To help you manage the financial year ahead, Julia shares her insights on:

• The financial year's Australian sharemarket performance: a tale of two halves - 0'15"
• Looking ahead: Europe favoured over the US and Australia trading sideways - 2'07"
• The upcoming reporting season: which stocks to avoid vs. stocks expected to outperform - 3

Julia comments on the Australian sharemarket performance with small caps underperforming and banks doing the heavy lifting. The healthcare sector has been the standout industry whilst telecom stocks fell by 24%.

For the financial year to ahead, subdued data is coming from the US and analysts are trying to pinpoint the peak for the housing market in Australia.

Julia's main recommendation is for investors to start thinking about positioning for the August reporting season by looking at companies in an upgrade cycle and avoiding stocks in a downgrade cycle.