China tipped to boost stimulus
China’s plunge in credit expansion last month and unexpected slowdown in investment spending flashed warnings on growth that investors and economists bet will spur policy makers to expand stimulus. A property slump and dangers from rising bad loans are making it tougher for Premier Li Keqiang to sustain the fastest growth in the Group of 20 nations.
Packer’s Crown posts better-than-expected profit
Crown Resorts said its full-year net profit after tax rose 66 per cent, buoyed by growth in the company’s Macau joint venture, while the domestic casinos battled against weak consumer sentiment.
Markets Live: Telstra leads earnings rally
BusinessDay | Share gains accelerate as more profits roll in, with Telstra doing most of the heavy lifting after the telco splashed out $1 billion in dividends and buybacks.
Telstra dividend boost leaves door open to acquisitions
Chanticleer | Telstra chief executive David Thodey is meeting his 1.4 million shareholders halfway with a $1 billion share buyback and a higher dividend.
Rio Tinto’s Mongolian plans face political fight
Rio Tinto’s ambitious copper project in Mongolia, Oyu Tolgoi, is starting to hit its straps operationally – but its future remains clouded by a growing number of disputes with the Mongolian government.
Goodman Group profit meets guidance
Updated | Goodman Group has delivered a full-year operating profit of $601 million, up 10 per cent on last year and in line with guidance given before the end of the financial year but below consensus forecasts.
Results Wrap | Envestra profit jumps 42pc
Live blog | Welcome to the Financial Review reporting season blog. Crown soars, Dexus falls, Goodman up, Telstra ups dividend, Fairfax back in black.
Top tax rate ‘killing goose that lays golden egg’
Australia’s top marginal income tax rate is rapidly nearing the level that hurts economic growth, says visiting US economics Nobel Laureate Ed Prescott.
Fairfax Media back in black with $224m profit
Updated | Fairfax Media swung to a full-yet net profit of $224 million from the year-earlier loss of $16.4 million. The sale of holiday website Stayz helped the media group return to black.
Whisky investment not a bad drop
Investors looking for asset diversification are increasingly turning to a bottle of whisky.
Environment trumps GDP for China towns
There’s a new measure of success for a growing number of Chinese cities.
Goldman picks up CIMB’s Lamshed
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Goldman Sachs has beefed up its equity capital markets team with the hire of CIMB banker Aaron Lamshed.
Six ways to stay fit on the road
Do the basics of ‘eat less and move more’ work for business travellers who want to stay fit?
Terry Davis – from CCA nightmare to white knight
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Rear Window | Am I the only person utterly dumbfounded by the fact that private equity sharks have engaged Terry Davis as an adviser?
Looking to a Smart start to spring sales
With Jeffrey Smart and Fred Williams up for grabs, Sotheby’s is ready for its spring sale.
Russia’s pain is China’s gain
The outpouring of money from Moscow has led analysts to ask: where is all this cash going?
Who’s buying milk for $9 a litre?
A NSW farmer cooperative has a simple plan to capitalise on Asia’s fast-growing middle class.
Apple, Samsung face smartphone strife
Have Apple and Samsung hit “peak” smartphone in the face of lower-cost rivals?
CEOs say no need for uni degrees
Stuart Irving and Jamie Odell run two of the nation’s leading companies. Neither has an bachelor degree. Nor do they regret it.
Lauren Bacall dies, aged 89
Hollywood screen legend Lauren Bacall has died, aged 89, reportedly of a massive stroke at her home.
Can you be a good dad and a CEO?
Fiona Smith | The boss of a $US1 billion tech company stepped down last week for family reasons. No, really, he did.
National
Developer admits paying $10,000 for unseen painting
Newcastle property developer Hilton Grugeon has admitted he paid $10,000 for a painting he had never seen as a way of helping a Liberal Party candidate at the 2011 election, an inquiry has heard.
- Budget impasse cost government $5b
- Ed Prescott says top tax rate ‘killing the goose’
- Joe Hockey defends ‘poor don’t have cars’ comment
- Perth facing apartment glut
- KordaMentha review of NBN Co slams top directors
- RBA may lose health payments to private sector
- Former Treasury secretary defends Hockey’s complaints
- Paul Little, James Hird deny Bombers’ rift
- Regulators face audit after cuts
Richard Nixon was right – government doesn’t work
Mark Latham | When he scribbled ‘government doesn’t work’ Richard Nixon vented a sentiment most of us have felt.
Opinion
An explosion of mad litigation
Editorial | In the real world people who borrow money would expect to have to repay it and, if they are late, pay extra in addition.
Nixon was right – government doesn’t work
Mark Latham | When he scribbled ‘government doesn’t work’ Richard Nixon vented a sentiment most of us have felt.
Tech boom fuels London’s property growth
Robert Harley | London is one of the hottest property markets in the world. House prices have surged, helped by offshore buying.
World
Bank of England douses bets on higher rates
The Bank of England dented expectations of a first interest rate hike this year, slashing its forecast for wage growth and saying higher borrowing costs hinged largely on an improved outlook for pay.
- China’s Henan asks banks to help coal companies
- US ground troops could help rescue Iraqi refugees
- Brazil presidential candidate killed in plane crash
- US retail sales disappoint as auto dealers stall
- Australian among 11 injured after Swiss train derails
- Greece to pull out of recession this year
- Tech boom fuels London’s property growth
- Germany inspires EU deflation fears
Deflation sees Europe start turning Japanese
Maximilian Walsh | Recent economic data underscores just how fragile, even tenuous, recovery has been in the larger economies of the euro zone.
Business
Telstra lifts dividend on $4.3b profit
Updated | Telstra will return $1 billion to investors through a share buyback as well as increase its dividend for the second time this year following more than eight years without a rise.
- Results Wrap | Reporting season blog
- James Packer’s Crown Resorts profit soars on Macau
- Envestra profit rises on higher network tariffs
- Stuart Grimshaw in Aussie-led takeover of EZCorp
- Virgin Velocity members to earn big points on loans
- Fairfax Media back in black with $224m profit
- Optus posts drop in revenue, profit
- Goodman Group profit meets guidance
- STW grows net profit 1.2pc in tough ad market
Qantas plan breaks Hong Kong law, says Cathay Pacific
The move to link Hong Kong airlines’ increased traffic rights to Australia with regulatory approvals for Jetstar Hong Kong shows Qantas’s budget arm does not comply with Hong Kong law, says Cathay Pacific.
Technology
What price ethics in a big data world?
Scholars are exhilarated by the prospect of tapping into the vast troves of personal data collected by Facebook, Google, Amazon and a host of start-ups, but the new era has brought controversial questions about the ethics of mining minds.
- Wishing for a genuinely smart smartphone
- Telstra lifts dividend on $4.3b profit
- Cisco to cut 6000 more staff as troubles continue
- Intel to use wearable technology to research Parkinson’s disease
- Online retailer lauds value of bitcoin sales
- Reckon chief promises customer benefit after upgrade pain
- Tech keeps CBA at front of pack
- KordaMentha review of NBN Co slams top directors
- Apple, Samsung face smartphone strife
Sick of Siri? Try Viv, the personal programmer
The folks that inflicted Siri on the world have a new, much smarter personal assistant that writes its own code to solve your problems
Markets
Markets Live: Telstra leads earnings rally
BusinessDay | Share gains accelerate as more profits roll in, with Telstra doing most of the heavy lifting after the telco splashed out $1 billion in dividends and buybacks.
- Results Wrap | Reporting season blog
- $A jumps back above 93 US cents
- Bank of Korea cuts rates to spur growth
- Dow positive for year as biotechs lead rally
- Bank of England douses bets on higher rates
- Copper at seven-week low on China outlook
- ISDA sets August 21 auction for Argentina swaps
- Now is the time for shares to prove their worth
- Speculation surges after surprise China data
BoE’s Carney has rate watchers guessing
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is getting a reputation for upsetting the markets. When he took the job a year ago, he championed predictability, but his apparently alternating signals on rates have left many perplexed.
Personal finance
Can you win big with micro-caps?
Fortune hunters seeking stocks that soar tenfold are usually portrayed as speculators punting on “penny dreadful” mining stocks, not portfolio investors risking their retirement savings on the next big thing.
Flexible foundation for ‘top-tier refugees’
Lawyers Jane Wright and Lauren Barel thought they had work-life balance sorted.
Lifestyle
Putting the fun back into fine dining
These menus are as escapist and imaginative as the tales that inspired them.
The amazing race
The annual Audi Hamilton Island Race Week takes place in the beautiful, unpredictable waters of the Whitsunday Islands.
McLaren 650S first drive
In the first setting, the 650 is docile and easy to drive smoothly. In Sport it’s blisteringly fast. In Track it doesn’t feel legal..
High-flying world of private jet travel
When first class just doesn’t cut it any more, you have no choice but to buy the plane.
Latest TV
Aussie milk to benefit from Chinese thirst
Australian milk farmers would enjoy greater leverage overall from entering Chinese markets.
CBA whopper dividend defies capital fears
The Commonwealth Bank has delivered a huge dividend despite concerns over new capital rules.
How veggies power a triathlete
Triathlete Tim Reed says it makes sense to "switch off" simple carbohydrates.
Surface Pro 3: A hybrid laptop notebook
Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 is putting the personal back into personal computing.
