The signs are here - Winter is almost over: the Westerly winds have brought the final chills, the RNA Brisbane Ekka is over, the days are getting longer - and school 'kids' are eyeing off a mid-Semester break in just a few short weeks! Bring on the warmer Spring!

In this eNews edition, we draw comparison between seasonal weather conditions and that well-known financial market barometer, the Stock Exchange (using it as a proxy for investment markets generally).

Cold/ lethargy
When the weather is cold, bleak and windy most of us seek shelter, pull on some more warm clothing and stay fairly slow moving: compare this to a time when the market valuations are low, but volatile because of influencing factors (political upheaval, terrorism, a geological abnormality, etc) we observe a tendency toward the comfort of safe-haven investments - and low volume of investment or trading.

Warmth/ vitality
When the weather is bright and sunny, with just pleasant, balmy breezes blowing we like to be outdoors, active and involved in all sorts of activity: if the Stock Market is trending upwards with little downside activity, the economic news is good - and there are no extraneous 'surprises', investor activity tends to increase and markets respond positively.

Influences/ cycles/ trends
We know that each year the weather moves through cycles - albeit those cycles are variable on a year-on-year comparison (with 'climate change' often seen, at least partially, as the reason for this) - with a warm Summer, mild Autumn and Spring and cold Winter, regardless of where you are (all in relative terms of course).

Similarly when observing the investment markets, we can plot cycles and trends - that can be used to our advantage. Cycles occur in every economic activity rendering market peaks and troughs, as supply and demand for all of the elements of the economy interact - and are satisfied. Trends are a valuable guide as to where the next cycle might lead the markets (including the financial markets): over time, investors look for trends that are upwardly mobile and seek to avoid or minimise exposure to those that are on a downward trajectory.

Just as warmth and sunshine are often associated with positive attitudes: and cold and cloud with negativity, these emotions impact on the financial decisions we make. Too often, we see that the investor psychology is to sell because the markets are doing poorly; and to buy because they are performing so well - natural enough reactions to the immediate events, but what of the long-term goals, or of the strategies that you need to have in place for meeting short-, medium- and long-term objectives?

If the circumstances are right, the sell-down from a market high (a market 'correction') might be the opportunity to more aggressively acquire assets that are in our longer-term strategic plan. Conversely when the market has been rising for a while, it may be opportune to 'lock in' some of the gains and rebalance the portfolio to the strategic allocation originally set. Bearing in mind that the two most substantial assets that most people will deal with in  their lifetimes are their home and their superannuation account, strategic planning should guide all that is undertaken on those fronts (and on the controllable influences surrounding them).

Investment attitudes
Just as the weather is not easily 'dealt with' by just hibernating, dressing differently or carrying an umbrella, managing financial investments is not as simple as just taking advice on the best share to invest in (or whether to buy property; or to add more to your superannuation account): it takes a combination of effort and activity to ensure physical safety and comfort - and it is similar with your financial well-being.

When considering your financial future and that for your family, the following matters should be in the mix of matters to influence the direction taken -
      a) realistic lifestyle expectations; 
      b) certainty of income flows;
      c) expectations as to lifespan;
      d) physical and emotional health; and 
      e) commitment to the achievement of goals and objectives to provide for the above.

Getting it right with and for, you
When dealing with you in all phases of our relationship, the team at Continuum Financial Planners is conscious of all the factors about which you have kept us informed: and those of you who engage us for regular reviews of your strategy and your portfolio, are aware that we seek to update all of the relevant information on a regular basis. Whilst we use a couple of slogans to reflect our attitude towards our relationship with you -

- our motivation in establishing our business has always been to provide peace of mind to our clients that their financial best interest is our objective; and that their financial security and objectives are achieved to the greatest extent possible. We believe that the above slogans serve that objective well.

In spite of the persisting change that is happening in our industry (including it moving toward the status of a profession), we believe that we are being successful in these goals and objectives: we form this belief because of the continuing support you give us - and the referrals you make.

Useful stuff following
Continuing our practice of sharing some of the stories and articles from our website Library, we have chosen the following that are in keeping with the above theme: any comments or feedback will be appreciated (and can be made at the end of each article, or by use of the Contact Us facility on our website). To read the full article, click on the image to go to it in our website article Library -

We trust that the above selection of articles from our website Library is of benefit to you: we invite your enquiry about any aspect of them that you may want to have considered in relation to your own affairs.

You are welcome to forward this eNews to any of your friends and family - and they are welcome to sign up to receive their own copy directly: they can do this from the Home page of our website (and from the menu content of that Page menu).