ASX to hit five-and-a-half month low
The S&P/ASX 200 is on the verge of falling to its lowest since mid-October as investors reel from the prospect of a trade war between the US and China.
Focus on the mid-caps with global ambitions
Mid-cap companies that are operating in in-demand industries and have an expanding global presence are the ones to own.
Social media will never be the same
With 15 million Australians on Facebook, this weeks' data breach revelations is set to hit home. Now regulators are set to redefine the way data is owned, putting the power back in users' hands.
Wall St drops on trade war clouds
Wall Street's losses accelerated into the close as investors showed increasing nervousness about the impact of a potential global trade war.
Home loan industry set for a shake-up
Bankers in the audience would have felt decidedly queasy as Rowena Orr ran through the long litany of serious breaches by the banks and mortgage brokers.
Inside the fight for a pot stock
A tussle for control of a small pot stock underscores the potential conflict of interest for small corporate advisers, which hold shareholdings and gain board seats with the companies they advise.
Hayne delays banking's AI nirvana
Has the banking royal commission killed off the fantasy of banks leveraging technology to cut costs and boost profits?
Post bonus banker moves begin at Goldman, Deutsche
Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have separately lost their respective local heads of consumer, retail and healthcare investment banking.
Major brands temporarily pull advertising from Facebook
The maker of the popular web browser Firefox, Mozilla, and Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX are "taking a break" from Facebook in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Who is to blame for NAB's Introducer Program?
Questions are expected to arise at the banking royal commission over executive responsibility for NAB's flawed Introducer program.
AGL's rivals eye market opportunity
EnergyAustralia has taken a lead among AGL Energy's competitors in showing appetite to snare part of the market opportunity opened up by the closure of the old Liddell coal generator.
Accent Group to take Platypus chain to Asia
Footwear retailer Accent Group plans to take its Platypus format overseas, starting in Singapore, with the help of shareholder Brett Blundy.
China could ease buying of Treasuries
China's ambassador to the US wouldn't rule out the possibility of the Asian nation scaling back purchases of US Treasuries.
Seven small-cap aces from reporting season
Seven small-cap stocks that fund managers rated in the latest reporting season.
Mortgage rates could rise without the RBA
The RBA may be on hold, but Australian companies have already suffered the equivalent of a rate hike on their variable rate borrowing rates. Could households be next?
Trade war woes pummel ASX
Australian shares fell to deep losses at the end of the week after trade war worries rattled investors and wiped billions off the value of the sharemarket.
Opinion
Company tax war just starting
If the Coalition's company tax cut gets through the Senate, then Labor will make repeal the central issue of the election. Both sides will have a great deal at stake.
Social media and election planning at party HQ
As the two major parties get on a war footing ahead on next year's election, social media's power as a campaign tool is being factored in.
Mortgage rates could rise without the RBA
The RBA may be on hold, but Australian companies have already suffered the equivalent of a rate hike on their variable rate borrowing rates. Could households be next?
Is it the right time to buy mortgage investments?
Switching out of senior bonds and hybrids to invest in Australian residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) while house prices are falling is one of the more surprising recent trades, writes Christopher Joye.
Locked doors, tight lips in tax cut talks
Coalition senate leader Mathias Cormann is leading a full court press to win company tax cuts, with next week critical to success.
Why the NEG isn't ready for prime time
ESB chair Kerry Schott and vice-chair Clare Savage have got a few short weeks – straddling the Easter holidays – to get their "draft design" ready.
Business has bet each way with crossbenchers
CEOs target Nick Xenophon bloc of senators as insurance if Derryn Hinch's demands prove a bridge too far.
Fears industrial dispute could affect beer supplies in Qld
A long-running industrial dispute between brewer Lion Nathan and unions has lead to speculation Queensland's supplies of XXXX may be running low.
Budget deficit almost halved as revenue surges
The federal budget is almost $10 billion better off in just two months, furnishing the Turnbull government's income tax war chest.
World's richest down $436b since January
It's been an expensive two months for the world's 500 wealthiest people.
Cambridge Analytica London office raided
Investigators from Britain's data watchdog have raided the London offices of Cambridge Analytica, the company at the centre of the Facebook election scandal.
Trump told to expel Russian diplomats over poisoning
Advisers to Donald Trump are expected to recommend he expel Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy.
Trump signs bill, avoids shutdown
President Donald Trump signed a $US1.3 trillion spending bill into law, avoiding a government shutdown that had suddenly become a possibility.
Trump's tariffs a dog's breakfast for US firms in China
Many US executives in China blame Trump, rather than Beijing, for the escalating trade tensions.
Personal Finance
Time to cash in on some of your gains
This might well be an opportune time for SMSF pension members to diversify their portfolios, particularly where they achieved good returns on their growth assets.
Labor savings figures still don't add up for Ralston
Australia's model of taxing super contributions and earnings on super, while allowing retirees to withdraw their savings tax free is "crazy," says SMSF Association chair Deborah Ralston.
Beware outside mailboxes
Outside mailboxes can be stuffed full of unwanted flyers and emptied of their contents of any value.
The things Mathias Cormann won't talk about
Mathias Cormann is known for his Terminator-like discipline, but over lunch with the AFR there's one topic that gets him animated.
Wealth and fame can be a 'double whammy' for depression
Serious money isn't enough to ward off depression; in fact, say psychologists, it comes with its own set of pressures.
Facebook scandal shows academics behaving badly
The alarm about work done by a Cambridge University researcher was raised years ago but a lack of regulation made ethical rulings difficult.
Ex-Macquarie banker to head CPA
Accounting body CPA Australia has appointed former Macquarie veteran Andrew Hunter as its new CEO nine months after firing Alex Malley.
Lifestyle
Snow in Sydney as Opera On The Harbour returns
Fifty years after leading the marches and strikes that shut down France, the bohemians were back on Friday night but this time the establishment applauded, as La Boheme was staged on Sydney Harbour.
