentiment and price falls in AI stocks could extend to data centre developers / operators?

Regards, Carl

Carl

Critical minerals manipulation?

So, as far as I can figure, this whole rout in the critical minerals market has less to do with investor behaviour and more to do with global price and supply wars, given that they can determine who dominates the defence, technology and AI spaces. If that’s the case, how are these equity valuations ever going to recover and why would you ‘buy the dip’?
Further to that, for all the chart watchers, did any of them indicate that this rout was imminent?

David