Stocks headed for correction: analysts
Philip Baker | There’s always someone forecasting the mother of all crashes, think a Marc Faber or a Nouriel Roubini here. But it’s been a patchy year so far for stocks and so far this month, but trading is so subdued it has some analysts worried about a major sell off just around the corner.
BHP fears mine shutdown as tug talks founder
BHP Billiton iron ore president Jimmy Wilson has warned talks with the Maritime Union of Australia have reached a deadlock and its mines could close within days of a strike at Port Hedland.
‘Tax leakage’ alarm over super-wealthy SMSFs
Accountants and tax advisers have blown the whistle on multi-millionaire clients exploiting tax concessions in self-managed superannuation funds, urging the federal government act against “tax leakage”.
Investment banking index slumps on fixed income units
A weak first-quarter performance for many global investment banks in fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) has driven the Coalition Index for bank revenues to its lowest level in at least four years.
Woodside dumps Leviathan, seeks growth
Chanticleer | Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has finally run out of patience after a frustrating 18 months trying to bed down what initially looked like a lucrative deal to invest in Israel’s Leviathan gas field.
China property slowdown spells bond trouble
The prospect of tighter credit conditions in China represents increasing downside risks to the highly China-sensitive Asia high-yield class, says Morgan Stanley. The risks are highest for property issuers.
$A, ASX down as consumer confidence falls
Updated | The market is staging a comeback after selling in the miners drove the market lower early, with Coca-Cola Amatil among the winners later in the day.
Abbott’s uni fees gaffe gives students false hope
The federal government has been thrown into confusion on university fee rises after a prime ministerial gaffe gave 250,000 students who plan to start courses next year the hope of avoiding fee rises.
‘Revenue is down the toilet’: Ten takes axe to news
Updated | Network Ten news and current affairs director Peter Meakin says the broadcaster’s revenue is “down the toilet”, as he prepared to brief staff on the axing of Wake Up and some news bulletins.
Qantas freezes domestic capacity in early 2015
Updated | The battle for domestic passengers has forced Qantas to all but admit defeat to Virgin Australia, with the red kangaroo to add zero capacity for the first three months of the next financial year.
Interactives | Budget 2014 fallout
Explore our set of interactive graphics to see the key initiatives and cuts in this year’s federal budget and how voters have reacted to the measures.
Over the limit on super? You risk missing out after July 1
Debra Cleveland | Those who over-contribute to their super before June 30 will miss out on higher contribution limits from July 1, financial advisers say.
Beats prototype designer’s payday ‘$US30,000 and a free lunch’
The designer of a prototype for Beats’s high-end headphones won’t reap many benefits from a mooted $US3.2 billion takeover by Apple, but at least he got “a good lunch”.
Treasury will cling to US division to boost growth: JPMorgan
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JPMorgan described Treasury Wine’s decision to reveal a takeover proposal a month after fielding it as “strange” and predicted the ailing company will cling to its US division in an effort to turbo-charge earnings growth.
Nerves frayed in London property frenzy
Welcome to London’s frenzied housing market, where low mortgage rates and a dearth of properties for sale have sent prices rising..
Microsoft Surface 3: tablet meets laptop
Just how well the bigger Surface 3 will work for serious people will probably come down to just one simple thing: the keyboard.
How to invest $2 million in property
If you had the means to finance $2 million to $3 million worth of residential property investment, where would you put it?
Remembering as an extreme sport
The last match of the tournament had all the elements of a classic, pitting the world’s foremost card virtuoso against its premier numbers wizard.
No need to rush into hormone therapy
You don’t have to rush into hormone therapy! That’s the latest piece of good news for many men with prostate cancer who have had a relapse after treatment.
Wolf of Wall Street sets sights on $US100m
Jordan Belfort expects to earn more this year than he made at his peak as a stockbroker, allowing him to repay the victims of his fraud.
Samsung’s HU9000 is not a TV, it’s a monitor
Adelgunde, the chairman, president and warden of my household, says I watch too much TV.
Bitcoin exchanges probed over Silk Road
Bitcoin exchanges received subpoenas from Manhattan federal prosecutors in recent months as they look into possible ties to online drug market Silk Road.
Etihad to keep an eye on randy passengers
Rear Window | Etihad Airways made a splash earlier this month with its new A380 product, including a three-bedroom Residence in the sky.
Is red wine good for your health?
The long-held belief that a little red wine each day can be good for you is being challenged.
National
Unions move to kick Ferguson out of ALP
Militant unionist Chris Cain has succeeded in getting a motion to dismiss former minister Martin Ferguson from the Australian Labor Party to be put to a vote by the party’s national executive.
- Labor’s Chris Bowen admits cuts are needed
- Abbott gaffe on university fee rises
- Treasury warns of possible ‘fiscal drag’
- Labor’s ‘fiscal vandals’ are risking AAA rating, says Abbott
- Labor vows to block rise in superannuation age
- Manufacturing wages beat out miners
- Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG to face MUA strike
- Palmer United Party’s Jacqui Lambie calls for tax on banks
- RBA refuses to release report on Saddam Hussein dealings
Parental leave cost outweighs contentious budget cuts
In an onslaught of spending cuts and tax increases on budget night, the fact that the Coalition’s exceptionally generous paid parental leave scheme did not appear in the first Hockey budget was largely overlooked.
Opinion
How tax reform could spread to states
Alan Mitchell | Of course the Treasury secretary is right: the state governments could efficiently raise the revenue they need to offset the Abbott government’s cuts.
Clive Palmer, social media stir it up
Jennifer Hewett | Barnaby Joycehas never been one for delicacy of political assessment. Even so, his latest description of Clive Palmer “as more cunning than a lavatory rat” indicates the degree of frustration within the government.
Penalty rates cut will give youth a chance to find jobs
Alexander Philipatos | With unemployment for 15 to 24-year-olds more than double the national average, young people simply need more jobs. In an economy growing below trend, barriers to employment need to be reduced.
World
JPMorgan shareholders approve executive pay
JPMorgan Chase & Co shareholders voted overwhelmingly at the company’s annual meeting to elect all of the company's directors and also endorsed its compensation to executives in 2013.
- World’s priciest debt puts Japan at risk of sell-off
- Libya sets election for June in bid to ease crisis
- Twitter discussing music deals with startups
- Modi election win brightens India’s economic outlook
- ‘Surprise’ drop in Caterpillar sales as mining cuts bite
- China, Russia fail to reach gas supply deal
- Credit Suisse investors shrug after guilty plea
- China banks turn to hybrid securities to boost capital
Ben Bernanke cashes in on the speaker circuit
He stepped down from the world’s toughest money job four months ago. Now Former Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is collecting as much as $US400,000 a speech, giving eager investors his take on the markets.
Business
BHP fears mine shutdown as tug talks founder
BHP Billiton iron ore president Jimmy Wilson has warned talks with the Maritime Union of Australia have reached a deadlock and its mines could close within days of a strike at Port Hedland.
- Qantas freezes domestic capacity in early 2015
- Ten axes breakfast program Wake Up
- Newcrest’s Greg Robinson sees steady Indian gold demand
- Adelaide Brighton’s new chief signals tough times
- Treasury Wine’s possible bidders – a mixed half-dozen
- Woodside ditches Leviathan gas deal
- Spotless IPO price fixed at bottom end of range
- Macquarie tax rates probed
Woodside dumps Leviathan, seeks growth
Chanticleer | Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has finally run out of patience after a frustrating 18 months trying to bed down what initially looked like a lucrative deal to invest in Israel’s Leviathan gas field.
Technology
Telstra touts user privacy for Wi-Fi network
Telstra retail group executive Gordon Ballantyne has told businesses and entrepreneurs they must abandon hopes of quietly collecting smartphone user data on its new national Wi-Fi network.
- Chinese cyber-spies work office hours
- Microsoft launches bigger Surface tablets
- Beats prototype designer Mike Klasco’s reward: ‘$US30,000 and a free lunch’
- Vodafone Australia loses over 1m subscribers
- Windows 8 banned on Chinese Government computers
- US indictment reveals China’s hack attempts on major companies
- NewSat stock dips as Jabiru 2 launch suffers delay
- Google still faces fine in EU over rivals’ links
- NBN Co commits to new housing roll out
Microsoft Surface 3: tablet meets laptop
Just how well the bigger Surface 3 will work for serious people will probably come down to just one simple thing: the keyboard.
Markets
$A, ASX down as consumer confidence falls
Updated | The market is staging a comeback after selling in the miners drove the market lower early, with Coca-Cola Amatil among the winners later in the day.
- Negative interest rates loom for euro zone
- Iron ore down 1pc, but hope for China stimulus grows
- $A hits three-week low as iron ore slumps
- Registration for high-speed traders gains momentum
- Nickel may move sideways before fresh challenge
- S&P; 500 slumps as retailers lead broad sell-off
- Fed's Dudley sees rates rising at ‘relatively slow’ pace
- JPMorgan shareholders approve executive pay
- Europe set for debt ‘fire sale’
World’s priciest debt puts Japan at risk of sell-off
Deutsche Bank AG has called Japanese government bonds the world’s most-expensive debt and BNP Paribas SA predicts a sell-off as soon as next month.
Personal finance
Junk bonds queues indicate risk is back
It doesn’t seem that long ago that investors were just focused on simply riding out the financial storm, preserving cash and keeping a lid on any damage.
Federal Budget 2014: What to do when the cuts bite you
With tax minimisation akin to a national sport and senior health concession cards a cherished commodity, the finance industry is working feverishly to find ways for high income earners to avoid the budget repair levy and retirees to get a better deal.
Lifestyle
Powder bound in North America
Snow lovers searching for a northern winter playground will find it high above Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border – even if locals don’t rate your chance.
High adventure deep underground in NZ’s caves
There’s no better test of your tolerance for claustrophobia than a morning spent caving in King Country on the North Island.
Wythe Hotel a rising star in NY’s hippest borough
Australian Peter Lawrence has helped to transform an historic warehouse into a chic bolthole in one of New York’s most storied and vibrant neighbourhoods.
Ladakh, a frontier region close to heaven
The land of prayer flags and high passes offers a giddy mix of art, culture, religion and majestic mountain scenery.
Latest TV
Cuts, Palmer may hamper Pyne’s uni plans
Tough budget cuts to university funding and Clive Palmer will hamper Chris Pyne’s hopes for a rise up the university ranking ladder, and challenge international student funding.
When economic data doesn’t match real life
To an outside observer of Australia, the ‘mood’ across the country might appear at odds with the data. Deutsche Bank says perhaps we're looking at the wrong graphs.
Genworth soars on ASX
Shares of Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia jumped 12 per cent after its public debut on the ASX, in a bright start for the country’s biggest lenders mortgage insurer.
Treasury's Parkinson warns on productivity
Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson has challenged the states to recognise they have their own ways of raising taxes, rather than relying primarily on Canberra.
