Shanghai rebar is back at the lows. The iron ore jaws are gaping, meaning further destocking pressure from steel mills: Mad Dalian is range trading: Coking coal not so much: RIO’s Pilbara killer is running hard: • Subsequent to the end of the quarter, all conditions were satisfied for Rio Tinto’s investment to develop the
Overnight the latest US retail sales print surprised to the upside with a new record high on the Dow Jones and S&P500 as risk markets continue to price in the Fed cutting and the world going to hell in a handbasket with the election of Trump in November as the yield curve went further into
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index fell another 0.5%, which was the second weakest result since early December 2023: Confidence is now 36pts lower than its pre-COVID five-year (2015–19) average. It has also spent a record 76 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Commenting on the result, ANZ Economist Madeline Dunk noted: “While
The latest SEEK employment data suggests that Australia’s job market may have hit a tipping point. The number of job ads reported on SEEK fell by 1.5% in June to be tracking 36.2% below their peak. The number of applicants per job ad surged by 3.0% in May (latest available) to be up 61.6% over
This is what happens when inept and cowardly politicians run a country. I give you Albo’s Inflation Island: According to interest rate futures, every DM in the world is going to see 100bps+ of interest rate relief over the next year, while Australia’s get one lousy cut. All thanks to two Albanese Government fateful blunders:
Canada’s economy is an unmitigated disaster. Canada has experienced an unprecedented population boom, exceeding even Statistics Canada’s most bullish “high growth” projections: According to economists at the National Bank of Canada, the country’s population expanded by 1.4 million more people in 2022 than Statistics Canada forecasted in its “median growth scenario.” An unprecedented rental crisis
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has been almost as unequivocal as me on gas: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to build seven nuclear reactors would take too long to replace ageing coal generators, the chief executive of the Australian Energy Market Operator has warned, as he backed gas as the grid’s “ultimate backstop”. “Even
A mixed session on Asian markets with last night’s meagre lift on Wall Street not translating to further confidence in the region, with a much firmer USD not helping. Bond markets are selling off, indicating a potential Trump 2.0 win in November with the Australian dollar off from its six month high as it retraces
According to Herald-Sun special investigator Sue Dunlevy, nearly 80 private hospitals across Australia have closed during the last five years, and the private hospital sector lost a combined $611 million in 2023-24. Two-thirds of elective surgery is undertaken in private hospitals, and the growing exodus from the sector is putting further pressure on public hospitals’
The similarities between the Albanese Government and the former Rudd Labor Government are uncanny. Both came to power following a long stint in the political wilderness and initially rode a wave of strong popular support. And both quickly established national summits to ‘solve’ the nation’s problems: The Rudd Government’s Australia 2020 Summit was a two