Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) data shows that nearly 3,000 construction companies failed in the 2023-24 financial year. The trend has continued into this financial year, with 415 construction sector insolvencies recorded from the start of July to 11 August: As shown above, there were 328 construction insolvencies in July, up from 295 recorded
Gareth Aird at the CBA with a fine piece. Basically, the RBA has no credibility left. Recent RBA forward guidance at odds with RBA review into forward guidance Forward guidance first appeared in the Governor’s August press conference Until recently the RBA’s communication strategy under Governor Bullock was not to provide forward guidance. Indeed a
The fake Greens are at it again, attacking the federal government for daring to oppose caps on international students, which have ballooned to obscene numbers. As reported in The Guardian: The Greens education spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi, accused Labor of “charging ahead with this terrible policy” despite “near unanimous opposition from the higher education sector”. Faruqi
The past few weeks have seen much hand-wringing and scaremongering about Australia’s unseasonably warm end to winter (see the example below). Melbourne’s unseasonably warm weather has meant that our household hasn’t run the heater for at least two weeks, saving us lots of money (given obscene gas prices) and reducing carbon emissions. The most sensible
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its CPI indicator for July, which came in a little above expectations. The CPI Indicator rose 3.5% in the 12 months to July 2024, down from 3.8% in June. Economists had tipped a 3.4% increase. The following graphic from Alex Joiner at IFM Investors breaks down the
Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro has published charts on wage growth on Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs). The following chart from Fabo shows that “Average annualised wages growth in federal enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) lodged for approval with Australia’s Fair Work Commission was was 3.5% in the 4 weeks to 26 July”: More interestingly, union negotiated
Albo’s nation-gutting energy shock is slowly ebbing as we move into Spring shoulder season for power: However, do not expect the lows of last year to return while gas is glued to Albo’s catastrophic $12Gj price floor: The Albanese government’s failure to fix gas markets is on full display today as the entire parliamentary pet
The Market Ear on familiar territory. Soggy China CSI 300 not far from panic lows we saw earlier this year. The gap vs SPX is beyond extreme… Source: Refinitiv Chinese speculation ChiNext is the home to fast money. Both the ChiNext and China margin trading debt charts are having problems finding “bids”… Source: Refinitiv That
Qingdao iron ore is ignoring the fireworks in futures, barely up at $93.03. SHFE and SGX futures are bouncing together but steel mill profitability is getting worse, not better: Dalian is unhinged as usual: Not so much for coking coal: CISA output went from bad to worse in mid-August and inventory rose 4% anyway: With
Before the pandemic, Australia had by far the highest concentration of international students in the world, dwarfing other Anglo nations: The explosion in student numbers followed the strategic review of the student visa program in 2011 (‘the Knight review’) by the Gillard Government, which greatly expanded work rights for graduate (485) visas in 2013. In