Palmer builds UAP Qld election war chest
Clive Palmer’s companies have pumped funds into his United Australia Party as he tries to topple Queensland’s Labor government at the upcoming state election. The companies – Minerology, Palmer Gold Coast and Waratah Coal – have donated more than $80,000 to the UAP in the last two-and-a-half weeks, according to data from the Electoral Commission…
How we lost control of Australian house prices
Real home prices across Australia have climbed 150% since 2000, while real wages have climbed by less than a third. Sydney and Melbourne rank among the most expensive cities in the world. Australia-wide, home ownership levels have fallen from 70% to 65% in the last 20 years and home equity levels have fallen from 80%…
Biggest fall in new home building in 19 years. Victoria dominates regional job losses
Biggest fall in new home building in 19 years Victoria dominates regional job losses Construction work done; Regional Payrolls ¾ Construction activity: Construction work done fell by 0.7 per cent in the June quarter (consensus: -7 per cent). The value of construction work done is down by 2.2 per cent on a year ago to…
East Coast petrol prices lift from lows.
East Coast petrol prices lift from lows Aussies use stimulus payments to pay bills Weekly Petrol Prices; COVID-19 Household survey Petrol prices: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 1.6 cents to an 11-week low of 116.2 cents a litre last week. East Coast petrol prices:…
Oil prices open higher after falls on Friday
WTI has opened up higher following the general risk mood after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the use of blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to treat sick patients. There is some thought this could improve the therapeutics regime and help with survival rates Oil prices struggled Friday on weaker than expected PMIs…
Oil slips as gasoline stocks rise
Oil gave ground in early Asia after a report showed a disconcerting increase in gasoline stocks as OPEC+ returns more barrels to market in August. It’s challenging to make heads or tails out of the oil market these days. Other than to conclude that the most obvious fact is that the market is struggling to…
Defaults delayed, not defeated
As a second wave of COVID-19 rolls around the world, both consumers and corporates remain under pressure. A flood of liquidity and prompt government action have successfully delayed many defaults, but that does not mean the default cycle is over. Having benefitted from the recent rally in credit markets, we believe it’s important to remain…
Gold tries to rebound but remains under pressure
Various fractals of pain continue to reverberate through markets this week as the most popular, yearly monthly, weekly, daily, and even possibly the most famous retail view of all time hit a brick wall at high velocity leaving many houses of pain in its aftershock. Overnight, gold rebounded above USD1,900/oz as the US dolled dipped…
Gold pulls back a little but holds above $2,000
Gold and silver pulled back on Friday but ended the week up sharply higher. The flight path for gold, which has been almost parabolic, infers some correction was possible. After President Trump’s executive order limiting business with Chinese-owned WeChat and TikTok apps, initially lent some support to bullion. But then the gold sell-off started in…
The way forward is littered with landmines
Even though markets have seemingly settled down over the last two months, investors are still faced with a difficult environment to navigate. Simon Doyle shares how in his 30 years of investing, 2020 has been one of the most difficult environments to date. I have been in markets for over 30 years, and the first…