In search of the world’s best investment advice
In the post-financial crisis era it is the great investors and hedge funds that are the kingmakers in capital markets. Their hot money means they have a growing role in shaping financial markets, the economy, society, politics and culture. Jonathan Shapiro went on the great investment road trip to find out who these people are and why they’re changing our world.
Making sense of the tiny apartment trend
With more and more Australians likely to opt for living in inner-city apartments, the debate over how small is too small has broad ramifications.
Plenty of twists on road to David Jones takeover
It was code-named Project Whistler, after the Canadian ski resort, but South African retailer Woolworths’ $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones proved to be no easy run.
Bill Gates spruiks an unlikely bestseller
Summertime reading lists are typically heavy on page-turning novels – not a collection of business articles, first published as a book in 1969, and long out of print until a few weeks ago.
Getting rich one bitcoin at a time
Not so long ago, Zhenya Tsvetnenko had no problem showing off his wealth. Now he’s shaking off his rich-kid image and getting serious about affecting change in the digital world.
Pub barons fight for suburban spoils
Justin Hemmes is betting that pubs are undergoing a major shift that could be as significant as the scrapping of the early closing hours and the six o’clock swill in the 1950s and ’60s.
Mark Latham’s 10 tips for fixing government
Politics is at a tipping point. Parliamentarians can either stick with the status quo: the cycle of distrust and dishonour that has turned public office into a lowly vocation. Or they can pursue change.
Forgo those heels for when love doesn’t last
With a least a third of marriages ending in divorce, there are essential rules women must take to heart to create a financially sustainable life for themselves.
How long will Robert Cooke lead Healthscope?
Healthscope CEO Robert Cooke is known as a down to earth, visionary leader, and turnaround specialist. Investors want to know how long stay on after its $3.6 billion float.
Budgeting for your child’s future
The cost of securing the best possible education for your children is chilling.
News Corp’s reality TV hit
Mark Latham | There’s an unmissable new show in town: the story of a young lady eager to please in the cut-throat Murdoch media.
Blueprint for DIY property developers
Do-it-yourself property developers are small fish swimming with the shark. Here’s how to survive.
Urbanise begins roadshow for $104m IPO
Melbourne software company Urbanise has started meeting fund managers ahead of its $104 million ASX-listing, with investors booked for a roadshow.
An economist’s guide to online dating
MP Andrew Leigh has been studying the algorithm for coupling and come to a conclusion.
Reinventing the thong with a crowd
Five Gen Y mates have invented a thong with interchangeable straps and a promise of no more blowouts.
Quiz | Low rates, growth and comments
Test how much you know about Treasurer Joe Hockey’s awkward week, interest rates and the new low reached in talk-back radio.
Is Ultra High Definition worth it?
Every time I find what I think is my dream TV, another, even better one comes along. Take, for instance, the Sony X9000B.
Are you a likeable colleague or boss?
With the importance of social media, likeability has become more of an imperative in the office.
Ikea billionaire banks on cash rewards
At Ikea billionaire Ingvar Kamprad’s bank, customers get rewards for resisting luxury.
Xi Jinping’s revolutionary power play
China’s Xi Jinping is using populist politics learned from the West to entrench his power.
Facebook worth more than Coca-Cola
Despite its infamous IPO woes, Facebook is now bigger than bellwethers such as Coca-Cola and AT&T.
NSW Labor chickens out
Rear Window | It’s been a tough week for Jamie Clements’s NSW ALP branch with Mark Latham and John Faulkner on the attack.
Australian ski moguls make their mark
Australians are coming up with up bold innovations on the ski field.
National
First boatload of asylum seekers to arrive
The Abbott government looks set to accept its first boatload of asylum seekers in more than six months with 157 Tamils aboard the Customs Ocean Protector ship to be brought to mainland Australia.
- Tony Abbott bolsters AFP numbers in MH17 mission
- ASIC alert over trusts’ 80pc returns
- Treasury sounds alarm over low interest rates
- Infrastructure Australia boss Mark Birrell lambasts asset recycling delays
- MPs absent from Hockey book launch
- Economists back Australia to cope with tougher budget
- CFMEU loses bid to delay Grocon damages claim
- ANZ hoax emailer’s defence blames journalists
- ICAC barrister’s tough tactics
Off-script Abbott flourishes in troubled times
The national security committee of federal cabinet provides one of the best examples of the Australian government at work, a long-time public servant observed this week.
Opinion
Sorry toll of interfering powers
A key lesson from the shooting down of MH17 is that national defence forces were powerless to prevent it.
From a US winter to a hot NSW
A bad winter in America contributes to weaker global growth and inflation.
Consider the impact of insurance in a new DIY fund
John Wasiliev | Although many have it while they work, most Australians don’t think about life and disability insurance.
World
MH17: a four-minute, world-shaking fall
Before, during and after the downing of MH17, the global disaster that hasn’t finished yet.
- Argentine debt talks break down again: mediator
- Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg, former Bear Stearns chief, dies
- Israel presses, seeking to destroy more Hamas tunnels
- RBS profit surges, but McEwan sees bumps ahead
- Freeport gets permit to export Indonesian copper
- From a US winter to a hot NSW
- Bill Gates spruiks John Brooks’s unlikely bestseller, Business Adventures
- Ukraine PM resigns as coalition falls
Benjamin’s Netanyahu’s Gaza nightmare
War has not come to Jerusalem from far-off Gaza except in the rockets deflected by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system and in the anxious prayers of mothers of soldiers, but conflict crept closer overnight.
Business
Lew accepts Woolworths offer for Country Road
A 17-year stand off between South African retailer Woolworths and retail magnate Solomon Lew has come to an end after Mr Lew agreed to accept Woolworths’s $209 million offer for his 11.8 per cent stake in Country Road.
- Whitehaven hoaxer Jonathan Moylan avoids jail
- Woolworths senior executive Julie Coates exits suddenly
- Centerbridge acquires stake in Boart Longyear
- Flight Centre to meet profit despite write-downs
- Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone looks to stay
- Forge to take on energy giant over turbines
- Healthscope confirms IPO offer price of $2.10 a share
- Ernst & Young acquires Sweeney Research
- Woodside chief urges investors to support Shell buyback
How long will Robert Cooke lead Healthscope?
Healthscope CEO Robert Cooke is known as a down to earth, visionary leader, and turnaround specialist. Investors want to know how long stay on after its $3.6 billion float.
Technology
Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone looks to stay
Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone will stand for re-election to her role at the company’s next annual general meeting in a move that could see her time at the company stretch to 19 years.
- Facebook fizzes ... now worth more than Coca Cola
- European Central Bank hacked in bribery scheme
- Banks threatened by high-tech rivals: Westpac
- Major Australian bitcoin ATM roll-out on way
- Government urges ACCC to ignore
- World Cup lifts LG’s second-quarter revenue
- Europeans criticise Google’s ‘right to be forgotten’
- Amazon reports sharply wider quarterly loss
- Baidu surges past targets as mobile revenue grows
Business looks to nature for design miracles
Animals, plants and microbes are superb engineers. Now the burgeoning field of biomimicry is playing a key role in the development of remarkable new machines and materials.
Markets
Goldman downgrades equities to neutral
Goldman Sachs downgraded its global equities allocation to neutral on a short-term basis on Friday, even though the brokerage remains overweight stocks for the longer term.
- Geopolitical risks fail to deter investors
- Wall Street ends lower on Amazon, Visa
- German stocks shed 1.5pc, LVMH results miss
- Freeport gets permit to export Indonesian copper
- Analysts divided on iron ore outlook
- Consider the impact of insurance in a new DIY fund
- Argentine debt talks break down again: mediator
- ‘Patchy’ economy, US policy threaten ASX gains
- Shares ease, snapping seven-day winning streak
In search of the world’s best investment advice
In the post-crisis world it is the great investors and hedge funds that are the kingmakers in the capital markets. Their hot money means they have a growing role shaping financial markets, politics and society.
Personal finance
Negotiating the fast-money minefield
Be very, very wary of any fast money investment scheme. It’s the old saying: “If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.” There are no easy ways to financial security.
- Best policy to keep your children covered
- How we are becoming a free agent nation
- Fund managers spill the beans on returns
- Downsizing made simple: the value of a buyers’ agent
- Beat the IPO market at its own game
- Low market volatility no reason to rest on your laurels
- Do the sums on the true cost of private schools
- What it feels like to have a private plane
Forgo those heels for when love doesn’t last
With a least a third of marriages ending in divorce, there are essential rules women must take to heart to create a financially sustainable life for themselves.
Lifestyle
Bentley: big, beautiful, features galore
Those who slowed to guess the important person in the rear might have been surprised to find it was my nine-year-old son.
Stockholm’s new Nordic pride
36 hours in Sweden’s capital provides ample evidence for why the locals love their city so much.
Simplicity the essential ingredient
Celebrated chef Justin North is making local produce the star of a nationwide initiative.
Which cutting-edge design trends are here to stay?
Industrial influences, plywood, copper pendant lights and mismatched tiles: are they timeless or trendy.
Latest TV
Cartoon: Gaza crisis
Peace between Israel and Palestine in Gaza seems an unlikely prospect. Cartoonist: David Rowe
Law firm M&A; in Asia
Merging with Asian law firms may be all the rage, but such M&A is not always profitable.
Livingstone wants more Telstra time
Catherine Livingstone's decision to stay on has implications for CEO David Thodey too.
How businesses use Bitcoin
Forsyth is Australia's first real estate agent to accept deposits in Bitcoin - but is the risk worth it?
