Friday’s retail trade data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recorded no bounce from the Stage 3 tax cuts, with the value of sales remaining flat (0%) over the month and falling in real per capita terms. Chief economist at IFM Investors, Alex Joiner, posted the following chart on Twitter (X) showing that the
A pox on both your houses as Newspoll prints a dead heat in two-party preferred: Labor is finished as a standalone entity: Minority government looks like the best bet at this stage, though that prospect might swing things the closer it gets.
Michael Hartnett at BofA has gone gaga for dirt. Zeitgeist: “We present at the trade shows because customers want to see you using AI. Can’t figure out how to make any money with it, though.” The Price is Right: big support levels held in August…3.8% GT10, 4.0% GT30, 100 DXY,140 USDJPY, $70 oil, $60k Bitcoin;
Australia’s population is booming courtesy of record net overseas migration: Australia’s population grew by 2.5% in 2023—the fastest rate since 1952—dwarfing the average growth of advanced nations: However, while Australia’s population has grown like a science experiment, fewer families are having children. The following chart shows that there were 287,000 births in Australia in 2023,
The Guardian’s Greg Jericho posted the following chart showing how hours worked by women have surged, while for men, it is lower than before the pandemic: “The hours worked by women aged 25 to 64 rose strongly after the pandemic – mostly off the back of a surge in healthcare and social assistance work within
Down she goes: China’s residential slump deepened in August, as expectations of a further drop in new-home prices hampered the country’s efforts to cushion the downturn. The value of new-home sales from the 100 biggest real estate companies fell about 26.8% from a year earlier to 251 billion yuan ($35.4 billion), faster than the 19.7% decline in
SHFE and SGX jaws are still bad for steel mills: Mad Dalian rolled Friday night: Coking cola more: Scuttlebutt is weak: “Several factors jointly contributed to this wave of price rebound, including stronger expectation of a Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) interest rate cut, better demand with peak construction season approaching and the suspension of steel
The trading week ended on Friday night with some month-end shenanigans with USD surging once more despite a slightly softer than expected US PCE print with rising bond yields helping add volatility to the mix. While European stocks couldn’t take advantage of a very weak Euro, Wall Street put in a very solid session as
Bernard Salt, the self-proclaimed “unabashed supporter of a bigger Australia”, has written reams of articles and reports advocating for rapid population growth and warning that failing to do so will result in an economic and fiscal catastrophe. Over the weekend, Salt penned a waffling article in The Australian describing the joys of growing up in
CoreLogic has recorded flat rental growth across Australia for the second straight month in August, with Sydney recording its second consecutive monthly decline. The annual rental growth rate also declined across most markets: Nationally, rental values were up by 7.2% in the year to August, which is the lowest annual growth rate since May 2021.