Well my biggest stock holding is an Australian manufacturer that exports around 15% production to the USA .
The stock is 30% of its previous value a month and a half ago .
It should not go broke anytime soon, and because of a structural shift in the $A to US$ it should be able to have a currency hedge forward contract locked in which means the US$72 to US$50 to the A means the previous 10% export profit margin just jumped to 30%
SO now effectively 45% of income will come from exports (15% * 3) for lets say locked in for 6 months with the big assumptions export orders remain intact
Agree about the goldies to at $3K AUD for POG , we are in the opposite of a Dutch disease effect , investors will eventually catch on once the 4cs showing how much cashflow the oz goldies are churning out .
We should bless ourselves we are not tied to the $US or the Euro like Greece is .
There are specific areas Australia has heavy manufacturing expertise ,(alloy boat building ) but to emulate China on heavy manufacturing probably is not a good roll model due to economies of scale and domestic demand , heavy manufacturing tends to be part of the early progression of a country's advancement , as with Korean ship building in the 70s , now the Koreans are known for Samsung and LG and medical soft/hardware , which is the same place Australia is in but in more niche markets , and is the better sector to concentrate on (little NZ is even doing it with F&P healthcare ) compared with heavy industry - car manufacturing (holden )
One thing for sure that it is best not to concentrate on is the Tourist and foreign student industry, that is a race to the bottom of the barrel for wage earners and low paid teachers who should be using their intellect in business
