ANZAC Day is here again. The day that the nation celebrates, or pays homage to, those that have died in military service to Australia. They include my dad, who served on Bougainville Island in WWII as Japanese imperialist expansion threatened to end a young Australian democracy. I have been fortunate to live through a hiatus
Media is hard to read these days. Usually you’re better off letting something pass than having it banned. This little number has offended the snowflakes at surf clubs apparently and is thus now viral!
Wohohoho! Record low yields everywhere as RBA rate cuts are now inevitable: Short end rates have inverted more deeply but the long has steepened: Yield spreads to the US are forging back in time: Not sure my rising AUD (even short term) is going to hold up with this kind of black hole sucking at
Via UBS’s excellent Jonathon Mott: NAB announced on Thursday that it will take an additional $749m pre-tax charge for increased provisions related to its customer remediation program, 91% of which is wealth related and the remainder banking…Importantly, NAB is yet to provide for customer refunds related to aligned advisers. NAB has the highest number of
What else do you expect with a lunatic RBA: Not even very energy related. But very housing and consumer related. Aussie dollar hammered. Bonds boom. RBA cuts upon us. And just for laughs: Good one Martin:
ABS numberwang be damned, via DEEWR:
Via the ABC: It is hard to believe that Newman, in Western Australia, is the epicentre of BHP’s largest Australian iron ore operation when you take a drive past the town’s homes, boarded up and in a state of complete disrepair. More than 150 homes — the majority of which are owned by the miner
He has no plan and no policies beyond the status quo but what he does have is fear and lot’s of it. We’ve so far had: a new flood of boats scare; closing tax rorts as tax hikes scare for franking credits and negative gearing; recession scare; carbon price scare, and today we can add
Via the ABC: In 2009, the then Labor government promised a fast National Broadband Network (NBN) with optical fibre cables direct to most homes and businesses. Instead, we’ve ended up with a mix of technologies including optical fibre, copper wires, Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC), fixed wireless and satellite. Every year the amount of internet data
Via Domain comes the latest vested interest: Tally Konstas can see four good reasons not to implement Labor’s proposed changes to skilled migration laws. He has four migrant staff – two chefs and two floor managers – that he says he would not have been able to hire if the minimum wage for migrants was
Nice video from Martin North:
The Australian is excited: Scott Morrison is on the verge of securing a preference deal with Clive Palmer that would all but guarantee the Queensland billionaire a Senate spot and help ring-fence marginal seats the Coalition must hold to retain government. Under the deal being finalised, Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party would be placed ahead
Iron ore prices for April 23, 2019: Spot is still firm. Paper is stable (SGX volatility appears some glitch). Steel going nowhere. A little equilibrium for now.
DXY looks about to break out with both EUR and CNY eating dust: AUD fell across DMs: But was mixed versus EMs: Gold copped it but recovered: Oil howls on: Metals were bashed: Big miners sold: EM stocks are stalled: Junk boomed: Treasuries were bought: Bunds sold: Aussie bonds bought: And stocks to the moon!
Via Crikey: Two polls from Warringah are in public circulation, both conducted by uComms/ReachTEL for GetUp! The first came in October, and found over half the electorate’s voters were receptive to the idea of supporting an independent; the second, conducted in February shortly after Zali Steggall entered the race, credited her with a thumping lead of 57-43.
The last of the major four banks has joined the credit standards crunch, NAB via AFR: …From next Monday it will introduce a debt-to-income ratio to improve understanding of the borrowers’ full financial circumstances by considering existing long- and short-term debt commitments. Total debt may consist of a new loan limit, existing home loans, lines
Via BI: Tesla is all-in on its plans to take over the ride-hailing industry. On Monday, CEO Elon Musk revealed the company’s plans to compete with incumbents like Uber and Lyft with the company’s strategy for an autonomous ride-hailing fleet. Robo-taxis are essentially any Tesla vehicle with autonomous-driving functionality. To turn a Tesla into a
Via The Guardian: A host of government MPs fighting to hold on to their seats have erased the Liberals’ name and logo from campaign material, sparking Labor claims that the party’s brand is “toxic”. As the Coalition struggles to lift its standing among voters in the lead-up to next month’s poll, MPs across the country
Listings still very high and poised to deliver Winter weakness plus a Spring surge if nothing changes: The leading mortgage index also fell away last week: Not much joy here. Full report.
I hate agreeing with Goldman, especially on Australia, where it has been horribly wrong for years (being far too bullish). To be honest, the cross-over with mine and the GS view is minimal. The RBA is going to cut. And that will pressure the AUD. But I do agree that the AUD has a good
The Aussie dollar is soft this morning: Bonds are well bid on the approach of widely expected weak CPI: Which has helped push XJO to 2019 highs: Dalian is soft: Big Iron strong despite broker downgrades: Big Gas is soaring with oil and cartel east especially strong on the news of Labor’s Beetaloo pipeline play:
Via Banking Day: While there have been plenty of lenders dropping fixed rates in recent months, few have cut their variable rates. That changed last week when ANZ, AMP Bank and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank bucked the trend. ANZ cut the discount on its Simplicity Plus principal and interest rate for new loans with loan
Every day it’s a steady drumbeat of dodgy. Via The Australian: The Morrison government is making a direct election pitch to mortgage brokers, telling them Labor will hit their industry and “accelerate the slowdown” in the housing market. The letter sent to mortgage brokers, and obtained by The Australian, was signed by Prime Minister Scott
Via Banking Day: Fact and exaggeration over the extent of branch closures and job cuts at Commonwealth Bank will be flushed out before the Fair Work Commission. The Finance Sector Union yesterday lodged a dispute with the FWC, which will drag CBA’s bank’s plans or lack of them into the public eye early next month.
Via The Guardian: The new Northern Australia Development Fund will provide $1bn to tourism projects and “up to $1.5bn” for a new gas pipeline to unlock gas in Queensland’s Galilee and Bowen basins and connect the Beetaloo basin to Darwin and the east coast. Labor said the policy would help Darwin export gas, while increasing
Via Mark the Ballot: Interestingly, the odds for the Coalition have improved slightly since the election was called. This morning they stand as follows. The odds charts follow. And the implied Coalition win probabilities are as follows. The individual seat markets provide a window on how punters think the election race is progressing. At the
Some good news for Australian sovereignty under Labor, via Domain: Labor was briefed on the government’s decision last year. Labor sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive policy matters, said the advice from security agencies’ is unequivocal and there was no appetite to review the ban. One source said the evidence that
It’s something to behold, via Bloomie: Tellurian Inc.’s proposed $28 billion Driftwood terminal in Louisiana and Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur LNG project in Texas were cleared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a 3-1 vote in Washington, with Democratic Commissioner Richard Glick dissenting. The approvals followed a breakthrough at the commission, which had been
Via The Australian: A surge in support for Clive Palmer on the back of a $30 million advertising campaign has given the billionaire the power to act as kingmaker in marginal seats, as the Coalition closes in on Labor in at least two of those electorates. An exclusive Newspoll of four marginal seats across the
Iron ore prices for April 22, 2019: Spot firm. 12 month futures sagged as supply is responding. Steel OK. Here’s the problem a year and more out, via Bloomie: Mining dealmaker Mick Davis has won permission to export iron-ore from a planned mine in West Africa, adding momentum to the industry veteran’s comeback. Davis, through
