Australia has experienced the strongest population growth in the developed world this century. According to the ABS’ Population clock, the nation’s population has expanded by 8.9 million people this century, a 47% increase. Australia has also experienced the biggest immigration boom in the nation’s history under the Albanese government, which has fueled the nation’s rental
The ferrous jaws have only marginally compressed. To summarise. Hot metal ouput is hovering somewhere around 2.3 mt per day, which is mediocre. Port inventories of iron ore are still skyrocketing. MOFCOM reported it at 170.44MT yesterday. A crazy number. Steel inventories are high with limited need to restock. Steel exports are under pressure from
In a demented, incoherent hour long speech at Davos, Trump finally revealed his master plan by chickening out yet again on his threats to tariff Europe takeover Greenland. Wall Street loved the parade of lies and swung back while the USD firmed slightly against an overbought Euro it continued to lose ground against others, particularly
Last week, CBA released its wage tracker for December, which draws on de-identified salary flows from around 400,000 CBA accounts to provide an early snapshot of wage growth. In the December quarter of 2025, CBA recorded annual wage growth of only 3.1%, well below the 3.4% CPI inflation increase recorded by the ABS in the
DXY popped overnight as a triple bunga of the Supreme Court frowning at Trump Fed interference, Greenland calm, and firming Japanese yields let air out of the pressure cooker. AUD roared to new highs. CNMY tailwind intact. Gold came off, but not much. Base metals, more so. Markets have forgotten that RIO makes its money
Louis Christopher, founder and managing director of SQM Research, posted the following tweet on Twitter (X), warning that large house price falls “can and will” happen in large cities: Christopher’s tweet was in response to a report on London’s housing market reporting losses of up to 34% for owners of flats, with “hundreds of thousands
Asian share markets have fallen across the region although Chinese shares remain resilient in the wake of the selloff on Wall Street overnight on a broader “America-off” strategy by all risk markets. Gold is heading higher faster while the USD is losing ground against all the majors yet again. Oil prices remain in flux with
When DemosAU released its latest federal polling last week, it brought a deeply unwelcome set of news for an already struggling Coalition; they were now neck and neck with One Nation for primary vote, with both parties at 23%. The transformation of the nation’s polling landscape since the election is remarkable. One Nation has seen
Cotality has a rather hopeful press release. Momentum returns to the building sector The Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI) recorded a 1.0% increase in construction costs nationally over the December 2025 quarter, the strongest quarterly growth of the year. This marks a notable acceleration compared with the previous quarterly increases of 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.6%,
Charts from TME. Is there a relationship between the Japanese long end and gold? Maybe. If so, YCC would create a divorce. Gold volatility says there’s no panic yet. Same regarding speculators. CTAs are more fully invested. The miner’s leverage to prices is normal. A few overheated signs. My own view is that gold is