The Market Ear explores. Déjà Vu? VIX specs are crowding into extreme short territory just as seasonality turns bullish for volatility. The last two times this happened, SPX corrected hard… Buy protection when you can Looks like the crowd is doing the total opposite… VIX net non commercials have crashed, and in very short territory.
In the years since the final benefits of the mining boom were felt throughout the economy, the relative size of the government’s role as a driver of economic growth has grown to unprecedented post-war heights. It is here that an important distinction needs to be made. The overall size of government spending as a proportion
Two things are happening today that show just how broken Australia is. First, the economic recovery has been underway since the RBA rate easing cycle was dealt a nasty blow by the gas cartel as electricity prices skyrocketed. This helped spike inflation far higher than the market expected. Although the broader monthly index was more
Risk markets were dominated by currency volatility and Treasury sales overnight with the impact of the Trump regime’s fiddling with the Fed (not kids this time) starting to have an impact. Although the USD finished flat against the majors its moving lower against the commodity currencies particularly Loonie and the Aussie while the Treasury yield
On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the monthly CPI inflation indicator for July, which recorded a jump in annual headline inflation to 2.8%, up from up a hefty 0.9% from the 1.9% reported in June. The result was a much larger rise than anticipated, with CBA forecasting a 2.0% rise and the
Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, the founder of Fortescue Metals Group, remains one of the most vocal global supporters of green hydrogen, despite multiple setbacks. In 2021, Forrest announced plans to manufacture 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030. He saw green hydrogen as a critical solution for decarbonising industries such as steel, shipping,
Asian share markets are still failing to translate the Friday night gains on other equity markets as the tariff threats and actual actions from the Trump regime are still being felt across the region, with India in the crosshairs today. Meanwhile the continued attack on the independence of the US Federal Reserve has seen more
My WhatsApp group of 30 local school dads shares regular stories of attempted burglaries in my local area, as does the local community Facebook page. Jacqui Felgate, Melbourne’s 3AW Radio host, posts daily videos via Instagram of the latest armed robberies and crimes in Melbourne. A similar incident occurred last year when I awoke to
Australian real wages are tracking 6.1% below their mid-2022 ‘covid-bubble’ peak. The latest RBA Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) also forecast that real wages will remain 5.5% below their peak at the end of 2027. SEEK’s latest advertised salaries index suggested that Australian wage growth is slowing. Advertised salary growth rose by only 0.2% in
Somebody save me from Albo’s Australia. The Australian. Iran’s Islamist regime used a web of spies and organised criminals to launch multiple terrorist attacks on Australia’s Jewish community, in an unprecedented assault on the nation’s social fabric that has sparked the severing of diplomatic ties with Tehran. The Ayatollah’s ambassador to Australia has been expelled