Disappointing Christmas spending

From

Economy-wide spending softened in December, extending the zig-zag run witnessed over the past seven months. According to the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI), spending fell by 1.9 per cent

continue reading

State of the States January 2013

From

How are Australia’s states and territories performing? Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment, construction work done; population

continue reading

China: Recovery firmly on track

From

The Chinese economy grew at a 7.9 per cent annual rate in the December quarter (consensus 7.7 per cent) up from 7.4 per cent in the previous quarter. In the

continue reading

Sharemarket: Closer to the peak than you thought

From

The ASX 200 Accumulation index – measuring total returns on shares – has lifted by almost 20 per cent over the past year. The index is 12.2 per cent from

continue reading

Record fall in credit card debt

From

If the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates again, would the impact be positive on the economy? It is an interesting question and one that the Reserve Bank probably didn’t think

continue reading

Property beats cash

From

In the past, buying and selling property was considered an attractive way to make money. The theory was that home prices would rise around 8 per cent a year, almost

continue reading

RBA: Softening employment justifies rate cut

From

The latest Reserve Bank Board minutes suggests that the decision to cut interest rates in December was largely due to the softening in labour market conditions and confirmation of the

continue reading

The Big Issues for 2013

From

For the best part of the past decade, CommSec has produced “The Big Issues” report – a report that has sought to highlight issues that are expected to influence on

continue reading

The Santa Claus effect

From

Is there a Santa Claus effect? CommSec has always been sceptical about research showing whether there is a ‘right’ time to be buying shares. But we decided to re-visit the

continue reading

Resilient Job Market

From

Employment rose by 13,900 in November after a revised gain of 10,100 jobs in October (previously +10,700). Economists had expected a flat result. In November, full-time jobs fell by 4,200

continue reading