BT Financial Group statement on Productivity Commission inquiry

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One of Australia’s leading superannuation providers today said the Government’s announcement of a Productivity Commission Inquiry was an important step for millions of Australian workers.  BT Financial Group head of... Read more continue reading

ETP Landscape Industry Highlights, year end 2011

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According to the latest “ETP Landscape” report from the BlackRock Investment Institute the global ETP industry ended the year with $1.525 trillion in AUM, up 2.9% from $1.482 trillion at... Read more continue reading

Weakest job market in 20 years

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Employment fell by 29,300 in December – the biggest decline in eight months. Economists had expected a 10,000 lift in jobs. It was the second consecutive fall in jobs and... Read more continue reading

What will it take to cheer up Aussie consumers?

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Aussie consumers are still moderately pessimistic…the Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence rose by 2.4 per cent in January to a reading of 97.1 and sentiment levels are still down 7.2... Read more continue reading

China successfully engineers ‘soft landing’

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Chinese economic data was generally firmer than expected. The Chinese economy grew at an 8.9 per cent annual rate in the December quarter (consensus 8.7 per cent) down from 9.1... Read more continue reading

2012 and beyond….a list of lists

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I was determined that after writing endlessly about Europe last year that my first note this year would not be on Europe. And it isn’t (well mostly not anyway). Rather... Read more continue reading

Enter the (year of) the dragon!

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Will Asian economic growth translate to growth in equity prices in the Chinese New Year of the dragon? “We think it will,” says David Urquhart, Portfolio Manager for the Fidelity... Read more continue reading

Tame inflation but petrol pain ahead

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Inflation is under control: The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly inflation gauge rose by 0.5 per cent in December and stands 2.4 per cent higher than a year ago. Excluding volatile... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update

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The European Central Bank’s (ECB) first monetary policy meeting for 2012 saw no significant changes with interest rates staying on hold at 1.0%. There were some notable comments on Europe’s... Read more continue reading

Friday 13th…should investors be nervous?

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Over the past 15 times that the 13th has occurred on a Friday, the Dow Jones has fallen 7 times and the All Ordinaries has fallen 5 times. So on... Read more continue reading