Banks respond to the Reserve Bank rate cut as one

• COMMENT

Our biggest banks move fast. Either that, or they collude. At 2.37 pm on Tuesday within minutes of the Reserve Bank cutting its cash rate to an all-time low, the Commonwealth Bank announced a completely different way of responding. Instead of passing on some of all of the cut, it would only pass on half and hand some of the rest out to customers as higher term deposit rates.

Banks short-change mortgage customers

The Commonwealth and National Australia Banks have short-changed their mortgage holders by passing on only a fraction of the Reserve Bank's 0.25 per cent cut in interest rates, choosing instead to reward depositors by lifting the rate they offer on term deposits.

RBA cuts cash rate to record low 1.5%

The RBA has cut the official cash rate to a historic low of 1.5 per cent but home loan customers will received only part of the benefit.

The stars are aligning for an RBA rate cut on Tuesday

• ANALYSIS

Apparent strong house price growth in Sydney and Melbourne is unlikely to dissuade the Reserve Bank from cutting interest rates on Tuesday, in part because it's not what it seems.  

Apartment building to collapse 50%, says BIS Shrapnel

Apartment building is set to to collapse 50 per cent over the next four years, according to forecaster BIS Shrapnel, with only Sydney bucking the trend.

Pay no attention to big coal. Wind power is doing just fine

• COMMENT

First it was dead birds, then noise. Now wind farms are being blamed for destroying the electricity market and pushing prices as high as $14,000 per megawatt hour.

Why the RBA will probably cut on Tuesday

• COMMENT

Never keen about cutting rates unless it's an emergency, Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens been able to escape one last cut, until Wednesday.

Inflation plunge puts Reserve on standby to cut rates

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens is considering cutting interest rates in one of his last acts in the job following news that Australia's official inflation rate has fallen to just 1 per cent.

We're no better off than in 2009

If you think you are worse off despite a raft of economic statistics saying things are getting better, you're probably right.