How to pick the next blue chips
We all know the blue chips – they’re the biggest, most reputable companies listed on the ASX. But at a time when valuations are beginning to look increasingly full, if not stretched, investors would be wise to look for quality companies outside the top 50 that provide the right mix of high quality and reasonable value. Let’s call them “emerging blue chips”.
Housing boom ‘threat to SMSF stability’
Borrowing to buy property through self-managed super funds is growing by nearly 80 per cent a year, or five times the rate for listed shares and seven times cash and deposits, according to Australian Taxation Office figures.
Alibaba IPO attracts risk-ready Australians
Australians are turning to risky investment products to get in on the action when Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba lists in the US on Wednesday, in what may be the biggest float to date.
It’s a jungle out there in real estate’s super September
With around 2000 auctions a weekend scheduled in Melbourne and Sydney this month, Saturdays could turn into a slaughterhouse for naive, gullible or poorly prepared buyers and sellers.
Time to prepare for China’s big steel scrap
Rarely has scrap metal loomed so important to the future health of the Australian economy.
$A dip may boost local businesses
The Australian dollar could be headed below US90¢ for the first time in six months, after softening commodity prices added to growing expectations of an early US interest rate rise.
Artful dodger Sinodinos says no memory of individual funds
Arthur Sinodinos has always had one of the more supple political minds of his generation – no yoga position too hard to hold, no hesitation in folding his head around another anatomically implausible position.
Optus, Telstra release iPhone 6 price plans
SingTel-Optus has released its prices and plans for Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Government set to relax crowdfunding rules
A government-wide “competitiveness agenda” will include new financial market laws to allow start-ups to get access to capital through crowdsourcing and employee share schemes.
China’s new rich learn class rules
Desperate to avoid being branded a ‘tuhao’, China’s well-heeled middle classes are learning modern etiquette.
Allco’s smoke and mirrors
Chanticleer | Two directors from collapsed Allco Financial Group finally got their comeuppance.
Barack Obama’s wolf from Wall Street
Top businessman Robert Wolf did the unthinkable when he joined the Obama campaign.
UBS cuts Myer Holdings to a ‘sell’
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UBS analyst Ben Gilbert has downgraded his rating on Myer Holdings to “sell”, after the retailer delivered a disappointing full-year earnings result, with few signs of upside on the horizon.
3 steps to disaster
The unravelling of what appeared to be a picture-perfect Sydney couple reveals a series of mishaps and mistakes.
China cracks down on drugs
When police raided a Beijing bar last month, they blocked the exits and began taking urine samples.
What makes accountants unhappy?
A survey of accounting professionals finds three key reasons for wanting to change jobs.
How I broke the glass ceiling: Gail Kelly, Westpac
Pathways to CEO | No-one predicted a teacher in Zimbabwe would become the most powerful businesswoman in Australia.
Gina Rinehart says cut red tape ‘urgently’
Gina Rinehart is urging the government to cut red tape as the mining sector grapples with plummeting iron ore prices.
Bureaucrat survives night of short knives
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Rear Window | He’s living proof of the different governing styles of Denis Napthine and Mike Baird – meet Blair Comley, NSW’s new top bureaucrat.
Robotic science imitates farm life
Anyone who has seen a sheepdog round up a flock will have been impressed by the skill and ingenuity of the border collie.
Telcos in Apple iPhone stand off
Telstra, SingTel-Optus and Vodafone Australia are ramping up their offers and networks for an Apple iPhone face off on Friday..
Fantauzzo wins 4th Archibald People’s Choice
Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo has beaten 53 other finalists to win the People’s Choice in this year’s Archibald Prize for a record fourth time.
Don’t hide your light, Coca-Cola’s Watkins says
When Coca-Cola Amatil’s chief executive Alison Watkins decided to abandon modesty, she got the top jobs at GrainCorp and CCA.
National
Security blitz to follow higher terror threat alert
The nations’ football codes are reviewing security at football grounds as thousands of fans flock to the finals after the government lifted Australia’s terror alert level to high for the first time.
- Australian terror watch on high, raised to UK levels
- Sinodinos: donations failed the ‘pub test'
- Westerners caught up in Beijing bar drug raid
- Property developer won’t budge for terminally ill man
- Tax amnesty offers relief for Holocaust victims’ families
- More to value than prices at celebrity jewellery show
- Telstra mulls competing with NBN
- RBA’s John Edwards cools property bubble fears
- Westpac chief Gail Kelly shares the secrets of her success
Western Australia’s state of hangover
Not long ago real estate agent Wendy Campbell was fielding six phone calls a week from relocation companies eager to secure properties for executives moving to Perth.
Opinion
On the lookout: no prowling Japanese subs will get past us!
The world was shocked this week to learn of a ragged group of soldiers who have been living on a remote island to the south of Papua New Guinea, unaware that World War II ended 69 years ago.
Time for Scotland to go its own way
What do Malcolm Fraser and Rupert Murdoch have in common these days? Not much, you might think, but at least one of these Scots descendants would vote “yes” in Scotland’s forthcoming independence referendum on September 18 – if they had the vote.
Both parties find clear air to think about policy
Assuming no-one loses their head between now and Christmas, 2014, in contemporary, terms will be a rare year. It will be the first year in almost a decade free of a major party undergoing a leadership coup or being crippled by rampant speculation.
World
US retail sales rise, consumer optimism too
US retail sales rose broadly in August and consumer sentiment hit a 14-month high in September, supporting expectations for sturdy economic growth in the third quarter.
- Australian terror watch on high, raised to UK levels
- Record orders to delay Apple iPhone shipments
- China data has never mattered more to Australia
- S&P; raises Greek rating, citing lower risks
- Indian economy struggles to move forward
- Westerners caught up in Beijing bar drug raid
- US, EU back additional sanctions against Russia
- Shabab still dangerous after death of leader
The financial impact of Scottish independence
The prospect of an independent Scotland – once considered an outside chance at best – is now a distinct possibility. And Scottish banks are spooked.
Business
Alibaba IPO attracts risk-ready Australians
Australians are turning to risky investment products to get in on the action when Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba lists in the US on Wednesday, in what may be the biggest float to date.
- Sleepless nights for Myer shareholders as Bernie Brookes fights on
- Economic modelling vital for iron ore giants
- Optus appoints Allen Lew as CEO, Paul O’Sullivan as chairman
- AGL pulls off 21-month MacGen hunt
- WorleyParsons jumps to Mexico as Australian projects dry up
- SAI Global extends bid deadline
- SMSFs tipped to boost Challenger, iiNet
- Telstra mulls competing with NBN
- The Warehouse Group profit falls 46pc
Cabcharge rival Live Taxi mulls legal action
LiveTaxi Epay is considering legal action against NSW and Victoria for what it says is anti-competitive legislation.
Technology
Atlassian sales leap 44% as revenue hits $242m
Tech company Atlassian’s stellar run has continued, with sales jumping 44 per cent and another 9000 customers added in the last 12 months.
- Why Microsoft is right to ditch the Bing brand
- For whom the TPG bell tolls: NBN competition heats up
- Optus appoints Allen Lew as CEO, Paul O’Sullivan as chairman
- Telcos make their stands in Apple iPhone stand off
- Streaming company offers to put your DVDs in the cloud
- Lack of data smarts cost Australia $48 billion in 2013
- ACCC gives TPG nod despite NBN Co’s concerns
- Twitter seeks $US1.5b in first-time debt offer
- Foxtel profit weakens piracy debate, CEO Richard Freudenstein admits
Optus, Telstra release iPhone 6 price plans
SingTel-Optus has released its prices and plans for Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Markets
How to pick the next blue chips
At a time when valuations are beginning to look increasingly full, if not stretched, investors would be wise to look for quality companies outside the top 50.
- Wall Street ends lower as energy shares slide
- Fed to adopt more hawkish rate tone: JP Morgan
- Investors pull $US2b from high-yield bond funds
- Next darlings of the super army
- Alibaba IPO attracts risk-ready Australians
- Copper records 2pc weekly drop as $US advances
- Tax trap in the Telstra buyback
- ASX stumbles for third week, led down by big banks
Hundred-year bonds gain popularity
Philip Baker | If someone wanted to borrow money from you at an interest rate of just under 5 per cent per annum and promised to pay it back in 100 years’ time, what would you say? Exactly.
Personal finance
It’s a jungle out there in real estate’s super September
With around 2000 auctions a weekend scheduled in Melbourne and Sydney this month, Saturdays could turn into a slaughterhouse for naive, gullible or poorly prepared buyers and sellers.
Tax trap in the Telstra buyback
Over the next three weeks, many thousands of DIY super fund members drawn to high-dividend shares with franking credits will be weighing up whether to take part in the Telstra $1 billion off-market share buyback.
Lifestyle
A fine spring day at the track
Racing carnivals find new ways to attract a younger generation to the sport of kings.
Sweet seduction by the dram
Whiskies are further enhanced when paired with the sweetness of treats such as honey, citrus and cocoa.
Look up in wonder: fresh angles on ceilings
Architects are increasingly spurning flat surfaces overhead and creating eye-catching ceilings with complexity and flair.
Patient and particular in provenance
Applying an ethical approach to fashion is the essence of the Slow Luxury phenomenon.
Latest TV
Tax reform, an equity issue
Business leaders and politicians agree equity, digestibility and messaging are integral to successful tax reform
Export shortfall damaging emerging economies
Asia's developing countries are coping with a huge export deficit, which hurts growth ambitions in emerging markets.
Consumer sentiment doing it tough
Better than expected jobs data may not be enough to buoy consumers subdued by damp retail and iron ore numbers.
EU to impose new sanctions on Russia
European Union governments agreed that new economic sanctions on Russia will take effect on Friday.
