Higher volumes take heat off housing market
Soaring house prices and the surging number of properties taken to auction have started to take some heat off the residential market as buyers become increasingly cautious.
Sydney restrictions extended as Australia’s reopening date delayed
New Zealand will resume the trans-Tasman bubble with NSW, but Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Tuesday’s budget assumes borders won’t reopen until 2022.
- Opinion
- Foreign investment
Australia is divesting from China
Australian investment in China fell by 25 per cent last year. That is unprecedented, and ominous, writes Grant Wilson.
Chinese newspaper suggests ‘long-range’ strikes on Australia
The Global Times says Beijing should consider air strikes against Australia if it were to join a US-led conflict over Taiwan. Experts, meanwhile, have called for an end to war talk.
Lex Greensill to break his silence
Bundaberg-born melon farmer turned mega-financier Lex Greensill will break his silence this week over the implosion of his company Greensill Capital.
Blackstone lobs bigger takeover bid for Crown Resorts
US private equity firm Blackstone is making a fresh tilt for Australian casinos group Crown Resorts.
- Opinion
- Insolvency
Business smarts is why the insolvency ‘cliff’ has disappeared
There are few ‘zombies’ after the end of JobKeeper because firms have horded cash and restructured debt. The challenge now is seizing opportunities on the other side of hibernation.
Companies
- Analysis
- Property market
How Australia’s property obsession warps the economy
With mortgagees now leveraged more than they have ever been, Australia is left with little room to move when economic conditions change.
Alan Joyce warns Australia could become a ‘hermit state’
The Qantas chief’s comments follow predictions this week from federal ministers that the international border will not open until deep into 2022.
‘Mission curse’ continues on Mayfair 101’s fantasy island
Two years ago, Mayfair touted plans for a $1.6 billion tourism mecca, but now offices are empty and property sellers are picking up the pieces following the investment outfit’s collapse.
Forget flowers, lawyer mums prefer partnerships
Leading lawyers are urging young lawyers to strike while the iron is hot to ensure they’re not left ‘in the proverbial parking lot’ professionally just because they want to start families.
Greensill Capital’s $1.55 billion black hole in UK
Administrators say the total estimated deficiency is US$1.182 billion.
Rio’s Mozambique ‘whistleblower’ complained of ‘obfuscation’
The man portrayed as the Rio Tinto whistleblower in a US fraud case says he felt his concerns were downplayed on a pivotal 2012 call with CFO Guy Elliott.
Surplus capital of $30b stokes bank buyback expectations
As the recovery picks up steam, shareholders are eyeing the billions of dollars built up by banks in preparation for the bad debts that never came.
Markets
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Entrepreneurial spirit key to expanding our recovery
In this new stage of COVID-19-economics, we have the luxury of being more direct with policy and investment. We shouldn’t overlook Australian businesses, forged in entrepreneurism.
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Takeovers Panel’s new wings fit well
Giving the Takeovers Panel jurisdiction over schemes of arrangement is smart and will lead to more consistent outcomes.
Is the $US79 billion Dogecoin joke wearing thin?
The Dogecoin frenzy is reaching fever pitch, cryptocurrency purists fear it’s a distraction from their grand project of using blockchain to revolutionise finance.
US stocks rally to record highs as jobs data bolsters Fed’s caution
Both the Dow and S&P 500 reset record highs as the latest data pointed to labour market weakness, and a continuing need for accommodative policy and stimulus.
Iron ore resets its record high for a second straight session
The price of iron ore extended its rally, rising another 5 per cent to $US212.75 a tonne according to S&P Global Platts.
Opinion
Will the budget be a requiem for economic responsibility?
If Josh Frydenberg rejects more pump-priming and makes tough policy choices to help drive investment and productivity, Tuesday night could be the Treasurer’s finest hour.
Contributor
Having beaten the ‘drums of war’ first, Labor now falls silent
Pushback against China long ago ditched prudence for paranoia. But after starting the gung-ho rhetoric, Labor is now saying nothing substantial about Australia’s greatest geostrategic challenge.
Columnist
Talking up war over Taiwan goes against Australia’s national interest
Making clear a willingness to fight for democratic Taiwan in its hour of need might advance our status as a good international citizen, but it would also prejudice our own security and prosperity.
Contributor
There is no spinning around a botched border ban
The Morrison government seems to have completely misread the consequences of stranding its own citizens.
Columnist
Here comes another Baby Boomer bailout
The elderly should sell their homes to pay for care rather than get even more subsidies from the federal budget.
Senior correspondent
Spending on care can’t be careless of deficits
The budget will have important social service objectives. We owe it to make them financially sustainable.
Editorial
Politics
New banking, energy and telco data services promised
An expansion of the consumer data right system is expected to promote a swag of new service offerings in the banking, energy and communication sectors.
Di Marco doubles down on ‘arrogant’ proxy advisers
TechnologyOne founder and chairman Adrian Di Marco has continued his attack on proxy advisers, as superannuation funds warn against reforms to proxy advice.
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Budget to expand super-style scheme for home buyers
A superannuation-style scheme to help first home buyers will be bolstered in the federal budget in a test case for allowing the use of super to buy a house.
Restrictions on foreign students’ work hours to ease
Foreign students will be allowed to work more hours to help tourism and hospitality businesses.
Repatriation flights planned as end to India travel ban in sight
Scott Morrison says the travel ban has worked as planned and will not extend past May 15, but no decision has been made on the resumption of commercial flights.
SPONSORED
World
Boris Johnson rejects push for new Scottish independence vote
The British Prime Minister is riding high in England but faces a challenge holding the United Kingdom together.
We will never know the true extent of India’s pandemic tragedy
Public health experts believe India’s second wave infection numbers could peak in mid-May, but the crisis in hospitals will linger for months.
US economy adds 266,000 in April
The closely watched employment report missed expectations of a near 1-million advance. And March’s payrolls were revised downward by almost 150,000.
Boris Johnson gets boost from byelection win in Labour heartland
The result shows Labour leader Keir Starmer struggling to overcome the schisms opened up by Brexit, which have driven battlers towards the Tories.
Second wave could see 2.8pc hit to India’s GDP: analysts
Analysts are adjusting expectations as they wait for India’s devastating second wave of COVID-19 to peak.
Property
Farming families join forces to buy New England station
The 11,800-hectare property about 32 kilometres east of Glenn Innes sold to three local farming families for close to $12m.
From Singapore to Rio, green buildings keep tropical tenants cool
Offices and apartment blocks designed to be green are springing up around the globe as businesses and start-ups need to show their environmental credentials.
Macquarie poised to seal Vitalharvest deal
Roc Partners has until Wednesday to lift its offer for Vitalharvest or face losing to Macquarie in the tussle for the Costa orchard landlord.
Return of property investors turns up heat in hot markets
Tighter rental markets, higher yields and the prospect of strong capital gains is bringing back investors, particularly in Perth and regional centres.
How APRA could slow the hot property market
Economists are tipping a tightening of macroprudential standards later this year following the return of investors into the hot housing market.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Ethical investing
Private investors lead the way on social responsibility
Companies that do the right thing are likely to experience a material advantage in a lower cost of capital, and investors can earn well while helping the planet.
Seven left-field ideas for housing-related investing
Canny ways to profit from the housing boom include buying into property lenders, self-storage property trusts and emerging telco providers.
The lecture that convinced Neilson to back spinal research
About five years ago, a colleague suggested billionaire philanthropist Kerr Neilson attend a lecture on spinal injuries. What he saw and heard galvanised him.
Technology
My dad the engineer worked on breakthrough tech into his 90s
Owen Potter worked until his early 90s on his last invention, which could improve industrial processes. Now it’s up to his children to carry on his life’s work.
US megatechs’ ‘exceptionalism’ to be tested: Goldman
Goldman Sachs argues that anti-trust intervention is the biggest threat, of several, to US tech stocks which continue to dominate the S&P 500.
Industry warns government’s AI cash splash is way short
On the surface, a new $124 million investment in AI looks like a lot, but spread over six years, the tech sector says it is at least $126 million short.
Work & Careers
The untold story of how Jeff Bezos beat the tabloids
When a gossip rag went after the Amazon CEO, he responded with the brutal efficiency he used to build his business.
How to make the right decision
The vast majority of ethical dilemmas do not relate to large scale fraud or stealing. They are dilemmas we all face daily in the course of our work.
Life & Luxury
How lockdown turned author Ian Rankin into a jigsaw fiend
For someone whose day job is crafting intricate plots full of interlocking clues, puzzles seem to be a natural pastime.
When crime novel fans turn NIMBYs
The crime writer chose to use a fictional Highland village for his new novel after he was criticised by residents previously for using a real one.
Solid Gold: Artists from Paradise
The Home of the Arts Gallery inaugural exhibition on the Gold Coast highlights the work of local artists in textiles, ceramics, painting and immersive video.
De Gaulle brings a French giant to the big screen
Portraying one of France’s most respected figures – an archetypal military man: stiff, formal, devoted to duty – in a way that engages modern audiences was never going to be easy.
Why you’re intrigued when billionaires’ marriages fail
If the Gateses can’t make a marriage work, what hope is there for everyone else? It’s comforting to know relationships are difficult, no matter who you are.
