Motorists need to watch Middle East jitters

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Weekly Petrol Price Petrol prices continue to tracking sideways. According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average Australian price of unleaded petrol rose by 0.3 cents a litre

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Profit season: Mixed, but earnings still growing

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Corporate profit season The general sense is that the profit-reporting season has so far proved very mixed. And the numbers back it up. Figures produced from Bloomberg show that there

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Retailers benefit as consumers continue to spend

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CBA Business Spending index The Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) eased yet again in trend terms in January, but it certainly wasn’t all bad news. In fact only a

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning February 20 2011

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The big picture One of the biggest issues at present is the conservatism of Aussie consumers. Australians are saving again, rather than spending. And rather than buying goods on credit

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Chinese inflation remains a threat

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Chinese inflation data Inflation prints below forecast. China’s annual inflation rate lifted modestly in January, from 4.6 per cent to 4.9 per cent, but was still below expectations centred on

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La Niña gauge hits 10-week low

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La Niña update There are further signs that the current La Niña weather event has peaked. The Southern Oscillation index fell to a 10-week low of +18.1 on February 11.

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Budget deficit target at risk

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Federal budget The underlying budget deficit continued its modest improvement, easing from $59.3 billion in the twelve months to November 2010 to $58.5 billion in the 2010 calendar year. CommSec

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning February 13 2011

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The big picture The big issue across the globe at present is inflation. At the start of the year sharply rising food prices prompted riots in Algeria, with dissatisfaction quickly

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Frugal shoppers stay home with a good book

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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.

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning February 6 2011

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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

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