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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RBA Testimony – Rates solidly on hold

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Semi-annual testimony The Reserve Bank Governor has delivered the clearest message yet that interest rates are on hold for some time. The tone and comments from the testimony is consistent

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CMC Markets predicts nice and nasty earnings season

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Every earnings season holds a couple of surprises. Some nice, some nasty. The nice surprises are going to come from the mining companies in line with higher commodity prices while

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Actuaries call for wider debate on solutions for coping with future floods

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The devastating damage to property caused by the Queensland floods, has prompted the Institute of Actuaries of Australia to call for a national solution to manage future floods and natural

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Business conditions near two year lows

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NAB Business Survey; Migration & Tourism The NAB business confidence index rose from -2.7 to +4.0 in January. The business conditions index slumped from +5.8 in December to -5.8 in

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Weekly market & economic update – 4 February 2010

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Headline developments Nature continued to wreak havoc in Australia, with Cyclone Yasi smashing into North Queensland as a category 5 storm (the highest they get) leaving a trail of devastation.

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Risk that La Niña could persist over 2011

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La Niña update The current La Niña weather event is responsible for the flooding across eastern and southern Australia as well as the severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The current La

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Reserve Bank signals rates on hold

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RBA Statement on Monetary Policy The recent floods and softer-than-expected economic data have caused the Reserve Bank to tinker with short-term forecasts, but the longer-term forecasts are unchanged. Given the

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RaboDirect Rebels vs Crusaders: scoring support for VIC & QLD flood appeals

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RaboDirect to donate thousands per try scored at 5 Feb match RaboDirect today announced it will donate $3,000 per try scored in the pre-season clash between the RaboDirect Melbourne Rebels

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Floods take toll on corporate Australia

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NAB Business Survey; PMI The NAB business confidence index fell from +6.2 to -2.7 in December – the weakest reading in 20 months. The business conditions index rose from +3.7

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