Chinese dragon stirs again

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Chinese economic data is looking up. Retail sales in October were up 14.5 per cent on a year ago (consensus 14.0 per cent); industrial production was up 9.6 per cent

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Interest Rates: End Game or Strategic Pause?

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The Reserve Bank Board left the official cash rate at 3.25 per cent. The Bank basically indicated that it wanted to assess the impact of previous rate decisions. In addition

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Mining becomes biggest driver of the economy

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Mining has become the biggest driver of the Australian economy. The gross value added of the Mining sector was $139.95 billion in 2011/12, ahead of Financial & Insurance services at

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US Presidential election on a knife edge

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The US Presidential Election is held on Tuesday. Voting is tight with most recent polls giving both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney 48 per cent of the vote. It is

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Government remains determined to achieve surplus

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The Federal Government has stuck by its forecast of a budget surplus this year. The Government is targeting a surplus of $1.1 billion, down modestly on the $1.5 billion surplus

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State of the States

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Each quarter CommSec attempts to determine the ‘state of the states’ by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment, construction work done; population growth; housing finance

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Sighs of relief on Chinese data

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Chinese economic data was in line or above expectations. The Chinese economy grew at a 7.4 per cent annual rate in the September quarter (consensus 7.4 per cent) down from

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RBA justifies rate cut

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The latest Reserve Bank Board minutes suggests that the decision to cut interest rates in October was more to boost confidence rather than to address any significant structural downturn. The

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Underlying strength in volatile job data

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Employment rose by 14,500 in September after a revised loss of 9,100 jobs in August (previously -8,800). Economists had expected 5,000 jobs to be added. In September, full-time jobs rose

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Ho hum consumers: Should the RBA be worried?

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The Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence rose by 1.0 per cent in October to a reading of 99.2. Sentiment levels are up 2.0 per cent on a year ago.

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