Weekly market and economic update – 01 October 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Concerns about problems in Europe returned to the fore over the last week with Moody’s downgrading Spain’s credit rating, ongoing issues regarding Irish banks,

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Weekly market & economic update

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Headline developments of the past week While the risk of a double dip back into recession may be waning, the prospect of sub-par growth in key developed countries suggests that

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RBA sets the scene for a rate hike

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RBA Board minutes; ABARE Australian Commodities; Airfares Minutes of the last Reserve Bank Board meeting echo’s the sentiments of the Governors speech yesterday and adds further weight to the likelihood

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Petrol spikes as discounting cycle resumes

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Petrol price; RBA Governor speech Petrol prices have risen for the first time in five weeks. The Australian Institute of Petroleum reports that the average Australian petrol price rose by

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Weekly market & economic update 17 September 2010

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Headline developments of the past week Global financial market regulators – known as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision – announced tougher capital requirements for banks so that they can

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Ignore the confusion in global markets to find outstanding opportunities

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One could be excused for feeling that recent global equity market activity is overly confusing. The bipolar combination of market euphoria today, and despair tomorrow, repeats itself over and over.

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Chinese economy powers along

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Chinese economic data The Chinese economy strengthened in August. Production, retail trade, inflation and money supply all grew at a stronger annual rate in August suggesting that authorities will need

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Weekly market & economic update 10 September 2010

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Headline developments of the past week US President Obama announced plans for another round of fiscal stimulus including increased infrastructure spending, accelerated tax write-offs for new investment that would allow

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Africa. The next big thing?

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Imagine owning the only major supermarket in a city of 18 million people. South African-based food retailer Shoprite doesn’t have to dream of this situation because that’s the competitive advantage

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Currency jigsaw puzzle

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As authorities in Western economies grapple with slow economic growth and exhausted policy tools, an old policy favourite, ‘currency devaluation’, could become an appealing option. It may be challenging to

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