Yesterday
- 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
This Month
- 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
- Opinion
- Investing
What the gold and oil price rallies are telling us
While some investors are celebrating the surge in gold and oil prices, outperformance of US energy stocks has historically been a bad sign for the US sharemarket.
- Opinion
- Inside China
Bond yields rise as investors brace for US-China trade war to escalate
The Biden administration is poised to ramp up protection for high-tech green industries ahead of the US presidential election.
- Opinion
- Currency wars
Are we on the brink of an Asian currency war?
As tensions over China’s push into high-tech manufacturing flare, analysts warn that it’s only a matter of time before China follows Japan’s lead in competitive currency devaluations.
- Opinion
- Cryptocurrencies
Why gold is rallying and bitcoin is not
Gold has hit a record high as investors seek insurance against stubborn inflation, but bitcoin has been dealt a blow this week as rate cut hopes have dimmed.
- Opinion
- Bonds
Higher oil prices, inflation and debt give investors plenty of worries
There’s little wonder US bond yields are pushing higher, sending sharemarkets lower. The big question is whether this will turn into a full-blown correction.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Investors fear Fed will abandon three rate cuts this year
The sell-off in US bond markets suggests investors are anxious that stubborn US inflation will force the Fed to opt for “one and done”.
March
- Opinion
- Investing
Bankers cheer as the frozen IPO market shows signs of heating up
Local bankers are celebrating as the US public listing market heats up, but is this simply another sign of a US sharemarket bubble?