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
The latest consumer sentiment survey from the Westpac Melbourne Institute, released on Tuesday, revealed that Australians have become more pessimistic about house prices. The house price expectations index fell by 10.2% in April but remains fairly bullish overall. On the other hand, homebuyer sentiment rose by 3.5% in April but remained soft by historical standards.
According to the most recent CommBank Wage Insights, Australia’s wage growth is steady amid growing prices and uncertainty across the world. Wages rose by 0.8% in the three months leading up to March 2026, with annual growth remaining at 3.1%, according to de-identified data from about 400,000 accounts. This implies that since mid-2025, wage growth
They never learn. They are paid not to. The LNP is out with its new performance-based phoney immigration policy. Unknown leader Seabass Taylor suggests switching from a system that is non-discriminatory to one that evaluates immigrants based on how well they align with national values. This would include establishing explicit behavioural guidelines and making the
The Westpac index of consumer sentiment for April is out and has crashed to its lowest level since COVID, following the surge in fuel prices and rising inflation concerns. “At 80, the Index is back near historical lows, albeit above the extremes seen at the onset of the pandemic and during the recessions of the
WTF is wrong with this place! FLINDERS UNIVERSITY AWARDS HONORARY DOCTORATE TO ESTEEMED FINANCE, MEDIA & BUSINESS LEADER, DAVID KOCH David Koch AM has today been awarded an Honorary Doctor of the University from Flinders University in recognition of his contribution as one of Australia’s most prominent financial commentators and media professionals, who continues to use his extensive expertise to advocate for small business and to
Last month, Tim Toohey from Yarra Capital warned that if AI is “deployed at scale in Australia over the next two years”, then the nation’s unemployment rate could rise to above 6% from 4.3% currently: Shortly afterwards, a Mercer survey of Australian senior executives, human resources personnel, and employees revealed that 100% of HR managers believed
Since the war in the Middle East erupted, I have noticed that traffic around Melbourne has been severely reduced due to rising fuel costs. The reduced traffic on the roads has provided a clear benefit to those with higher incomes, who are less affected by higher fuel costs and place a higher value on their
The ALP is pretending to care about gas taxes. Labor backbenchers are lobbying Treasurer Jim Chalmers to extract more tax revenue from gas exporters to sooth voter anger about resource profits, although some now believe the Middle East conflict will scuttle changes that might have been included in the federal budget. …Multiple Labor MPs told
JPM with another excellent note. …reopening the Strait has become the market’s most time sensitive priority. The last tanker to clear Hormuz on February 28 is expected to reach its destination around April 20, marking the point at which preclosure barrels are fully exhausted from the global supply chain. Yet—and contrary to our expectations—large-scale refinery
Throughout human history, the psychology of nation leaders has often been just as pivotal in shaping the outcomes that define the geopolitical landscape as almost any other factor. In the age of U.S. President Donald Trump and a more uncertain and volatile world more broadly, the psychology of leaders, most notably Trump himself, is absolutely
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) wage price index for the December quarter revealed that real inflation-adjusted wages declined by 0.3% in 2025 and were tracking 6% below their Covid-19 ‘bubble’ peak of around late 2011 levels: The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) forecasts laid out in its February Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) suggested
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, folks take a government-issued pill whenever they feel less than 100% happy, to keep them in line. In Albo’s Brave New Australia, he has inverted this paradigm to provide a fiscal incentive to feel sick so that folks can tap a similar government-supplied narcotic to feel better. I refer,
According to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) housing finance data, $19.310 billion in mortgages were issued to first-time home buyers during the December quarter of 2025. This was a 16% gain over the previous quarter and the highest value since the first quarter of 2021: The average size of first home buyer
Has Albo grown a backbone at last? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has flagged an expansion in gas production but stopped short of ruling out higher taxes on exports in the May budget, as Singapore warned it would look elsewhere if Australian energy became too expensive. Albanese met Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday as
Robert Gottliebsen of The Australian newspaper claims that the original financial estimates for proceeding with a renewable energy plan in NSW and Victoria were pure fiction and completely underestimated the project’s complexity and cost. After collaborating with Aidan Morrison of the Centre for Independent Studies, Gottliebsen argues that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) had
The ferrous complex is weakening as peace prospects in the Gulf improve. The jaws are still far too wide, and steel prices have resumed falling. Iron ore stock at the port has hit its seasonal top, but the rundown is very slow, supported in some measure by China’s lift og BHP product bans. Steel inventories
The world-destroying POTUS is going back up the escalation ladder. President Donald Trump said the US will blockade the Strait of Hormuz following the failure of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad this weekend, a move that will likely exacerbate oil and fuel shortages globally. “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will
When the nation went to the polls at last year’s federal election, One Nation won just 6.4% of the primary lower house vote. Since then, One Nation’s share of the primary vote has undergone a meteoric rise, with aggregate polling showing they have the support of roughly 1 in 4 voters. For the longest time,
The supply side of Australia’s housing market continues to worsen. The National Housing Accord, signed by the federal government and the states and territories, set a target to build 1.2 million homes over five years, commencing on 1 July 2024. Last week, the ABS released housing construction data for the December quarter of 2025, which
Only 8 weeks ago, when it came to US President Donald Trump, our focus was on Greenland. Remember Greenland? While no doubt imperfect, the Danes have run Greenland quite peacefully for hundreds of years. Trump never made clear exactly why he felt Greenland was in any way vital to US interests. Only 6 weeks ago,
CBA’s economics team has produced some excellent charts, derived from customer bank account data, showing how the rise in energy costs is consuming a larger share of household budgets. The prices of petrol and diesel have risen sharply since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. However, retail petrol prices fell slightly to 240 cents
International Reading: Eligible US men will be automatically registered for military draft pool beginning in December – Daily Mail Iran again shuts Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Lebanon – JPost Newly created Polymarket accounts bet big on US-Iran ceasefire in hours before Trump’s announcement – AP News Trump’s labor plan is
TME with the charts. Crash erased, squeeze done The market has erased the entire selloff and completed a full roundtrip. Positioning has been reset, volatility has collapsed, and systematic flows are turning into support. The problem is, with price back in the middle of the range, edge is already fading. The roundtrip SPX has now
Sydney’s and Melbourne’s home prices continue to shift into “correction” territory, with values declining by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, over the past 28 days, according to Cotality’s daily dwelling values index. In contrast, values in Perth (2.1%), Brisbane (1.4%), and Adelaide (1.0%) continue to increase at a strong pace. The sharp contrast in price performance
JPM today tallies the damage to hydrocarbon output in the Gulf. Around 60 energy infrastructure assets in the Gulf have been impacted by drone and missile strikes in the nearly six weeks since the conflict started, with about 50 of them suffering varying degrees of damage (Figure 1 & 2). JPM anticipates that the majority
