Profits: GUD Can Thank Dexion Buy For Interim Result
The interim results from consumer and industrial products supplier GUD Holdings just about says it all insofar as current soft business and economic conditions are travelling.
Read MoreThe interim results from consumer and industrial products supplier GUD Holdings just about says it all insofar as current soft business and economic conditions are travelling.
Read MoreThe growth in producer prices slowed in the December quarter, a development some economists reckon gives the Reserve bank room to cut interest rates a fortnight today.
Read MoreIt will cost as much as some of the huge LNG projects currently planned or underway: at $20 billion and eight years, BHP Billiton’s plans to expand its key iron ore port at Port Hedland, off the northern WA coast, will be gigantic by any measurement.
Read MoreCoal processing equipment manufacturer and engineer, Ludowici has agreed to be bought by a Danish firm in a bid worth a total of $267 million, an announcement that saw the shares jump 91% yesterday.
Read MoreSo where will markets head now after the post Christmas rebound continued last week, defying the gloomy forecasts from the World Bank and other gloomy prognosticators?
Read MoreFears about a surge in prices of beef and orange juice in the US, plus rising fears about the health of soybean corn crops on Brazil and Argentina, are starting to dominate commodity markets.
Read MoreAustralian inflation data for the December quarter dominates the coming week.
Read MoreIn his first report for 2012, AMP Capital Investors’ chief economist and strategist, Dr Shane Oliver peeks into his crystal ball.
Read MoreBig global investors have started 2012 in a better mood than they were at the end of 2011.
Read MoreCould the gold boom of the past 10 years be about to peak?
Read MoreSpecialty Fashion Group got publicity yesterday for its weak Christmas performance as sales, revenue and earnings fell for a second December half year period in a row.
Read MoreLike its rivals, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, BHP Billiton is gung-ho about 2012, despite many commentators being just as gloomy about the outlook for iron ore, Chinese steel and coal.
Read MoreGloom and doom, or overkill?
Read MoreThe surge in Chinese iron ore imports last November and December also helped Fortescue Metals shipped a record 14.77 million tonnes of ore in the December quarter, beating its own guidance.
Read MoreIs Rio Tinto really that bullish about the outlook for 2012?
Read MoreThe evidence of the slow landing in China’s economy was strewn across the annual economic data released yesterday.
Read MoreExcuse me for being slightly cynical, but didn’t you just love yesterday’s Leighton Holdings spin campaign?
Read MoreDespite a post New Year burst of gloom about retailing, online shopping and employment, the reality is that the Australian economy has remained where it was in December, doing a bit better than many media reports suggest, and doing poorly as the same media reports suggest.
Read MoreIt’s not ‘new’ news, given the damage done to share portfolios over the past six months or so, but we had further confirmation yesterday that the poor performance of equities is going to be bad for the country’s listed investment companies and broking firms.
Read MoreAnother weak week for global markets, especially commodities led by gold, and the euro.
Read MoreThis week’s pounding of the euro by worried investors decamping for the strengthening US dollar (and abandoning gold and other commodities) shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as we look into 2012.
Read MoreSome of our most vital export markets are facing a worsening in growth prospects for 2012.
Read MoreIt’s a difficult task being the CEO of a big Australian bank: they have to sound concerned, informed and above all authoritative, as we saw with Westpac’s Gail Kelly yesterday, and will hear from the NAB’s Cameron Clyne later today and from the ANZ’s Mike Smith tomorrow.
Read MoreThe Reserve Bank’s biggest concern at the moment is the eurozone crisis: those fears have driven the rate cuts in November and this month and judging by a speech in Sydney yesterday from Deputy Governor Ric Battellino.
Read MoreAccording to the market, APA Group’s $1.06 billion takeover offer for fellow pipeliner, Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund (HDF), is over before the shouting starts.
Read MoreThe US Federal Reserve was faced with difficult choice overnight, how to sound concerned, but not too worried about an American economy which is showing more and more signs of life.
Read MoreAs opposed to some earlier reports on business confidence and conditions this year from the National Australia Bank, the November report out yesterday, is pretty conventional.
Read MoreThe pace of Chinese imports may have slowed in November, to a ‘weak’ 13.8% annual rate from a year earlier, but that wasn’t the whole story.
Read MorePoor and not so poor news for iron ore and resource companies in the steelmaking materials businesses.
Read MoreThe impact of China’s slowing economy on our export performance was clearly shown yesterday, but home loans rose for yet another month.
Read MoreRatings group Standard and Poor’s and Europe’s banks have emerged as the big worry points for markets in the wake of the latest deals from the EU and eurozone.
Read MoreWe can expect China to move more quickly in changing monetary and fiscal policy next year after a flood of weak economic data for November over the weekend, and a rare statement from the country’s senior policy making group on economic policy in the coming year.
Read MoreEurope of course will dominate the week ahead as the fallout from last week’s summits continues, and the impact of the move by Britain to stand alone and not participate is examined by markets.
Read MoreIt’s now up to the 17 eurozone leaders to come up with something dramatic to regain the confidence of markets after the European Central Bank refused to backstop the zone in bond markets.
Read MoreAt the end of a big week for the Australian economy, there are definite signs the jobs market is going sour.
Read MoreAustralia’s Reserve Bank cut rates this week, but NZ’s Reserve Bank resisted the temptation to follow and sat pat yesterday, leaving its key rate at 2.5%, despite warning that the economy is slowing.
Read MoreIf it hadn’t been for the looming crisis in Europe, there wouldn’t have been interest rate cuts last month and this month from the Reserve Bank after the release of figures yesterday showing a solid rise in third quarter economic growth.
Read MoreAnd while the bank bashing continued (rightfully) against the big four, there was good news for a couple of the regions and a bit of bad news for another, from the final round of re-ratings from Standard & Poor’s.
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