Today
- Opinion
- Bonds
Rising bond yields have investors on edge
Rising bond yields are casting a cloud over the US equity market, as investors focus on the budgetary implications of the November presidential election.
This Month
- Opinion
- Mortgage brokers
Banks gear up to take back mortgage market from brokers
The country’s largest lenders are preparing to claim back territory lost to the mortgage broking industry.
Inside the unstoppable rise of Australia’s mortgage brokers
They’re wealthy, brash and eating the banks’ lunch. Meet the millionaire mortgage brokers taking on the major lenders and – for now – winning.
- Opinion
- Inside China
Two massive things happened while we were watching the budget
Two big overseas developments will be much more crucial in determining our economic prosperity than last week’s budget. The first is Beijing finally taking steps to address the bursting of the country’s property bubble.
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Chalmers’ Made in Australia is just a drop in the bucket
The new strategy is small potatoes compared with the US, and taxpayers can be relieved that the treasurer has been remarkably frugal in its funding.
Pessimistic iron ore, coal forecasts give Chalmers room to wriggle
Treasury assumes that iron ore and coal prices will fall from their present elevated level back to their long-run levels by the end of the March quarter in 2025.
- Opinion
- Hedge funds
Bonza’s failure is a warning for corporate Australia
The private equity-backed airline’s abrupt collapse shines a spotlight on the potential risks brewing in the massive, unregulated private credit market.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The Reserve Bank’s bleak news on housing
The central bank sees little respite for struggling home buyers and renters for years to come, as demand in the nation’s housing market continues to outstrip supply.
- Updated
- Opinion
- Currencies
The two big threats haunting global sharemarkets
Investors appear to have moved on from the news that US interest rates will be higher for longer, but analysts warn of two lurking dangers that risk puncturing their optimism.
- Opinion
- Federal Reserve
The US presidential election is casting a long shadow over the Fed
Lingering inflation has caused hopes for US interest rate cuts to wither. That means the Federal Reserve risks becoming dragged into a divisive election.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The Fed won’t move on rates, but investors will still hang on Jerome Powell’s every word
If the Fed concludes overnight that US inflation is stuck at around 3 per cent, it’s unlikely to cut rates at all this year and that will weigh on asset prices, including shares.
April
- Opinion
- Currency wars
Are we about to witness a rerun of the Asian financial crisis?
Investors are becoming increasingly alarmed as buoyant economic activity and high interest rates in the US risk triggering renewed instability across Asia.
- Opinion
- Bonds
Why US housing remains the big obstacle to rate cuts in 2024
Investors’ hopes of rate cuts are waning, as problems in the US housing market look set to keep house price and rental inflation bubbling along.
- Updated
- Opinion
- AI
Are the magnificent seven at risk of having their wings clipped?
Perhaps investors are finally losing patience with the hundreds of billions of dollars being ploughed into artificial intelligence as the world’s leading tech companies vie for supremacy.
- Opinion
- Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s three key battles
The billionaire is dealing with falling earnings at Tesla, a fight over his multi-billion pay packet and a stoush with the Australian government.
- Opinion
- Inside China
Why Beijing’s latest manufacturing strategy could backfire
Chinese industrial firms are facing intense downward pressure on their profit margins because they lack pricing power in their domestic and export markets.
- Perspective
- Australian economy
Why the inflation beast is so tough to tame
Price pressures are just not going away, with rising home values and rents a big part of the problem. That has big ramifications for interest rates.
- Opinion
- Bonds
Powell worsens the carnage in bond markets
The US Federal Reserve chairman’s comments triggered a further sell-off in bonds, deepening the pain for investors who placed big bets that 2024 would see interest rate cuts.
- Opinion
- Investing
Why bond markets are worried about a 1967-style ‘soft landing’
It’s rare for central banks to be able to pull off a “soft landing”, and even rarer for them to do so when official rates are below nominal economic growth.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Fed’s plans for three rate cuts this year thrown into disarray
The big question is whether the central bank can cut interest rates at all this year given the stubbornness of inflation – something it had tried to brush off.
- Updated