Why your “Green” fund might just be a lump of coal wrapped in expensive paper. Santa Claus was the original ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investor. He maintains a strict (checks it twice) database of global citizens, performs due diligence on their behaviour, and engages in negative screening (the Naughty List) and positive allocation (the
From the Market Ear: Stretch-marks Eight straight green months. Hedge fund leverage above the 90th percentile. Sentiment stretched, cash at record lows, and strategists unanimously bullish. Ten indicators say the same thing: risk is too one-sided. Stretchy streak With the SPX edging back into positive territory for December, the monthly streak of positive closes remains
The team at MacroBusiness thanks you for your support in 2025 and wishes you a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. We will be taking a brief hiatus over the Christmas and New Year period, with only sporadic posting, and will return on Monday, 5 January 2026. We look forward to keeping
A quiet session for Asian share markets as we head into the low volume Christmas period with local shares the only dour note, falling back after a previously solid effort yesterday as the Australian dollar hits a new monthly high above the 67 cent level. Oil markets remain unstable with some errant bids seeing Brent
It is easy to forget about Adelaide when discussing Australia’s housing crisis. However, the city has experienced the most significant erosion in housing affordability since the pandemic began. The latest housing affordability and rental data from Cotality tells the tale. Purchase affordability: Turning to purchase affordability first, Adelaide has experienced the largest rise in dwelling
In November, it was reported that the Albanese government wrote to the states demanding they rein in spending on hospitals. According to ABC News, the letter stated: “For states and territories to realise a Commonwealth contribution of 42.5% of public hospital costs by 2030-31, under the capped glide path model, it will be necessary for
Five years ago, during the first Trump presidency, I wrote a controversial post titled Could Trump be Right About Ethical Investing?. At the time, Trump was attacking “activist” pension funds. My argument was that while I disagreed with his stance on climate change, he had a valid point about agency: Why should a fund manager
Drive.com.au published interesting data showing the decline in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales in Australia despite massive subsidies from governments. Over the first 11 months of this year, only 8.5% of vehicles sold were BEVs, down from 9.5% over the same period in 2024: Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles accounted for 70.7% of vehicle sales
Over the last two and a half years, the Albanese government has embarked on a campaign that one former RBA economist characterises as artificially manipulating the headline Consumer Price Index through electricity subsidies. This has significantly suppressed the rate of headline inflation relative to where it would otherwise have been. Former Reserve Bank economist John
Last week, we learned that the US unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, beating analysts’ expectations of 4.5%. The result marked the fifth consecutive monthly increase in unemployment, which reached its highest level since 2021. Average monthly job creation since March declined to 35,000, down from 71,000 a year earlier.