Following the latest move by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to lift the Fed funds rate to between 2% and 2.25%, the spread between the US and Australian cash rates has inverted to levels not seen since the currency was floated back in December 1983. Show More
"Now, data is interesting but we're not really interested in it... We look at others' loyalty programs and their big data schemes and we really question the true value that’s delivered to customers...What we'd rather do is keep our business simple, focus on what matters most to customers, because it’s... Show More
With so much discussion about the maturity of the current bull market, it would be easy to assume that corporate balance sheets have fallen into the same state of disrepair we saw before the GFC. Troy Angus, Head of Large Caps at Paradice Investment Management, had only recently launched his... Show More
House prices are falling, auction clearance rates continue to drop and there is a such sharp lift in the number of properties for sale that, for the moment, no one is willing to buy at the given asking price. Show More
This article is by guest contributor, Warren Hogan for FIIG Securities. Warren is an economist and financial strategist, and ex ANZ Chief Economist. Show More
For the last few years the Australian economy has been meandering between 2-3% growth. This remained the case through last year with December quarter GDP up just 0.4%, and annual growth of 2.4% as a bounce a year ago dropped out. In the quarter growth was helped by consumer spending... Show More
Structurally, Australia’s growth model has been deteriorating for most of the past two decades and is now arguably one of the poorer examples in the developed world. In the years of the last commodity bull cycle, instead of saving in its ‘times of plenty’, Australia funded a large consumption and... Show More
In January, market commentary was almost universally bullish. Ray Dalio, the billionaire US Hedge Fund Manager told the audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that those holding cash were “going to feel pretty stupid.” One of the few voices urging caution was that of Chris Watling, CEO and... Show More
In the first podcast for 2018, Dr Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at AMP Capital sits down with Livewire Editor, Patrick Poke. The topic at hand is Australia: the share market, the economy, wages, and of course, house prices. They discuss UBS's report late last year... Show More
The International Monetary Fund tips global economic growth to lift from 3.6 per cent in 2017 to 3.7 per cent in 2018. The key issue is whether the low growth rates of prices and wages will continue, thus prompting central banks to remain on the monetary policy sidelines. Show More
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the GDP data for the September quarter. The headline result saw an economy that grew at 0.6% for the quarter and 2.8% for the last 12 months, both slightly below expectations. The annual rate increased from 1.9% year on year rate... Show More
The political environment is arguably more important now for investors than it has been for many years. Trump’s presidential victory in the US, the rise of ‘populism’ in Europe, and potentially more regulation for domestic energy, healthcare and banking sectors all have the potential to impact markets. Show More
There’s no question Australia’s economy has enjoyed a stellar run. The trouble is, it’s largely been a consumer-based, credit-fuelled growth story. And the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reckons it could soon come to a shuddering halt. Show More
NSW has retained the position as the best performing economy, at or near the top of all indicators. Victoria holds second spot on the economic performance rankings with strength provided by high population growth, boosting housing demand. The ACT retains third spot on the performance rankings but there has been... Show More
Australian households are on average better off than they have ever been mostly because of the large increases in household wealth over recent years and a low unemployment rate closing in on what might be considered the “full-employment” unemployment rate. Yet in this age of comparative plenty the household sector... Show More
Australia has just celebrated 26 years without a recession and the Government as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are cheering the ongoing growth. In fact, the common consensus amongst these authorities is that growth is set to rebound from its current 1.9% year on year rate and... Show More
As global rates start to rise, Australia may follow in the short-term, but structural issues will prevent the RBA from hiking rates far, explains Chris Watling, CEO of Longview Economics. Any rate-hikes from the RBA will be short-lived, he says, and those structural issues will force Australian rates to zero. Show More
“It’s in their [The Telco’s] interest to just flick people to the low speed plans as the lower access charge makes a higher margin for them” Nicholas Demos, CEO, MyRepublic. Below are quotes from the week which in our view detail some of the most important and prominent industry trends... Show More
As commodity prices have risen, the Australian economy is set to benefit from these continuing gains. Australia’s improving terms of trade has led to a big increase in nominal GDP, which is now growing at 6.1% year-on-year. As commodity prices have moved higher in the first half of 2017, this... Show More
Historically the Aussie Dollar has been regarded as a play on both commodities (specifically iron ore) and its higher interest rates relative to the rest of the world. In the past 12 months, though, the correlations of the currency with those two key factors has broken down. As iron ore... Show More
