Call to vet future Qantas groundings
Qantas Airways would be prevented from grounding its fleet without prior consultation from the government and safety authorities, under regulations recommended by a Senate subcommittee on Thursday.
Last-minute FoFA deal drops opt-in
Updated | The federal government has walked away from the centrepiece of its financial advice reforms by dropping the requirement for advisers to sign fresh contracts with their clients every two years.
LNP targets wages in $5.7bn savings plan
The Queensland LNP has refused to commit to CPI wage increases for future public sector enterprise agreements as part of its plans to achieve $5.7 billion in savings over the next four years
RBA to exchange currency with China
Australia's central bank has signed an agreement with its counterpart in China allowing for up to $30 billion to be exchanged between the two banks.
PM confirms $275m subsidy for Holden
Updated | Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed federal and state governments will provide a $275 million subsidy to GM Holden’s operations in Australia.
China hard landing fears ‘unfounded’
JPMorgan’s managing director of global markets, Jing Ulrich, has dismissed fears of a “hard landing” in China and predicted strong demand for copper and coal as Beijing moves to stimulate growth in the economy.
Aussie dollar ‘killing’ goldminer Newcrest
Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining has been forced to defend its share price performance relative to movements in the gold price at a conference in Hong Kong.
Tanner slams nation’s infrastructure priorities
Former federal finance minister Lindsay Tanner has unleashed a ferocious attack on Australia’s politicians, saying they ignore the national interest and spread infrastructure funding around “irrespective of merit”.
Bidders circle Lloyds’s $2bn bad loans
Two consortiums are forming to bid for a $2 billion portfolio of bad commercial property loans that BOS International is attempting to offload.
Resources help ASX defy negativity
Asian shares have pared gains after a survey provided further evidence of economic contraction in China, sending the Australian dollar sharply lower; but resource stocks defied the negativity and the S&P/ASX200 index closed 19 points higher at 4273.7.
Hacktivists take data theft lead
Activists hacking government and corporate networks to embarrass big organisations were responsible for more than half of all data theft last year, according to a new US survey.
Can Bill Morrow fix Vodafone?
Robust competition, bad publicity, fickle consumers and the headache of securing spectrum pose challenges for the new head of Vodafone Hutchison Australia.
Fact or fantasy — Rash of Samsung Galaxy S III photos keeps spreading
Fake or real, the photos prove there’s a lot of interest in Samsung’s next hero phone.
Leighton moves toward a new start
After Leighton’s slap on the wrist from ASIC, it looks like it is trying to get its house in order.
Merrill: ACCC shouldn’t interfere
The ACCC is looking into AGL Energy’s buyout of Victoria’s Loy Yang A power station..
Swan’s essay shrugged off
Fringe media debates about the social responsibilities of the rich are irrelevant to the punter in the street.
DJs drops till you shop
One of the most obvious steps for DJs to take is to concede that it got it wrong in allowing customer service to deteriorate so badly.
Palmer draws a highfalutin political shot
“High net-worth individual” is a wordy euphemism for a politician to use to describe a political enemy.
Nothing as certain as carbon uncertainty
Come July 1, Australia will be something of a living experiment in carbon pricing, closely watched by economists around the world.
Omni-hopeful but time will tell at DJs
Stevens - The cliches ran swift and occasionally mangled as Paul Zahra described and justified DJs’ embrace of its “omni-channel” digital future.
Wesfarmers opts for local debt
As global bond markets come back to life, Australia’s largest companies are paying more attention to the local corporate bond market.
Cool as champagne corks set to pop
Ian Walker is a man on a mission and that is to wrest the bellwether electorate of Mansfield from a Labor minister on Saturday.
Marching on to a date with destiny
By the time the Republican presidential nomination is sealed, the date of the Illinois primary may well be seen as pivotal.
Prosperity changes World Bank role
Asia-Pacific observed - Private capital availability and rapid development in previously poor nations mean the role of development banks must evolve.
Canberra forgets the hand that feeds it
Property observed - For the first time in four years of the AFR Commercial Property Conference, the lack of leadership in Canberra is an issue.
Bigger screen for new iPhone: report
Apple’s new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch “retina” display and is set to be launched around the second quarter, South Korean media says.
Bligh halfway through electorate blitz
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has just passed the halfway mark of her commitment to visit 50 electorates in five days.
O’Farrell hails capture of NSW’s most wanted man
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has congratulated police on capturing the state's most wanted man, Malcolm Naden.
Google beats Microsoft in browser battle, briefly
Google's Chrome web browser overtook Microsoft's Internet Explorer to become market leader globally for the first time over the weekend.
Forget lifeless glass towers, says gold medallist
An award-winning architect prefers the lived-in look of the Hong Kong streetscape to collections of show-off, glass designs.
South Australian theatre opts for family show
It’s Cate and Andrew at the Sydney Theatre Company, and now it’s Rob and Geordie Brookman at Adelaide’s flagship theatre.
NGV has a hand in this Glover saga
John Glover’s circa 1838 painting Moulting Lagoon and Great Oyster Bay from Pine Hill was one of the first high-profile art casualties of the GFC.
Obama disowns De Niro First Lady joke
President Barack Obama's re-election campaign distanced itself from a joke by Robert de Niro about a white First Lady returning to the White House.
Resources Daily
Aussie dollar ‘killing’ goldminer Newcrest
Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining has been forced to defend its share price performance relative to movements in the gold price at a conference in Hong Kong.
- China hard landing fears ‘unfounded’
- Shell inks China’s first shale gas deal
- GVK spots M&A opportunities for Alpha
- Rio at mercy of reef reminder
- Alaskan LNG pipeline proposal to link to Asia
- BlueScope sets up new overseas divisions
- Diesel slug looms in tax cut deal
- Planning report gives Aston green light
- Hastings reiterates rejection of APA bid
Bernstein pegs longer timeframe for China shale
China’s national targets for production of shale gas will take longer than the government is targeting given “challenges” such as price regulation and an absence of technologies.
DealBook
Bidders circle Lloyds’s $2bn bad loans
Two consortiums are forming to bid for a $2 billion portfolio of bad commercial property loans that BOS International is attempting to offload.
- Macquarie raising falters at halfway mark
- ‘Sell’ is the dirtiest word
- Metro GlassTech’s debt lessens
- GVK spots M&A opportunities for Alpha
- Bank acquisition to hurt Raymond James earnings
- Goldman mulls Nine’s options
- Red tape tangles $40bn corporate bonds
- Directors may face liability for tax arrears
- Aesop being groomed for sale
Facebook set to pay low IPO fee
Facebook, which is seeking to raise $US5 billion ($4.7 billion) in an initial public offering, is set to pay underwriters a 1.1 per cent fee.
National
Hacktivists take data theft lead
Activists hacking government and corporate networks to embarrass big organisations were responsible for more than half of all data theft last year, according to a new US survey.
Call to vet future Qantas groundings
Qantas Airways would be prevented from grounding its fleet without prior consultation from the government and safety authorities, under regulations recommended by a Senate subcommittee on Thursday.
Outdoor opera set to sing up a storm
The weather gods should expect more than the usual number of sacrifices this week, as Opera Australia prepares to open Verdi’s La Traviata on the water at Sydney’s Farm Cove.
World
Hacktivists take data theft lead
Activists hacking government and corporate networks to embarrass big organisations were responsible for more than half of all data theft last year, according to a new US survey.
Dotcom granted $47k a month as US host cries poor
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been allowed $NZ60,000 ($47,129) a month to live on as he fights extradition, while the American company hosting the frozen data of millions of Megaupload users says it needs its bills paid or it should be allowed to delete the data.
Prosperity changes World Bank role
Private capital availability and rapid development in previously poor nations mean the role of development banks must evolve.
Business
Call to vet future Qantas groundings
Qantas Airways would be prevented from grounding its fleet without prior consultation from the government and safety authorities, under regulations recommended by a Senate subcommittee on Thursday.
- Leighton auditor KPMG to resign
- Sigma sweetens payout after return to black
- Foxtel frees up Olympics in subscriber drive
- Future Fund, RARE swoop on Transurban
- Aussie dollar ‘killing’ goldminer Newcrest
- Macquarie raising falters at halfway mark
- Brickworks optimistic despite profit fall
- Dotcom granted $47k a month as US host cries poor
- GVK spots M&A opportunities for Alpha
Technology
Reckon talks up changes
Financial software provider Reckon’s shares plummeted 9.68 per cent after it announced its 20-year licensing agreement with software giant Intuit would end in 2014.
- Dotcom granted $47k a month as US host cries poor
- Wall Street keeps a tight rein on Twitter
- Oracle fights sex harassment claim
- Can Bill Morrow fix Vodafone?
- Bigger screen for new iPhone: report
- HP to combine PC, printer units
- Stanford seeks new trial, blames Twitter
- Yahoo shareholder presses for board representation
- IBM sees big opportunity in “big data”
Markets
Super: retail outshines industry funds
A rebound in sharemarkets since the global financial crisis and a new generation of low-cost super products have helped retail master trusts gain supremacy over not-for-profit industry funds.
Worried Beijing eases capital controls
Beijing has begun making it much easier for foreign investors to put money into China’s stockmarkets and other financial investments in a slight relaxation of tight capital controls.
Personal finance
Super: retail outshines industry funds
A rebound in sharemarkets since the global financial crisis and a new generation of low-cost super products have helped retail master trusts gain supremacy over not-for-profit industry funds.
- Directors may face liability for tax arrears
- Red tape tangles $40bn corporate bonds
- A-REITs on a hiding to nothing
- Bond ETFs offer new way to fix your attention
- Best juniors ride with the bulls
- Discipline needed for both yield and growth
- Fall in NYSE price swings points to giant rally
- Start early to reap the real rewards
- Cooper warns of risk to oldies’ super
Why the boom’s over for mining stocks
The best of the resources boom is over for mining stocks, even as the huge investment in new projects is ramping up. Or perhaps because of it.
Lifestyle
Time comes back to earth at Basel
Financial Review watch editor reports from the biggest watch fair of the year..
Executive property
The pick of this week’s high end homes for sale includes a Victorian era Italianate mansion in Hawthorn, Melbourne.
Latest TV
Video | Commercial property outlook
AFR property editor Rob Harley chairs a panel discussion between Investa’s Scott MacDonald, Lend Lease’s Carmel Hourigan, Australand’s Bob Johnston and Westfield’s Domenic Panaccio. More AFR TV
Video | US budget wars
Washington correspondent Ben Potter discusses the US Republican’s house budget reply and how Mitt Romney’s tracking in the primaries. More AFR TV
