Sydney's tech skills shortage

• 1 hr ago

Finder.com co-founder and self-made millionaire Fred Schebsta says that Australia suffers from a tech worker famine, which means that he has to employee skilled foreigners.

Why Ivanka Trump's Chinese-made clothing is a problem for her father

If President-elect Donald Trump needs a lesson on the difficulty of reviving US manufacturing, he need look only as far as his daughter's closet.

More and more Indian IT workers on 457 visas put on base salaries

The proportion of IT professionals from India granted 457 visas and put on base salaries of $53,900 or less has tripled under the Coalition government.

Premier eyes penalty rates, GST sweeteners

Why retail veteran Solomon Lew wants cheaper penalty rates and to charge shoppers GST on small overseas purchases.

Are Australians Netflix-bingeing face-stuffers?

• COMMENT

Sitting at home watching Netflix or playing on home electronic gadgets, eating delivered takeout food, and getting fatter? You're not alone.

Another public service vote goes down in a thriller

Public service bosses get second opinion. But not the one they wanted.

Save the world, give workers a share in profits

• COMMENT

The world of wages has gotten out of whack.

Darling dairy stocks dumped after Bellamy's China warning

Australia's one-time darling dairy stocks were dumped by investors on Friday after Bellamy's Australia warned recent import rule changes in China had crimped sales of its organic infant formula amid discounting by rivals.

Economists forced into productivity guessing game

• COMMENT

Conventional economics is falling apart, no longer making the sense we thought it made.

ASX ends week in the red on profit taking

A broad sell-off pushed shares lower on Friday, with the reversal of the mining rally and profit taking dragging the ASX to a weekly loss.

George Christensen backflipping like a Seinfeld character

• COMMENT

When Coalition backbencher George Christensen tweeted on November 25: "My opinion just changed. We do need a royal commission," it would have struck fear into the hearts of the captains of banking.

How Putin, Khamenei and Saudi prince got OPEC deal done

Saudi Arabia was finally persuaded to turn off its oil tap and buoy the markets in a three-cornered deal with Moscow and Tehran.

Markets Live: Blue chips dumped

Share falls are led by a plunge in Bellamy's following a soft sales report, as energy stocks give up some of yesterday's blockbuster gains and bond yields hit new 2016 highs.

Retail king Solly Lew says Australian retail as bad as it gets

Retail veteran and Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew says the past five years have been "as difficult as I have ever encountered" for Australian retailers.

Putting a price on Christmas

Australians will spend billions this Christmas, with the largest percentage spent on food.

Emergency intervention to avoid gas and power crisis

The Victorian government has launched an emergency intervention to stop a workers' strike at Esso that could threaten the state's gas and energy supply.

Hate doing laundry? Meet the Laundroid

Hate doing laundry? This Laundroid doesn't only wash and dry garments, but also sort, fold and neatly arrange them. Now its Japanese inventor has won $71 million from investors including Panasonic, and is preparing to take the business public.

EU takes focus as polls unsettle market

It is much harder to implement Trumponomics in Europe even if that's what voters want.

Doom and gloom focus switches to GDP

• COMMENT

Seekers of dark linings to silver clouds are in the process of switching horses ahead of Wednesday's National Accounts Stakes, jumping off National Income Recession and climbing aboard GDP Dive.

ME Bank outage leaves customers stranded at shops

ME bank customers have complained of not being able to purchase petrol and groceries, with outages disrupting numerous debit and mastercard transactions on Friday afternoon. 

Alfasi reboots property arm with $24m Richmond purchase

The privately-run Alfasi steel construction and equipment hire group will re-boot its property development arm using a site it purchased in one of Melbourne's hottest property sectors for more than $24 million.

Doom and gloom riders switch horses

It's time to get off income recession and climb aboard GDP numbers as national income is set to surprise on the upside. Michael Pascoe comments.

Bond king Bill Gross doesn't buy the Trump rally

Investors are misguided in betting that the President-elect's promised tax cuts, infrastructure spending and deregulation will spur faster growth, warns the billionaire bond investor.

Making credit cards work for you

Catherine Robson of Affinity Private shares three fundamentals of credit card management in an increasingly cashless society.

CBA raises fixed home loan rates

CBA is raising interest rates on a range of fixed-rate home loans, the latest big bank to increase costs for home buyers seeking to lock in their borrowing costs.

25 books by billionaires that will teach you how to run the world

Want to be the best in your field? Try these 25 books by self-made billionaires.

Hemmes snaps up Sydney pub for record $37.5m

Pub tsar Justin Hemmes​ has snapped up the Tennyson Hotel in Sydney's Botany Road, Mascot for $37.5 million - a record price for a hotel sale at a public auction.

Starbucks CEO Schultz steps down

Howard Schultz will step down as chief executive in April, handing over to his personally selected successor the management of the company he built into the world's largest coffee business.

Worst ever month for global bonds

The 30-year-old bull market in bonds looks to be ending with a bang.