Economy bounces out of recession
Further stimulus and a plunge in bank loan deferrals have underpinned the sharpest recovery in consumer confidence and property buying intentions on record.
- Exclusive
- Gas
China fallout hits Woodside Scarborough gas sale
Chinese parties had to drop out of the running to buy a stake in the $16b Scarborough project in Western Australia, Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has revealed.
Axing of responsible lending laws in doubt
The government's plan to scrap the responsible lending law for banks faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
Labor's unrest: There's no clear alternative to Albanese
While there is broad agreement that Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese needs to lift, there is no consensus as to who would replace him.
- Live
- US votes 2020
'I did not recant': voter fraud 'whistleblower'
A Pennsylvania postal worker Republicans say is a whistleblower to election fraud has denied recanting his claims. The Democrats have retained control of the House. Follow live updates here.
Sydney restaurant fined $10,000 for COVID-19 breach
A restaurant in Sydney's inner west has been fined after CCTV showed attendees "mingling and dancing". Health Minister says Australia has secured crucial logistics for Pfizer vaccine. Follow live updates.
Macquarie says vaccine changes everything, and nothing
Macquarie suggests unless the vaccine's side effects include structural inflation, then the rotation into value stocks may prove short term.
US ELECTION AFTERMATH
'Stop the Steal' supporters, restrained by Facebook, turn to Parler
The app, which has a free-speech doctrine, became the top new download over the weekend on Apple's App Store.
- Opinion
- US votes 2020
Getting Trump to concede is just the start of Biden's challenges
Joe Biden is determined to "keep calm and carry on" as President-elect. But it's not just Donald Trump making the usual transition to a new Administration as hard and as ugly as possible, writes Jennifer Hewett.
TikTok files petition to stop forced sale deadline
The prospects of the sale in the US are murkier since Joe Biden was elected president.
Biden says nothing will stop transition as Trump vows new legal action
Legal experts say litigation has little chance of changing the outcome, and state officials say there are no significant irregularities in the election.
- Opinion
- US votes 2020
Centrist Joe is precisely the president America needs
The economic security that Americans want to regain was built by postwar centrists, not radicals of left or right.
Companies
'Souped-up Eskies': How the vaccine will be distributed
Not knowing which COVID-19 vaccines will become available means planning for all eventualities.
CBA profits plunge despite lending growth
CBA's quarterly profit fell 16 per cent despite growing its lending to home buyers and business owners at twice the system average.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
CBA is sprinting just to stand still
Despite COVID-19, Commonwealth Bank is running much faster than the market in home loans, business loans and deposits. But low rates will weigh on it for years.
Deposit rates cut, and CBA expects more to come
Since the Reserve Bank's rate cut to 0.10 per cent, nine banks have cut at least one of their savings rates.
Logistics companies leery of Toll asset sale
Logistics companies say they want to stay flexible and are reluctant to own too many expensive assets as Toll's planes, trucks and depots get shopped around.
Evans Dixon says it's too early to detail impact of ASIC court action
The wealth manager's board has been hit with a first strike at its AGM but shareholders have approved a name change.
Woolworths ups ante on renewables but faces pressure on pokies, liquor
The supermarket giant is taking the lead on renewable energy but faces more scrutiny over plans to build a Dan Murphy's in Darwin and its exposure to poker machines.
Markets
Why US tech stocks are still a buy
Big tech names have faltered this week but a fundie who has good form in picking trends says we are only at the start of a multi-decade digital transformation.
ASX finally exits months-long COVID-19 correction
Wednesday's move means the index closed 9.95 per cent below its February record high, taking it out of correction territory.
Oil market rally threatens OPEC+ cuts
The sharp rally in the oil market could prove self defeating, with OPEC and its allies less likely to roll over their production cuts into next year while the price of crude is elevated.
ASX closes at highest level since February
ASX momentum seen the ASX record its fifth consecutive gain, leaving the benchmark under 10pc from its all time high; InvoCare unveils $50m pet crematorium play.
House price hopes, buyer confidence surge
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute's indices for property buying and consumer confidence have accelerated to seven-year highs.
Opinion
Biden offers just a glimmer of hope for liberal democracy
The right response to Biden’s election is hope without naivety. Trump has tested to destruction the idea that a solipsistic superpower determined to disrupt the global order will do much more than destroy its reputation.
Columnist
How Australia and China can begin the great defrost
Multilateral work together on virus relief, trade and regional debt could be a circuit-breaker for a diplomatic chill.
Why an AMP board role is one of the trickiest jobs right now
The AMP board is under enormous pressure to wrap up the sale of the embattled group before it haemorrhages too many more staff or clients and the country heads off on summer holiday.
Columnist
Rules shift on the climate battlefield
Joel Fitzgibbon's resignation from Labor's frontbench is another example of Australia's continuing political brawls over climate changing policy. But the business community and the states are taking a different path.
Columnist
Way to throw your CEO under a bus
Corporate leaders believe the Cartier watch scandal reveals that Canberra holds unrealistic expectations of the talented executives hired from the private sector.
Columnist
Australia's special interest in Biden's success
Failure to contain the pandemic will damage Joe Biden's authority – and make it more difficult to deal with the key China, climate, and trade policy challenges that matter for Australia.
Contributor
Politics
Cosy audit relationships challenged under 10-year rule
Recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry are designed to limit long-term relationships between firms and auditors.
Melbourne CEOs push Andrews on office return
NAB's Ross McEwan, Newcrest's Sandeep Biswas and several top CEOs are urging their employees to return to the office as soon as safely possible.
Pandemic co-operation can cure Australia, China ills
A new report co-authored by one of China's top think tanks outlines a potential circuit breaker for the toxic relationship between Canberra and Beijing.
Litigation funding rules on the brink as dissent grows
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is facing growing pressure to wind back rules on litigation funders as the Nationals, Labor and the Senate crossbench all agitate for change.
Setka told to cease 'disgraceful' CFMEU poaching war
Fellow CFMEU officials have blasted Victorian secretary John Setka for his tactics in a civil war that they warn is sending the union into total dysfunction.
SPONSORED
World
Global uncertainty fails to curb China's online shopping spree
Two of China's biggest e-commerce giants reported a combined $119 billion in online sales during the early phase of the world's biggest shopping festival.
- Analysis
- World elections
NLD's Myanmar election win good for business
Voters have given Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy another five years to transform the crony economy left behind by decades of military rule.
US virus surge shows no sign of easing
Nearly 62,000 infected Americans lie in hospital beds - the highest number since April. More than a dozen states have hit new highs for hospitalisations this month.
The couple behind Pfizer's vaccine
For the husband-and-wife duo behind BioNTech, the COVID-19 vaccine is also a validation of the new type of drug that they've spent their careers chasing.
Francis Fukuyama on fame, grand postulations and woodwork
The political philosopher, who has published ten books and teaches at Stanford University, spends his free time making furniture.
Property
Bourke Street build whets Brookfield's appetite
The disruption to Melbourne's office market won't last forever and Brookfield is already hunting for sites for the next development cycle.
Melbourne CBD office market bigger and newer than Sydney's
Together, the two cities account for 66 per cent of all office stock completed since the beginning of 2010.
Frasers takes a hit from hotels but industrial portfolio stays strong
Settlements are expected to increase this financial year with 1955 residential units due.
Going Dutch: Charter Hall wins mandate for $800m logistics portfolio
The new partnership comes amid a relative boom in the industrial sector, accelerated by increased demand for space from e-commerce operators.
Charter Hall buys emergency services command centre
Charter Hall's ASX-listed Social Infrastructure REIT has bought a government emergency services command centre and car park under construction in Adelaide.
Wealth
Sharemarket poised to rally into year end
Positive news of a vaccine on top of the US presidential election result has analysts hopeful of a much firmer outlook.
- Opinion
- Property investment
Property lessons from 1990s recession
While history offers hope for a strong market recovery, several concerning issues could stymie a rebound.
Funder overturns 'chilling' decision on underpayment class actions
A court ruling that scraps a precedent requiring litigation funders to pay millions of dollars in costs upfront will prompt an increase in industrial relations class actions, lawyers say.
Technology
Electric vehicle taxes expected across Australia
South Australia's move to tax electric vehicle users for each kilometre they drive has caught many in the industry off-guard.
Half steps better than no steps for soon-to-be listed Plexure
New Zealand-based mobile engagement tech company Plexure is raising almost $35 million, as it prepares for a secondary listing on the Australian exchange.
Brussels adds Amazon to its list of Big Tech targets
The EU says Amazon is leveraging its marketplace for its own advantage, as Brussels picks yet another trans-Atlantic fight.
Work & Careers
'We have to get over our fear': US back-to-office push ramps up
Some US companies are recalling their employees even as the coronavirus surges in parts of the country, arguing that a balance can be struck between safety and the need to reunite under one roof.
Did you know you could be a data scientist?
Lionel Kho has worked for Medibank, ANZ and even the Australian Ballet. He reveals how he ended up in a job that didn't even exist when he started his career.
Life & Luxury
Sidney Nolan's Ned-head template among affordable lots on sale
Among the 124 items are works with surprisingly low estimates for an artist of this calibre, as well as several that are particularly notable.
Battered hotels pitch themselves as remote workspaces
Eager to get guests back in their empty rooms, hotels and resorts are pitching themselves as remote workspaces.
Pop star lists Toorak home for $7m
Singer-songwriter Tina Arena bought the grand residence in the exclusive Melbourne suburb for $5,733,000 in 2017, records show.
McDonald's to launch crispy chicken sandwich in war with rivals
The highly anticipated item to take on Popeye's and Chick-fil-A was announced during an investor presentation on its 'Accelerating the Arches' growth strategy.
'Lockdown' named word of the year
Collins Dictionary says it has tracked a surge in use of the word in 2020 as nations closed businesses and imposed stay at home orders to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
