Call to curb minimum wage rise
Business groups have fired an early salvo over the minimum wage, naming a weakening economy and government-imposed regulatory costs as reasons to defer an increase until 2015.
MP slams cabinet over SPC’s $50m plea
Victorian Liberal MP Sharman Stone has reignited a divisive debate within the Abbott government over assistance to struggling businesses, criticising members of cabinet who are resisting a request from SPC Ardmona (SPCA) for $50 million as motivated by free-market “dogma”.
User-pays could be the future of infrastructure
Australia’s “entrenched” culture of treating infrastructure as a free public good needs to be abandoned and consumers encouraged to pay for the infrastructure they use, Infrastructure Australia has recommended.
Three bidders in Shell’s $3bn sell-off
The battle for Royal Dutch Shell’s Australian service stations is heating up with three consortia involving global investors such as Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council in the final stages of a $3 billion auction.
Local LNG ventures ignore reality of US exports
Australia’s new liquefied natural gas ventures are ignoring the far-reaching impact that US exports will have in their key Asian markets, with some likely to struggle to make returns from their ultra-expensive investments, the Melbourne-based head of the US’s latest LNG export venture has warned.
ABS tracks the growth of local online sales
Economists will be given a clearer picture of the growth in online retail sales in Australia when the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes separate data on online purchases for the first time on Thursday.
Can John Redmond turn the tide for Echo in 2014?
When John Redmond took the reins of Echo Entertainment Group last January pundits thought the embattled casino operator was at its lowest point. Since then the outlook has worsened and investors worry that uncertainties may not be resolved in the coming year.
Cheaper reinsurance prices provide a boon for insurers
Australian insurers are enjoying cheaper reinsurance cover in 2014 after years of price hikes, but not all companies are buying extra protection as they adjust their risk portfolios.
Cheese wars: Bega eyed as Parmalat nabs Harvey Fresh
While all eyes are on Canadian Saputo and local co-operative Murray Goulburn’s $500 million-plus fight for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra is watching NSW-based Bega Cheese.
Investors positioned for housing recovery
New data shows increasing growth in residential building sector as investors get ready to take advantage.
The benefits of a good-looking CEO
Economists say their study shows that investors assign higher share values to companies run by attractive chief executives; that these chiefs are paid more than less appealing counterparts; and that the better looking the CEOs, the better they are at undertaking financially successful deals.
Architects building a global reputation
Australian architectural firms have muscled up against the international stalwarts on the World Architecture top 100 list for 2013.
Your sector-by-sector investment guide for 2014
While some suggest the ASX is heading back to 6000, others expect another year of sub-trend growth. We’ve got your playbook for the market in 2014 right here.
Goldman’s Miller goes to HK in Asia-Pacific promotion
Goldman Sachs has elevated Anthony Miller to head of investment banking solutions in the Asia Pacific region ex-Japan, as part of a broader reshuffle that promoted Dan Dees to co-head the global technology, media and telecom group.
We need to move it, move it
There’s a free wonder drug called exercise but not many are swallowing it.
RBA fails to curb airline card charges
Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar are continuing to hit customers with inflated credit card surcharges despite RBA efforts to reduce excessive fees.
‘Hard to feel proper disgust’ over Wolf of Wall St
Jordan Belfort has had a great cinematic run in The Wolf of Wall Street, but for many of his victims, the ending is a beyond an insult.
Microsoft close to naming CEO, Ford’s Mulally out
Updated | Ford chief executive Alan Mulally will reportedly not take a job at software giant Microsoft, and will remain at the US car maker through at least this year.
Charm of wearable computers may soon wear thin
If it’s wearable computers you want then at the world’s latest annual gadget festival, wearable computers is what you got.
Twitter co-founder unveils search engine Jelly
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has unveiled his new venture since helping to build the popular micro-blogging website; a social search engine.
High demand hikes price of Colorado cannabis
Marijuana buyers in Colorado are facing steep price rises, long queues and shuttered stores.
Content will be the key for 4K
Three-dimensional television was all the rage several years ago, but when TV manufacturers took to Las Vegas stages this week, there was nary a mention.
Polar freeze grips US, disrupts business
A blast of Arctic air has gripped the vast middle of the United States, forcing businesses to close and cancelling thousands of flights.
National
Call to curb minimum wage rise
Business groups have fired an early salvo over the minimum wage, naming a weakening economy and government-imposed regulatory costs as reasons to defer an increase until 2015.
- MP slams cabinet over SPC’s $50m plea
- Labor told to condemn union move
- El Niño to make it hotter in 2014
- WA government ready for police pay row
- Industry bids for Direct Action exemptions
- Construction growth slows but optimism remains
- Job vacancies slide amid government cutbacks
- Coalition ‘carefully’ assessing Qantas issues: Cormann
- Coalition must reveal asylum tactics: Dreyfus
User-pays could be the future of infrastructure
Australia’s “entrenched” culture of treating infrastructure as a free public good needs to be abandoned and consumers encouraged to pay for the infrastructure they use, Infrastructure Australia has recommended.
Opinion
Europe’s economic situation worse than the 1930s
Recent growth in the euro area has tracked the experience of much of Europe in the 1930s all too closely. But in some ways, its prospects are even more challenging than the parallel with the Great Depression suggests.
Gloomy outlook for university economics teachers
Lay-offs and deaths reflect difficult period for practitioners of the dismal science.
Inheritance is not an alternative to work
The aspiring law student Rastignac has his choice set out for him with brutal simplicity in Balzac’s 1835 novel, “Father Goriot”. He can work: “There’s a nice prospect for you! Ten years of drudgery straight away”; or do otherwise: “There is but one way, marry a woman who has money.”
World
IMF to revise global growth forecast: Lagarde
The International Monetary Fund will revise upward its global growth forecast in about three weeks, managing director Christine Lagarde says.
- JPMorgan to pay $US1.7bn to Madoff victims
- Brooks' PA had planned 'move to Australia'
- Goodyear ‘bossnapping’ ends in France
- Fed's Rosengren gets comfortable with QE cuts
- Spain's Princess Cristina charged with money laundering
- Turkish government purges Ankara police force
- Chinese buyer ahead in race to buy Sydney’s Bishopscourt
- Fantasy sports score Wall Street points
- Ireland aims to rekindle a tech recovery
Profitable market in play after China lifts ban
Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have finally gained the chance to enter China’s multibillion-dollar video game market after the Chinese authorities lifted a 14-year ban on the sale of foreign-made consoles.
Business
MP slams cabinet over SPC’s $50m plea
Victorian Liberal MP Sharman Stone has reignited a divisive debate within the Abbott government over assistance to struggling businesses, criticising members of cabinet who are resisting a request from SPC Ardmona (SPCA) for $50 million as motivated by free-market “dogma”.
- Local LNG ventures ignore reality of US exports
- Three bidders in Shell’s $3bn sell-off
- Call to curb minimum wage rise
- ABS tracks the growth of local online sales
- Cheese wars: Bega eyed as Parmalat nabs Harvey Fresh
- Can John Redmond turn the tide for Echo in 2014?
- Boost Juice in exclusive talks with Affinity Equity: sources
Cheaper reinsurance prices provide a boon for insurers
Australian insurers are enjoying cheaper reinsurance cover in 2014 after years of price hikes, but not all companies are buying extra protection as they adjust their risk portfolios.
Technology
Microsoft close to naming CEO, Ford’s Mulally out
Updated | Ford chief executive Alan Mulally will reportedly not take a job at software giant Microsoft, and will remain at the US car maker through at least this year.
- Samsung hands out special staff bonus, investors upset
- Tech start-ups leave Oz over tax
- The charm of wearable computers may soon wear thin
- Yahoo’s Mayer unveils rival to Google Now
- Apple seeks removal of court-appointed antitrust monitor
- Twitter co-founder unveils search engine Jelly
- iPhone, iPad app sales top $10bn in 2013
- Intel drops McAfee name from security software, founder glad
- Sony testing cloud TV service for PlayStation
Yahoo! going where ‘no one has gone before’
The long lines of people swerved around the blackjack tables, skirting the slot machines and doubling back around. No, people were not waiting to see the latest drones or curvy televisions. They were waiting to hear Marissa Mayer, the chief executive of Yahoo!, speak about updates for a company that was once left for dead.
Markets
Shares flat on mixed signals
Australian shares closed flat despite local data indicating continued improvement in the labour market and ongoing growth in the construction sector.
- Fed taper ripples through developing economies
- $A sluggish ahead of Fed minutes
- Oz stocks with US revenue popular in 2014
- Your sector-by-sector guide for 2014
- Your sector-by-sector guide for 2014, part 2
- Job vacancies slide amid government cutbacks
- ASX down as mining stocks falter
- Construction growth slows but optimism remains
- Wall Street advances on data after string of losses
Banks put brake on local debt
Bankers have been singing the praises of the domestic corporate bond market, with a big rise in the number of lower-rated companies choosing local investors to get long-term debt rather than long-favoured destinations overseas in the past six months.
Personal finance
Household wealth hits new record
A combination of rising house prices, surging equity markets and an entrenched savings culture pushed average Australian household wealth to a record $872,000 in 2013, according to Outlook Economics.
You’re not the only one hiding money from loved ones
If you are married or in a de facto relationship and you have a hideaway stash of your own cash, you’re not alone, but there are far healthier ways to do things. You’re part of about 3 per cent of those in a live-in relationship who quietly say they have a bank account their partner knows nothing about.
Lifestyle
Summer food series 5 | Shane Delia
In this final instalment of our stunning series, Shane Delia of Maha restaurant in Melbourne creates a Middle Eastern feast
Animal spirits hold sway in a sparkling menagerie
From elephants and pandas to frogs and bees, luxury houses are reviving an ancient tradition in precious baubles.
Beachside glamour in Rio
Some say a Rio hotel is just for cleaning off the sand. For those who prefer to do so with a marble soaking tub, there’s the Palace.
Cars: the very best of 2013
A few impressive machines for reasons of space and timing didn’t secure a full road test. This is the best of them.
Latest TV
Why Atlassian won't float here
Software developer Atlassian has plenty of reasons to float in the US rather than the Australian bourse.
Property outlook
Australian Property Monitors' Dr Andrew Wilson and Belle Property's Matthew Smythe look at what 2014 will bring for the property sector.
Newspapers move markets
New research on the links between financial news and market movements shows why investors should read the newspaper each day, says Chanticleer's Tony Boyd.
Hot housing market
In Australia’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, dwellings are now 14.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent more expensive, respectively, than they were in December 2012.
