Every year, consumer confidence surveys perk up as households bask in the afterglow of the holiday season and make New Year’s resolutions, creating a brief rise in optimism that conditions might be better in the year ahead. According to the latest data from the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index, this year might be a little
I abhor all forms of racism. Period. I condemn the Bondi Massacre. Yet the following legislative response is so extreme that anybody and everybody should reject it. The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 is the end of Australian freedom as we have known it. You have 24 hours to respond. Part 5—Racial vilification
Overnight saw the release of the “official” US CPI print for December, and while the outcome was softer than expected risk markets were more wary of the continued political pressure on the Fed from the Trump regime and the burgeoning US government debt levels. Some earnings reports on Wall Street gave pause to the actual
Recall the recent boast of Australia’s Treasurer of propaganda, “Spin” Jim Chalmers, claiming that Labor had delivered the “longest period of consecutive real wage growth in almost a decade” following eight consecutive quarters of annual real wage growth: Chalmers’ misleading comment came after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released Q3 2025 wage data showing that real
Cotality has released its Chart Pack for December, which shows that dwelling values nationally increased by 8.6% in 2025, with the regions (9.7%) outpacing the capital cities (8.2%): Cotality also reported that Australia’s dwelling stock was valued at $12.3 trillion at the end of 2025, spread across 11.4 million homes. This means that the average
Asian share markets are booming in today’s session led by Japanese shares as BOJ and government officials try to talk down the volatility around Yen as it weakens steeply against USD. However looming risk from the Trump regime’s attacks on Federal Reserve’s independence threatening ratings while the possibly of the Supreme Court reversing the tariffs
Victoria’s household gas prices have jumped 208 per cent since 2009, the biggest increase in Australia. New analysis of St Vincent de Paul Society and Alviss Consulting’s annual tariff tracker shows Victorians are the most exposed to long‑term gas price inflation with prices soaring far above the national 134 per cent rise. …According to analysis of Essential
Charts from TME. The golden rocket channel holds. It ain’t specs. ATH again and again. Daily RSI OK. Monthly RSI whoa! Bugger fake gold. Japanese connection holding. Miners up and away. Explorers and juniors fly as it boils over. But cheap if you believe. “In the short term, a 100pt increase Geopolitical Risk Index translates
Westpac measures headed for Hades. In January, Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment fell 1.7% to 92.9. The move is driven by deteriorating perceptions of the near-term prognosis. Now, over two thirds of customers anticipate an increase in mortgage rates in 2026. Customers are less optimistic about their employment prospects. Most people between the ages of 18
Once upon a time, there was a country in which you grew up in a good house and played in abundant green space. Occasionally, you visited your grandparents in some suburb near or far. Life was good. Now the kids will be emptying their grandparents’ Tenna support pants instead. In an attempt to combat the