Budget deficit soars to near record high

From

Federal budget The underlying budget deficit deteriorated in January and now stands just shy of record highs. In the 12- months to January, the budget deficit totalled $62.3 billion, an

continue reading

Price war: Petrol selling below cost price

From

Weekly Petrol Price According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol fell by 0.2 cents per litre to 143.0 cents a litre in

continue reading

Household wealth levels nears 3-year high; Company cash holdings at a 11-year high

From

Financial accounts The financial wealth of Australians rose in the December quarter – largely due to 4.5 per cent rise in equity markets. Net financial assets of households rose by

continue reading

RBA: Resilient financial system

From

Financial Stability Review The Reserve Bank has given a clean bill of health for the Australian financial system, highlighting the strength of domestic banks compared with their overseas peers. The

continue reading

Dwelling starts down further weakness ahead

From

Dwelling starts Australian dwelling starts fell by 5.3 per cent in the December quarter. The side in dwelling starts was due to weakness in activity in both the private and

continue reading

Monthly household fuel bill hits $200

From

Weekly Petrol Price; Imports According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by 0.5 cents per litre to 143.2 cents a litre

continue reading

La Niña weather event still dominates

From

La Niña update Our last update on the La Niña weather event was published on February 14. At that time the Southern Oscillation index hit an 11-week low of +16.6

continue reading

Consumers start spending again

From

CBA Business Spending index In line with anecdotal evidence, consumer spending strengthened in February. The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) rose by 0.5 per cent in trend terms in

continue reading

Construction jobs plunge; Airfares on rise

From

Quarterly Labour force data; Over the three months to February, employment across Australia grew by just 0.1 per cent or 16,200 – marking the slowest pace of jobs growth in

continue reading

Investor Signposts: Week Beginning March 20 2011

From

The big picture If you wanted to get a good textbook example of a ‘fear-driven’ event it is the so-called Japanese nuclear crisis. It started with one of the biggest

continue reading