I am in the industry and it is hard to find much in the way of good reporting platforms.
Interactive Brokers is the best trading / investing platform in the world… unless you want to add in unlisted Australian managed funds. Outside of that it does everything and the account management / reporting is detailed as well once you set up your reports
I also use Navexa, but I still haven’t given up my Excel spreadsheet, which has everything in it bar electronic update of share prices.
I just use NABTrade, but don’t trade all that much.
I’m a bit gun shy on the stock market at the moment (my super is going well) so looking for other investments that have some tax benefits. Housing seems a bit on the nose. Commercial real estate might be tough post covid.
Is there anything else worth having a look into?
Depends on your risk profile.
I have a portfolio of alternative assets that include diversified property debt that pays 10% yield. Individual mortgage back debt, Corporate debt funds pay 12-15%. You can prospect in the high end art market buy buying shares in works through Masterworks which is interesting
I’m probably the opposite. I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to the stock market so I steer pretty much clear of it apart from a decent package of airline shares (not great in a pandemic 
)
I find property investments easier to get my head around and currently have a reasonable property portfolio that gives me all I need for a decent nest egg. I’ve largely steered clear of commercial real estate but have invested in 1 hotel with a large chain and recently spent a couple of days in Jakarta looking over another couple of options that appealed to me
Cocaine
The rare earth supplier Lynas AR says all is rosey, lots of nice photos etc., but the underlying commodities Lynas sell are under a lot of price pressure. See note. Lots of Capex in their cashflow statements as well, but still, they seem to be profitable. 
China still dictating the economic price for some of these commodities. IMO, it’s a double edged sword for them, as at some stage, they will benefit if prices recover.
Hey, do your own research.
I don’t know whether this will be useful but…the IMF posts a monthly spreadsheet of commodity prices…find the “Excel database” here:
https://www.imf.org/en/Research/commodity-prices
I just checked, and there is a REO price series in there…and over the long term, it correlates pretty closely with the LYC share price (naturally).
I listened to a money of mine podcast episode on Lynas - apparently they are using a large amount of the water in Kalgoolie and the rest of the town were on water restrictions, couldn’t water footy ovals etc.
Plus they barely spend a cent in the community apart from jobs.
Water deal with the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder - Lynas Rare Earths
And the plant wasn’t even running at full capacity before the water problems started to arise.
Oh. That’s a worry.
Plans to ‘drought-proof’ Kalgoorlie-Boulder as five months of water restrictions end - ABC News
In 2021, the city agreed to supply Lynas around 1.7 gigalitres of recycled water from its South Boulder waste treatment plant every year.
The council report showed industrial users — the biggest by far being Lynas — were using only 25 per cent of their allocation since the water restrictions were imposed.
I recall reading something about water use at Kalgoolie in the Lynas Annual Report, I will have another look at it…No doubt it will say all is fine.
It seems water supply is a constant problem for Lynas:
Annual Report:
Malaysia
“During the early part of FY23, production was limited by significant water supply disruptions at the Lynas Malaysia plant. During July and August 2022, water supply from the local water utility, PAIP, remained unpredictable and on most days was below the level required to run all 4 kilns. In early September 2022, PAIP experienced a catastrophic equipment failure in its water supply infrastructure, following the rupture of a 1600mm diameter pipe 10 metres underground. This led to a water supply outage affecting all users in the Kuantan area, including residential customers.
Lynas personnel were dispatched to help PAIP expedite repair works, including the construction of a 123 metre bypass. The water supply issues were resolved in October 2022 allowing production ramp up through the second half of FY23.”
Mt Weld bit of gobblygook speak here, they could have just said they dug a pond…
“Surface water management to capture seasonal rain events and divert into managed aquifer/ ground water recharge that also forms flood protection infrastructure for climate change resilience.”
Kalgoorlie - they don’t say much about their permanent water supply?? It seems the site is still being enlarged, they are building phase 4 now…
"Major earthworks including ponds required for initial production and on-site services including power, water and laboratory facilities are complete, including the on-site gas supply. "
Lynas Texas. This is a greenfield site but…
"Once operational, feedstock for the Facility will be sourced from the Lynas Mt Weld rare earths deposit and Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility in Western Australia. "
Hey, do your own research…
Looks like supply has met demand
for Lithium(or is).(price in chinese yuan)
Should now mean much cheaper electric cars, but i also think perhaps some hangover in lithium stocks??
I’ve never invested in lithium (I’ve never put in the work)…but listened to this podcast recently, and felt it was an enjoyable enough listen:
Hey Lithium investors, don’t get too comfortable.
Sodium batteries look attractive. Sodium batteries are significantly cheaper to make, plus they don’t need any rare earths like cobalt or nickel etc. The only downside seems to be a sodium battery will be bigger and heavier than a lithium one of the same capacity, so maybe not for iPhones etc but still ok for uses which are not weight dependant like say residential battery storage, shipping, trucks etc ."
There needs to be a scale up of a cheaper, heavier grid scale battery technology. The only reason lithium is doing grid scale work is no alternative has the economy of scale to compete. Yet.
You’ve just missed the bottom of the market. Don’t miss out on the rest.
There has also been talk about vanadium redox batteries.
Hey there blitz!
Im looking for some advice about leveraging into Australian shares to get some decent exposure and reduce my tax bill in the short term.
Ie As an alternative to negatively gearing property.
Has anyone done this and its been a decent strategy in the past? What sort of financial product(margin loan?) do you use?
Ive always thought the interest rates on margin loans to be a touch high is all.
And what type of aussie equities did you invest in? Im guessing blue chip?
