Consumers display caution

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Dwelling starts at six-year Consumer sentiment; New car sales; Dwelling starts The Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence eased in the latest month. The index fell by 5.0 per cent

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Businesses hopeful; Farmers rejoice; Cash is still king

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NAB business survey; ABARE Crop Report; Consumer finances Business confidence is up; conditions are down. According to the NAB business survey, the business confidence index rose from +2.4 in July

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More joy for motorists; Construction loans slump

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Lending finance; Petrol price; Credit/debit cards The Australian Institute of Petroleum reports that the average Australian petrol price fell by 2.2 cents last week. Over the past fortnight prices have

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Aussie tourism in trouble

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Regional economy Australia’s tourism sector was already in trouble, but it is now set to come under even more pressure from renewed strength of the Aussie dollar. The Australian dollar

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Chinese economy powers along

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Chinese economic data The Chinese economy strengthened in August. Production, retail trade, inflation and money supply all grew at a stronger annual rate in August suggesting that authorities will need

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China engineers a soft landing

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Chinese economic data; Mobile phone sales Chinese trade surplus eases as imports surge. China recorded a trade surplus of US$20.03 billion in August – below forecasts centred on a result

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Unemployment rate slides to 19-month low

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Labour force Employment rose by 30,900 in August, in line with forecasts centred on job gains of around 29,000. The July result was revised up to show job growth of

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning September 12 2010

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The big picture One of the most poorly understood concepts in Australia is housing affordability. However to be fair, the main reason that it has been so poorly analysed and

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