The Financial Review Wine Club is the home for seasoned collectors and wine enthusiasts.
Private equity tax plans in Chalmers’ sights
American, Canadian, European and Asian private equity funds and their advisers are being forced to accept a new set of tax conditions when bidding for assets.
ASX to drop, Nasdaq stumbles on Apple, Meta Platforms
Australian shares are poised to open lower. US growth stocks were lower to start the year. Iron ore reaches for $US142 a tonne. Bitcoin holds above $US45,000.
- Exclusive
- Rich List
Tech rally, iron ore, crypto buoy Rich List fortunes
The boom in IT stocks burnished the fortunes of Australia’s top tech entrepreneurs, while the crypto millionaires made a comeback.
Top Hamas official killed in Beirut blast
An explosion in Beirut on Tuesday killed Saleh Arouri, a top official with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and three others.
Surging ASX creating overvaluation risks, some strategists worry
ASX records are expected to tumble, but the highest sharemarket will come at the expense of increased volatility, according to fund managers and strategists.
Air traffic control ‘staff breaks’ cause flight chaos, airline anger
Airspace in the busy route between Brisbane and Sydney was abruptly left without air traffic services twice on Tuesday, causing a raft of cancellations.
‘We turn everything on we can’: households cash in on solar boom
Bumper rooftop solar has cut demand on Victoria’s grid to a new low, providing a boon for some households but troubling the market operator.
- Motoring By Tony Davis
- Motoring
EVs or petrol? Best of 2023 and the road ahead
Breaking news on companies, politics and economics, in your inbox as it happens.
Chanticleer
EDITOR’S PICKS
SUMMER READING
Why party drinking hits midlifers so hard – and how to recover quicker
It can take 72 hours for brain and body to return to equilibrium. But the good news is there are ways of recovering faster.
What’s next for Ozempic?
Scientists are exploring whether the new diabetes and weight-loss drugs could also treat addiction, kidney disease and more.
10 ways to support your mental health in 2024
We’re paying more attention to our inner lives. Fortunately, there are a number of things that everyone can do to nourish their mental health.
Late-night email to Tim Cook that set the Apple Watch saga in motion
The tech giant’s decision to hire a Stanford engineering PhD named Marcelo Lamego is seen as the spark that sent lawyers after it.
How these top CEOs stay fit and healthy
From a returned ballerina, to a marathon-running CEO and an executive yogi, nine leaders tell the BOSS team about their daily routines.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Commonwealth Bank cedes ground in battle for home loans
While it is growing the loan book again, the country’s largest lender is doing so at a far slower rate than competitors and losing market share as a result.
Industrial action at ports ‘bigger problem’ than Red Sea attacks
Ongoing industrial action at Australian ports poses a much bigger problem for consumers than Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, experts say.
- Exclusive
- Property development
Buckeridge family to relaunch sale of West Australian builder BGC
The company recorded a $63 million loss for the last financial year, according to new accounts. Construction costs had jumped 50 per cent in two years, it said.
Why 2024 will be the year of the big battery
This year is set to be the first in which the capacity of new big batteries starting construction in Australia exceeds the combined capacity of new wind and solar farms.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
This is the single most important economic data point for execs
Interest rates and inflation are important, but it is unemployment that the CEOs are watching – and they will like what economists are telling them.
Nickel miner Panoramic saw writing on the wall
Nickel producer Panoramic Resources commissioned a report on shutting its flagship mine or slashing head office costs before its slide into voluntary administration.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Get out of the way, the market’s bulls are running
The market is so strong that fund managers are interrupting their holidays to throw cash at it. But this rally is about the macroeconomy.
Companies in the News
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Markets
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Get out of the way, the market’s bulls are running
The market is so strong that fund managers are interrupting their holidays to throw cash at it. But this rally is about the macroeconomy.
Bond yields rise as global rate-cut bets ease
A volatile start to the New Year saw yields leap higher, then steady, as traders tempered earlier more aggressive bets on interest rates.
Cheap China stocks lure investors who see slump as rock bottom
Almost a third of 417 respondents to Bloomberg’s latest Markets Live Pulse survey say they will increase their China investments over the next 12 months.
History has bad news for growth stocks after the 2023 rally
Growth stocks are supposed to do worse when rates rise. Was 2023 the exception to an otherwise reliable rule?
The five key themes for investors to watch in 2024
Following five major themes may help investors sense which way the market is heading, especially once valuation is taken into account.
Opinion
Trump and Xi’s mutual march of trade folly
Donald Trump would erect a 10 per cent tariff wall on everything if he returns to the White House. That sets up a clash with an equally myopic Beijing.
Editorial
Cowardice and populism must not mark politics in 2024
This will be an election year in all but name. Anthony Albanese has to finally live up to the economic reform challenges
Editorial
Labor must hush the leadership chat
The government should respond to narrowing polls by taking the economic reform debate up to the opposition.
Researcher
Australia needs banks to invest in businesses, not houses
This country doesn’t need more luck to drive productivity, it needs strategies to help finance SMEs, and to make better use of existing energy infrastructure.
Economist
The unknown unknowns of a global year of elections
The electoral choices that Indonesia makes this year should be at least as important to Australians as the primary vote in Iowa.
Columnist
The psychological welfare state is another front in the culture wars
Workers’ compensation and disability claims systems built for physical injuries are now driven by subjective and costly troubles of the mind.
Columnist
Politics
ADF to help with clean-up as floods keep rescuers busy
Fifty ADF personnel will head to the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan from Thursday to help with recovery as storms and heavy rain batter southeast Queensland.
Mathias Cormann did ‘some work’ for ex-PwC boss Luke Sayers
The new revelations follow Luke Sayers admitting that his new firm Sayers Group granted Cormann some shares before he took the OECD job.
Coal request a matter of survival: Ukraine ambassador
DFAT is still considering Ukraine’s call for more Australian coal as Russian attacks intensify.
Economists say population surge key to dodging a recession this year
The Australian Financial Review’s survey of 40 economists suggests the local economy will slow to about 1 per cent this year before rebounding in 2025.
Motorists and RBA cheer 14pc fall in oil prices
A 14 per cent fall in oil prices since November is tipped to push inflation to its lowest level since late 2021 and deliver relief to motorists at the bowser.
SPONSORED
World
Japan reels after massive earthquake hits west coast
More than 50,000 people were forced to flee their homes in Japan after a series of powerful earthquakes triggered the country’s first major tsunami warning since 2011.
Russia pounds Ukraine’s two biggest cities in new wave of attacks
The missile and drone attacks on the capital Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed at least five people and wounded dozens of others.
- Exclusive
- World elections
Taiwan warns of ‘disturbing’ election interference by China
Taiwan’s chief representative in Australia, Douglas Hsu, says China has ramped up efforts to influence the island’s January 13 election.
China removes official after video game rules spark turmoil
Feng Shixin was said to have been fired after his agency unveiled new rules that sent video game stocks plunging.
- Analysis
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Hamas could have built its own Dubai. It chose war with Israel
Not only would the world have lined up to aid and invest in it, it would have been the most powerful springboard conceivable for a Palestinian state in the West Bank.
Property
- Opinion
- Property development
Victorian land vendors face significant risk from new contract laws
Land owners are prohibited from entering into some sale of land contracts with provisions for the purchaser to pay land tax or windfall gains tax. There are significant financial risks for vendors and advisers who unwittingly get it wrong.
The building spree that reshaped Manhattan’s skyline? It’s over.
The heart of New York is entering its most significant office construction drought in decades. The next wave of towers may not open until at least the early 2030s.
US office owners face $170b wall of debt repayments
Commercial mortgage rates have nearly doubled in 10 years, while the performance of many buildings has sunk, raising the prospect of heavy losses for investors.
Property values surged 8.1pc in 2023
The rise in home values was a sharp turnaround from the 5 per cent drop the previous year and defied forecasts of double-digit declines, data from CoreLogic shows.
- Exclusive
- Construction
Non-bank lending worth $74b, could double in five years
Non-bank lenders could account for almost a quarter of the commercial real estate debt market by 2028, Foresight Analytics says.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Superannuation
This super catch-up contribution can help you avoid a big tax bill
It’s one of about eight key retirement saving opportunities – but don’t leave it to June 30.
- Opinion
- Investing
Four banks went bust this year and I made money betting against all of them
There are few economic ailments for which the cure is not a healthy dose of scepticism, writes Argonaut Capital founder Barry Norris.
- Opinion
- Investing
Five adjustments for a better performing portfolio in 2024
The No 1 task for investors embarking on a new year portfolio reset should be to check their allocation to Aussie bonds.
Technology
Hacked testimony could be released after Victoria stares down ransom demand
Cybercriminals breached Victoria’s courts late last year, gaining access to a system that holds recordings of hearings the media may be barred from covering.
- Opinion
- AI
Media and tech war over generative AI reaches new level
News groups risk surrendering their audience to AI companies. They could also see the value of their brands diluted if ChatGPT and its like become the new oracles.
- Exclusive
- Cybersecurity
Revealed: St Vincent’s hackers got in with compromised accounts
The method of the breach suggests the healthcare organisation was specifically targeted by sophisticated criminals.
Work & Careers
- Exclusive
- Chanticleer CEO poll
The 53 risks top CEOs say you’re not paying enough attention to
From the ageing population to housing, healthcare and cybersecurity, there’s plenty keeping our top bosses awake at night.
Women outnumber men at all but two Aussie universities
A lack of other post-school study options, and the rise of qualifications in female dominated fields, mean women are dominant on almost every campus.
Life & Luxury
The TV shows these CEOs couldn’t stop streaming in 2023
The Bear, Beckham, Beef and a gay coming of age series were among business leaders’ favourite streaming shows of 2023.
10 ways to support your mental health in 2024
We’re paying more attention to our inner lives. Fortunately, there are a number of things that everyone can do to nourish their mental health.
Elite chess players keep accusing each other of cheating
Top chess players cannot seem to stop getting into disputes about the integrity of the game.
How these top CEOs stay fit and healthy
From a returned ballerina, to a marathon-running CEO and an executive yogi, nine leaders tell the BOSS team about their daily routines.
- Opinion
- Motoring
VW Australian boss reveals the road map for car buyers Down Under
Karsten Seifert admits the company hasn’t moved fast enough on delivering EVs here. But a renewed focus on markets outside of Europe will change that for the better.
