Budget deficit soars to record high

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Federal budget The underlying budget deficit hit a record high of $63.3 billion in the twelve months to September 2010, indicating that the Government has plenty of work to do

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Investor Signposts: Week Beginning October 31 2010

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The big picture Here’s a scary thought – 2010 is almost over, with just over two months to go to the end of the year. So it is opportune to

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Global Property Securities Update

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Overview Strong returns by listed property companies during the month were mainly driven by positive momentum in most global equity markets. The prospect of further quantitative easing in the US

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PIMCO forecasts positive outlook for Australia: quality RMBS stand out as key investment opportunity

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Australia has a positive investment outlook with flexible economic conditions and a clean banking sector Australian residential mortgage backed securities offer attractive relative value Claims that Australia is in a

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Deflation reigns: Bonanza for consumers

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Consumer Prices There are more goods falling in price currently than at any time over the past decade. In the June quarter 33 items were cheaper than a year ago

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Inflation: Another beautiful set of numbers

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Consumer Price Index Australia’s main inflation measure – the consumer price index (CPI) – rose by 0.7 per cent in the September quarter, well below economist forecasts. The annual rate

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Equity market sentiment rebounds but investors cling to safe haven assets

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Majority of Australian investors bullish on local equity market Investors could miss out on opportunities in volatile markets by being too risk adverse Investor sentiment in Australia is on the

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Consumer bonanza

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Import & export prices Prices of export goods rose by a record 7.8 per cent in the September quarter, courtesy of higher coal and iron ore prices. Export prices are

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Weekly market & economic update – 22 October 2010

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Headline developments of the past week The focus over the past week was on China which undertook a surprise 0.25% increase in benchmark lending and deposit rates. This caused a

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Research Houses! All talk but very little value!

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Financial planners continue to question the relevance of research houses, yet we still see little evidence of change in the service offering from research houses to keep pace with the

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