Today
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why bad news has the ASX bulls running
Bad news from the job market turned a good day on the ASX into a great one. Investors are ploughing into market darlings in the firm belief that rate cuts are coming.
- 1 hr ago
- James Thomson
Suburbs 100km from CBDs join upper echelon as prices surge
Strong demand for stand-alone homes during COVID-19 has catapulted a string of outer and previously affordable middle-ring suburbs to the top of the housing ladder.
- Nila Sweeney
RBA will ignore budget’s ‘miracle’ inflation forecast
Former Reserve Bank official Jonathan Kearns has cast doubt on whether the budget can produce a “magical” drop in inflation beyond the short term.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How inflation relief and Buffett’s new bet gave bull market fresh legs
Wall Street popped to new record highs on better than feared US inflation data. But there’s a big contradiction at the heart of the bulls’ outlook.
- James Thomson
Yesterday
Unions to ramp up pay claims despite inflation slowdown
Unions want to make up for “lost ground” after years of cost-of-living pressure, despite Treasury forecasts that inflation could fall beneath 3 per cent by Christmas.
- Updated
- Michael Read and David Marin-Guzman
‘Expansionary’ budget at odds with RBA rate push
Despite calls for Labor to adopt a contractionary fiscal policy to complement the RBA, economists say Tuesday’s budget was likely expansionary or neutral at best.
- Ronald Mizen
‘Higher costs, more taxes’: Business warns budget could fuel inflation
Business has warned the third Chalmers budget could add to inflation, and urged the government to rein in spending to prevent a decade of deficits.
- Michael Read
This Month
The budget in five key charts
The five key graphs to understand the government’s latest federal budget.
- Edmund Tadros
Decade of deficits to spark debt interest surge
While Treasurer Jim Chalmers was spruiking debt in 2023-24 being $904 billion, gross debt is forecast to rise sharply in the years ahead.
- Ronald Mizen
Treasury expects unemployment to climb to 4.5pc by this time next year
Sluggish hiring could lead cautious households already grappling with higher interest rates to save rather than spend the windfall from tax cuts.
- Michael Read
Real wages forecast to grow by 0.5pc a year
Workers will enjoy substantial real wage growth for three years, according to Treasury, even as pay and inflation forecasts clash with the Reserve Bank.
- David Marin-Guzman
$24b in front-loaded spending risks fuelling inflation
Spending and taxing decisions in this budget will tip an extra $24 billion into the economy, jarring with the government’s claims that it is putting downward pressure on inflation.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Industry policy will win votes but very little else
Why not accept the gift of China’s subsidised exports, and use the money we save to deal with our many more serious challenges?
- Alan Mitchell
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Where Australians are spending their larger pay packets
Australian household income is up, but so is spending on some undesirables. The result is what our retail CEOs are talking a lot about - shopping for value.
- Anthony Macdonald
Why would anyone want to invest in Melbourne’s housing market?
Some experts are predicting Melbourne’s housing market to bounce back strongly in the next two years, but others warn about getting in too early.
- Nila Sweeney
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Meme stock stupidity is back at the dumbest possible time
The $6 billion jump in the value of crappy US retailer GameStop is a sign of pure speculative excess.
- James Thomson
Chalmers rejects ‘political trick’ inflation reduction claim
Former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin levelled the claim ahead of Tuesday’s budget, while economists warned bill relief would only stoke consumer demand.
- Ronald Mizen and Michael Read
Rate rise still priced in despite Chalmers’ ‘optimistic’ forecasts
Bond markets are continuing to bet that the RBA will have to lift rates this year, despite new government forecasts predicting inflation will fall faster than the central bank expects.
- Updated
- Alex Gluyas
The little-known budget figure you should care about
The figure, known as the ‘table of truth’, cuts through the spin and shows how the treasurer’s saving and spending decisions affect the bottom line.
- Michael Read
First home buyers purchase from investors in $780,000 sale
This Central Coast home’s proximity to the M1 highway made it popular with tradies commuting to Sydney – and with rates outlooks stabilising, they were confident about buying.
- Michael Bleby
