A government all blustered out
Laura Tingle | Bleak national accounts data and confirmation the government has abandoned $3.5 billion of savings shows the Abbott government is not in a good place and with few ways out as the year ends.
Ten’s billionaire trio stand to lose $400m
Three of Ten Network Holding’s billionaire shareholders are set to lose almost $400 million if a joint bid between US cable TV giant Discovery Communications and local pay-TV monopoly Foxtel is successful.
ASX gains as energy rally trumps soft GDP
Australian shares pushed higher for a second day in a row as investors continued to snap up energy stocks, which are looking attractively priced after their massive selloff late last week and on Monday.
Toyota plans 2600 job cuts in 2017
Toyota said its plan to end local manufacturing in 2017 will see its workforce of 3900 cut back to 1300 as it consolidates operations to Melbourne.
GDP shocker sends bond bears back into hibernation
Bond traders and economists scrambled to re-assess their outlook for the Australian economy as weak economic data refuelled speculation that the RBA will be forced to cut interest rates in 2015.
Why Vale’s spin out is not like BHP’s
Matthew Stevens | Vale is retreating to its iron roots in Brazil in a dramatic change in the geopolitics of the mega-miners.
BHP’s US shale business looks better than local rivals’
BHP Billiton’s US shale business is better placed than local high cost competitors to withstand the dive in the oil price, though analysts say persistent low prices will slash energy company cash flows.
‘Income recession’ confirmed as GDP growth slows
Updated | Economic growth slowed sharply in the September quarter as the resources investment cliff hit hard, while national income was savaged by tumbling commodity prices.
Senior Fortescue executives exit amid cost cuts
Fortescue Metals Group is losing several senior executives as it continues to shed cost amid sluggish iron ore prices, after last week halving its capital expenditure budget.
Calls for a bucket, as parliament leaked
Fleur Anderson | Ministers squirmed on the frontbench to avoid drips from the skylight.
Phillip Hughes farewelled in Macksville
Joe Aston | It was a surreal day as we stopped to remember the Australian cricketer.
‘Fossil fuels like subprime mortgages’
Al Gore says the value of fossil fuels is based on the ‘absurd’ assumption they will all be used
Couriers Please sold to Singapore Post
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New Zealand Post’s Couriers Please unit has been sold to Singapore Post for $95 million.
Study shows Australia heading mobile only
The demand for data and content is rapidly increasing due to booming popularity of mobile devices, research from ACMA has found.
How to spot a lazy worker
Is one of your team – possibly even a high-flyer – a serial skiver? They openly spend hours each week planning their weekend, and go AWOL when it’s time to refill the photocopier.
Georgina Sutton breaks airline’s glass ceiling
Captain Georgina Sutton has broken the last barrier for female pilots at major Australian airlines.
Vittoria wins bid to trademark ‘gold’
Vittoria coffeemaker Cantarella Bros has won case over whether the Italian words for gold and five stars can be trademarked.
ASIC uses property websites to defend blocks
ASIC wants to stop property spruikers moving their seminars to places like Vanuatu by blocking their websites.
‘Conundrum’ of a magnate mum
You wouldn’t know it, but John Hancock and Gina Rinehart agree 90 per cent of the time.
Depression ‘epidemic’ may be all in our minds
It’s time to stop saying almost half of all Australians suffer from a mental illness at some time in their lives.
Hackers leak Sony executive pay secrets
Just as Sony Pictures Entertainment appeared to be recovering from a crippling online attack, the studio found itself confronting new perils.
Rolling Stones sax player Bobby Keys dies
The Rolling Stones' longtime saxophonist Bobby Keys has died at the age of 70.
National
Tax system stuck in the ’50s: Treasury
Outgoing Treasury Secretary Martin Parkinson has issued an urgent call for corporate and personal tax cuts, warning that our tax system is stuck in the 1950s and that Australians’ standard of living will collapse without reform.
- Financial advice casualties ‘heartbreaking’: Medcraft
- A government all blustered out, nowhere to go
- ‘Income recession’ confirmed as GDP growth slows
- Toyota plans 2600 job cuts in 2017
- Class action funders face regulation
- Christopher Pyne not ‘giving up’ on uni fees deregulation
- Vittoria wins bid to trademark ‘gold’
- Coalition to boost refugee intake by 7500
- RBA changes tune, opens door to rate cuts if $A stays high
How to fix politics: put CEOs in cabinet
Corporate Australia has called for an overhaul of Australia’s political system, including allowing outsiders to join cabinet and paying MPs more.
Opinion
Glencore wins extension to Hunter coalmine
Finally, good intentions and state government promises might be translating into productive reality with approval of Glencore’s Bulga mine.
Help the pollies with tax reform
Editorial | The crisis of Australian politics will not be resolved by politicians alone.
Big economies are doing all the wrong things
Nouriel Roubini | The answer now is less QE and more spending on infrastructure, but many nations are doing just the opposite.
World
Construction spending bolsters US outlook
US construction spending recorded its largest gain in five months in October, easing concerns of a sharp slowdown in fourth-quarter economic growth.
Business
Toyota plans 2600 job cuts in 2017
Toyota said its plan to end local manufacturing in 2017 will see its workforce of 3900 cut back to 1300 as it consolidates operations to Melbourne.
- Discovery Communications, Foxtel bid 23¢ a share for Ten Network
- CSL shares hit 12-month high on haemophilia drug push
- BHP’s US shale business looks better than local rivals’
- Senior Fortescue executives exit amid cost cuts
- Woolworths buys China liquor business Summergate
- TPG’s fibre-to-basement rollout advances slowly
- Oroton issues profit warning
- UBS cuts Nufarm earnings expectations
- ASX flooded with tech start-up backdoor floats
John Hancock’s ‘conundrum’ with mum Gina Rinehart
You wouldn’t know it, but John Hancock and Gina Rinehart agree 90 per cent of the time.
Technology
CBA invests $5m in UNSW quantum computing centre
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has invested $5 million in a world-leading push by Australian technology researchers to build the first silicon-based quantum computer.
- What to know about Nintendo 3DS and other tech festive gifts
- Aussie Bitcoin firm Coinjar flees GST to set up in UK
- FBI warns of ‘destructive’ malware in wake of Sony attack
- UK peer-to-peer lender targets Australian businesses
- Payments platform builder to be announced
- Government backs push for tech companies to deliver user data
- Old money chases the new, new thing – again
- All eyes on technology in the financial systems inquiry
- NBN pushing ahead with rollout to extra 1.9m premises
Study shows Australia heading mobile only
The demand for data and content is rapidly increasing due to booming popularity of mobile devices, research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority has found.
Markets
ASX gains as energy rally trumps soft GDP
Australian shares pushed higher for a second day in a row as investors continued to snap up energy stocks, which are looking attractively priced after their massive selloff late last week and on Monday.
- Dollar plunges as rate cut expectations rise
- Analysts reassess oil stocks as price slides
- $A pumps up petrol to third highest price on record
- ‘Income recession’ confirmed as GDP growth slows
- China’s iron ore clout grows with bear bets
- Gold slips on greenback, Fed tightening bets
- Dow sets record as energy sector advances
- Citigroup to close LavaFlow stock trading venue
- Pacific Equity Partners in talks to sell Hoyts pre-Christmas
Fed signals closer to raising rates
Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer signalled officials are closer to dropping a vow to keep interest rates low for a “considerable time”.
Personal finance
Brace your share portfolio for volatility
Diversification is the key in a climate where predictions of sharemarket volatility prompt a reconsideration of asset allocation.
How to get ahead on your mortgage repayments
We put debt repayments under the spotlight to help give you the edge and ease some of your financial burden.
Lifestyle
The top 20 wines of 2014
Philip Rich names his top 20 wines of the year and winemaker of the year, reflecting the Australian wine market’s maturity.
Aston Martin resurrects Lagonda super saloon
Echoes of the 1970s Lagonda are evident in Aston Martin’s latest incarnation of the luxury super saloon.
Opals: hot rocks in City of Light
Opals get something of a bad rap in their native Australia, but the high jewellers of Paris look upon them much more fondly.
For your eyes only: Exclusive enclaves of the internet
Discover the Paris end of cyberspace, where the seriously wealthy connect without having to mix with the hoi polloi.
Latest TV
Coffee wars: are Italian words trademarks?
Coffee maker Cantarella Bros takes Modena Trading to court over infringement of "cinque stelle" and "oro"
Palmer's espionage fears
The Palmer United leader prefers to use his own computers because he believes ASIO is watching him.
Guard of honour for Phillip Hughes
The streets of Macksville form a guard of honour for the hearse carrying Phillip Hughes.
RBA holds rates
The RBA left the official cash rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent as concern grows over collapsing commodity prices.
