Feature: Bonds: Boom, Boom, Bubble?
Who would have thought the US could get to a position where it could even think of getting investors to pay the government to lend it money.
Read MoreWho would have thought the US could get to a position where it could even think of getting investors to pay the government to lend it money.
Read MoreTrade data out yesterday for December, the second quarter and the first six months of the 2011-12 financial year put the lie to suggestions that our minerals boom has been derailed or is sagging as a result of the drop in iron ore and coal prices late last year.
Read MoreIts 25 years since the turnaround at Woolworths was kicked off by retailing legend Paul Simons who decided to use the phrase: ‘The fresh food people" to tag the struggling retailer to make it different from the then dominant Coles Myer.
Read MoreWe’ve all known that 2011 wasn’t a good year for housing or house prices, and this week we have had that confirmed in spades.
Read MoreSo how did markets go in January?
Read MoreJust as we had mixed news from the Japanese and Australian economies on Tuesday, yesterday we got the same story from China with two surveys of the country’s manufacturing sector producing very different results.
Read MoreAnd we also had a mixed report card from the Japanese economy yesterday.
Read MoreThe mixed nature of the Australian economy was on display yesterday in reports from the monthly National Australia Bank business survey and the Reserve Bank’s credit data for December and 2011.
Read MoreIn one respect it was a clever bit of marketing by Woolworths yesterday to announce the restructuring and sale of its Dick Smith consumer electronics chain at the same time as it revealed weak sales figures, especially from its core Australian supermarkets and liquor business in the December quarter and half year.
Read MoreOn the eve of releasing what are expected to be average second quarter and first half sales figures, Woolworths Ltd has revealed three new directors, two of whom have considerable retailing success stories, though from different sides of the aisles.
Read MoreBKI Investment Company Ltd (the old Brickworks Investment Co) yesterday revealed a 5.2% lift thanks to higher dividends from its half a billion or so dollars of listed investments.
Read MoreUS oil major Chevron has booked its first reserves for the Wheatstone LNG project offshore WA which started being developed late last year.
Read MoreWhile equities had another good week in most markets (Europe fell for the first time in four weeks), the real stars were commodities with gold and copper notching up good gains as ‘risk on’ returned to fashion among investors and speculators.
Read MoreThe US economy’s performance in the December quarter and 2011 underlined the performance of much of the global economy: warm in places, cool in others.
Read MoreThe health of the world’s manufacturing sector will again be tested this week by the monthly surveys of activity across Asia (led by China), Europe and the US.
Read MoreAustralian inflation is easing, interest cuts are on the cards for the Reserve Bank and despite much of the gloomy comments about the local economy; things are not all that bad. Likewise with other major economies and the world, conditions seem to be better than the gloomy forecasts from the IMF and World Bank suggest.
Read MoreTonight we will get a further sign that the US economy is doing better than even the country’s central bank seems to think, judging by its post meeting statement this week and comments by chairman Ben Bernanke.
Read MoreFor Australia, the most important global indicator isn’t the prices of copper, gold or oil, or even Chinese GDP.
Read MoreAs expected the International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for world economic growth this year and next.
Read MoreIt shouldn’t surprise that a mining company has reported that wet weather affected its business in the December half year.
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 More