Holidays at home boost economy
Domestic spending added $7.5 billion to the economy in the December quarter, more than offsetting the impact of international border restrictions.
ASX to edge up, Wall St pares earlier losses
Australian shares are set to rise at the open, as US stocks pared losses heading towards the closing bell in New York. Oil and iron ore rise.
Katter power line would rescue Forrest’s struggling wind-solar farm
Billionaire mining baron Andrew Forrest would be one of the beneficiaries of a $1.7 billion subsidised power line owned by MP Bob Katter’s close relatives.
Veolia, Suez global merger scuttles Cleanaway deal
A proposed $2.5 billion buyout of Suez Australia by Cleanaway has been dumped after a global merger was agreed.
- Live
- Need to Know
William, Harry remember Prince Philip’s wit
The brothers issued separate statements amid a family rift that led to Harry’s decision to step away from royal duties last year. Follow updates here.
Britain launches independent inquiry into Greensill lobbying
The probe will scrutinise David Cameron’s dealings with Boris Johnson’s government, and also the role he gave Lex Greensill when PM.
- Exclusive
- Tech crackdown
Why the ACCC isn’t done with Big Tech just yet
Consumer and competition tsar Rod Sims now has scam advertisements on Facebook and small business ‘shakedowns’ at Google in his sights.
The untold story of how two university friends hatched the perfect crime only to be undone by the desire for more.
OFFICE NATION
CBDs are battling for survival
The office-centric work culture is locked in a combat to return to the pre-pandemic days, with technology favouring the work-from-anywhere model.
Regions gaining at the expense of the big smoke
Property prices in regional areas have increased in the past year, as evidence of the work-from-anywhere trend ushered in by the pandemic, writes Saul Eslake.
Proptech poised for post-pandemic boom
Institutional investors are pouring billions of dollars into exclusive real estate technology funds. These small cap stocks offer retail investors a taste.
- Opinion
- Invest in Australia
Zombified business districts are getting their lives back
Visitor numbers to Australia’s capital city CBD-based local government areas fell off a cliff in April 2020. They are recovering, albeit slowly.
Office design going through a sea change
Huge interest in offices is counterbalancing the newly discovered benefits of working from home.
THE SURE THING PODCAST
- Exclusive
- The Sure Thing
‘I probably felt a tinge of guilt’: Insider trader given second chance
Christopher Hill has been offered a role by the foreign exchange broker who reported him to authorities thanks to his honesty during The Sure Thing podcast.
Listen now: The Sure Thing episode 7
A potential new role for Christopher Hill is discussed during a bonus episode of podcast.
Bonus episode
Join us on April 12 for episode 7 when one of the players comes forward with an offer Chris will find hard to refuse.
Sure Thing ‘drip feed’ wasn’t to create buzz
It’s not just two blokes on the couch. The Financial Review’s The Sure Thing has taken a team of people at least three weeks to produce each episode.
- Exclusive
- The Sure Thing
Insider trader feared he killed an inmate in prison brawl
Christopher Hill saw constant violence during his time in prison and on one occasion was forced to fight back.
The untold story of how two university friends hatched the perfect crime only to be undone by the desire for more.
Companies
Greensill Australia owes cash to GPT Group, Marsh
Greensill Capital’s Australian parent collapsed owing more than $1 billion to some three dozen entities, including property group GPT and the firm JB & Partners.
Veolia, Suez global merger scuttles Cleanaway deal
A proposed $2.5 billion buyout of Suez Australia by Cleanaway has been dumped after a global merger was agreed.
Kelly O’Dwyer joins Barrenjoey
The David Gonski-backed firm is enhancing its gender balance after criticism of the group’s male-dominated hires, and plans to name two more female board directors.
De Bortoli Wines’ last-ditch McWilliam’s offer rebuffed
Australia’s No.8 wine group wants creditors to be able to consider a last-minute proposal in the tortuous administration process.
Fate of Qantas’ outsourcing may rest with Virgin’s Jones
Paul Jones – the new digital and customer head at Virgin – will be called by Qantas’ lawyers to prove last year’s outsourcing push was legal.
Coca-Cola to crack renewable target by 2030 across Asia-Pacific
The ASX-listed company’s operations in Indonesia, Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea will all be powered by renewables by the end of the decade and by 2025 in Australia and New Zealand.
Vaccine issues threaten Qantas’ international restart
The airline is monitoring the situation closely but has not yet formally changed it plan to resume flying to international ports by October, based on the initial timeline for the vaccine rollout.
Markets
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Renaissance of the value fundies
Value fund managers who stuck to their investment process during the tough years leading into the pandemic have been vindicated with the release of strong March quarter performance figures.
- Analysis
- Shares
Reddit-fuelled ‘stonks’ stoke ASX controversy
Mega-rallies in stocks like 88 Energy, Race Oncology, and Oneview Healthcare are raising questions over new market forces.
Bank share prices could rise a further 15pc
Wilsons strategist David Cassidy believes that there are about another six months to run in the market rotation to beaten-down value stocks. That shift favours the banks.
ASX sags 0.3pc as miners pull back
The Australian market sagged on Monday as shares retreated further from last week’s post-pandemic intraday high, with miners weighing on the benchmark.
Austal bears biggest hit from US tax increase among ASX companies
Austal, Appen and James Hardie stand to suffer the most under US President Joe Biden’s plan to raise the US corporate tax rate, Macquarie analysts say.
Opinion
Why bankers know the RBA will keep rates low
Home buyers are taking full advantage of cheap mortgage rates to load up with debt, but bankers point out this will make it even harder for the RBA to raise rates.
Columnist
Morrison government needs a booster shot
Safety First has become Vaccine Last for the Morrison government, and it is damaging Scott Morrison’s political health.
Columnist
May budget should launch fiscal reset
The recession, the job market shakeout and the budget hit have not been as deep or extended as first feared. The Treasurer should seize that opportunity to commit to budget repair.
Editorial
Why parliaments remain toxic workplaces
Change won’t come until the people in legislatures start looking more like the communities that voted for them.
Columnist
Archegos reveals a banking system still full of hidden risk
Credit Suisse’s losses for a deal that seemed to have no primary risk before the event ends up eating 11 per cent of their capital due to a small transaction with a hedge fund that no one had ever heard of. Here’s how that happened.
Columnist
Caution over AstraZeneca comes at a cost
The comparative health costs say that restricting the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine is not worth the risk to herd immunity.
Contributor
Politics
Surplus in four years? Deutsche says it is conceivable
Economists are sharpening up their forecasts on the government’s improved fiscal position.
Crown royal commission could spark new gambling laws
The Crown Resorts royal commission in West Australia to determine the fate of the James Packer-backed casino giant’s suitability to hold a licence is a “grave matter”, according to the commissioner.
National data-sharing agreement to be developed
National Cabinet has asked for a new national data-sharing agreement to created to enable better-designed and integrated government services and programs.
Cormann ‘will have Australia’s interests at heart’ in tax crackdown
KPMG tax partner Grant Wardell-Johnson says recent developments in international tax changes have been remarkable.
Fair Work chief adopts faster agreement approvals
The speedier deadline follows concerns from business groups over ‘unjustifiable delays’ in agreements.
SPONSORED
World
US budget deficit rises to record $2.2trn for half year
The deficit last month was $866 billion, the third-largest on record and biggest since last June, according to a Treasury Department report.
UN chief backs wealth tax on rich who profited from pandemic
There has been a $6.6 trillion surge in the wealth of the world’s richest in the past year, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Study bolsters case that antibody drugs can prevent COVID-19
Using the cumbersome drugs on a large scale won’t be necessary, as vaccines are sufficient for the vast majority of people and are increasingly available.
- Opinion
- Biden's White House
What Biden and Suga will talk about this week
The top-level summit provides an important opportunity to get US-Japan co-operation back on track after four years of work just preventing a Trump-induced disaster in alliance relations.
Queen says Prince’s death ‘has left a huge void’ in her life
In the monarch’s first reported comments on Prince Philip’s death, she was also said to have described her husband’s passing as a ‘miracle’.
Property
Hong Kong giant seeks slice of Australian non-bank lending pie
Sun Hung Kai & Co, co-founded by Hong Kong’s second-richest man, has launched a $400 million real estate debt fund with a high allocation to Australian projects.
Accor to operate new Movenpick hotel in Melbourne skyscraper
The opening next month of Melbourne’s first Movenpick hotel follows more than 1000 hotel rooms opening in the CBD, where occupancy rates are at 36 per cent.
Key stakeholders push back against new NSW short-term letting laws
The short-term letting industry in NSW says it has been blindsided by the launch of new laws and some groups are pushing back.
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
La Trobe University seeks partner for $5b development plan
That partner will stand side by side with the educational institution on the master development of a 235 ha ‘university city of the future’ project.
NorthWest takes $2.5b Australian Unity fund bid directly to investors
The Canadian investment platform has signalled it is willing to increase its $2.5 billion takeover bid if it is granted access to conduct due diligence on the portfolio.
Wealth
Goldsky hedge fund founder charged with dishonest conduct
Ken Grace, the founder of the Kingscliff hedge fund that embroiled locals and sporting personalities, is facing multiple criminal charges.
- Opinion
- Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency’s place in a diversified portfolio
A good place to start is a blend of passive physically backed, institutional-quality exposure to sector leaders and a diversified fund to track evolving trends.
- Opinion
- Investing
Money behaviour lessons for investors
Successful investing is less about studying finance and more about understanding your own relationship with money.
Technology
Microsoft to acquire Nuance for $26b in health-care bet
The software giant is offering to purchase Nuance at $US56 a share, a 23 per cent premium to Friday’s close.
- Exclusive
- Fintech
MYOB adds invoice financing after backing fintech Butn
The accounting software platform will begin offering its customers the option of using invoice financing to improve cashflow with the click of a button.
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Salesforce backs Marketplacer as offshore ambitions take shape
The fast-growing IPO hopeful has extended the size of its last $20 million capital raise to bring on Salesforce Ventures as an investor.
Work & Careers
Menulog to trial employment model for gig workers
Food delivery service says it wants to employ all its gig workers on minimum wages and conditions while Uber has said it’s open to minimum rates during rides or deliveries.
In an Ivy League of his own
With big ideas for an international career, Oscar Eichmann will jet off mid-year to the US to study at an Ivy League institution.
Life & Luxury
Matsuyama first man from Japan to win golf major
Matsuyama held on after knocking one in the water at the 15th, shooting a 1-over 73 to win the Masters by one stroke.
One tiny country accounts for a third of global cruise travellers
Singapore, with a population of 5.7 million on an island smaller than New York City, was able to get travelling again because of COVID-19 safety measures.
Moving to Tasmania inspired this executive to get fit naturally
Financial Executive Women founder and author Judith Beck is on a quest to explore her new home, one step at a time.
Carole King for a day: Esther Hannaford on becoming an icon
Ahead of a tour playing Tapestry on its 50th birthday, singer Esther Hannaford is aware it’s an album people have deep feelings about.
- Opinion
- Electric cars
How to make electric cars affordable for everyone
The result of letting the market determine how many electric vehicles we drive is that our roads are packed with vehicles much larger and more powerful than necessary.
