PM vows a shake-up on the road to recovery
The established rules of the game are about to get a shake-up as the government looks to business to lead the way out of the crisis, explains Phillip Coorey.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Lethal virus also killing capitalism
A veteran Macquarie Group strategist says the coronavirus is accelerating the move towards a new world where whatever is left of free market signals disappear.
Everything you need to know about COVID-19 capital raisings
New temporary rules have led to a flurry of emergency equity raisings, but how do you tell a company on life support from one just banking blood?
Wall Street gains as Boeing shares surge
US stocks have closed higher boosted by a surge in Boeing shares, President Donald Trump's plan to reopen the coronavirus-battered economy and hopes of a potential drug by Gilead to treat COVID-19.
Scott Pape takes aim at HostPlus, unlisted investments
Super funds should never stop investors leaving, the author of Australia's most popular investment book says.
The double whammy about to hit property
Social distancing rules aren't helping but it is a drop in net migration that is shaping up as the big worry.
Government won't block potential foreign Virgin buyer
A government source said Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would look favourably upon any application from a foreign investor planning to make a bid for Virgin.
How the coronavirus is changing markets, business and politics.
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coronavirus pandemic
Trump goads Americans to break lockdown
The US president urged supporters to ignore his own administration's guidance on social distancing as death tolls rose across the country and the world. Here's what happened overnight Friday.
One of Australia's oldest retail strips is now a sorry sight
No one can remember having seen King Street in Sydney's inner west, one of Australia's oldest, longest and busiest commercial strips, quite like this.
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
How to make the most of a crisis
Scott Morrison is signalling that after the immediate coronavirus-induced economic crisis, tough and unpopular reform decisions are inevitable.
- Opinion
- Tax reform
Getting business ready for a post-crisis world
Lower corporate taxes, freezes on wages and executive salaries and a less-zealous approach by regulators would all help get the nation back to work.
Parents and teachers in the dark about school return date
NSW says schools are to return to face-to-face teaching but not even the state education department can say when.
Companies
Lure of the bargain and endless stimulus defeat GDP bears
The recession will be devastating, but investors can't ignore once-in-a-decade value and a wave of stimulus never seen before, creating a bull within a bear market.
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
H&R Block's plan to bring financial advice to the masses
Accounting giant H&R Block is rolling out digital advice for Australians seeking early access to their superannuation savings.
Optus staff to work from home permanently
Telecoms giant Optus says it will make coronavirus era work-at-home measures a permanent feature of its call centre operations.
NAB boss in fight to save jobs but concedes some may go
Ross McEwan says he will fight to protect the bank’s 34,000 employees from the economic fallout of COVID-19, but the bank will shed jobs for other reasons.
Drinks sales plunge forces CCA to withdraw dividend guidance
CCA boss Alison Watkins says some customers won't survive the pandemic, which has crunched drink sales, and joined calls for lockdown laws to be eased.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Three updates reveal the minefield investors face
Market updates from Rio Tinto, Brambles and Coca-Cola Amatil emphasise just how fast the pandemic is changing the outlook for business.
Everyone is going to have bill shock this winter
With so many people working and studying at home because of the coronavirus lockdown, a big spike in energy consumption is inevitable.
Markets
ASX firms as US plans to reopen economy
The ASX topped off a positive week with a gain, as investors hoped a treatment for COVID-19 was in sight and as the US set out a path to reopen its economy.
Reserve Bank tapers bond purchases as market returns to health
In a week dominated by a record $13 billion bond issue, the Reserve Bank is seeing the evidence of a successful intervention in the bond market.
ASX shakes fears to post fourth weekly rise. How the day unfolded
ASX has ended another week higher after gaining 1.3pc on Friday; RBA winds back bond purchases; Morgan Stanley expects Westpac to halve dividend.
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Why most COVID-19 forecasts were wrong
While almost everyone had an opinion on how the pandemic unfolded, it was surprising that few – if any – investors had developed formal forecasting capabilities, writes Christopher Joye.
Drug company soars on report coronavirus drug works
Gilead Sciences shares climbed in late trading Thursday after a report that a group of patients being treated in Chicago were "seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms".
Opinion
Exit from shared crisis must lead to a better Australia
Australia's great national opportunity for early return can mean something else – making the changes that a complacent Australia so neglected before the coronavirus hit.
Editorial
Why the bell must toll for WHO chief Tedros
Unless its China-trusting chief resigns, the World Health Organisation's pandemic failures will be weaponised by President Trump's assault on global institutions.
Columnist
PM paints ideological lines on the road out from the COVID-19 crisis
Scott Morrison is apparently keen to reassure his electoral base that government intervention remains the exception rather than the rule.
Columnist
How to make the most of a crisis
Scott Morrison is signalling that after the immediate coronavirus-induced economic crisis, tough and unpopular reform decisions are inevitable.
Senior Writer
Malcolm's memoir struggles in the time of COVID-19
The pandemic has changed everything, including the optics on the former prime minister's new book.
Senior Writer
Turnbull's book embraces a narcissistic honesty
Malcolm Turnbull's autobiography, A Bigger Picture, embraces a narcissistic honesty that does justice to the former prime minister's ego. Friends, enemies and allies' deficiencies are assessed in detail.
Senior correspondent
Politics
Government rules out new taxes on road to recovery
The established rules of the game are about to get a shake-up as the government looks to business to lead the way out of the crisis, explains Phillip Coorey.
- Opinion
- The Turnbull Memoir
Malcolm's memoir struggles in the time of COVID-19
The pandemic has changed everything, including the optics on the former prime minister's new book.
Australia adopts 'sentinel testing' regime to beat coronavirus
Australia is joining countries including New Zealand which are already using community surveillance testing against COVID-19.
The COVID-19 SWAT teams coming to a suburb near you
Several hundred healthcare, logistics and emergency response experts could be deployed to crush local virus outbreaks
Radical business cash flow tax pushed
Bob Hawke's former senior economic adviser Ross Garnaut is urging the Morrison government to seize on the crisis to adopt a radical new business cash flow tax that would boost investment.
World
Trump launches three-phase plan to reopen the economy
'We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time,' Donald Trump says, outlining how states should screen and test for infections as the death toll topped 33,000.
America struggles with an impossible decision
Lawmakers and the public are beginning to push back at stay-at-home rules, sparking a bitter and dangerous debate over when to reopen US economy.
China's economy shrinks for the first time since 1976
China's economy fell by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter after the coronavirus outbreak sent the world's second-largest economy backwards for the first time since the Cultural Revolution.
'It was like hell': Life under lockdown in Wuhan
The lockdown in Wuhan ended on April 8, but for some life will never go back to normal, reports China correspondent Mike Smith.
Wipeout: New Zealand's bid to eradicate COVID-19
New Zealand is alone among its Western peers in trying to eradicate the coronavirus. It's an optimistic strategy, but one expert believes Australia and Asian nations could form an 'eastern hemisphere bloc' where travel will be possible.
Property
NSW, Victoria push to replace stamp duty with land tax
The two biggest states are pushing for national tax reform to rebuild revenues and abolish inefficient taxes such as stamp duty.
Home prices to plunge 10pc: CBA
House prices in Sydney and Melbourne will plummet 10 per cent in the next six months or 20 per cent on an annualised basis as virus-triggered unemployment cuts into demand, the Commonwealth Bank says.
Marriott focuses on expansion as 'toughest' period looms
Marriott development boss Richard Crawford says growth is critical to its recovery, though the survival of airline Virgin Australia was essential to the entire hotel sector.
Governments will have to take more risk on big projects: John Holland
A contractor that argues infrastructure is unprofitable says pandemic stimulus spending will trigger a much-needed shift of the dial.
- Opinion
- Office
The return: office culture won't be the same post-pandemic
People are now experimenting with what works for them, and what doesn’t. When they return to the office they won’t want to slide back into their old ways.
Wealth
Helping hand from SMSF to COVID-19 casualty
A fund can lend $75,000 to a family member in a remortgaging pickle, writes John Wasiliev, who answers your questions on super.
How to navigate working-from-home tax claims
The ATO is making it easier to claim deductions but it will be looking for documented evidence.
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Winning super contribution strategies in tough times
Market falls can make some transfers of personal assets into your self-managed superannuation fund worthwhile.
Technology
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
Why Nintendo is a compelling play
COVID-19 has made it clear demand remains strong, with the company reporting a worldwide shortage of the console thanks to people staying home.
- Opinion
- Tech for the shutdown
If you were locked up with only one gadget, this should be it
Huawei's new Mate Xs folding phone has a massive screen, an enormous battery life... and a huge software problem.
The social network for the pandemic
The videoconferencing app has kept the world connected during the pandemic, but its founder Eric Yuan never set out to create the world's social fabric.
Work & Careers
- Exclusive
- Coronavirus pandemic
Deloitte cuts staff pay 20pc to save partners 50pc
Deloitte's 900-odd partners have been told the firm needs to cut salary costs by $100 million to offset a loss of business due to COVID-19 and avoid having to cut equity partner pay in half.
Universities see no change on face-to-face teaching
What has happened in schools can't easily be translated to higher education, universities say.
Life & Luxury
How musicians are coping with coronavirus closures
With live venues shuttered and touring off the cards, musicians are exploring new ways to connect with their fan base.
'Back then we ran scared, now I am calm': AIDS vs COVID-19
Alex Stewart, who has been HIV positive for 38 years, explains why the current pandemic doesn't scare him the way AIDS did.
Why James Cook belongs in a museum
On April 29, 1770 James Cook first met Australia's indigenous inhabitants. Now, 250 years later, it's time to take him off his pedestal to unite all Australians, says art historian Alice Procter.
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Life in London lockdown: bittersweet, and here to stay
The small consolations of Britain's corona-dystopia are diluted by the growing realisation that social distancing might be here to stay.
Esports prove a winner in the age of physical distancing
As live sporting events fall silent, digital competitions, like virtual racing, are having a moment.
