Buy Hold Sell, by Livewire Markets

Handed a pair of wings made of feathers and wax, Icarus was given one simple rule - stay the middle course. Fly too low and the sea weighs you down. Fly too high and the sun melts your wings. Naturally, caught up in the thrill of soaring higher and higher, he ignored the warnings and fell into the ocean. As we all know, that thrill hits investors too when a company is flying. Valuations detach from reality and suddenly the market is pricing in absolute perfection, leaving zero margin for error. In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’re looking at five market high-flyers that might be daring to fly too close to the sun. Joining us once again are Matt Riordan from Paradice Investment Management and Marcus Burns from Spheria Asset Management.

There’s an almost irresistible pull to hunting through a bargain bin. Suddenly, things you’d never normally consider start looking attractive. You get brave. You convince yourself you can pull off ruffles and pastels. The same thing happens in the market. We’ve all watched a former market darling shed 40% of its value and thought - how much worse can it get? When a stock once treated like royalty gets cast out into the cold, the payoff can be massive. Expectations get rinsed, and even the faintest pulse of good news can spark an almighty comeback. The quandary, of course, is that cheap can always get cheaper. But there’s a world of difference between a quality business suffering through a temporary rough patch and a broken business heading straight for market purgatory.  In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’re running the ruler over three former favourites on the path to redemption. To help us separate the genuine resurrections from the value traps Matthew Riordan from Paradice Investment Management and Marcus Burns from Spheria Asset Management joined us and also brought along a beaten-down stock from their own watchlists that they’re backing to bounce back. This episode was filmed Wednesday 4th November, 2026.

Even when households tighten their belts, the groceries still need buying, the phone bill needs paying and hospitals need to keep running. It’s easy to see why investors turn to essential goods and services when the outlook gets tougher. But how much protection does reliable demand actually offer shareholders? And can the price you pay undermine the defensive qualities you’re buying? With the Spring Racing Carnival upon us, this episode of Buy Hold Sell looks at businesses that might be suited to tougher conditions. We’re considering what happens when spending slows, confidence weakens and investors become less forgiving.  Joining us are Nick Pashias from Antares and Luke Laretive from Seneca who explain what they look for in a resilient investment and the warning signs that a supposedly defensive business might disappoint.  

A few good years can make a business look like a long-term winner. But what gives it the staying power to keep delivering over the next five or 10? It’s an appealing prospect for investors: find a handful of businesses that can keep growing their earnings, hold on, and give compounding time to work. The challenge is recognising which companies have that endurance – and how much you should pay to own them. With the Spring Racing Carnival upon us, we’re turning our attention to the ASX’s ‘stayers’ - businesses that can keep delivering for shareholders over the long haul. Joining us to assess the contenders are Nick Pashias from Antares Elite Opportunities Fund and Luke Laretive from Seneca Australian Small Companies Fund. We explore what separates a genuine long-term compounder from a business that’s simply enjoyed favourable conditions, and what could convince them to sell a company they once intended to keep. We put five stocks to the buy, hold or sell test. Which would the fundies back from here? This episode was filmed Wednesday 28th October 2026.   

A recent survey of 1,400 Livewire readers revealed that 57% plan to increase their exposure to high-dividend stocks this year. Yet Australian income investors face a persistent concentration trap: just seven stocks across two industries generate half of the entire ASX 200 dividend pool. Shifting focus from last week's consistent dividend growers, we look at companies offering yields above the broader market benchmark. In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, Dr Peter Gardner from Plato Investment Management and Dr Michael O'Neill from IML preview the upcoming bank reporting season and deliver their verdicts on a cross section of stocks where the dividends look enticing.

Dividend Aristocrats are US stocks that have increased their dividend for 25 consecutive years. The ASX has just one: Soul Patts, on a 28-year streak.  But Australia’s dividend royalty might need to make room in the court as a cluster of aspiring Aristocrats deliver metronomic-like distributions to their investors.​ But Australia’s dividend royalty may soon need to make room. Take AUB Group, which has delivered 20 consecutive years of dividend growth at over +10% annually. While the starting yield on some of the companies discussed below might not blow your hair back, consistent earnings growth supports those growing dividends. That combination, as we know, can lead to powerful compounding and total returns for patient investors. In this episode of Buy Hold Sell, we’ve recruited the expertise of IML’s actuarial guru Dr Michael O'Neill and Dr Peter Gardner, from the house of dividends, Plato Investment Management. Our guests rate five consistent dividend growers, plus two potential future Aristocrats. This episode was filmed Wednesday 21st October, 2026.

I’ve always been fond of the phrase "wide economic moats." Beyond the jargon, it calls to mind heroic battles, impenetrable fortresses, and all manner of defence tactics and strategies. While modern companies may not be dodging a rain of arrows or pouring hot oil from the parapets, they are defending their turf against an onslaught of AI disruption, geopolitical shockwaves, sticky inflation and market volatility. To survive in today's market, a moat is made from three core pillars. Consistent High Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), strong pricing power, and a rock solid balance sheet.  For this episode of Buy Hold Sell, I'm joined once again by Henry Jennings of Marcus Today and Rudi Filapek-Vandyck of FNArena to examine four quality growth companies (plus two picks from our guests) that embody these traits, and test whether their economic moats are holding strong or beginning to crumble. There are even props involved.  This episode was filmed Wednesday 7th October, 2026.   

Quantitative data vs. qualitative insights — why not both? In this episode, we cut through the market noise using Market Index’s new stock screening tool, Stock Scores, to uncover top ASX stocks scoring highest across Quality and Growth metrics. Rudi Filapek-Vandyck (FNArena) and Henry Jennings (Marcus Today) join us to break down these high-scoring stocks and share whether they’re a buy, hold or sell. More about Stock Scores here!: https://www.marketindex.com.au/stock-scores Please note this episode was filmed Wednesday 7th October, 2026.

The key to any great institution is the management team behind the scenes. Take the example of Justin Holbrook, who has guided the Newcastle Knights from wooden spooners to NRL grand finalists in the space of a year. And the ASX has long been home to stellar management teams who have turned their companies into global winners.  In this episode of Livewire's Buy Hold Sell, I'm joined by Sean Roger from Perpetual Asset Management Australia and Joseph Koh from Blackwattle Investment Partners to deliver the calls on five ASX stocks with respected management teams, and share their pick for the ASX management team to beat.

Finding the right balance between attack and defence can be the difference between winning and losing. That will be the case when the Dockers meet the Lions at the MCG tomorrow, and it's also the case for ASX investors looking to build a winning portfolio.  In this edition of Buy Hold Sell, I'm joined by Sean Roger from Perpetual Asset Management and Joseph Koh from Blackwattle Investment Partners.