The latest mortgage finance data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), released on Friday, debunked the notion that Australia’s property market is suffering an investor “exodus”. The value of investor mortgage commitments increased by 31.1% in the year to March. This easily outpaced the 11.4% growth that owner-occupiers reported. The following chart shows the
International Reads: Jerome Powell has had it with the 1970s talk, saying he doesn’t see the ‘stag’ or the ‘-flation’ investors are worried about – Fortune The surprising reason few Americans are getting chips jobs now. – Washington Post Wall Street Has Spent Billions Buying Homes. A Crackdown Is Looming. – WSJ Media outlets are
With the FOMC meeting absorbed all eyes are now on the latest US jobs report tonight with the bounce in tech shares on Wall Street possibly not enough to stave off a general risk off mood. Several major share markets were closed in Asia today so the lead didn’t really matter with local stocks still
Independent economist Tony Alexander believes that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has gone too far with its monetary tightening and has driven a sharp rise in unemployment. I argued similarly on Wednesday. Below is Tony Alexander’s report on the latest labour market figures. Labour market weakens The main data focus this week for those
In an interview with Sky News’ Danica De Giorgio, I explain why the latest collapse in retail sales means that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will be highly reluctant to lift interest rates further. Edited Transcript: A week ago, all the talk was about the higher-than-expected inflation figure, which could potentially lead to another
Albert Edwards of Societe General. Not much shocks me in the world of economics and finance nowadays, but the latest IMF report on the US fiscal situation stunned me into momentary silence. Having dusted myself down and digested the report more fully,I thought I would pen some thoughts about where we may be heading over
Australia’s international trade in goods position weakened in March, reaching a three-year low of $5.0bn, below the market’s median expectation of $7.3bn. The narrowing surplus was driven by a 4.2% gain in imports. Export earnings rose 0.1% in March, with rural goods being 2.8% higher. However, a more than 5% drop in commodity prices impacted
Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr plans to sue New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters over controversial remarks made on radio during a recent debate over the Advanced Nuclear Weapons Enhanced Cooperation (AUKUS) pact. Peters was interviewed about New Zealand’s position on AUKUS and accused Carr of closeness with China. The comments were not
Say what you will about Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. However, Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain is the best political satire in the country. In the latest instalment, Please Explain argues that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is addicted to immigration. Immigration Junkies | Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain Admitting you have a problem is the first step to
I have argued repeatedly that the official Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) unemployment rate of 3.8% flies in the face of broader labour market data and the per capita recession afflicting the economy. Most notable among these is the surge in the number of applicants per job ad recorded by Seek, which historically would correspond