You know an election is coming up when Labor-leaning economist Stephen Koukoulas (‘The Kouk’) writes a propaganda piece in the Labor-leaning Independent Australia, claiming, “The miraculous Australian economy is the envy of the world”. Kouk claims, “The economy is kicking off 2025 in a fabulous spot structurally, even though the cyclical impact of high interest
It is happening in real-time in front of our faces. Emergency alerts about a shortage of electricity reserves hit an all-time record for a last quarter of the year in 2024, new data has revealed, as NSW’s two largest coal power stations suffered a spate of debilitating faults. The Australian Energy Market Operator issued 144
One has to ask why the Coalition seems to endorse the laundering of ‘dirty’ money into Australian property. Last year, the Coalition opposed legislation that included real estate agents, lawyers, and accountants in Australia’s anti-money laundering and terror financing regulatory net. These global “Tranche 2” anti-money laundering (AML) rules were first promised by the former
Yesterday I found Trump’s opening salvos in his trade wars confusing. Applying 25% tariffs to Mexico and Canada for the same ostensible reason—fentanyl and illegal immigrants—made no sense given it only comes through Mexico. I theorised that the Canadian add-on was personal to Trump in light of Justin Trudeau’s poor relationship with him. Thinking it
Risk markets bounced back overnight despite the Chinese tariffs coming into effect as Wall Street rebounded alongside European bourses as the overbought USD was pushed back by all the undollars. The latest economic news from the US and solid earnings reports overshadowed the Trump Trade War with the Federal Reserve still expected to cut once
DXY reversed. AUD is printing multiple hammer candles. CNY reopens today after the LNY break. Gold is massively overbought. Dirt having another crack. Miners meh. EM meh. Junk meh. Yields meh. Stocks only go up. If the last few days are an example of Trump tariff objectives, then what has the market to be afraid
Australians have suffered their longest recession in modern history, with real per capita GDP declining for seven consecutive quarters as of Q3 2024. This decline in per capita GDP has been driven by the household sector, where consumption fell for six of the past seven quarters. This week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has
As Trump gets outmaneuvered by both Canada and Mexico, a new front in the trade war opened up against Chyna today which retaliated immediately in kind. Currency markets have reverted almost back to their pre-North American trade war starting points while gold continues to hold at record highs. Meanwhile the latest local consumer confidence figures
I have argued repeatedly that the Albanese government desperately needs the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rates to bolster its re-election chances. The record decline in real household incomes and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have negatively impacted Labor’s polling position. Therefore, Labor needs the RBA to cut interest rates to regain voters’
“Evil” Anna Bligh is to leave the banking lobby after eight years of political profiteering. Former Queensland premier Anna Bligh will retire from the Australian Banking Association after eight years of lobbying for the major banks, a period when she helped restore the reputation of a sector battered by the Hayne royal commission. The ABA