As interest rates tumble and price earnings ratios on the stock exchange climb higher, it is only natural that investors look to other investments that offer higher returns.

The turnaround in markets that began in January has continued for much of 2019 to date, such that share prices are generally now at or near historic highs. The strength of the rise, Australian shares are up about 20% in 2019 including dividends, is surprising, but so too was the abruptness of the market decline in the last quarter of 2018...

The first quarter of 2019 was distinctly different, and much improved, from the final quarter of last year.  Stock markets which had slumped badly recovered just as quickly, erasing the losses of late-2018 within a few months.