Almost 250,000 families hit by unemployment

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Labour market statistics New figures raise questions about how tight the job market really is. As at June 2010 there were almost a quarter of a million families (244,900) where... Read more continue reading

Encouraging pickup in car sales

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Car sales In December, 86,587 vehicles were sold, down by 2.4 per cent compared with a year ago. In seasonally adjusted terms CommSec estimates that sales rose by 1.5 per... Read more continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning January 9 2011

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The big picture One thing we can never escape here in Australia is natural disasters. Whether it is drought, floods, bushfires, cyclones or hail storms, natural disasters are part and... Read more continue reading

Home approvals slump but renovation in vogue

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Building Approvals; PSI The outlook for home builders is gloomy. Approvals to build news homes slumped by 4.2 per cent in November. The slide in approvals marked the seventh decline... Read more continue reading

Petrol price war keeps pump prices low

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Weekly petrol; PMI The national average terminal gate or wholesale price of petrol currently stands at a 26-month high of 124.2 cents a litre. Fortunately for motorists, increased competition has... Read more continue reading

‘Noughties’ over; ‘Teens’ begins

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Look back at 2010. Look ahead at 2011. Contrary to the expectations of the gloom and doomsters, 2010 turned out to be a positive year. The global economy expanded by... Read more continue reading

Slowest housing lending growth on record

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Private sector credit (Lending) Private sector credit rose by 0.3 per cent in November to stand 3.6 per cent higher than a year ago. Housing lending to owner-occupiers stands 7.3... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update 24 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week The past week was pretty light on in terms of major news. However, while European debt worries continued amid talk of more ratings downgrades,... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update 17 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Sovereign debt issues in Europe raised their ugly head again over the last week. While the Irish austerity package was passed by its Parliament,... Read more continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning December 19 2010

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The big picture One of the biggest furphies in 2009 was the claim that Australia had a ‘bubble’ in the housing market. It didn’t and still doesn’t but to some... Read more continue reading