Floods take toll on corporate Australia

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NAB Business Survey; PMI The NAB business confidence index fell from +6.2 to -2.7 in December – the weakest reading in 20 months. The business conditions index rose from +3.7... Read more continue reading

Floods will have no impact on interest rates

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Reserve Bank Board meeting The Reserve Bank Board has left the cash rate at 4.75 per cent at its first meeting for 2011. The next meeting is on March 1... Read more continue reading

Home prices at 18-month lows

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Home prices Capital city home prices rose by 0.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in December after falling by 0.1 per cent in November according to the RP Data-Rismark... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update 28 January 2011

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Headline developments The Australian Government announced that it needs around $5.6bn to help rebuild flood affected areas and that it will source $1.8bn of this from a temporary levy on... Read more continue reading

Flood levy proposed – but is it necessary?

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Economic issues The Prime Minister has proposed a levy on higher-income Australians to assist in meeting the damage bill from the east coast floods. The levy will apply in 2011/12... Read more continue reading

Why are Australian shares lagging? Will it continue?

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Key points Australian shares have disappointingly underperformed traditional global shares over the last year on the back of monetary tightening, worries about a housing bubble, the strong $A and Chinese... Read more continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 30 2011

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The big picture With the first Reserve Bank Board meeting for 2011 scheduled for next Tuesday, it’s opportune to do a stock take of our current economic fortunes. First there... Read more continue reading

Wealth hits record highs; Debt slides again

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Modellers’ Database: Wealth & debt Wealth is at record highs. Wealth held by Australians in property, shares and other assets hit record highs at the end of September. The latest... Read more continue reading

Petrol pain; Tame business inflation

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Producer price index; Weekly petrol price The broad measure of business inflation – the producer price index (PPI) – rose by just 0.1 per cent in the December quarter, well... Read more continue reading

Sales strengthen as growth continues for retailers

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CBA Business Spending index The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) was unchanged in trend terms in December after previously falling for twelve straight months. But the weakness remains narrowly... Read more continue reading