Markets: Best Week For Three Years, But Will It Last?
World stocks edged higher on Friday, ending the best week since March 2009 as the great relief rally of 2011 halted for a breather ahead of the decisive week ahead.
Read MoreWorld stocks edged higher on Friday, ending the best week since March 2009 as the great relief rally of 2011 halted for a breather ahead of the decisive week ahead.
Read MoreThe flow of economic data and decisions will perhaps be the most important week this year and for the early months of next year for the global economy, and especially Europe and Australia.
Read MoreAs pointed out in the Diary (see below), the coming week is going to be crucial for the future of the euro and Europe’s slumping economy.
Read MoreRetail sales rose 0.2% in October, but building approvals slumped thanks partly to a sharp fall in private residential approvals.
Read MoreNo wonder China moved to ease monetary policy by trimming its controls on bank lending.
Read MoreAustralia’s big four banks had their credit ratings cut by a Standard & Poor’s as a result of major changes in the criteria it uses to assess risk.
Read MoreA big day for Metcash yesterday, with a reasonable and a convincing win over the ACCC on its $200 million takeover of the Franklins supermarket chain in NSW.
Read MoreThe resources boom powers on, according to the September quarter private investment data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday.
Read MoreA dramatic end to November overnight with markets in Europe and the US soaring on the news that six major central banks had moved to ease funding pressures and China made its first monetary policy easing in three years.
Read MoreThe resources boom is well and truly alive, as we saw yesterday, and will have more confirmation of the size of the boom later today.
Read MoreThe contrast couldn’t have been more telling.
Read MoreBrisbane-based Campbell Brothers expects full year net profit to be in the range of $200 million to $220 million, after reporting a 54% jump in first half profit.
Read MoreIt’s not quite clear why Qantas shares rose strongly yesterday.
Read MoreSo is this the "Big Bazooka" than many have said that Europe needs to convince sceptical markets that the eurozone crisis can be controlled and conquered?
Read MoreIt was good timing for Rio Tinto to hold its quarterly investor update yesterday; the bounce on markets on reports of moves to try and fix the eurozone crisis offset an escalation in warnings from the company about the impact of the volatility on customer demand and sales.
Read MoreAccording to Bloomberg, last week was the worst Thanksgiving week for US markets since 1932, when the Depression deepening after a string of bank collapses sent economies around the world plunging into a deep freeze.
Read MoreCould this be the crucial week for the euro, the eurozone and financial stability in Europe and the rest of the global economy?
Read MoreA train crash sort of week ahead?
Read MoreWhat a contrast.
Read MoreIn late October there seemed to be room for optimism that Europe was going to head off a worst case blow up and that a “comprehensive” plan would be in place by the early November G20 leaders’ forum.
Read MoreAs global liquidity dries up, gold and silver prices remain under downward pressure from investors selling off positions to go to cash and head for safety in the US dollar.
Read MoreProperty developer Stockland says it’s still on track to match 2010-11 earnings per share figures, despite a slow start to the current financial year.
Read MoreGlobal and Chinese crude steel production slowed in October to their lowest levels in 10 months, figures from the World Steel Association this week confirmed.
Read MoreMarkets were rattled yesterday by the news that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted sharply this month to a 32-month low.
Read MoreThe World Bank is more optimistic about China’s prospects than some of its putative leaders.
Read MoreBlueScope Steel, which will get hundreds of millions of dollars money under the carbon tax in compensation and free permits for the steel industry, has surprised investors by launching an ”accelerated "fund raising to cut debt.
Read MoreUS and European stocks were hammered on Monday, after Moody’s Investors Service issued a dire warning on French bonds, and Asian markets were dampened by pessimistic remarks made by a high-ranking Chinese official.
Read MoreAn unexpected trade deficit in October for Japan, thanks to a surge in expensive energy imports, such as LNG, while exports fell for the first time in three months.
Read MoreOil grabbed the attention last week in New York with the first move above the $US100 a barrel mark for the first time in four months
Read MoreOnce again it’s going to be events in Europe, plus the US which will dominate financial markets this week.
Read MoreDespite all the claims and counter claims about global warming, carbon taxes, and new sources of ‘green’ energy, one thing continues to standout when you look at the global energy scene: Australia is sitting pretty.
Read MoreWe had two very different outlooks from companies at opposite ends of the current corporate ladder in Australia.
Read MoreIn contrast to the caution at the BHP meeting, the upbeat nature of Thursday’s strategic briefing from Goodman Fielder’s newish CEO, Chris Delaney, was at odds with the company’s lacklustre performance.
Read MoreThere was a clear sense of ‘flight’ by some of the world’s biggest investors in the November Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey of global fund managers.
Read MoreThe National Australia Bank says the outlook for Australia’s manufacturing industry is bleak with output falling by almost 1% in the September quarter.
Read MoreThe contrast yesterday on global markets was dramatic: in Europe another spike in market interest rates renewed pressure on Italy, Spain, the euro and the eurozone itself.
Read MoreThe shape of the new prudential management system for Australia’s banks and financial system generally is taking its final shape and should be finalised next year.
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