According to the most recent NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO), business confidence increased significantly in the last quarter of 2025. Seasonally adjusted, a net 39% of businesses anticipate improved overall economic conditions in the upcoming months. With business confidence at its highest level since March 2014, this was a significant rise from the
Oddly, the Murdoch press has taken the lead in curtailing free speech amid culture wars, despite its earlier strong stance against identity politics. Its obsessed critic, Crikey, is completely silent on the end of the free speech bill. I can only assume former firebrand Eric Beecher is in a coma. The ABC almost exclusively portrays
As the push and pull over the prospect of rate rises in 2026 continues, the signals coming from forward looking labour market indicators are painting quite a different picture. The ANZ-Indeed Job Ads index has continued to plumb new cycle lows, down 32.6% from the peak level of demand for labour in November 2022. In
From boom levels to more moderate. the Westpac credit card index has come off. Though seasonal adjustments may be messing with the outcome. The most recent weekly Index reading of 158.2 is the highest on record, but these problems probably overstate its strength. Although there are some hesitant indications of deceleration around the year’s beginning,
I’m not saying it’s over, but we now see how it could be. TME with the charts. Oil is back as anarcho-imperialism builds a risk premium. Room to run. Too many bulls. Not enough bears. Long-end selling like hotcakes. Duration and tech are not good bedfellows. Gold doesn’t care. But if DXY gets moving with
I’d better say this before I am arrested in two days. The CBA Labour and Wage Report (is that a religious text I can quote from?) is a terrific leading indicator for wage growth. For the quarter and the year ending in December, wages increased by 0.8% and 3.1%, respectively. December saw the addition of
The ferrous jaws remain wide! Bears are on the run. S&P. What’s happening? The Simandou iron ore project in Guinea is expected to have limited immediate impact on Australia’s Pilbara iron ore market in 2026. Logistical constraints and a gradual production ramp-up will restrict the project’s market entry, according to market participants who spoke to Platts.
Every year, consumer confidence surveys perk up as households bask in the afterglow of the holiday season and make New Year’s resolutions, creating a brief rise in optimism that conditions might be better in the year ahead. According to the latest data from the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index, this year might be a little
I abhor all forms of racism. Period. I condemn the Bondi Massacre. Yet the following legislative response is so extreme that anybody and everybody should reject it. The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 is the end of Australian freedom as we have known it. You have 24 hours to respond. Part 5—Racial vilification
Overnight saw the release of the “official” US CPI print for December, and while the outcome was softer than expected risk markets were more wary of the continued political pressure on the Fed from the Trump regime and the burgeoning US government debt levels. Some earnings reports on Wall Street gave pause to the actual