Hi all, A quick note to offer guidance on the new website. As well as the layout changes that make it easier to access content for new readers, it comes with a dramatically improved sign-up and resubscription process, greatly enhanced speed, and a much better mobile experience (since 95% of traffic is now phone!). The
DXY is a one-armed bricklayer in Tehran. To the moon! North Asia has buckled. AUD crashed overnight, then recovered about half as local fundies scramble for Sag7 hedges. Oil pumped and dumped, forgetting that the quickest way to end this war is to deliver an energy shock to the Trump TACO. Gold printed a terrifying
In this world, there are a few things that are truly certain: death, taxes, and the fact that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. But in Australia, there is one thing that can be added to that ancient list: claims that the big banks are gouging their customers, particularly when
Australia’s housing market has never been this expensive. According to Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP, home prices nationally are tracking at their highest level ever relative to wages and household disposable incomes: The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has already delivered one 0.25% interest rate hike, with the interest rate futures market expecting at
The Australian National University (ANU) is one of the nation’s key purveyors of immigration propaganda. Propagandists like “Dr Demography” Liz Allen are regular mouthpieces on the pro-Big Australia migration circuit, as are the ANU Migration Hub’s Peter McDonald and Alan Gamlen. Jill Sheppard, a senior lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations,
charts from TME. Both skew and volatility are suggesting bearish pressure on stocks. Skew is especially bearish. Yet we refuse to fall. It’s the same for NDX. CDX, which is an index of credit default swaps, is also showing plenty of pressure. This is not bearish. Bond volatility is likewise beginning to MOVE, another bearish
A recent review of freedom of information (FOI) requests called into doubt the Albanese government’s commitment to transparency. The Centre for Public Integrity, an independent research agency, reported that 24% of FOI requests were denied during Labor’s first term in office. In comparison, the proportion of applications refused ranged from 10% to 18% over the
Yesterday’s job ads data made for confused reading for the RBA. Job ads are rebounding strongly. After a robust 5.2% m/m increase in January, Indeed Australian Job Ads increased 3.2% m/m in February. The series has reached its greatest level since October 2024, with monthly gains since then. This increase in Job Ads occurs at
The recent housing finance data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that over the December quarter of 2025, $19.310 billion in mortgages was lent to first-home buyers. This was an increase of 16% over the prior quarter and the highest value since the first quarter of 2021: The average size of first-home buyer
Perhaps the worst publication in Australia (and that’s saying something), Crikey, today lauds the arrival of Canadian PM Mark Carney. “Prime Minister Carney’s visit is an opportunity to further strengthen cooperation on investment, economic security and critical minerals, defence, and links between our institutions and communities,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last month. Carney’s visit comes
Ross Elliott of The Pulse wrote an outstanding article about the administrative bloat that has enveloped Australia’s planning industry. Elliott notes that lawyers he has spoken with told him “they didn’t really know how many [planning-related] pages of rules and regulations were now in force—just that it would be so many as to be impossible
DXY is rising faster than an Iranian SAM. And why not. The Iran war is bad for all energy importers, including Europe, Japan, and China. It is good for US shale. AUD held up, but for how long? Oil and gold to the moon. AI metals not so much. Mining parabolas intact. EM not so
Apparently, it takes at least two debilitating energy wars to convince the Albanese government to do something about the East Coast gas export cartel. Perhaps the number is infinite. Let us recall that MB contacted the incoming Albanese government in its first week in office and told it straight up that if it did not
Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran kicked off on Saturday, the focus of the world has once again turned to the Middle East, as concerns continue to build over how this chapter of the region’s history will draw to a close. While there is a great deal of uncertainty about the road ahead for
Over the COVID-19 pandemic and the years immediately following, there was a strong migration from Victoria to Queensland. According to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population figures, Victoria had experienced two consecutive quarters of net inward migration from other states—the first inflows since the pandemic began. While the net inflow was small—only
Damien Klassen is Chief Investment Officer at the Macrobusiness Fund, which is powered by Nucleus Wealth. Follow @DamienKlassen on X(Twitter) or Linked In The information on this blog contains general information and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. Damien Klassen
Australia recorded a 1.9% decline in greenhouse gas emissions over the year to September 30, 2025: The result has Greg Jericho, chief economist at The Australia Institute, whining about Australia’s lack of ambition on carbon reduction. Jericho notes that Australia’s emissions are currently tracking 27.4% below 2005 levels. The 2030 target requires a 57% reduction and the 2035
Following the announcement of its East Coast gas reservation policy before Christmas, which plans to force Queensland LNG exporters to divert 15–25% of new supply into the domestic market, the Albanese government held its first formal consultation meeting on the proposed scheme. According to a report in The Australian, the meeting provided participants with little
Chinese property does not look like it will bounce any time soon. Eeeeiiiiiuuuuu. LNY tourism was a bust in per capita terms. Cars need more stimmies. Energy use is stalled. Stimmies are already pumping. But too much is going into paying off old stimmies (now the highest cost to local governments). The new economy is
Melbourne’s water storages have fallen to 69.7%, the lowest level since July 2020 and on a trajectory similar to the Millennium Drought. This has prompted warnings that water restrictions may return if usage doesn’t drop. Late January water usage hit 253 litres per person per day, far above the 150‑litre target set by authorities. In
Chart from TME. The equity market is telling us that investors want stability over growth. With trailing valuations so high, this is no great surprise. Schiller PE, which has its problems says it’s 1999 all over again, When credit cracks, you must listen. Equity sell-offs led by credit sell-offs have the potential to go much
Australian tenants have suffered immensely over the past five years, with rents growing nearly three times as fast as wages, according to Cotality. In the five years to February 2026, advertised rents have risen by 42% nationally, adding around $10,600 to the annual cost of renting the median home. As a result, the percentage of
According to the latest Newspoll, the new LNP leadership has stemmed the bleeding but not much else. This result has to be very concerning. Labor is down one point to 32%, One Nation is unchanged at 27%, the Coalition is up two to 20%, while the Greens are down one to 11%. However, with 35%
Following a fresh wave of bombing by the American madman and Israel on Iran, retaliation suggests wider implications for the region than previous rounds. With Supreme Leader Al Khamenei dead, there is ambiguity about who currently makes decisions in Tehran after major losses to Iranian leadership. Whether Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) withdraws under
The ferrous complex rolled on Friday as we head to the Two Sessions. Clearly, not much hope for stimmies China’s total steel inventory is a little below last year. Port inventories of iron ore fell for the first time in months, according to CISA. But not according to MySteel. Inventories of imported iron ore stockpiled
Between 1949 and 1972, Australia’s federal government was controlled by the Coalition, with 17 of those 23 years occurring under the party’s founder, Sir Robert Menzies. This era brought a great many challenges to Australia and the world, as the Cold War and rapid technological progress demanded adaptable leaders and policy heavily focused on the
