On Wednesday Woodside Petroleum’s (ASX: WPL) second biggest dividend ever lined shareholders’ pockets. The fully-franked $1.46 a share dividend is premised on lofty prices for Woodside's natural gas and oil. But the US$60.3 average per barrel of oil equivalent that Woodside received back in 2021 has already become stale. From October to December Woodside was already posting average prices in US$90. Could there be another record in 2022? So far this year, the price of Brent crude oil has risen 53%, of Asian liquified natural gas, 49%. Woodside's Q1 results are due next month and will likely be front-page news.

Global equities surge as added to investor losses are reduced

Global share markets are enjoying a welcome whip up after a painful 2022 start. Benchmarks in Australia, the US and Europe are up 5% to 10% since early March. The beaten-up Nasdaq Composite has climbed 13% in just the past eight trading days. Market commentators attributed the rebound to discounted valuations, the strength of the US economy, falling energy prices and policy support for markets in China. But with war raging in Ukraine, energy prices increasing again and inflation remaining at record highs, markets are likely to remain volatile.

Will Hamish return?

That’s the question investors have been asking since news broke on Monday that Hamish Douglass resigned as a member of the Board of Magellan Financial Group (ASX: MFG), which he co-founded in 2006. The terse three-sentence statement, citing his previously announced indefinite medical leave of absence as chief investment officer, left investors mostly in the dark about how permanent the exit will be.

Douglass’ exit could finally slow the flow of negative headlines that have driven shares to the lowest point since late 2014. But any recovery in its share price will depend on the funds it manages rebounding. Given the portfolio of undervalued names in its flagship Global Equity strategy, Shaun Ler expects it is likely.

Casinos can’t get it right

Crown Resorts (ASX: CWN) has been dragged before three royal commissions and it is accused of giving money launderers and organised crime an easy time. It also brought James Packer to his knees and led to the sale of the casino to the US private equity group Blackstone. Star Casino followed it into ignominy this week. An investigation reported, the casino, controlled by Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR), allowed a tour operator with links to underworld gangs to operate games in a private room where cash was believed to be laundered. Setting aside the Déjà vu, Angus Hewitt predicts near-term volatility but ultimately that the operator will retain its license. He did not make an adjustment to fair value.

The hitting the ASX: Green stock picker

Investors looking for their money to support efforts to fight climate change and create a cleaner planet got another option this week. The new Australian active ETF, New World Fund (ASX: NNUK), hit the exchange on Monday promising a strategy that “invests in listed companies exposed to the broad themes of environmental sustainability and resource efficiency” Nanuk Asset Management. Sustainable ETFs are typically passive vehicles, and they employ rules to choose stocks that align with their values. Nanuk’s stock pickers invest in sectors such as clean energy, healthcare, industrial and energy efficiency. The unlisted version of the strategy, which launched in 2009, has a rating of neutral.

Government woos with budget

Cash for pensioners, a boost in childcare subsidies and temporary cuts to fuel taxes are all on the cards as the Federal Budget is handed down next week, with living costs surging on the eve of an election. The pensioners will receive a one-off cash bonus of $250. There is also thought to be consideration of a temporary cut in the 44.2 cents per litre fuel excise. But international oil prices are soaring, limiting what the government can do short of directly subsidising fuel. A full fuel excise removal would merely rewind national petrol prices to early-February marks.

Wheat prices begin to bite

Egypt requested help from the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday as the world’s top wheat importer grapples with climbing prices. An estimated 70 million people are fed in an subsidised bread program that is heavily dependent on wheat supplies from Russia and Ukraine. International wheat prices have soared 43% this year on concerns that the war could disrupt wheat exports from the Black Sea region, which is responsible for about a third of world production. Local rulers will watch with anxiety as surging food prices have a role in the Arab Spring of 2010, mass protests that toppled rulers in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and fanned Syria’s still-ongoing civil war.

ASX breaks even: Market recap

Australian shares crept higher this week, recouping losses booked during January’s selloff to end up flat for the year. The ASX is the first and only major index to pull gains from the year’s declines.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% on Friday, for a weekly gain of 1.5%. Materials, energy and utilities up between 5.2% and 5.7% were the biggest gainers. Shares of technology stocks tracked the strong showing of the Nasdaq, and rose 3.5 percent.

Commodity prices, which are on track for their best year since 1915, continue to provide a tailwind for local markets, says Aaron Binsted, a portfolio manager at Lazard.

But shares of Woodside Petroleum, BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue metals all jumped between 2% and 8% this week.

Equity markets are unfazed so far by a historic route in global bond markets — as many opine sentiment could change swiftly, people are said. Henry Arnaud's comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Monday prompted a massive selloff in global bond markets.

“I’d suggest that if something major like that is going on then making the statement that ‘everything is all good the ASX is up for the week’ possibly doesn’t make much sense,” he adds, observing that global bond indices are on course for the worst year since 1949.

“The equity markets usually respond later in hiking cycles. There is always this thing about, ‘sell equities at the last rate hike [of the cycle],’ and that’s really great, but it is not clear what is going to be the last one.”

Retailer JB Hi-Fi soared 11% this week after showing double-digit sales growth in Q3 as consumers continued to load up on appliances, electronics and whitegoods.