Reserve Bank mulls the next move

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Reserve Bank Board meeting The cash rate has been left at a record low of 2.00 per cent. The Reserve Bank hasn’t provided any guidance on future interest rate changes.... Read more continue reading

Dust off the history books – it’s back to the past to control the property cycle

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Key points In response to pressure from APRA, lenders are starting to tighten lending conditions to property investors. This is designed to slow property investor lending, particularly into the strong... Read more continue reading

Biggest fall in business investment in 5½ years

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Business investment Softer investment: New business spending on buildings or equipment fell by 4.4 per cent in the March quarter – the biggest fall since September quarter 2009. Expected business... Read more continue reading

2015 a moderate year for global markets, USA an exception

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Global economies seem set for another year of moderate growth, with the exception of USA, which is likely to outperform its global peers in 2015, says investment manager George Lucas,... Read more continue reading

Weekly market update – week ending 22 May, 2015

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Investment markets and key developments over the past week Global share markets mostly rose over the last week as mixed US economic data was seen delaying Fed hikes, an ECB... Read more continue reading

Where will returns come from? – the constrained medium term return outlook

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Key points Low investment yields from most major asset classes mean the medium term return outlook remains constrained. For example, 7 to 7.5% pa for a diversified mix of assets,... Read more continue reading

Weekly market update – week ending May 15, 2015

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Investment markets and key developments over the past week While the bond sell off continued over the past week it showed signs of stabilising and this helped shares a bit.... Read more continue reading

China: Investment slides to a 15-year low

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Chinese economic data Chinese retail sales rose at a 10.0 per cent annual rate in April – the slowest growth rate in nine years. The result was below forecasts (+10.5... Read more continue reading

The 2015-26 Australian Budget – repair, fair or dispair

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Key points The 2015-16 Budget has seen a shift in focus from budget repair towards supporting growth and fairness. Thanks to another blow to revenue the budget deficit for 2015-16... Read more continue reading

Looking at the world economy on the eve of Australian Federal Budget

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Long bonds dominate as the oil price recovers In Australia this week,  eyes will be on today’s Federal Budget, which may well live up to the “dull” label slapped on it... Read more continue reading