Wall St cheers as Fed 'party goes on'
Investors are cheering what looks with every day like a growing "Powell put". "The Fed has "refilled the punchbowl and the party goes on. Time to consider buying risk assets."
Banks 'not to blame' for house slump
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer said one of the unintended consequences of the residential lending crackdown had been to "penalise small business".
'Housing plunge' from credit crunch
House prices will fall a further 10 per cent in 2019 as banks are forced to ditch unrealistic expenditure measures, says Douglass Orr of Endeavour Equity Strategy.
Europeans douse Brexit hopes
As British PM Theresa May tries to leverage her rare parliamentary victory to revive her Brexit deal, EU leaders circle the wagons.
Hartzer provides housing sanity
Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer has provided a voice of reason – even sanity – on Australia's property cycle.
ASX poised to edge higher
Australian shares are set to rise for a second day as iron ore surged still higher and US/China trade talks resumed.
Labor banks on angry retirees voting Liberal
Labor believes the political backlash against its plans to end cash refunds for excess franking credits will be limited because the majority of the almost 1 million people affected already vote Liberal.
Hartzer: Why housing is an orderly adjustment
It is the end of a strong six-year run, not the choking of bank credit, that is slowing down the housing market.
Beach jacks up output guidance
Beach Energy has lifted its production guidance for the full year and brought forward its debt elimination target.
Penn blames NBN for Telstra job cuts
CEO Andy Penn blames Telstra's plan to sack a quarter of its employees on the NBN, saying the government-owned NBN would eventually take as much as half of the telco's earnings.
Work with us, real-time pay exec tells banks
Bob McKinnon wants banks to focus on business customer payments and drive innovation by collaborating with start-ups as adoption of the new payments platform approaches a tipping point.
Energy suppliers aim to restore customer trust
More than 10 million energy customers should see benefits from a new "energy charter" that obliges suppliers to put the customer at the centre of what they do.
Tesla sees profit in every 2019 quarter
Tesla eked out a small quarterly profit and predicted it would be profitable every quarter this year.
$A leaps higher on dovish Fed
The Australian dollar leapt higher after the US central bank signalled a potential end to its rate-hike cycle.
Iron ore could spike to $US100 mark
The spot price of iron ore leapt again, and could spike still higher in the weeks ahead.
Pengana targets up to $1b offer
Pengana says a lack of private equity investment options and a 5 per cent kicker will attract investors to its LIC raising.
Updater's unicorn quest
Updater, which controversially delisted in October to seek better valuations in US private markets, is on track to close its fundraising in the first quarter of this year.
Opinion
Be careful what you wish for with Hayne
Investors face a period of short-term pain before any long-term gain after the Hayne report is released on Monday.
Responsible lending or credit squeeze
The big slow-down in lending for mortgages over 2018, extending and probably accelerating into 2019, has more to do with a far less high-profile source of banker angst.
Inflation lets RBA cling to rates story
The modest rise in annual headline inflation to a higher-than-anticipated but still stubbornly soft 1.8 per cent will give the Reserve Bank of Australia much-needed heart that its plan for the economy is not unravelling as some bears are warning.
West must find right ways to push back
The West has to take a stand against China's misbehaviour. But it must be wary of hypocrisy.
'The buggers want to take the lot'
Labor is standing firm over its plan to axe dividend imputation refunds, but the outcry from retirees, financial advisers and self-managed super lobby groups is gaining urgency.
Julia Banks to challenge Greg Hunt in Flinders
Liberal Party defector Julia Banks will target Health Minister Greg Hunt at the federal election, running as an independent in his Victorian seat of Flinders.
Stop the electric-car subsidy, AAA says
The nation's peak motoring body says the major parties must confront the replacement of fuel excise with a road-user charge - and start by applying the charge to electric cars.
Cranston admits 'a form of conflict' to police
Former deputy tax commissioner Michael Cranston told police there could have been a conflict of interest in his raising his son's business concerns with a senior tax official.
Franking crackdown would penalise SMSFs
Experts say self-managed super fund owners might move to industry funds because of Labor's plan to end share portfolio franking credits
EU considers barring Chinese firms from 5G
The EU is considering proposals that would amount to a de-facto ban on Huawei for 5G mobile networks, four senior EU officials said.
Russian plane arrives in Venezuela, sparking rumours
The unusual arrival of a Russian passenger plane in Caracas has set social media abuzz with rumours about its mission.
Venezuela's crisis has split the world, this map shows
Support for duelling presidents in Venezuela has broken along traditional lines as support splits between President Nicolas Maduro the National Assembly head Juan Guaido.
We need to resolve the Huawei problem
The ongoing crisis could consume Chinese tech giant Huawei, and it is the last thing that Aussie companies and regulators need heading into a vitally important year.
China to push for US trade deal despite Huawei outrage
China will push ahead with high-level trade negotiations in Washington to avert a trade war with the US despite outrage at criminal allegations against telecoms giant Huawei.
Personal Finance
Underfunded apartment blocks will cost you in the end
Got many investors or retirees in your building? They're most likely to say no to funding future potential problems.
Lower fuel costs keep Hummers humming
Humming in a Hummer co-owner Belinda Vassallo saved almost $2500 in the December quarter on petrol, however difficult conditions remain for vehicle hire operators.
Lenders slash rates and boost cash incentives
Westpac is the latest bank to offer incentives – rather than cut rates – despite rising funding and regulatory costs and weakening demand from property buyers.
BHP backs Indigenous voice to parliament
BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie will throw his support behind a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous "voice" to Parliament, in a landmark speech designed to build support from the business community.
You've been doing your to-do list all wrong
If your to-do list puts a complex three-hour task next to a 'call back John from Acme', it's time to rethink how you're doing your list.
Stables of Melbourne Cup winning trainer raided
A gun and taser have been seized and three people arrested after police raids on Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir.
Avoiding risk will stifle growth, leaders warned
Directors and senior management must fight the temptation to smother risk-taking as they digest the implications of the banking royal commission, warns a leading executive recruiter.
Lifestyle
Will high fashion prices burst like the tulip bubble?
There's a touch of market madness in the increasingly outrageous prices designer threads command, Marion Hume writes.
