Tame inflation; Petrol pain ahead

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Weekly Petrol Price, Inflation gauge; Lending finance; New car sales Motorists need to prepare for higher petrol prices. The terminal gate or wholesale price of petrol leapt by over 2... Read more continue reading

Economic Update: December Quarter 2010

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While the Australian share market tended to lag overseas markets during the year, the stronger Australian Dollar (which exceeded parity with the US Dollar for the first time since 1982)... Read more continue reading

Discount airfares hit record lows

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Index of Airfares All airfares except discount fares rose in January. Domestic airfares generally rose in January with business fares up 2.9 per cent, full economy fares up 1.1 per... Read more continue reading

Employment slows: A case of lies, damned lies and statistics?

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Labour force Employment rose by just 2,300 people in December, well below forecasts centred on job gains of around 25,000 (range from +10,000 to +40,000 jobs). The November result was... Read more continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 16 2011

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The big picture Humans like to think that they control most things. Then along comes a natural disaster like a flood and it reinforces the fact that there are many... Read more continue reading

Record credit card use; Surprise lift in tourism

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Migration & Tourism; Credit card lending Record lift in credit card use. The number of purchases and cash out transactions made on credit cards lifted by 13 per cent in... Read more continue reading

Flat sharemarket poses questions for investors

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Sharemarket perspectives The CommSec ‘Mums and Dads share index’ – a way of tracking the performance of commonly-held shares – fell by 7.4 per cent in 2010, exceeding the decline... Read more continue reading

Trade surplus to moderate as coal volumes fall

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International trade Australia’s trade surplus narrowed by $636 million to $1,925 million in November. Economists had tipped a surplus near $2 billion. Exports were flat over the month while imports... Read more continue reading

Record slowdown in spending as job ads slump

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Retail trade; Job Advertisements; Weekly Petrol Price Retail spending rose by just 0.3 per cent in November after the 0.8 per cent slide in October. However Nonfood retailing rose by... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update 07 January 2011

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Headline developments In a move that had been anticipated for some time, China raised one year lending and deposit rates by 0.25% as part of an ongoing effort to keep... Read more continue reading