Ex-boss of bailed-out Anglo Irish Bank guilty of fraud
The former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank was found guilty Wednesday of fraud and false accounting at the institution whose rapid fall from grace epitomised the Irish financial collapse.David Drumm, 51, had denied conspiring to inflate deposits in the bank by 7.2 billion euros ($8.5 billion) in 2008, at the start of the crisis…
CommSec Daily Report Friday
Latest NewsThe local sharemarket is softer on Friday with the cancellation of an upcoming summit between the US and North Korea putting a dent in shares globally. The ASX 200 is recovering from its earlier lows, trading 2 points lower at 6035 points and is pointing to a second consecutive weekly loss for the index…
Consumer confidence at 14-week high
Consumer confidence has risen for a fifth straight week, but whether the trend continues could depend on wage and employment data out later this week . The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence index rose to a 14-week high of 120.8 last week, according to data released on Tuesday. The one per cent rise was in…
Electronics giant Philips posts 27% drop in Q1 profits
Dutch electronics giant Philips Monday posted a 27 percent drop in first quarter profits, hit partly by the costs of restructuring and some acquisitions.Net income fell in the first three months to 94 million euros ($115 million) compared to 128 million euros over the same period in 2017, the company reported.
Aussie market in for another volatile week
Traders are preparing for another week of volatility when the Australian share market resumes with investors adjusting their portfolios in the wake of official corrections in the United States. A late rally in the US on Friday saw the Dow Jones finish 330 points higher – almost 1.4 per cent – but experts suggest the…
Underperforming Super Funds Punishing Workers
Want more to retire on? In its long-awaited final report on the efficiency and competitiveness of Australia’s leaky superannuation system, Australia’s Productivity Commission provides a roadmap. Weeding out scores of persistently underperforming funds, clamping down on unwanted multiple accounts and insurance policies, and letting workers choose funds from a simple list of top performers would give…
China’s CATL to build first EU electric car battery plant in Germany
Chinese firm CATL will build a battery factory in central Germany to supply the country’s key auto industry in its transformation toward electric cars, an investment hailed Monday by Chancellor Angela Merkel as a ‘new step’ in Sino-European cooperation. The factory will be the only such manufacturing site in all of Europe, noted Merkel at…
Fed chief: US to maintain post-crisis regulations
Newly-installed US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell pledged Tuesday to preserve the key gains made in banking regulation since the global financial crisis and continue gradual interest rate increases. Powell, who took over as Fed chair February 5, just as Wall Street took a vertiginous dive, also said the central bank would continue to reduce…
Gold hammered, but still looks bullish
Sellers hammered gold again last week on news from the Fed. The minutes from its latest FOMC meeting convinced traders the odds for a third round of quantitative easing are waning. This was the latest in a long line of QE3 scares that have become the bane of gold’s existence. But they are merely a…
The Week Ahead
Economic growth figures and the Reserve Bank Board meeting dominate in Australia. Overseas, US jobs data is the highlight on Friday.Published by Craig James, Chief Economist, CommSec
