Vai The Advisor: Twenty-six additional lenders have been appointed to the initial panel of the government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, including major bank, Commonwealth Bank. The National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) has announced its full panel of lenders taking part in the federal government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS). Following on
Via Michael Sainsbury at Crikey: Kevin Rudd, once a firm China sceptic, has become Australia’s first (former) prime minister to openly consort with the ruling Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). The UFWD is responsible for spreading Chinese government interests in offshore nations — including Australia. UFWD groups are disguised with dull and prosaic
At the New Daily at least the Americans want to defend Australian freedom: The United States has suggested China is harassing members of the minority Uighur community in Australia. American ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse said he was outraged by the levels of intimidation and argued there should be serious consequences. “What is happening, and
Via your burning PM today: “I’m a Sydneysider and I know how unusual it is to see that haze across my city, and I know how distressing that has been, particularly for young people, who wouldn’t have seen that before.” “And I can understand that is deeply unsettling to a lot of Australians, particularly those
Via Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top advisers on Thursday about planned Dec. 15 tariffs on nearly $160 billion in Chinese consumer goods, three sources familiar with the plans said. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and White House advisers Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro will participate
The new AEMO Integrated Energy Plan makes for facinating reading: The objective of an ISP is to minimise long-term total system costs, thereby maximising benefits in the interest of consumers, while meeting the NEM’s reliability, security and emissions expectations. We have set out in Part B our modelling approach to determine a least-regret development path
Ironically from by the AFR, kernel of evil for business parasitism, comes Productivity Commissioner Michael Brennan: Productivity Commissioner Michael Brennan says destructive rent seeking and a lack of entrepreneurship by business has stalled productivity and wage growth and that trying to fix the issue won’t be helped by reform nostalgia or economic pessimism. While business
Via Brad Setser at Follow the Money: One central question facing the global economy is how much of the slowdown in global trade can be attributed to Trump’s tariffs, and how much, well, is a function of a global economy that doesn’t always revolve around Trump—And my guess is that the slowdown in trade stems
Via COMMSEC comes one positive sign: To get a gauge on the luxury vehicle market, CommSec tracks the sales of 17 luxury marques: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Bentley, Ferrari, Hummer, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lexus, Lotus, McLaren, Maserati, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Morgan, Porsche and Rolls Royce. Sales of luxury marques hit peak levels of 106,658 units
Iron ore charts for December 11, 2019: Spot up. Paper down. Steel has not updated. Westpac has a nice summry for 2020: Iron ore pushed higher through the first half of the year hitting a peak of US$126/t in July due to the Vale Brumadinho mine disaster. From August a recovery in supply, and softer
You wouldn’t be her for quids. She was far too young to know what she was getting into. On the one hand she’s up in lights: On the other hand, she’s now being blamed by the child abusive right for everything from polio to the death of god. My own view is that Greta is
DXY fell last night as EUR rose: The Australian dollar blasted off to the moon: Gold firmed: Oil fell: Metals are now chasing the rally: Miners up and away: Plus EM stocks: And junk: Bonds were bid everywhere: Except Australia, go figure: Stocks eked out a gain: Westpac has the wrap: Event Wrap The US Federal
He’s as persistent as he is horrifying. Gottiboff today: Queensland ALP Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk must be enjoying exposing weaknesses of the “new Labor” policies of Victorian ALP Premier Daniel Andrews. Queensland’s Senex has signed a contracts to supply its recently-discovered Surat basin coal gas to CSR’s Brisbane brick and plasterboard operation, as well as packaging
Sydney has disappeared, at The Guardian: The New South Wales environment minister Matt Kean has split from his federal Coalition counterparts, arguing climate change is behind the bushfire crisis and calling for greater emissions reduction. Kean’s intervention piles pressure on Scott Morrison to do more on emissions reduction and disaster management after his predecessor Malcolm
More retail carnage: Harris Scarfe has been placed into receivership with Vaughan Strawbridge, Kathryn Evans and Tim Norman of Deloitte Restructuring Services appointed voluntary administrators on Wednesday. Operating nationally, but best known in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, Harris Scarfe retails bed linen, kitchenware, homewares, electrical appliances, and apparel across 66 stores. The business employs
Via The Guardian today: A “frontline” Hong Kong democracy protester who recently fled the territory in fear of his safety says he was ambushed and chased in an Australian city by a group of masked Chinese men. “They were nearby my house and waiting for me,” Jack* told Guardian Australia. “They knew my address, they knew where
Headlines today for iron ore are for less next year courtesy of Anglo: Anglo American has trimmed its production forecasts for iron ore, diamonds and coal for the next two years, the mining company said in an update for investors on Tuesday. Anglo American lowered its forecast for its Kumba Iron Ore business from 42-43
Via the AFR: “As a result of lower long-term interest rates our cost of capital has naturally lowered over recent years,” Medibank chief executive Craig Drummond told The Australian Financial Review’s annual Chanticleer CEO poll. “Nevertheless, those lower interest rates have elevated asset prices, making inorganic investment more challenging.” Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough backed this
Vai ZeroHedge: The ongoing recession in the global auto market has undoubtedly been lead by China – and if November’s trends are any indication, the entire industry could be setting up for an ugly 2020. Sales of sedans in China fell 4.2% in November to 1.97 million units, according to the CPCA on Monday. This marks
An income-dependent Boomer mate recently asked me what I thought of Listed Investment Companies and Listed Investment Trusts (LIC and LITs). He’s being pushed to invest in them by a financial planner because his term deposit income has fallen. I didn’t know enough about it be useful so set about investigating for him. What I
Via Credit Suisse: The Fed’s liquidity operations have not been sufficient to relax the constraints banks will face in the upcoming year-end turn. Reserves are still insufficient; there are no true “excess” reserves; and large U.S. banks’ G-SIB scores are shaping up to be a severe binding constraint heading into the year-end turn. We have
Via Stuff: The Government will invest an extra $12b in infrastructure over the next four years, including $6.8b on transport. Finance Minister Grant Robertson unveiled the spending at the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) on Wednesday afternoon, saying it was the right time to take advantage of low interest rates and “future-proof” New Zealand
No stopping it, via Bill Evans at Westpac: • The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment declined 1.9% to 95.1 in December from 97.0 in November. The Index has fallen 6.1% since the RBA started cutting the cash rate in June and has been below the 100 level, indicating pessimists outnumber optimists, throughout the second
Via the excellent George Tharenou at UBS: Treasurer Frydenberg will soon release the Commonwealth Budget update (MYEFO), likely on December 16. Positively, the Final Budget Outcome for 18/19 already beat April’s Budget estimate by a significant $3.5bn (UCB basis), with the $0.7bn deficit outcome (i.e. ~’balanced’) the smallest since the GFC. Furthermore, monthly data for
Chinese new yuan loans for November are out and remain subdued. Total social financing was 1750bn yuan while bank lending was 1390bn yuan of that: Year on year growth rebounded to 15% but the three month moving average is just 2%: Shadow banking contonues to trend lower: Rolling annual new loans has stalled: M2 is
Texture from Reuters: “The surge in iron ore prices was mainly driven by supply concerns from foreign miners in the first quarter next year,” said Tang Bingqing, an analyst with Founder CIFCO Futures, referring to Brazilian miner Vale SA lowering production outlook and the upcoming expiry of mining leases in India. Meanwhile, demand prospects for
DXY slumped last night: But so did the Australian dollar: Gold firmed: With oil: Copper is trying: Miners firmed: With EM stocks: And junk: Treasury curves flattened: Bunds steepened: Aussie split the difference: Stocks are stuck: Westpac has the wrap: Event Wrap US NFIB small business survey rebounded more strongly than expected to 104.7 (est. 103.0,
I am not especially worried about pork prices: In November 2019 , the national consumer price rose 4.5% year-on-year . Among them, cities rose by 4.2% and rural areas rose by 5.5% ; food prices rose by 19.1% , and non-food prices rose by 1.0% ; consumer goods prices rose by 6.5% , and service
Via Domain comes Economist Ross Garnaut: …Carryover credits refer to an accounting measure, where a country counts historical emissions reduction that exceeded old international goals against its current target. Australia will include its carryover credits from its over-achievement on the Kyoto Protocol in its efforts to meet the Paris target. Most countries don’t count their credits,
Andrew Hastie at Domain defines his pushback plan against Chinese Communist Party encroachments:: …First, we need to recognise, understand, and articulate the challenge facing the West. …Second, we must enlist the full weight of democratic institutions in this effort, including the giving of major speeches, initiating parliamentary inquiries and passing legislative measures, and educating the
