The Financial Review Wine Club is the home for seasoned collectors and wine enthusiasts.
War, elections and tariffs threaten the global economy in 2024
More than 2 billion people in roughly 50 countries will head to the polls in 2024 amid mounting geopolitical tensions.
- Analysis
- Jobs
How living costs stack up in 5 of Asia’s biggest financial hubs
Tokyo came out top in a Bloomberg analysis of 10 metrics including potential salary increase, rent, personal taxes and education costs.
Maersk prepares to return to Red Sea under US-led protection
The world’s second-largest container line, said it’s preparing to resume shipping through the Red Sea, thanks to a new maritime task force to protect vessels.
- Analysis
- World elections
‘Nobody is going to beat him’: Trump rides high in Iowa
With just three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the former president remains the undisputed frontrunner in a shrinking field of Republicans vying to be the party’s presidential nominee in 2024.
Bethlehem a ghost town as Christmas is cancelled
The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town after Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off.
Combat in Gaza kills 15 Israeli soldiers, tests support for war
As Christmas Eve fell, smoke still rose over Gaza from the fighting, while Bethlehem in the West Bank was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off.
US accuses Iran of attacking tanker in Indian Ocean
The attack marks the first time that the US has accused Iran of a direct attack on a civilian vessel since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October.
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Chanticleer
EDITOR’S PICKS
TOP READS
‘There is no line’: how Kyle Sandilands thrives in the cancel culture era
The radio host on his record-breaking contract, expanding business empire and what the PM did at his wedding.
Will you live to 100? The answer is in your blood
As a new study reveals similarities between the blood samples of centenarians, here are the lifestyle changes you can make to live longer.
Justin Hemmes’ $3b property empire outgrows nightlife roots
The billionaire has spent at least $900 million building a sprawling hospitality and residential empire. But there’s one business he is happy to leave in the shadows.
How to make your offset account work harder
These everyday transaction accounts can work to reduce your mortgage repayments by tens of thousands of dollars.
Christmas films to watch at home (some naughty, some nice)
Whether you love a sappy classic or a darker take on the festive season, here are some of our favourites to help you escape some viewing nightmares before Christmas.
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Companies
NSW to get huge solar farm as green energy rush accelerates
The go-ahead for the Culcairn project to be built near Albury picks up the pace on the state’s renewables build-out – which is lagging 2030 targets.
ABC chairman shortlist takes shape as clock ticks on Buttrose’s tenure
It is among the hardest jobs in Australian media. Here are some of the people tipped to oversee the public broadcaster’s board from next year.
- Exclusive
- Food & drink
Prominent rag trade family pursued ex-KPMG dealmaker Jon Adgemis
Monaco-based Richard Gazal has taken the businessman, who now runs Public Hospitality Group, to court. Adgemis says the matter has almost been resolved.
Lithium price rout starts to hurt as Core suspends new mine build
Shares in the explorer fell almost 20 per cent on Friday after the company said it would halt early work on its Northern Territory project.
Austal lands $1.3b US Navy contract as suitors circle shipbuilder
The company, backed by the Forrest family, will build three specialist medical vessels under the contract at its Alabama shipyards, it told investors.
Japan’s SoftBank swoops on ASX-listed shopping centre cleaning minnow
A division of the investments conglomerate has made a $57 million offer for Millennium Services, and wants to help it deploy robots to help service clients.
Singapore giant in $182m buyout of A2B
A2B, known as Cabcharge until 2018 and the operator of several taxi brands, is recommending investors accept the $1.45 per share offer lobbed by ComfortDelGro.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
OpenAI Is in talks to raise new funding at $US100b valuation
If the funding round proceeds as planned, OpenAI would be the second-most-valuable startup in the US, behind only Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies.
- Opinion
- Bonds
A Christmas gift from the bond market
There’s no real reason for yields to have plunged since October, argues Paul Krugman: “My guess is that we’re mainly looking at market psychology.”
Musk blasts public markets in talk with Wood
Elon Musk bemoaned the high regulatory burden faced by publicly traded companies in a wide-ranging talk with Cathie Wood.
US stocks edge higher on positive price data
Shares were ever so modestly higher ahead of a three-day Christmas break. A tumble in Nike checked the Dow. Fed gets more evidence inflation is cooling.
- Opinion
- Wall Street
US stocks go high when strategists go low
Many of the strategists who are taking victory laps today for their bullish 2023 calls also failed to foresee the big drawdown of 2022.
Opinion
Why you should be sceptical of the market rally
Investors are ignoring geopolitical risks and have swallowed the “immaculate disinflation” thesis hook, line and sinker.
Columnist
Albanese’s challenge is to reset the national conversation
Forget the Christmas switch-off. Even if people have been watching or listening, it’s hard to believe they have heard much of the government’s message.
Columnist
A Christmas gift from the bond market
There’s no real reason for yields to have plunged since October, argues Paul Krugman: “My guess is that we’re mainly looking at market psychology.”
Contributor
Latest legal trial shows Trump still has to be defeated politically
Democrats need to realise that the pursuit of the former president through the courts only serves to fire up his never-say-never base.
Editorial
What if Russia wins the war in Ukraine?
The west is toying with the idea of letting Vladimir Putin have Ukraine. Here’s what that might look like.
Contributor
Democratic recession could deepen in 2024
At this moment of maximum global peril, democracies have lost the thing they need most: the power of their legitimacy.
Columnist
Politics
The most mentioned figure by politicians this year was...
New data from software company GovConnex show what topics politicians did - and didn’t - want to talk about this year.
Australia will adopt ‘Euro 6’ fuel standard by late 2025
Labor says the move will increase the price of petrol by a modest 1¢ per litre, but allow importers to sell more efficient vehicles already common in Europe and elsewhere.
PM says ‘US satisfied’ with Red Sea decision
Anthony Albanese says the Biden administration respects his decision not to send a warship to the Middle East despite an American request.
- Exclusive
- Tourism
Australians spend a record $108b to holiday at home
Revenge travel is real – as are inflation and price rises driven by supply constraint. It seems taking a staycation never hurt so much as it did in 2023.
After her power bill doubled, this grocer had to make a change
Relief on electricity prices is in sight after deep falls in wholesale prices, but the pain is acute in South Australia and NSW where power bills are highest.
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World
- Analysis
- World elections
‘Nobody is going to beat him’: Donald Trump rides high in Iowa
With just three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, the former president remains the undisputed frontrunner in a shrinking field of Republicans vying to be the party’s presidential nominee in 2024.
Pope laments war in Holy Land on solemn Christmas Eve
Francis warned against ‘the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures’.
British billionaire to buy a minority stake in Manchester United
Manchester United has agreed to sell a minority stake in the storied club to Jim Ratcliffe in a deal that would also see the British billionaire and boyhood fan take control of its soccer operations.
Singapore loses its sheen as its first family fights over legacy
Lee Kuan Yew united Singapore, but his death sparked a spectacular unravelling of his family that has left Singaporeans divided and asking questions about the future.
Former Credit Suisse CEO seeks Ivory Coast presidency
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam, who was forced out of the bank after an espionage scandal, has won a bid to lead the Ivorian opposition party.
Property
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Australia’s top 10 luxury property deals of 2023
Sydney’s eastern suburbs dominated this year’s list, which totalled more than half a billion dollars.
The man who made millions selling Christmas
Tim Clarkson has carried on a 130-year-old family business by being the biggest player in the $50 million-plus Christmas decorations market.
House sellers pocket $300,000 gross profits as prices rise
The sharp increase in prices in the September quarter delivered a windfall for many vendors, but profits are expected to weaken next year as prices are predicted to fall.
Building industry payments firm shelves Aussie ambitions, heads to UK
ProjectPay founder Louise Stewart has won a British grant to get her start-up off the ground there, having felt stymied by the political culture in Australia.
- Exclusive
- Rural property
Green Bank, global investors pile into $450m forestry and ag raising
The CEFC has put $75m into a new forestry and landscape fund that intends to generate a chunk of its return from carbon and renewable energy.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Inheritance
How to claim your spouse’s super after they die
There’s a way to move their retirement savings to your super – this is how to get things going.
- Opinion
- Flat Chat
How to party without being an animal
These are the five things that will drive your neighbours nuts – this is what you can do to avoid them.
How much should I spend on my partner this Christmas?
We found the average spend by gender – and the gap is nearly $100.
Technology
In three weeks, Kim had a child and a merger. Here’s her 2024
If 2022 was the year the music stopped in technology, 2023 was spent trying to find a chair that wasn’t taken in the tech sector.
The little-known problem in using Ozempic replica versions
In the US, poison information hotlines have reported almost 3000 calls from January to November this year about semaglutide overdoses.
- Analysis
- The Breakdown
No one can buy Canva now. Other start-ups beware
Any start-up boss hoping to get rich selling their company to a tech giant should learn from Adobe’s failed $US20 billion attempt to buy design app Figma.
Work & Careers
Pay increases in collective agreements hit 4.1pc and rising
Wage growth is being driven by the public sector which has seen the highest increases in at least six years.
Good at tech, bad with people: Is Gen Z getting a bad rap?
They are the cohort profoundly touched by the pandemic and questioning the value of so-so jobs. But are they really that different from other generations?
Life & Luxury
The books flying off the shelves right now
Richard Flanagan’s “best thing yet”, a graphic novel for teenagers, Trent Dalton’s latest novel and ‘dragons and young love’ are flying off bookshop shelves.
The best of the reds, the whites and the rest – including one for $25
What are the drinks you will remember from 2023? Our expert rounds up his top choices.
This retail Rich Lister ‘wasn’t good enough to be a waiter’
The avid sailor and head of the Winning retail group rates his chances in the Sydney to Hobart race.
Seven design trends you need to know for 2024
Redecorating or looking for new furnishings? Look no further if chic, on-trend living is your thing.
Beyond power and politics in Washington DC, a surprising culinary find
The US capital is buzzing with the traditional restaurants and tantalising aromas of Ethiopia. Here are seven eateries to try.
