See the latest Australian dollar analysis here:
Stock markets are stumbling along across Asia after no lead from Wall Street overnight due to the US thanksgiving holiday. Bitcoin is trying to maintain itself above $17000 after getting tripped up falling over 10% yesterday, while a weaker USD is not helping gold much, still at a monthly low as it barely hovers above the $1800USD per ounce level:

The Shanghai Composite is floating along not doing much again today, currently at 3365 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index its treading water with a minor fall of 0.2% to 26776 points. Japanese stock markets continue to lift although its a modest session for the Nikkei 225, up only 0.2% to 26591 points while the USDJPY pair has broken down on the back of the weak USD, heading below the 104 handle and possibly back to where it started the week:

The ASX200 is again retracing, currently down 0.5% to be a smidgen above the 6600 point level while the Australian dollar is taking advantage of the weaker greenback, up to a new high for the week to the 73.70 level:

Eurostoxx and S&P futures are quite flat with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 still floating along at support at the key psychological 3600 point level:

The economic calendar finishes the week with a whimper – nothing much to report.
Have a good weekend and stay safe – see y’all next week as I take over for Leith who needs a well deserved break. Hopefully he can get out of that heaven on earth you call “mel-bin”…..hehheh
- Macro Afternoon - January 15, 2021
- Macro Morning - January 15, 2021
- Daily iron ore price update (record imports) - January 15, 2021
2 black
2 strong
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.soundcloud.com/aboriginalofficial/call-em-out&ved=2ahUKEwir777hg6LtAhX1zjgGHXz1CGIQjjgwEXoECDIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2f65ndtf2PGw3143vMN-0C
How does Mig like his men?
Coffee a la movie Airplane scene … cough young lass … nothing wrong with it though …
What a terrible cheat shot against such a vulnerable young man.
Please carry on.
Pulling at the trigger while the safety’s on are we?
2 fast
U furious
NEW ZEALAND INITIATIVE THINK TANK INSIGHTS THIS WEEK: MASSIVE COVERAGE OF THE HOUSING ISSUE …
… And too … the New Zealand Herald today is saturated with the housing issue …
… In particular … listen and read … Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich’s NZ Herald Open Letter to Broadcaster Mike Hosking …
Insights 45 – 27 November 2020 … New Zealand Initiative
https://nzinitiative.outreach.co.nz/?Ns=&Na=view-msg-public&SMESG-oid=25507&Scontact=2149250d
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/oliver-hartwich-new-zealand-initiative-executive-director-on-his-open-letter-to-mike-hosking-over-housing/
https://www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-media/opinion/an-open-letter-to-mike-hosking-on-housing/
Access recent related MB posts … massive changes / reforms ahead …
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2020/11/macro-afternoon-1015/#comment-4036621 … and … https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2020/11/macro-afternoon-1015/#comment-4036624
NEW ZEALAND HOUSING MORTGAGES: RESPONSIBLE IMPOSITION OF DEBT TO INCOME RATIOS (DTI’s) …
Central Bank of Ireland 3.5 times … Bank of England 4.5 times
Locally … ASB Bank and ANZ Bank recently introduced 6.0 times DTI’s.
RBNZ will likely follow
Central and local government must deal with land supply and infrastructure debt financing to allow new housing to be built under these caps … so that the construction industry can ramping up increasingly affordable new housing … read more via hyperlinks above …
Ref: Virgin Premier despoils NSW – By David Llewellyn-Smith
David old sod …. per the first two rules of Neoliberalism – #1 Because Markets … #2 Die … Variant 1. the rules of neoliberalism do not apply or are applicable to those that write them – !!!!!!! – gasp man …
Up for crab?
Not sitting on your bunk bed.
Fair call.
I doubt you have any idea how it spreads through a platoon in Camp Casey on the DMZ like a crown fire and then every one has to strip all laundry and then deal with everyone applying quell cream in the Company showers for that tingly feeling down below ….
Only STD that blows it away is watching blokes peal tiles off the wall with Gono whilst taking a piss … good times …
Food, mate, food.
Thinking paired with Morton bay bugs, longestines, prawns, shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters, scallops and alcohol 👍
Sure mate – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OMLlDy_AZc
I’ll try Ermo
Hes at that stage of life or so I’ve heard from some … then again I threw up a little in he back of my mouth one day when flicking channels and copped some SBS movie …. lmmao …
Anywho … I’ve promised myself to a few others if such ever was …
https://twitter.com/mektronik/status/1332211635474239490?s=19
The stains on the table is so Beck …
Is that a local swimmer or blue crab – ????
Swimmer
Having had a dose of the clap as a young bloke, I know what you mean about peeling tiles off walls. P1ssing razor blades is how it was described to me, and that is the absolute truth.
Did anyone else rush home forgetting the cricket isn’t on free to air and also boycott Rupert goods?
Thank Dog for the wireless.
Kayo is $25. Couple of pints.
Rupert…
Cricket Australia gets treated as a community organisation for tax purposes. We the nation is subsidising that sport so all broadcast rights should be free to air.
The fact remains you could be watching the cricket (and many other sports for the rest of the month) for just $25 instead of reruns of ‘The Block’.
That’s irrelevant to whether or not CA should be selling the rights to broadcast to pay to view organisations..
Could be reading a Max Walker joke book, borrowed from the Library.
Rupert…
What do you expect them to do with their innovative cricket-based products? They’re not just going to give them away!
Steven Smith!
He’s quite good at cricket.
Yes, he sounded awesome.
Sometimes he plays these enormously elegant, graceful strokes, hitting over or through cover. Totally effortless. Like sublime timing his bat arc with the trajectory of the ball.
And sometimes he looks like the bits aren’t properly put together. But his eye and hands are so sublime he gets away with it.
Have to add, he is my favourite player since Gilly. Smith just loves batting.
And he now has the third fastest one day century for ‘Straya. Faster than Gilly.
This is against Kohli-led India.
He did a good interview with Wheatley on SEN the other day. Maybe Tuesday but not sure. There will be a podcast of it somewhere.
He’s kinda obsessed with batting…
Here you go.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/11/24/smith-unbothered-by-kohli-rivalry/
Good interview?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nmLBrhiZxLU
He took responsibility and paid a higher penalty that any other player ever for that offence. Despite the fact it was vicarious responsibility only. As captain he took responsibility.
What else do you want him to do? Kill himself?
The South African captain has multiple egregious offences for ball tampering. He didn’t have a year holiday.
Was not talking about that. But as you bring it up.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-29/a-year-ban-is-what-smith-and-warner-deserve-lemon/9599928
And they were lying.
Premiers resign for less forever. Suicide seems overkill.
OK he lied according to an ABC opinion piece.
Fair enough. I suggest he was defending his junior player.
But my opinion doesn’t matter.
He was handed the full ABC punishment.
And he took it without complaint.
He has paid the highest penalty ever in world cricket for an offence he knew nothing about, but “didn’t want to know about”.
His board CA inflicted a much larger punishment on him than the ICC.
Smith took it without complaint.
He has done his time.
Why bother with facts.
Australia captain Steve Smith has been handed a one-match suspension and fined 100% of his match fee following his admission yesterday that he was party to a decision to attempt to change the condition of the ball in order to gain an unfair advantage during the third day’s play in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/650624
Fvck off Kohli you [email protected]
Why was Josh not at the world cup?
There are some things that cannot be unsaid.
Apparently he’s found his hands.
Yep. Something must have rubbed off.
I’m guessing it was primarily sawdust.
Smith had no knowledge of the sandpaper.
The ball was not replaced on field – no damage.
He had a year of his career removed.
Unlike serial ball tampering offender, the captain of South Africa, Du Plessis.
Ban was imposed on Smith by ACB, far in excess of international sanctions.
OK, that’s enough of the red cordial for harry.
Smith had no knowledge of the sandpaper.
The ball was not replaced on field – no damage.
He had a year of his career removed.
Unlike serial ball tampering offender, the captain of South Africa, Du Plessis.
Ban was imposed on Smith by ACB, far in excess of international sanctions.
Cricket Australia are killing their golden goose.
Putting cricket behind a paywall is a very dumb move.
England did this some years agoand the audience disapeared.
If the public cannot see cricket they will find something else to do.
Even Rugby Australia have at very long last realised this.
Chinese have applied a 200% import tariff on Aussie wine..
let’s do the same on Aussie coal & iron ore exports !
People on here thought a Biden win was going to be a win for Australia. Chinese are even more emboldened now.
200% tax on Chinese education “exports”
Can’t remember anyone saying that. Links or it didn’t happen.
all except this Australian wine……
Which happens to be the wine exploit of one Mr Geoff Raby – it got a 107% tariff compared to everyone elses 200%
Sniff what about fat bastard – ????
I’m dying here skip, can you assist?
I’ll owe you everything man.
https://www.fatbastard.com.au/
There’s no hope is there…
I left my number with them anyway.
Hope is a preconceived notion sold [tm] to the unwashed so they party on whilst being basted for profit … allocated above …
Was it a lotto of the like minded or ‘talent’ spotting?
I’m of the mind that its and always has been a complex set of social networks that gets stuck in some self fulfilling social paradigm, which from a anthropological view, only the environment can destroy, not that its destruction means things get better in the short term.
I didn’t create him…
Him is an abstract or did you miss the anthro on the acceptance by previous rulers whilst the wave went west E.g. no recourse.
It has to be about individuals otherwise 4c?
framework
Why not quick and clean, why fun and games.
Why the family
human
I don’t understand the framework being talked about. My s&$tty antisemitism was basic/poor whataboutism. I’m sorry if I hurt you skip, I learnt more from you then anyone else on this site.
Is this about China at all?
In your opinion do I deserve what is about to happen?
Is the drawing of him on the bottle designed to make him look more Chinamanlike?
Bullsh!t! That’s flip one amazing.
I’m trying to analyse my level of irritation about this. But ranting shall ensue.
Poor missus.
Now that is fcuking tacky …..not seen that since John Gorton did that pissy ad for a scotch ………
And does Abdul Rizvi do a wine and if not why not ?
Trading off your previous senior civil servant status
seems the go ….while you advocate for foreign interests
in the country that give you a go and a comfortable pension …..
I hate that Kent
they have everything to lose in this trade war.
all their overseas assets can easily be forfeited. And what are they going to do?
Nuk us?
Fck me, I’ve never seen anyone in my entire life go on so much about a job they used to have. That bloke has to be a complete wanker.
Can we please do a 300% Tarif on the export of our children’s homes ….”the chewing gum on the shoe of China “ is looking just like that ….
Scotty’s legacy will be losing the country’s biggest export customer and import source.
And that will be the only good thing that he will be remembered for.
FCUK the CCP !
And their ancestors, those eggs of tortoises!!
Their descendants are even worse. They’re just complete shell-outs.
Phoenix may rise from ashes, but lobster will stick in craw!
Personally, I like to think of the members of the CCP as little puddles of worm semen, congealed on the floor after a worm [email protected], if you can imagine how that might occur. Sort of disgusting, but very very tiny and insignificant and unlikely to have any effect on the world in the long term.
I like China, but the CCP not so much…
See immediately above for my take on them.
Look at it as the season is over, everyone has been on the turps for a month in Bali and now it’s time for pre-season training to start.
Yeah, it’s going to hurt and take some discipline but we’ll get there.
At this rate of escalation, it will no longer be safe for the Chinese international students to come back to Australia next year.
Made my day.
Actually, we just need to treat those who are here better
https://theconversation.com/5-ways-australia-can-get-ahead-in-attracting-and-retaining-chinese-international-students-148444
R U OK buddy? We’re here for you.
You’ll be happy to know, that my Siberian and Cherry Roma tomatoes are all fruiting.
Because I PLANTED THEM AT THE RIGHT TIME.
I’m glad I could be of some assistance. 👌
I know, give them houses on arrival.
Fckin cnts
depressing me they’re safe now
The way trade with China is deteriorating I doubt the Chinese government will allow them to come.
Next year?? it’s happening right now
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-29/first-charter-flight-international-student-darwin-pilot-program/12928626
Just bad luck for Smoco that his prime ministership coincides with these recirrwnt lapses our exporters have made with COVID contamination of lobsters and dumping of wine.
We all know China is a scrupulous observer of the rules and places a high premium on ethical, honest behaviour.
Yeah. Thank Dog we have that FTA in place to ensure…you know…fairness of trade. :bitter laugh:
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/property/2020/11/26/australia-affordable-liveable-suburbs/
Lol spoilt for choice with places like Point Cook and Bundoora. Haha. Affordable they say..
Point cook is a migrant slum with no infrastructure and one road in and out. Bundoora full of laundered Chinese money and international students.
Liveable indeed.
Yes I know, I would not live in Point Cook, I’d keep going to Geetroit. Bundoora and Mill Park I guess are not too bad, but it’s getting a bit sparse out that way and certainly wouldn’t feel like a community… I remember when all Mill Park had was farm paddocks with a McDonald’s in the middle. Then 2 pubs on their own going through Mernda on the way to Whittlesea.
https://youtu.be/OiPvpKG6Qns
Classic car market auction results.
You’re making me cry Gav. I’ve owned an LJ & an LH torry – good for their day.
I test drove a well looked after Capri (stayed with the LJ). Test drove a skyline GTSr – electronica put me off & not that much poke, but a nice car still. And an original AE86 – Well balanced, good handling, but underpowered in standard trim. I wouldn’t have garaged any of them though,…… Always wanted a 240z too…. Doh!
Yeah it’s wild price growth especially in last 12 months.
Sydney’s Beverley Hills, at 1.2 million per house, is now considered affordable? @[email protected]
(in reference to Gunna’s post)
Gunna or Gav? I think it’s absurd.. $1.2M in Beverely Hills Sydney. Can probably get more value for money in Beverely Hills LA. 😀
Everything is affordable if the bank decides to give you the right amount of debt to buy it with. The price doesnt matter as much as the debt does, and hasn’t for many years. In fact it is extremely beneficial to the economy if the prices rise fairly quickly because that will enable more debt to be created and cause the economic growth.
Its a very fine balance point though between net inflation or deflation when playing with nonproductive debt, and one that our esteemed economic masters haven’t managed to get right for over 10 years. Have they cracked the code this time?
The Black Friday sales is crazy at Westfield Parramatta today. My wife can’t even get inside the car park and gave up after queuing for half an hour.
I hate black friday, it’s so stupid in an Australian context.
Money was a never-ending object for you from the start,
picture of the only loving sister that you just
fcked up,
typical chemical
what you got?
bitten by black friday
electrical predictable
what you got?
bitten by black friday
yeah!
could you be the only practice liar that i ever knew,
and all the school girls disposing the lies and what’s the last one you use.
typical criminal
what you got?
bitten by black friday
electical subliminal
what you got?
bitten by black friday
Grinspoon is the band I have seen the most times live. Love the early stuff from them.
I’ve promised my daughter id take her to DFO but am told it’s an absolute shyte fight on weekends.
So I’ve told her she can take a day of school and we’ll go then.
We haven’t told her mum yet.
Gulp.
Where’s Poppy? Is your pool like this…
I went to the pool this arvo, first time I haven’t had to book in because lifted restrictions. Four of us their doing laps. When we had to book a spot the maximum of 20 was there every hour. You had to book days ahead. Now that you don’t nobody cares about swimming.
How far does FOMO extend in this once great country?
Sorry for the delayed response, had a crap week last week and have been meaning to respond all of this but time flies!
Our outdoor pool has been really quiet from about 11am to after school time for a few weeks now. Basically when we opened it was still stage 4 so we were the only thing you could do. Then the shops opened and numbers dropped, then the 25km restriction went and numbers dropped. Then the indoor facilities reopened and numbers dropped further (it is funny but basically it is only Aussies or older European migrants who use the outdoor pool, the more recent vintage of migrants who used the pool pre-Covid are nowhere to be seen). One of our LGs who knows people in the community and hasn’t seen the regulars back at the indoor facility has asked people why they weren’t using the facilities anymore and responses were they’ve figured out how to exercise for free and/or they’ve lost work and are now doing casual work and the booking was too difficult to manage in the mad scramble for hours.
However today was quite busy, and this week our numbers at the outdoor pool are up so hopefully now we don’t have to book (and we are back to our usual capacity restriction which is 300 for our old facility) more people will come back. The number of people who say they absolutely love swimming at the outdoor pool is huge, they always follow with the indoor pool is ok but outdoor is just so much better. Enjoy your swimming!
FYI: I am in contact with a financial advisor who is helping me move my money from Ireland (Pension) back to Aussie Super Fund.. I won’t quote who he is, but he’s Perth based.
This is what he said
“Hi Gavin
1. crazy times indeed. Mortgage business also went off like a fire cracker so over whelmed with work”
He had taken some time to come back to me with details on proceeding with the transfer. (a couple of months) I contacted him mid lockdown in Melbourne. So I think June?
Interesting. I’ve contracted a Vic modular home company to put a house on my land (inaccessible and no builders available). The company were nicely busy during the lock down but say they’re now inundated and can’t keep up.with demand…..
Modscape?
Swanbuild at half the price, but solid and they build to any design – so a modified passive house, double insulation, double glazing etc.
Must learn to code….
FML
Mate it’s the Hungry Mile against the subcontinent.
Unless you are some sort of savant, but even then how do you get the job?
That’s why “Learn to Code” is such an offensive meme.
And why people take such delight in calling for woke professions laid off by low-wage competition to “Learn to Code”
I’m half in on the joke and half regretting my life choices lol.
I just don’t underatand how I can be at another new job again where I’m doing everything and on the verge of being promoted against my will again purely because I’m the only non-tard (cue howls of laughter from some select posters). Learning to code is that grass is greener mirage for me.
The thing is I’m just a SQL grunt (which causes a lot of hilarity amongst the more autistic members of the MB community).
To do my job, or any programming job, isn’t just:
1) Get laid off from mine
2) Learn to code
3) Profit!
It is intensely competitive to get entry level jobs. At the higher level you get guys like Mig, who are really smart and known, so they get chased down by employers.
So you can’t just “Learn to Code”, and get what you got driving the mining truck.
And, who are you competing against to get the entry level coding jobs…….
The grass is never greener harry, I knew what you meant/saying before I posted lol. Just havin one of them days and wanted a whinge and now you’ve got me all chided and feeling lucky to have a job at all, let alone one that’s promoting me 😄
I spent 30 years writing high performance embedded signal processing software in C and assembler. Learning to code worked out for me. But I hear the ANU has set down its Software Engineering Degree because they don’t have enough students without the Chinese. Sad. Fck me, I’ve lectured those dumfck cunce for a decade, and most of them think that breathing through their mouths makes them look smart.
I’ve had 8 Tullamore Dews. Time for bed before I get cross.
Rule 1: Never call yourself a programmer, coder, developer or software ‘engineer’.
Rule 2: See rule 1.
@Arthur, surely you meant ‘GOTO Rule1’
20 years coding SQL/C# with a bit of linux and C++. Around 2012 i decide that programming is dead end so i switch to engineering. Machine vision and control systems.
I complete my degree next year. It hasnt paid off yet. While the work is *much* more fun, programming wages are going up again. I may need to swap back yet depending on how it all goes after i take on my debt mountain.
:Rule#1
REM Never call yourself a programmer, coder, developer or ‘software engineer’.
:Rule#2
GOTO Rule#1
Fixed. Various.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/learn-to-code
Learn to JavaScript. it’s funny I’m do some development work these days. I never thought I’d end up in Data Science or doing Data Engineering.
But big data is becoming a huge thing now. But it takes years to learn to be good at any of it. Some people are just better at it than others. Not everyone can sit on their butt all day in front of a computer. Lord knows I struggle at times.
I prefer some physical work. That’s why I think I may enjoy building and tuning engines. But electric will take over soon enough i think.
Funny in my last job I didn’t want to be promoted either. Because that means higher expectations and more stress. I suspect I’ll get promoted again in my new job if I keep working the way I have been, but I struggle to go half throttle. It’s either all or nothing and in my last role I was so burnt out that I couldn’t give anymore.
I’m pretty much the same, love the physical work and can’t do half speed.
My whole goal is to get back to Uni part time and finish my degree (8 subjects to go) but keep landing jobs that start out purely physical (exactly what I want) and then end up being all the same amount of physical with a bunch of thinking added on top and responsibility and never enough money to make the extra effort worthwhile. What annoys me the most is the added thinking involves warehousing computer and software that is clunky as and I never have enough training on it because once you learn the bare minimum to do the job they don’t teach you anymore.
I need to know how the whole system works or my brain hurts but I don’t have enough time and willing teachers to satisfy this need.
Argh, burnout sucks, I know the feeling…
Balancing work, work ambitions, and intensive family care, I feel I’m two or so stressful events from burning out again…
I hear you, it’s not fun.
To the coders: can you hook up with other engineering types and look for opportunities?
eg. process control, signal processing, development and implementation of industry-relevant artificial intelligence (AI), advanced manufacturing, etc?
For example, I want to implement an AI-based system for the dynamic chemical processing of waste sludge streams, and I’m 99% confident it will work (I’ve got most of it worked out except for the actual AI architecture and code!), but I need someone to do it for me…
Just throwing ideas out there 🙂
Sounds like exactly what’s needed for processing the articles’ comments.
This is a very good story about how much pressure the Republicans who wants to ‘do the right thing’ is facing.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/24/michigan-election-trump-voter-fraud-democracy-440475
“The president was not accepting defeat. That meant no Republican with career ambitions could accept it, either.”.
Democracy in the USA is still holding up, but another ‘Trump-like’ figure and the USA will become a dictatorship.
I think a competent GOP Nationalist primary candidate is inevitable, unfortunately…
Curtin U going all in on YouTube
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-27/curtin-university-in-wa-phasing-out-lectures-by-end-of-next-year/12923772
Might be my ECU bias but from what I’ve heard Curtin has always been about terrible student interaction, give out the work and good luck. Good if you don’t need help and don’t care for socialising I guess.
As long as they serve up beef Curtins it’s all good brud!
Anyone know of Australian made earbuds? Only found nuheara and while I would love to support my own state, $400 is quite a lot for my non ongoing salary.
Audiofly is an Australian brand. I’m not sure if they are made here.
The website doesn’t say made in Australia, so just another outfit creating an overpriced ‘brand’ while they manufacture in the 3rd world. That business model gets replayed over and over.
I would have thought “overly favourable” was indeed corruption.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-27/icac-report-sparked-by-four-corners-finds-no-water-corruption/12929800
Technically legal vs immoral/against the spirit of the thingy…
Hmmmmm…..
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/i-feel-so-much-better-bitcoiners-who-missed-rally-express-relief-and-regret-20201126-p56i1q.html
Keep HODLING.
I hope someone posted this in wkend links and everyone is blowing up. This is ludicrous
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-29/first-charter-flight-international-student-darwin-pilot-program/12928626
The Asianisation of Australia goes on and on.
‘For Mr Jiang, coming back to Australia means carrying the hopes of the whole family. His family believes overseas education is a valuable pathway that no families in China want to miss out on’