DXY breaking down during Middle East war is about as clear a signal as any that something big has changed. It still couldn’t save AUD. Lead boots march on. The new safe haven. Metals no bueno. Miners suck the big one. EM meh. Junk loves WWIII. Yields up with oil, instead down with safe haven.
International Reading: Trump to Dismantle FEMA After 2025: Let the States Handle It – Atlas News French drivers sue Tesla claiming Musk turned cars into ‘extreme-Right’ symbol: Tesla owners in France have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk – IBC Canadian Boycott Of U.S. Travel Is Going Stronger Than Ever, New Data Says – Forbes
The Israeli war on Iran has dominated the final session of the trading week here in Asia with all share markets finishing in the red, with a very small bid towards the USD for a safe haven bid, except gold. The Australian dollar was also finally pushed back below the 65 cent level in the
Australia’s cafe industry is on the verge of collapse. Over the past two decades, there has been an explosion in the number of cafes operating across Australia. IBIS World estimates that more than 27,000 cafes are operating in Australia, employing 139,000 people. Competition is intense, with multiple cafes often operating at the same locations. However,
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has cut the official cash rate by 2.25% to 3.25% over the past nine months. The rapid monetary easing was in response to a sharp decline in GDP and national income: New Zealand’s unemployment rate also shot up to 5.1% as of Q1 2025: The latest batch of data
The Victorian government has set a delusional target to deliver 95% renewable energy by 2035. These targets are legislated in the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 (Vic), namely: 25% by 2020 (achieved) 40% by 2025 65% by 2030 (previously 50%) 95% by 2035 (new). Victoria’s renewable energy targets overlook the reality that wind
For a textbook example of how Australia’s housing affordability debate has been perverted, look no further than the latest Housing Affordability Report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. Alan Duncan, Director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, penned an opinion piece in WA Today blaming a lack of supply for Australia’s housing crisis: While interest
SQM Research released its rental vacancy rate for May, which fell 0.1% over the month to a historically low 1.2% nationally—the same level as last year. While all markets are tight, Sydney (1.5%) and Melbourne (1.5%) have significantly higher vacancy rates than the other capital cities, which are all tracking below 1.0%. Nationally, the rental
A stronger than expected US initial jobless claims print – the third week in a row that was well above expectations – gave bond and currency markets a bit of a shakeup but was overshadowed by increased Iranian tensions with the US and the plainly not-a-deal US-China trade deal. Wall Street still managed to turn
I reported on Thursday how an unexpected outage at Victoria’s second-largest coal-fired power station had heightened concerns that colder weather could strain the market and drive up wholesale electricity prices. I noted that the renewables would use the outage as an opportunity to label coal-fired generation “unreliable” and as justification for Labor’s renewables rollout to