Frugal shoppers stay home with a good book

From

Retail trade; Job advertisements; Performance of Construction Weak consumer spending. Retail spending grew by just 0.2 per cent in December, below expectations centred on a rise of 0.5 per cent.... Read more continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning February 6 2011

From

The big picture China is now the second largest economy in the world. Australia ranks as 13th biggest. But Australia is regarded as an advanced economy whereas China is defined... Read more continue reading

Weekly market & economic update – 4 February 2010

From

Headline developments Nature continued to wreak havoc in Australia, with Cyclone Yasi smashing into North Queensland as a category 5 storm (the highest they get) leaving a trail of devastation.... Read more continue reading

Risk that La Niña could persist over 2011

From

La Niña update The current La Niña weather event is responsible for the flooding across eastern and southern Australia as well as the severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The current La... Read more continue reading

Reserve Bank signals rates on hold

From

RBA Statement on Monetary Policy The recent floods and softer-than-expected economic data have caused the Reserve Bank to tinker with short-term forecasts, but the longer-term forecasts are unchanged. Given the... Read more continue reading

RaboDirect Rebels vs Crusaders: scoring support for VIC & QLD flood appeals

From

RaboDirect to donate thousands per try scored at 5 Feb match RaboDirect today announced it will donate $3,000 per try scored in the pre-season clash between the RaboDirect Melbourne Rebels... Read more continue reading

The threat of inflation in Asian & emerging markets

From

Key points Rising inflation is becoming a major concern in Asia and other emerging countries. So far it’s largely due to higher food prices. Non-food inflation remains reasonably benign. However,... Read more continue reading

House approvals remain at 18 month lows

From

Building Approvals; Trade; New Vehicle Sales; PSI Approvals to build news homes rose by 8.7 per cent in December. However all the gains were centred on apartment approvals – which... Read more continue reading

AMP Capital purchases Melbourne CBD property for Sunsuper

From

AMP Capital Investors has purchased a Melbourne CBD office property at 330 Collins Street for $107 million on behalf of Sunsuper, taking the number of properties acquired under its direct... Read more continue reading

Resource Sector ETFs popular with SMSF Trustees

From

Local Sector ETF specialist, Australian Index Investments (Aii), has seen increased interest in their resource-based ETFs from SMSF Trustees, with one in three ETF investments being held by DIY SMSFs.... Read more continue reading