Trade surplus to moderate as coal volumes fall

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International trade Australia’s trade surplus narrowed by $636 million to $1,925 million in November. Economists had tipped a surplus near $2 billion. Exports were flat over the month while imports

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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

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‘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

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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,

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Investment Outlook for 2011 from Fidelity’s portfolio managers around the globe

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Decoupling of emerging markets from the developed world is likely to dominate 2011 Bullish for emerging market equities and commodities ASSET ALLOCATION Trevor Greetham, Director of Asset Allocation Growth among

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Weekly market & economic update – 10 December 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Another round of strong Chinese economic activity indicators, excessive loan growth and a further rise in inflation to 5.1% in November on the back

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Review of 2010 and outlook for 2011

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Key points 2010 has been somewhat disappointing for investors, with continuing economic recovery but various macro scares resulting in a constrained and volatile ride for share markets and other related

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Bumper crop despite floods; Construction slumps

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ABARE Crop Report; Performance of Construction The Government’s commodity forecaster has lifted its crop forecasts. ABARES has lifted its forecast for the 2010/11 winter crop by 6.2 per cent. Despite

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning November 28 2010

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The big picture There’s no doubt that researchers have it easy nowadays compared with their predecessors even just a decade ago. There is just so much information freely available. And

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Weekly market & economic update – November 19 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Worries about Europe’s debt problems and tightening in China were again key issues for investors over the last week, and had the effect of

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