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
International Reading: Cops Are Freaking Out About Luigi Mangione Inspiring CEO Killings – The Intercept Trump demands eye-popping amount from taxpayers to fund Iran war as Pentagon’s weapons stockpile quickly vanishes – Daily Mail US economy grew 2.1% in Q1 as final revision beats expectations – Fox Business Inflation hits 4.1 percent in May, highest
Dr Cameron Murray posted the following chart on Twitter (X) showing New Zealand’s “stunning” house price correction, which has lasted more than four years: The following chart from Justin Fabo from Antipodian Macro shows that New Zealand’s house price correction has impacted all major markets, which have each experienced serious price falls: When adjusted for
It’s just a gas reservation, not leprosy. Woodside Energy’s lucrative gas drilling project hangs in the balance until there is clarity around the Albanese government’s domestic gas reservation scheme. The $52bn energy giant says the project could deliver enough gas to supply Sydney or Melbourne for nearly two years. It marks one of the clearest
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, regional property values across Australia have experienced explosive growth. As illustrated below, PropTrack’s monthly dwelling values index has recorded 87% growth across the combined regions since March 2020, significantly stronger than the 55% growth recorded across the combined capital cities. Cotality’s daily dwelling values index
DXY paused overnight. AUD and North Asia caught a break. Gold and oil still joined at the hip. Base metals also stopped falling. Big miners still look terrifying. EM is trying to hold. As junk is cool as a cucumber. US yields curve reversed course. Stocks were flat. Australia’s strong core inflation of yesterday was
Thursday’s labour force release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) confirmed that Victoria is leading the nation in unemployment, with the state’s youth population being the most affected. As illustrated below by Alex Joiner, chief economist at IFM Investors, Victoria’s headline unemployment was 4.89% in May, 0.72% higher than the national average excluding Victoria:
It’s open. It’s closed. The United Nations’ shipping agency on Thursday said it would pause an evacuation effort to get hundreds of stranded ships out through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. “I have been informed of an attack today in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel which
The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) modelling, contained in its latest 20-year blueprint for the nation’s energy system, the Integrated System Plan (ISP), suggests that the federal government’s 2030 renewable energy target of 82% will require investment in wind and solar energy infrastructure to be ramped up. The AEMO has concluded that even if all
Earlier this week, independent federal MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender announced that they would form a new political party, ‘Community Strong Australia’. The move comes amidst changed electoral funding laws which passed through parliament in February 2025, allowing political parties to spend up to $90 million on a national campaign but limit an independent
Just when you thought the nation’s auction market couldn’t get worse, this week’s final auction results hit a fresh low of 42.3%, the lowest result since April 2020 (41.1%) during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The downward trend in clearance rates has been apparent since mid-February, but a sub-50% reading indicates a wide gap
Today’s May labour force release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) rebounded, with the unemployment rate falling by 0.1% to 4.4%, although it remained above the RBA’s latest forecast. As illustrated below by Alex Joiner, chief economist at IFM Investors, employment increased by 40,300 in May, driven by a 35,180 rise in part-time jobs.
This is hardly worth deconstructing. Australia’s largest international LNG customer has warned that Labor’s gas reservation scheme will cut domestic gas supplies to Australia while risking an opportunity to grow the multibillion-dollar trade with Japan as the global energy crisis pushes the Asian country to lift imports. …Australia supplies about 40 per cent of Japan’s
On Tuesday, both the NSW and Queensland state governments delivered their budgets. The NSW government now expects to post a budget deficit of $2.3 billion in the 2026-27 financial year, compared with a previous forecast of $1.1 billion. However, the budget papers show that the Treasury anticipates a surplus of $1.1 billion in 2027-28, rising
The Teals are coming to the centre’s rescue. The only problem is that the centre is vacant. The new party started by teal MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender will be called Community Strong Australia. The paperwork to register Community Strong Australia with the Australian Electoral Commission was reportedly filed on Wednesday. The party’s constitution
Australia’s electricity grid must be built to handle the worst moments, not averages. This week, Australia’s National Energy Market (NEM) has experienced a prolonged wind drought, which, alongside low solar generation due to winter, has made the grid overly reliant on coal and gas. As I began writing this article at 9.50 am on Wednesday,
DXY continues its march. AUD is approaching free-fall as North Asia rolls. Debasement and Trump wars are apparently the same trade. AI metals meltdown. Big miners have formed the OMG pattern. EM is still holding on. Probably because this is not a credit event. Not public, anyway. Private may be another matter. Yields are tumbling
The Strait of Hormuz is theoretically open as of today, June 25, 2026, but it is not functioning regularly. In short, I was half wrong. Ships are passing across the strait, but they are subject to military supervision and strict regulations. Traffic is still well below average, with about 25 ships per day as opposed
In October 2024, the Canadian government announced that it would be acting to further slash migration levels into their corner of the cold north. Under the plans put forward by the Trudeau government, net overseas migration would be dramatically curtailed from 784,216 in 2024 to -50,901 in 2025 and -65,622 in 2026. At the time
Wednesday’s CPI inflation release from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has increased pressure on the RBA to lift rates. The policy-relevant trimmed mean inflation increased to 3.6% year-on-year in May and is now tracking above the RBA’s forecast: This result, in isolation, suggests that further rate hikes would be firmly on the RBA’s agenda.
There is growing concern that Australia’s tax and transfer system disproportionately benefits older, wealthier retirees while placing a rising burden on younger workers. Analysis from the Actuaries Institute shows that two Australians earning the same gross income can end up with vastly different net incomes purely because of their age. That is, a 30‑year‑old earning $100,000
Today’s CPI inflation release for May from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) delivered a material downside surprise to headline inflation, largely due to lower fuel costs. However, there was an upside surprise in trimmed-mean inflation, which accelerated to 3.6% year-on-year, up from 3.4% in April. The following chart from Alex Joiner, chief economist at
Getting ready for a serious snap back? TME. The Rubber Bands Are Stretching Several of the market’s biggest themes are starting to collide. Korea’s AI mania is wobbling, systematic selling risks are growing and the dollar breakout continues gaining momentum. Nothing is broken yet, but the number of things that need to go right is
Recent Australian state budgets have explicitly forecast a decline in stamp duty receipts for the same underlying reasons: higher interest rates, weaker housing turnover, and investor retreat following federal tax changes. Across the East Coast, state treasuries are warning that stamp duty – one of the most volatile revenue sources – is dropping sharply because:
Another energy fight is underway as the ACCC has been asked by Energy Minister Chris Bowen to look into whether electricity retailers have violated misconduct laws by attempting to push through significant increases in daily supply charges that have caught many customers off guard. In recent weeks, retailers have sent out notices concerning rates that
The Climate Council contends that there are currently about 160 data centres operating in Australia, with another 90 proposed. Alex Hooper, the head of climate and energy economics at Oxford Economics Australia, says data centres are tipped to account for more than 10% of electricity consumption on Australia’s East Coast by the mid-2030s, which will
