One of the most disturbing situations to arise from the coronavirus pandemic is the contempt shown towards Australians stranded abroad, abandoned by our politicians. More than one year on from the beginning of the pandemic and there are still an estimated 35,000 Aussies stranded overseas, shut out by limited flights and quarantine places, as well
CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index registered another strong increase in the week ended 15 April, with values rising by 0.42% across the five major capital cities: All major capital city markets recorded weekly price growth with Adelaide (0.52%) recording the strongest increase and Perth (0.16%) the smallest: We are half way through April and already
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Like it or not, you’re now invested in Bitcoin – New Statesman S&P futures cut losses after tame inflation report, Nasdaq futures rise – CNBC Bitcoin Hits Another High Of $64,000, Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Happens To Worth More Than China’s Richest Man – Global Trends The Total Market Value
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With vaccine clotting issues causing delays to rollout worldwide, MB Fund’s Chief Strategist David Llewellyn Smith, Head of Investments Damien Klassen, senior analyst Radek Zeleny, Head of Advice Tim Fuller the investment team investigate if this be catalyst for a stock market stumble Locally, our own federal government is currently under fire for a slow
Just to underline how stoopid the Morrison Government has been. Via Morgan Stanley: COVID-19 Vaccine: US on Track to Achieve Broad Vaccination by Mid-Summer Our updated simulations suggest that the US can vaccinate the entire eligible population (12+yo) by mid-summer, in-line with our prior estimate. Our increased confidence in the rate and supply of vaccinations
The bears are still theres. As equity markets march relentlessly higher on vaccine rollouts, economic reopenings, catch-up growth and stimulus, a few growls can still be found. Deutsche is one: Equities have historically traded closely with indicators of cyclical macro growth such as the ISMs (correlation 73%). Growth (ISM) typically peaks around a year (10-11
Another day, another alarming scientific climate change report from a very authoritative source, The Climate Council: Climate change is accelerating with deadly consequences. The ecological systems that have sustained human life and societies for generations are being severely damaged by increasing heat and worsening extreme weather events. › There is no safe level of global
As the US prepares its annual currency manipulators report, TD Securities takes at a look at who’s doing the dodgy: Asia’s Currency Manipulators •The US Treasury Report on trading partners’ FX policies is likely to be released soon, possibly this week. In the period since the timeframe covered in thelastReportwe think USD buying FX intervention
Perhaps the empathy training is working after all. Fresh from her Rapegate holiday, newly-minted Government Services Minister, Linda Reynolds, has decided against the proposed pursuit of NDIS lying cows: The Morrison Government had planned to cut costs in the NDIS. But, the rollout of “mandatory assessments” to catch disabled and infirm rorters has been postponed.
Credit Suisse with the note: April thus far has seen global equity markets in the main continue their steady march higher, led as usual by the pied piper of US equity markets. The laggards / losers have been the likes of Chinese, Indian, Russian and Turkish equities, which reflect local problems linked to covid spikes,
Via Banking Day: In Melbourne and Sydney, it’s a renters market and lending for investment housing is taking off as the epicentre of credit stress in banking. Rents in Melbourne, the worst hit market, are down as much as 16 per cent since the pandemic and the long lockdown hit the city hard. “Over the
Directly from the ABS: Key statistics Seasonally adjusted estimates for March 2021: Unemployment rate decreased to 5.6%. Participation rate increased to 66.3%. Employment increased to 13,077,600. Employment to population ratio increased to 62.6%. Underemployment rate decreased to 7.9%. Monthly hours worked increased by 38 million hours. Feb-21 Mar-21 Monthly change Monthly change (%) Yearly change Yearly
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) has recommended the Victorian Government follow NSW’s lead and abolish stamp duty in its upcoming 2021 Budget. CEO Paul Guerra says that switching to a broad-based land tax regime will provide greater revenue certainty for the government while reducing the cost burden on home owners: Now is
Exclusively from Gerard Minack’s Downunder Daily: Inflation corrodes most asset values. It’s harder for investors to protect themselves against high inflation than against deep recession. Investors in developed markets haven’t had to worry about inflation risk for several decades, but now that risk is rising. This note looks at what investments have succeeded in previous
Over the past few months, the hospitality industry has been one of the most vocal groups demanding migrant workers to ameliorate purported skills shortages. It has successfully secured favour from Liberal MP Julian Leeser, chair of the parliamentary committee looking into skilled migration, with Leeser singling out the hospitality industry as being in dire need
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for February 2020, which confirmed that net migration into Australia remains negative. There were 22,830 net permanent & long-term departures in the 11 months since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, representing the first time that net arrivals has been
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released Building Activity data for the December quarter of 2020, which revealed a big 18.6% rise in dwelling commencements over the quarter driven by a 27.0% surge in detached house commencements: By comparison, unit & apartment commencements rose by only 4.6% over the quarter and are tracking close
A new study today from Swinburne Univerity is unequivocal about the collapse in support for Morrison’s misogynists: Australian women’s support for the Morrison Government collapsed from 44% to 29% from Q4 20, Q1 21. Men’s rating was unchanged at 47%. This is the largest gender gap in the history of the survey (though that is
Yesterday the ferrous complex was mixed as spot eased, paper lifted and steel fell: The headwaters of iron ore demand are increasingly ruffled. The crunch in China Huarong bonds got worse with some bonds trading at 80 cents on the dollar and 2022 issuance trading at a yield of 35%. Moreover, there’s an awakening underway
DXY is back to its falling regime after the US inflation print. EUR was strong. The Australian dollar is off to the races while this dynamic runs. DXY: The Australian dollar took off against all DMs: Gold was weak as oil rallied: Base metals too: And big miners: EM stocks sat it out in hospital
You have to hand it to Gladys Berejiklian. She may be attracted to toxic blokes but she knows how to handle them as well. To attract the attention of the personality disordered Australian prime minister, Berejiklian and friends spent the last week openly assassinating his government. First, there was the appearance of Brad Hazzard on
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cryptocurrency Market – Tech Elevation How Debt and Climate Change Pose ‘Systemic Risk’ to World Economy – NY Times S&P futures cut losses after tame inflation report, Nasdaq futures rise – CNBC Americas: Poll: 15% of Americans worse off a year into pandemic –
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And the world turns! The AFR is now demanding low and middle-income tax cuts to lift demand: We can’t rely on monetary policy forever. The RBA needs to rebuild its ammunition. Fiscal must expand to help the RBA. Tax cuts for income-earners up to $120k can help. A sure way to increase wages. I agree.
The Christine Holgate saga rolls on today as the former Australia Post CEO demands an apology from PM Scott Morrison and he refuses to give it. This is all drama that is thoroughly beside the point. What is really at stake here is the corrupt Morrison Government policy process blown sky-high today by, of all
The recent run-up on tech stocks has some of the same ingredients as round one: Retail investors flush with US Treasury cheques. US yields in a corrective phase. COVID rebounding in many places. So, off it goes in the US and Australia: Alas, there are key differences this time around. The Bear Traps Report points
UBS has summed up my view on gold pretty well: We forecast a further weakening of gold (USD 1,600/oz end-2021) and recommend investors manage their gold positions more actively. Investors who hold gold strategically and don’t want to protect against near-term downside can pick up an additional yield by systematically selling the upside potential. Our
Cross-posted from ZH: It was exactly one month ago that Wall Street exhaled a sigh of relief, and according to the March BofA Fund Manager Survey, consensus among Wall Street’s professionals was that Covid was unofficially “over“… … and after a year of covid dominating the league tables as the “biggest tail risk”, both inflation & taper tantrum were now viewed as
One of the less well-understood dimensions of Chinese economic restructuring is the travails of its corporate bond market. For a few years now, authorities have been slowly removing the moral hazard that has dominated Chinese debt markets through its development phase. This causes periodic panics in financial markets but it should not. This is an
