Record public spending has recently powered the Australian economy. At the same time, Australian households have exhibited recessionary behaviour, with real per capita household consumption tracking negative for seven consecutive quarters on an annual basis, down 2.4% from its peak. The decline in household spending, which usually accounts for about 60% of GDP growth, is
DXY is up again. AUD down. CNY fine. Gold whacked. Metals OK. Miners are going lower. EM rolled. Junk is fine. Yields up a bit. Stocks flat. The US PPI was pretty hot today. Even worse, it’s mostly services. Add ongoing pressure from goods via tariffs. With wage growth going strong as Trump slashes immigration
In the history of the industrialised world, there have been many technological innovations that have transformed the way we collectively live our lives. The steam locomotive and the radio are two of the many inventions that have changed history, but not all of them have been as profitable as one might think for their inventors.
The ferrous complex was smacked yesterday. ANZ has done a good job of calling the top. The iron ore market continues to shrug off ongoing weakness in China’s property sector. The prospect of further rationalisation of its steel industry could add further support to prices. …A pullback in steel output in recent months has improved
Australian real wages recorded a record 7.3% decline between mid-2020 and the September quarter of 2023. They have since recorded a modest 1.3% rebound, meaning that real wages remained 6.0% below their peak as of mid-2025. The August Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) forecast that real wages would
This is an important story. The Australian. The US Defence Department is aiming to integrate Australia and other Asian allies into a stronger collective defence framework focused on deterring Beijing and safeguarding Taiwan, warning that partners in the Indo-Pacific must not “sit back while the Europeans are stepping up.” As Canberra and Washington prepare to
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has launched a preemptive attack on moves to curb investor tax concessions, such as negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount. Chief economist Tim Reardon claimed that “investors are vital to the goal of increasing housing stock”, claiming that “investors typically supply around a third of all
Thank god, other states are fighting off Victoria disease. A controversial plan to stave off looming east coast gas shortfalls by underwriting new LNG import terminals has been indefinitely delayed as interstate disagreements and a broader overhaul of the market could push back the need for overseas sources. The Victorian-led proposal, which has yet to
At the end of 2024, CoreLogic (now Cotality) estimated that Australians were paying a record percentage of their income to rent the median property. According to Cotality’s most recent quarterly rental report, national median rents have risen by 43% over the last five years, causing the average tenant household to pay an additional $10,350 per
The robots are all in on the AI bubble, but humans are not. The Market Ear. Much more room Equity allocation according to FMS has risen, but we are way below extreme levels. Source: BofA Still depressed Goldman’s equity sentiment indicator of positioning remains depressed. Source: GS Refusing Non dealers continue to refuse buying the