Australia’s China ties at record lows despite diplomatic fix
While Australia’s relations with China have warmed, data shows economic ties are at their lowest levels in more than five years and are unlikely to bounce back.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Jamie Dimon reveals three risks – and his leadership secret
We extracted the big lessons for investors and leaders from the JPMorgan CEO’s 27,000-word letter to shareholders.
Military veteran Johnston rises in Defence shake-up
Bedding down AUKUS and recruiting new personnel are key challenges for the new Defence chief amid warnings China will be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.
China to miss lofty economic growth target without major stimulus
The Australian Financial Review’s survey of economists suggests growth as low as 4.2 per cent. But a reliance on iron ore will limit its effect on Australia.
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX gains, Ansell jumps, LNG plan delay hits Santos
Shares rise; Wall Street ends flat; SunRice to review NSW exports plan; oil prices fall; MotorCycle in data hack; Heartland Group raises $192m. Follow updates here.
- Live
- Need to Know
Cutting dam level weighed as homes lost due to floods
NSW is weighing up dropping storage levels in Sydney’s main dam after rain destroyed 30 homes; Ken Henry says young workers are shouldering too much of the tax burden. Follow updates here.
Mayfair 101’s James Mawhinney arrested on dishonest conduct charges
The fund promoter appeared in a Melbourne court on Tuesday. His group of companies has already been fined $30 million for misleading and deceptive conduct.
Do you read the AFR’s newsletters? We want your feedback.
tuesday tech
- Exclusive
- Funding
Blackbird nets $800m payday from Canva share sale
“I hate selling even one Canva share … but it’s time for some of our earlier funds to take some profits off the table.”
- Exclusive
- Funding
Sydney start-up lands blockbuster $108m US investment
After 305 meetings Honey has closed a huge series A funding round, but it had to head offshore to find the right investors.
- Opinion
- Digital Life
Change your doorbell, change your life
Amazon’s latest battery-operated Ring doorbell has a new feature that can change the way you think about doorbells.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Start-up deals fall to six-year low as tech winter persists
Just 66 Australian companies raised funds from venture capital investors in the first quarter of this year, and total funding has dropped 45 per cent year-on-year.
Aussie MMA start-up quietly lists in the US after $9.9m raise
Manly-based Alta Group, which runs a mixed-martial-arts training platform, has debuted on the New York Stock Exchange after raising $US6.5 million.
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Santos’ $15b Papua LNG project hits further delay
The decision to build Papua New Guinea’s second LNG project has been pushed back again after bids from contractors made it uneconomic.
ACCC reviewing credit data deal as Experian pounces on illion
A $820m deal that would see consumer credit data controlled by a duopoly of foreign companies is being examined by the competition regulator.
Dominique Grubisa and DG Institute engaged in misleading conduct
The self-styled wealth and property guru runs seminars for students on how to protect their assets, but has been pursued by the consumer watchdog.
Can one of our dirtiest coal plants reap a green bonanza?
Verdant Earth has lofty ambitions to turn the moribund Redbank into a major clean energy precinct using biomass. Environmentalists are still unhappy.
This Rich Lister sees a wave of distressed wine sales coming
The MD of Casella Family Brands, owner of Australia’s biggest-selling wine export brand Yellow Tail, says the under $10 per bottle segment is still shrinking.
Former Tattarang chief Andrew Hagger pops up in Adgemis’ corner
The one-time National Australia Bank executive has been assisting the businessman with his pub empire as it struggles to lock in a much-needed refinancing.
Proxy group at odds with itself over Woodside’s Richard Goyder
The sustainability arm of Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending against the re-election of the company’s chairman – contradicting its main analyst.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
Wall Street’s lofty profit expectations to test market rally
Investors will be questioning whether the US mega caps can continue to beat the punchy earnings forecasts set by analysts as US earnings season kicks off this week.
- Opinion
- Cryptocurrencies
Why no one cares Trump’s soaring media stock is actually a dud
The more an asset price is disconnected from its fundamentals, the more potential it has to go “to the moon”.
What happened overnight? US Treasury yields reached year highs
Markets’ focus was firmly on interest rates before the release of key data this week as Wall Street’s biggest bull raised his year-end forecast by 900 points.
Investment banks no longer the best way to earn $1b
The likes of Goldman Sachs may have the popular reputation for rich rewards, but there’s far more money to be made in the upper rungs of big buy-side shops.
Trump’s Fed chairman option opposes rate cuts this year
Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to become Federal Reserve chairman if Donald Trump is elected. He says inflation remains sticky and isn’t being measured properly.
Opinion
Bond yields rise as investors brace for US-China trade war to escalate
As Yellen wraps up her China trip, it’s little wonder that US bond yields are rising and investors are bracing for the next salvo to be fired in the US-China trade war, writes Karen Maley.
Columnist
JAUKUS shows Australia is seeking security in Asia
Ironically, turning AUKUS into JAUKUS would move the pact closer to satisfying the national strategic interest test formulated by its chief Australian critic, Paul Keating.
Editorial
Why Japan is a good business partner for AUKUS
Beyond its technical capabilities, Tokyo’s strategic seriousness about the China threat is the biggest asset it will bring to the nuclear submarine pact.
Foreign policy expert
Solar Sunshot program makes supply chain sense
The goal isn’t to compete with China immediately. It is to make the energy transition more resilient to external shocks.
CEO of ARENA
Political brawls sweep the supermarket aisles
Supermarkets are once again an appealing target for politicians wanting to demonstrate their good intentions on helping consumers with cost-of-living pressures.
Columnist
Labor must fix housing crisis or share the House with Greens
Drastic action is necessary or the Green’s moral outrage over the cost of homes for young voters will keep Labor on the path to minority government.
Think Tank CEO
Politics
- Updated
- Competition
Retail chain wars erupt over supermarkets code
Woolworths says new regulations governing supplier relationships should be expanded to cover rivals Amazon, Costco and Chemist Warehouse.
Insurers told to slash prices for households that reduce risks
Steps could include roof replacement, upgrading garage doors, boosting window protection, tying down sheds, and replacing flimsy hollow doors.
- Exclusive
- National security
Government poised to shake up spy, security chiefs
The Albanese government has the opportunity to reshape the leadership of the military and security agencies in coming months.
China lashes joint war games involving Australia
As AUKUS members prepare to open talks with Japan on joining the pact, China warned against “provocative” destabilisation in the South China Sea.
Australian households are world-leaders in interest rate pain: IMF
Variable-rate mortgages and high household debt make Australian consumers highly sensitive to interest rates, the IMF says, but house prices are still rising.
SPONSORED
World
AUKUS partners eye adding ‘like-minded’ Japan to counter China
The announcement from the AUKUS defence ministers came as Canada said it was considering joining the pact, signalling concern over threats from China.
Millions watch total solar eclipse across Americas
Experts called the eclipse “the most viewed astronomical event in history” as the moon blocked out the sun across North America.
Trump’s Fed chairman option opposes rate cuts this year
Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to become Federal Reserve chairman if Donald Trump is elected. He says inflation remains sticky and isn’t being measured properly.
Israel pulls troops from southern Gaza, eyes Rafah assault
Israel has withdrawn its troops from Khan Younis in southern Gaza to prepare for operations in Rafah, Hamas’ last stronghold, despite international warnings.
- Opinion
- China relations
Japan’s pivot away from peace reflects new world order
Japan’s tensions with China, North Korea and Russia have accelerated its move away from pacifism and into the fold of AUKUS and other regional alliances.
Property
Strata reforms send bills soaring from just $5000 to $60,000
The NSW government made sweeping changes to prevent horrific development failures. Did it go too far?
IR laws thwart Australia’s housing targets: builders
Labor’s union-friendly industrial relations laws will cause Australia to fall short of national housing targets for four of the next five years, industry claims.
Loans for new homes fall 2.1pc as mortgage demand picks up
While confidence among home buyers is growing, demand for loans for new home building is going the other way.
Scape closes third joint venture with $1b student housing fund
The private developer of purpose-built student accommodation has paired again with funding partners APG and Ivanhoe Cambridge to develop 3000 new rooms.
Showdown in the bar as ‘insane’ auction for luxury $4.8m home drags on
In a sellers’ market, the buyer of a newly built waterfront property had to meet a price the selling developer wanted – but she made him work for it.
Wealth
- Updated
- Business of sport
History made as Winx foal becomes the most expensive filly in the world
Ingham’s family scion and Winx part-owner, Debbie Kepitis, outbid American thoroughbred tycoon, John Stewart, offering a staggering $10 million.
- Opinion
- Financial planning
Wall Street workers don’t understand how to prepare for retirement
Higher interest rates mean people need less money to retire, so if anything, finance industry employees should have revised their estimates down, not up.
Small caps are ripe for a comeback. Here’s how to pick winners
The life-changing capital gains on offer make the small-cap sector attractive to investors, but success stories are rare among the thousands of companies that bite the dust.
Technology
Woolworths partners with Tesco on $190m start-up investment fund
The global fund will be run from Sydney and counts retailer chains from Europe, Canada and South Africa among its investors.
IPO hopeful Lime avoids share bike graveyard
The company says Sydney and Melbourne are among its most profitable cities as it eyes resurrecting its aborted plans to go public.
GoCatch was shedding passengers before UberX arrived, court told
Ned Moorfield, the co-founder of failed start-up GoCatch, has been grilled under cross-examination during the second week of a damages case against Uber.
Work & Careers
Umpire warns of higher consent standards as ‘groping’ sacking upheld
The Fair Work Commission has upheld Alcoa’s summary dismissal of a veteran employee for touching a female inappropriately as he squeezed past her.
The rise of the home husband
Changes in the structure of work make it more likely wives will go to the office and men will work from their abode.
Life & Luxury
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
Does Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E SUV live up to its name?
The all-electric newcomer faces stiff competition from Tesla’s Model Y. But maybe you want to stand out from the crowd.
At last, a gadget worthy of a bucket list
Imagine what you could do with a portable, 300-inch screen and Hisense’s new C1 projector.
Why you think you’re more beautiful than you are after 50
Age goggles are one of nature’s kinder tricks, providing you accept that what you see in the mirror is not necessarily what others are experiencing.
World’s oldest man says his longevity secret is an ‘unhealthy’ meal
But Englishman John Alfred Tinniswood, 111, also says a long life comes down to luck – and moderation.
‘Hardest Geezer’ finishes 16,300km run across 16 countries in 352 days
Briton Russ Cook had hoped to jog the length of Africa in 240 days, the equivalent of more than a marathon every day. Sandstorms and robberies intervened.
