Victorian skiers face mandatory test
The state significantly eased lockdown restrictions by dropping the 25-kilometre travel limit, allowing gyms to open, increasing hospitality capacity and relaxing mask rules.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX breaches 7400; IAG ups claims guidance; NZ lending curbs
Australian shares trade above the record level hit yesterday; Wall Street muted ahead of Federal Reserve meeting; RBNZ flags home lending curbs.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Our property obsession is PEXA’s strength – and vulnerability
PEXA’s Australian business is a hugely successful near-monopoly. But competition is coming and chasing international growth won’t be easy.
- Live
- Need to Know
Melbourne to lose 25km rule, mandatory masks outdoors
The eased restrictions, which will come into force on Thursday night, come as the state records just three new cases today, all linked to existing outbreaks. Get updates here.
Where is Trump now? Florida coast becomes Republican base
Lured south by sunshine, golf and money, the former president’s allies and hangers-on have formed an alternate universe that revolves around Mar-a-Lago.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Forget Big Short, fundies are all in
Michael Burry of The Big Short might be calling bubbles, but global fund managers are betting on a wave of growth that can keep lifting markets.
Facebook’s crypto launch is just months away
One Diem, the stablecoin originally known as Libra, could launch in the next six months on Facebook’s new payment app called Novi.
News and views to help aspirational investors grow their wealth. In your inbox every Wednesday.
Companies
China swoops in on ASX-listed Myanmar miner
A Beijing-based conglomerate founded by one of China’s richest men has lobbed a low-ball offer for a Myanmar-focused Australian mining group.
- Breaking
- Hayne fallout
NAB fees-for-no-service scandal draws to a close
The bank’s long-running fight with the corporate regulator over charging fees it was not entitled to charge is almost over.
Australia-UK FTA gets crucial thumbs-up from farmers
Businesses and Aussie farmers welcomed the trade deal, and even Britain’s potentially obstructive agricultural lobby gave cautious support.
Victoria storms to worsen IAG’s insurance blowout
The insurer’s forecasts for 2021’s natural hazard bill have gone out the window after storms in Victoria that are expected to trigger claims worth tens of millions of dollars.
Lithium player strikes $250m China deal
Firefinch struck a deal to sell a half share in its Mali lithium project to Jiangxi Ganfeng taking a significant step towards developing the world’s next significant lithium mine.
Vitable raises $5.5m to drive at-home disruption in vitamins
Customer numbers climbed tenfold in 2020 for the group which delivers personalised sachets of vitamins to households.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Boral to put heat on Stokes over board control
The Stokes family’s nil-premium takeover offer for Boral looks like setting up some boardroom argy-bargy over the appropriate number of independent directors.
Companies in the News
Fortescue Metals Group
National Australia Bank
Commonwealth Bank
Crown Resorts
Updated: Jun 16, 2021 – 2.14pm. Data is 20 mins delayed.
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Markets
Inflation hawks wait for Fed feeding time
The US Federal Reserve wants actual, not forecast, inflation to be the guide and this week’s meeting won’t alter that position.
‘Big Short’ investor warns of the biggest market bubble in history
Michael Burry has returned to Twitter to say the exuberance is unprecedented, citing reckless speculation on Tesla, bitcoin and other assets.
Unloved eurozone shares ready to break out
Strategists believe the new economic cycle has seen sharemarket leadership pass from the US to Europe, with the region tipped to continue to outperform this year.
- Opinion
- Bitcoin
Regulatory clouds grow for cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin’s latest rally is in flagrant defiance of the evidence that global financial regulators are taking off the gloves.
What happened before the bell
Australian shares are trending lower, following US stocks, which pared their losses, while European shares rose for the eighth session in a row.
Opinion
Lockdowns make Victoria’s kids poorer
The long-term damage to the education, wellbeing and economic prosperity of children in the state will likely be felt for decades to come.
Economics editor
How the G7 plan could reboot Australia’s moribund tax debate
The proposal for a global floor in company taxation just highlights the narrowness of Australia’s own domestic tax base.
Contributor
Economic nationalism, Joe Biden-style
Biden won’t start many trade wars, but he won’t sign many trade deals either.
Contributor
The Delphic message from the bond market
The bond market offers contradictory answers as to why rational investors would buy bonds with yields below the inflation rate.
Columnist
Australia and UK come full circle with trade deal
Britain once abandoned Australia for the EEC. Now the free trade agreement is a post-Brexit pathway back to the Indo-Pacific.
Editorial
The US should spurn the false promise of protectionism
America’s economy suffers from inequality and poor labour performance, but this is not due to global trade.
Columnist
Politics
‘Gold standard’ trade deal sealed after compromises
Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson have signed on the dotted line on a free-trade deal, after last-minute compromises on farm goods and visas.
- Exclusive
- Trade deals
ASEAN visa scheme to tackle farm labour crisis
A new visa scheme enabling agricultural workers to be recruited from 10 South-East Asian nations is expected to be unveiled on Wednesday.
Ley makes ‘green tape’ removal a test of Labor’s backing for mining
Environment Minister Sussan Ley says changes to environmental approvals will need to be taken a step at a time if they are to be achieved.
Labor claims national security risk over PM’s friend’s QAnon ties
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said revelations about the conspiracy theory were “incredibly creepy”.
I’m no enemy of WA, Clive Palmer says in $30b lawsuit
Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer is set to personally make submissions to the High Court on Wednesday.
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World
Leaders line up behind PM in China showdown
French President Emmanuel Macron takes an unusually strident position, railing against economic coercion, and offering Australia full support in dealing with China.
- Breaking
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel launches air strikes on Gaza
Israel has mounted air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the first since the end of 11 days of cross-border fighting last month, in response to incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian territory.
MacKenzie Scott blasts wealth gap as she gives away a further $US2.7b
The billionaire philanthropist, who owns 4 per cent of Amazon, has now given away more than $US8.5 billion in a year.
Trump pushed Justice Department to help him overturn election
Emails show that Donald Trump tried to pressure the Federal Justice Department to help him spread lies and illegally overturn the democratic election of Joe Biden.
G7 plans to counter China’s Belt and Road
Western leaders want to loosen Beijing’s grip with a rival infrastructure fund for smaller countries.
Property
NorthWest lifts bid for Aus Unity fund to $2.8b, begins legal action
There is a sting in the tail of what the Canadian group says is its best and final takeover offer: it has launched legal action against Australian Unity and Dexus.
AXA invests billions in alternative point of view
AXA is investing heavily in alternative assets such as student accommodation, logistics and healthcare because of superior returns backed by sustainable trends.
NSW average house price cracks $1m
Australian residential real estate hits $8 trillion, four times GDP and $1 trillion more than the ASX, superannuation and commercial real estate combined.
Vacancies drop across the CBDs
The number of empty rental apartments in the Sydney and Brisbane CBDs has fallen by more than half since the peak last year as rental markets tighten across the board.
REA to offer exclusive home loan rates, quick applications
The largest home listings company has bought into the Simpology mortgage applications and lodging business.
Wealth
Buy now, pay later plan for downsizers purchasing off the plan
Empty nesters are being targeted with a finance scheme that postpones any payments until settlement.
Property fund for long-term investors seeking to boost income
Leases to state and federal government departments aim to provide reliable yields.
- Opinion
- SMSFs
New super residency rules level the playing field for SMSF expats
How overseas trustees of DIY super funds will benefit from the government decision to allow them to continue managing their fund for up to five years, rather than two.
Technology
Pricing Altium proves challenging as investors and analysts diverge
Cadence, Mentor (owned by Siemens), Ansys or Synopsis are the other players likely to consider buying Altium, but the market is split on if another bid will emerge.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Start-up to build EV charging network
At a time when big business is accused of greenwashing, a Sydney-based company is planning on turning a network of car wash sites into the country’s second-largest electric vehicle charging network.
- Exclusive
- Business IT
No going back to pre-virus business world: Dell
The US tech titan says COVID-19 has changed corporate life forever and warns an increasing reliance on technology makes the global chip shortage a huge problem.
Work & Careers
I started my business by sticking a pin on a map
It’s likely that you’ve enjoyed Pam Brook’s Brookfarm muesli and sipped her gin – and all of it started on a slightly drunken whim.
Three tips for having difficult conversations
Whether you’re having a tough talk or making or communicating a decision, timing plays an important role in ensuring such interactions go as well as possible.
Life & Luxury
Wildflowers run wild, while cruises put a toe in the water
Global tourism remains depressed, according to international arrival figures from January to March, but confidence is rising with vaccination rollouts.
The surprising secret in Margaret Olley’s memorial garden
The beloved Australian artist has been given a final resting place among the flowers planted in her memory at the Tweed Gallery.
The museum that celebrates the ‘joyful mess’ of home
In the Museum of the Home – a London institution that has been reimagined – even the humblest of dwellings reveal rich, unique stories.
- Opinion
- Motoring
Close to the most fun you can have in a road-legal BMW
The company’s smallest M coupe is not only loud and brutal but feels as direct and responsive as a track car, which in a sense it is.
Want to be a fashion editor? There’s an app for that
A former magazine boss has created Drest, which bridges the gap between styling and gaming. Users, and the sartorial industry, are playing to win.
