Stevens sees signs of growth ‘handover’ but cautions on housing
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens has for the first time announced there is “encouraging early evidence” that the shift from mining to other drivers of growth has started, while calling for increased vigilance on surging house prices.
Westfield secures $22bn in restructure funds
Updated | Westfield Group has moved another step closer to its restructure, striking funding commitments for $22 billion of financing facilities needed to the establish Westfield Corporation and Scentre Group.
UBS, CVC forced to retain Mantra
UBS and private equity firm, CVC Asia Pacific, have been forced to retain ownership of the hotelier, Mantra Group, after investors gave an underwhelming response to an equity raise.
BCA role puts Livingstone’s Telstra job under scrutiny
Catherine Livingstone’s pending appointment as Business Council of Australia president will focus attention on succession planning at Telstra.
Brandis changes credit reporting rule after Alan Jones blast
Criticism from broadcaster Alan Jones has prompted the Attorney-General to ask the privacy commissioner to extend from five to 14 days when late loan repayments will be recorded on personal credit files.
Corruption finding against Sinodinos ‘difficult’: ICAC
Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Megan Latham said it might be difficult to make a finding against Arthur Sinodinos under the specific definition of corruption in the ICAC act.
TPG shareholders advised to sell: analysts
Key banking analysts from Goldman Sachs and CIMB have recommended selling TPG Telecom shares despite the company’s strong half-year results released on Tuesday.
Big miners take ASX higher as iron ore, $A strengthen
Updated | The ASX gained on strength in commodities and the Australian dollar reaching a four-month high as investors await currency direction from RBA boss Glenn Stevens.
Coles chief Ian McLeod joins board of Middle East retailer
One of the fastest growing retail businesses in the Middle East, Masjid Al Futtaim Retail, has hired Coles chief executive Ian McLeod as a non executive director to help drive its growth in 23 countries.
Make or break time for Aussie wines
Treasury Wine’s decision to destroy six million bottles of cheap wine came just as the $5 billion Australian wine sector was attempting to remind the world we make top-quality bottles too.
$A heads higher: where did it go wrong?
Philip Baker | Forecasting the $A is often viewed as a mug’s game. Despite a range of reasons to sell the local dollar, it looks like it’s on its way to US92¢.
LinkedIn CEO rated best boss by staff
The chief executives of LinkedIn, Ford and Goldman Sachs are among the top scorers this year in Glassdoor’s ranking of the leaders at 51 big companies.
UBS, CVC forced to retain Mantra
UBS and private equity firm, CVC Asia Pacific, have been forced to retain ownership of the hotelier, Mantra Group, after investors gave an underwhelming response to an equity raise.
How to master the art of the greeting
We say hello and goodbye to people every day, so you would think it would be the easiest thing, and yet so many of us get it so wrong.
Seven West Media wins Corby raid stoush vs AFP
Updated | Seven West Media has won legal proceedings against the Australian Federal Police, after a dramatic raid of the free-to-air television network, one that Bruce McWilliam likened to a move by ‘Hogan’s Heroes’.
Facebook pays $2.5bn for Oculus
Facebook has continued its spending spree, buying virtual reality company Oculus VR for a combined value of $2.5 billion.
Are we being employed, or stalked?
Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched? You should, because you are.
Bitcoin swaps get closer to reality
Tera Group has created a framework for buying and selling swaps linked to Bitcoin that would let investors hedge risk from trading the digital currency.
What? Only one big iPhone 6 this year?
There may only be one large-screened iPhone 6 in the offing, not the two versions that are widely expected.
Good-looking guys win the prize
Mad Men fans and admirers of Don Draper already knew this – good-looking men are better at closing the deal and bringing in investors, a study shows.
Box fires the gun on the next big tech IPO
Online storage provider Box has announced plans to list on the NYSE, filing documents for a $US250 million IPO.
Labor firms in latest Newspoll
A second national poll in as many days shows Labor picking up support as voters react to assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos stepping down.
Turn your TV into a media centre for $70
Open-source media server Plex can turn any old TV with an HDMI port into a slick, internet-enabled media centre.
National
Labor to champion small business: Shorten
A renewned Australian Labor Party will champion small business, science, women and the regions, opposition leader Bill Shorten says.
- Coalition forces banks to reveal SME loans
- Corruption finding against Sinodinos ‘difficult’: ICAC
- Spending ‘tsunami’ to hit budget: Hockey
- Private companies to win in tax reform of loans
- Brandis insists law will still cover Holocaust deniers
- University of Melbourne hires Sophie Mirabella
- Abbott restores knights and dames
- ASIC may apply rules despite possible changes
- OneVentures seeks $100m to breathe life into tech venture capital
House price upswing ‘cyclical’, buyers beware: RBA
The Reserve Bank is sounding the warning bell on housing speculation, commercial property and retail securitisation funds.
Opinion
Look into borrowing before you step into minefield
The family home is the closest thing to a sacred cow in Australian personal finance. Not only is it exempt from capital gains tax, but it is also ignored under the Centrelink assets test.
Capital works and budget illusions
Tony Abbott and his ministers seem to have convinced the media that Australia cannot afford the national disability insurance scheme while the budget is so deeply in deficit, but it is nonsense.
How to master the art of the greeting
Fiona Smith | Marshall Goldsmith may be one of the world’s most famous executive coaches, but when he looked around the crowd that had gathered to hear Bill Clinton speak, he calculated that he was about the 432nd-most important person in the room.
World
Satellite data scrutinised to find cause of MH370 crash
Investigators are re-analysing satellite data to determine whether missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 deliberately ditched in the southern Indian Ocean or flew on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.
- China set to crank up stimulus policies
- Candy Crush game maker raises $545m in IPO
- Carlyle poaches one-time JPMorgan leadership contender
- UK govt will sell big stake in Lloyds Banking
- Switzerland to appoint former UBS banker Mark Branson as financial regulator chief
- Fed's Lockhart sees longer lag until rates start to rise
- Kerry heading to Jordan to meet with Abbas
- US tax agency says Bitcoin is property, not currency
Chinese luxury buyers want craftsmanship not bling, study says
Craftsmanship ranks highest among words wealthy Chinese choose to define luxury, highlighting changing tastes among big spenders.
Business
Westfield secures $22bn in restructure funds
Updated | Westfield Group has moved another step closer to its restructure, striking funding commitments for $22 billion of financing facilities needed to the establish Westfield Corporation and Scentre Group.
- ACCC greenlights IAG’s $1.84bn Wesfarmers bid
- ASIC warns banks about fine print in ads
- CBA improperly defaulted Bankwest clients: Senator
- Air Asia chief tells Qantas’s Alan Joyce to focus on the job
- Australia risks missing out on the food boom: McLeod
- Seven West Media wins legal fight against AFP over Corby raid
- Yanzhou’s $300m loan shows continued support for Yancoal
- NAB’s UK business closes 28 branches
- Sigma Pharmaceuticals buys Central Healthcare
Moore banks millions on Macquarie surge
The famous Millionaires’ Factory, Macquarie Group, has its mojo back – and chief executive Nicholas Moore is one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Technology
Mobile Embrace plots growth plans after capital raising
ASX-listed mobile payments, marketing and advertising business, Mobile Embrace has completed a $11.75 million capital raising, which it says will be used for product development and business expansion.
- Facebook pays $2.5bn for virtual reality start-up Oculus
- OneVentures seeks $100m to breathe life into tech venture capital
- Kim Dotcom’s Mega to list in New Zealand
- Twitter ban sparks ‘arms race’ with tech savvy Turks
- TPG launches competitively-priced NBN plans
- US tax agency says Bitcoin is property, not currency
- European tech start-ups look to 'Candy Crush' maker’s public debut
- Bitcoin swaps get closer to reality
- Ex-NBN deputy chair Smith-Gander has ‘no regrets’
Hands on preview: HTC covers the bases with One M8
We’ve seen enough of the HTC One (M8) to know that it’s a strong follow up to the One, one of the very best smartphones to appear on the market last year.
Markets
$A heading higher, so where did it all go wrong?
Philip Baker | Despite a range of reasons to sell the local dollar it looks like it’s on its way to US92¢.
- Big miners take ASX higher as iron ore, $A strengthen
- RBA’s Philip Lowe says China’s currency changes a ‘seismic shift’
- Australian dollar hits four-month high
- Wall St rises on biotech rebound, confidence data
- Carlyle poaches one-time JPMorgan leadership contender
- Corporate bonds key for stability: RBA’s Lowe
- ECB, China stimulus hopes revive European shares
- Germany's Bundesbank opens door to QE in Europe
- Reforms necessary but with a subtle tweak
Global interest rates to rise in 3-5 years: IMF
International Monetary Fund executive director Rakesh Mohan says investors need to adjust their expectations on interest rates and expect them to start increasing around the world.
Personal finance
Protecting your family’s money
Sharing the family assets by giving adult offspring an early inheritance may seem like a good idea. But what happens if they split from their partner, and those hard-won assets walk out the door?
- Equity crowd-funding for start-ups just a tweak away
- Why Trevor Loewensohn plans to keep his ‘post-GFC’ mezzanine fund small
- The murky waters of MySuper lifecycle funds
- Why you can’t do without equities
- Wake up to super fees
- How to get reimbursed for repairs to your SMSF property
- Falling commodity prices rattle investors
Cormann retreats on financial advice changes
The Abbott government has frozen plans to immediately implement changes to laws banning commissions for financial advisers, prompting calls to scrap the changes altogether.
Lifestyle
In with the inn crowd
What you get when you stay in a designer hotel is a glimpse of life through their eyes.
Beguiled by the beauty of Istanbul
A single visit to Turkey’s largest city is not enough. Once you’ve been, there’s an irresistible urge to return.
Calvin Klein – the look that lingers
From that Brooke Shields moment right through to today, Calvin Klein clothes and ‘zeitgeist’ are still synonymous.
Designers who fashion the fragrance business
The collaboration between fashion houses and perfumers is going from strength to strength.
Latest TV
Property size shrinking but prices rising
The cost of land per square metre has jumped, but the number of new blocks released to market has fallen. Are we paying more for less?
Rate predictions shifting with RBA, Fed in focus
Economists are continuing to shift towards predicting a rate rise as inflationary pressures show, so expect a strong focus on Reserve Bank speeches this week.
The importance of regulation
Rapid changes in technology are altering businesses, regulation requires flexibility and foresight to keep pace, says the panel at the Chanticleer lunch in Sydney.
NDIS possible budget cut
The government can afford the NDIS, they just don't want to raise taxes or prioritise it above other spending commitments, says economics editor Alan Mitchell.
