For a long time, I have bewailed the rise of fake left and its obsession with culture war issues like genitals, Palestine and racism. The substitution of this grab bag of identity politics for issues of class has led directly to the rise of the populist right in the shape of Donald Trump as American
ANZ has a few nice charts showing how labour costs have nothing to do with the recent inflation pop. The Q3 trimmed mean inflation print is likely to have been a ‘one-off’. Several factors point to that conclusion, including business survey price and cost measures, the tendency for Q3 inflation prints in recent years to
In this week’s podcast, Nucleus Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer, Damien Klassen, examines the political storm hitting the healthcare sector — how comments and policy risks from Trump and RFK Jr. are weighing on valuations, whether today’s beaten-down prices could present a long-term buying opportunity, or if lasting damage to the sector’s economics and social licence
In 2023, the Victorian government committed to delivering 80,000 new homes annually for the next decade, with a target of 2 million by 2051. To achieve its target, the government has implemented an authoritarian plan to seize control of planning from local governments and create 50 activity zones designated for high-density apartments. The government last week
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was interviewed by The Australian, during which he was questioned about his plan for “Universal Childcare”. Albanese confirmed that this would be a major focus of the government for 2025 but remained guarded on exactly what that might look like in reality. “We’ll worry about that next year,”
Steel is in freefall again. This does not include yesterday, when rebar fell another 1.4% and HRC 1.2%. The ferrous jaws must close. Simandou is getting coverage everywhere now. Some nice images here from Bloomberg. But the AFR has a much better piece with some great detail. …most analysts are sceptical about the potential for
DXY is breaking out still. AUD rebounded in its fading trend. CNY meh. Gold trying to hold. AI metals a better day. The chosen one bounced. EM too. Junk held. But there’s trouble in them thar yields. Stocks rose anyway. I remain cautious on the crap complex—commodities, EM, AUD—while the bond backup and rising DXY
Exclusively from Gerard Minack. Australia remains stuck in a macro rut as anaemic investment spending is stretched by a fast growing population. The result is sluggish capital-to-labour growth and – remarkably – falling labour productivity. The implication is that real wages cannot rise without creating inflation pressures. Macro stagnation has gone together with falling corporate
Risk markets were in buy the dip mode overnight as Wall Street rebounded after speculation that tariff relief maybe around the corner alongside better than expected US economic data. European stocks also came back slightly while a build up in US domestic supplies saw oil prices pushed back to weekly lows. The USD had small
Cotality’s house price results for October noted that values are growing more strongly at the lower-to-middle end of the market. Across the combined capital cities, dwelling values in October rose by 1.4% across the middle market and by 1.2% across the lower quartile, while the upper quartile values increased by only 0.7% over the month.