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Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has handed down his fifth Budget promising to deliver a surplus of $1.5 billion in the 2012/13 Financial Year.  Provided the Government’s somewhat optimistic growth forecasts come to fruition, this will be the first surplus since Labor came to power in 2007.

The Budget provides cash payments and tax breaks mainly targeted at low income families.  The big losers from this year’s Budget are high income earners, and those who are seeking to aggressively ‘top-up’ their superannuation savings via salary sacrifice.

Australia's central bank slashed its cash-rate target by 50 basis points to 3.75% yesterday.

The cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia surprised financial markets and was the first easing since December. Economists had been expecting at 25-basis-points cut. It was the biggest single move in interest rates since February 2009 when the RBA was still managing the collapse in global confidence following the demise of Lehman Brothers.

The sharp reduction in rates comes amid signs the economy has slowed sharply in recent months in areas outside of the booming mining sector.

The Australian share market continued its strong start to the year, gaining 1.1% to close April at 4,467.2 points.  Global markets were mixed with the Dow Jones Index flat, the FTSE gaining 1.0%, the Nikkei 225 falling 5.6% and the Hang Seng gaining 2.6% for the month.

The Australian share market has now gained more than 8% for the year.  So what has changed in investors’ minds?  Given the same risk issues (Europe, US growth/debt and China slowdown etc.) that have dominated markets for some time are still very much with us. 

It was an uneventful month for the Australian share market.  Aussie shares were relatively flat in March, gaining 0.7% to close at 4,420.0 points.  Global markets were mixed with the Dow Jones Index gaining 2.0%, the FTSE falling 3.3%, the Nikkei 225 gaining 3.7% and the Hang Seng falling 5.2% for the month.

The Australian share market had a positive month in February despite unprecedented political events and a shock decision by the Reserve Bank to keep rates on hold. 

The All Ordinaries Index gained 1.4% to close February at 4,388.1 points.  Aussie shares underperformed major global markets with the Dow Jones Index gaining 2.5%, the FTSE gaining 3.3%, the Nikkei 225 gaining 10.5% and the Hang Seng gaining 6.3% for the month.

The Australian share market had its best start to any year since 1994, with the All Ordinaries Index gaining 5.2% for the month of January (closing the month at 4,325.7 points).

Aussie shares outperformed most major global markets in January – a trend I expect to see continue throughout 2012.  Global shares performed well with the Dow Jones Index gaining 3.4%, the FTSE gaining 2.0%, the Nikkei 225 gaining 4.2% and the Hang Seng gaining a staggering 10.6% for the month.

December capped off a very poor year for investors.  2011 started badly with natural disasters (severe floods in Queensland and nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power plant) however this was only a teaser for what was to follow with a European sovereign debt crisis and issues never before encountered (i.e. a common monetary policy with differing government fiscal policies). 

Each month I seem to be writing the same thing.... more volatility due to European sovereign debt issues!  Again the political posturing in Europe weighed on the performance of the Australian share market. 

The share market has snapped a six month losing streak to post near record monthly gains in October.  The All Ordinaries Index gained 7.1% to close the month at 4,360.50 points. 

Global share markets were all significant stronger in October with the Dow Jones Index gaining 9.5%, the FTSE gaining 8.1%, the Nikkei 225 gaining 3.3% and the Hang Seng gaining 12.9%.

Last month I wrote about the cause of decline in share prices over the first half of 2011, and how we had ‘priced-in’ a significant financial crisis in Europe. 

September was another poor month for the share market. 

The All Ordinaries Index fell 6.9% to close the month at 4,070.10 points.  The Australian share market has now fallen over 16% for the 2011 calendar year. 

Global share markets were all significant weaker with the Dow Jones Index falling 6.0%, the FTSE falling 4.9%, the Nikkei 225 falling 2.8% and the Hang Seng falling 14.3%.

There are three key themes that have triggered such extreme market movements over recent months: