Asian share markets are fairly positive across the region although Japanese shares are suffering from a reversal in Yen strength and reports about more tariff diarrhea from the Felon in Chief while currency markets are still in flux but effectively rebuffing the continued trade war. The Australian dollar is now back to its mid January
Another big month for markets. Our international portfolio in particular performed much better than benchmark, up almost 5% for the month, while our growth portfolio was not far behind. Trump: Crash or crash through? Trump has begun an unprecedented attack on the norms of US lawmaking. The scale and scope of the attack
These guys are something else. Origin is an original East Coast gas cartelier, has squeezed NSW to death with Eraring subsidies, has tried to dominate LNG imports, and put competing hydrogen out of business, as well as funding the Grattan Institute to corrupt the energy debate. Origin Energy chief executive Frank Calabria has urged policymakers
Major bank ABS believes that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will cut the official cash rate by 0.5% at next week’s monetary policy meeting. This would lower the official cash rate to 3.75%, down from last year’s peak of 5.5%. ASB expects two further 0.25% cuts in April and May and a 3.25% endpoint.
In October 2024, it was revealed that Victorian taxpayers paid more than $32.9 million to 102 executives working on the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA), averaging $322,000 a head. “It seems pretty clear from the annual report that we don’t have a railway line as much as we have a gravy train”, former Liberal Opposition
Gotti is having a baby, which tells you this is a good thing. The Greens will require big banks to offer all residential home borrowers a “homekeeper” loan facility which carries an interest rate of 1 per cent above the Reserve Bank’s cash rate. Investment and holiday home borrowers will not be entitled to the
Australia’s rental crisis appeared to be easing after CoreLogic and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported a marked easing in rental growth. However, the latest rental vacancy data from SQM Research suggests that the rental crisis has resumed. Following a period of rental easing during the second half of 2024, the national vacancy rate
The former Coalition government’s Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements (BAC) program ran from October 2020 to June 2022 and was designed to turbocharge trainee and apprenticeship numbers coming out of the pandemic. The scheme allowed retail and hospitality businesses to claim up to $28,000 for first-year trainees and up to $6000 for a second year. Like most
Thar she blows. Cyclone Zelia, a Cat5 monster, with wind speed approaching 320km/h building off the warmest seasonal waters since records began. There’s going to be some disruption. That said, it appears to be largely priced already, with iron ore completely dislocated from steel. Short is still the better part of long here, barring a
The financial woes of the Victorian government are well documented. The state had the nation’s highest per capita net debt in 2023-24 and the worst (AA) credit rating. The trajectory of Victoria’s debt is also concerning. The major ratings agencies—S&P and Moody’s—warned that they could further downgrade Victoria’s credit rating if debt levels are not