Wednesday’s quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation print from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) printed hotter than expected, raising the likelihood that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will hike the official cash rate by 25 bps at next month’s monetary policy meeting. The headline CPI rose by 3.8% in the 12 months to
Kevin27 is here. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s potential pathway to achieve his longtime goal of becoming the United Nations’ top official is complicated by the fact that the organisation has stressed it would like a woman to take up the role and that a Latin American is favoured to claim the position. Prime Minister
Melbourne’s water storages have recorded their steepest annual decline since the Millennium Drought, driven by extreme dryness, record‑low inflows, and rising household demand. Melbourne’s storages dropped from 86% to 75.1% in a single year—a fall of 239 billion litres. Inflows from July 2024 to June 2025 were 36% below the 30‑year average, with January–June inflows being
Home of the fake left, The Guardian, should read this and weep. One Nation’s polling surge has continued with a record-high primary vote of 22% in the latest Guardian Essential poll off the back of ongoing Coalition chaos and rising social tensions. Meanwhile, there is widespread public support for the Labor government’s response to the Bondi
In the week before Christmas, the Albanese government unveiled their wet lettuce East Coast gas reservation policy, which will do little to enhance gas supply and lower prices. My biggest issue with the policy is that it would apply only to new gas projects beginning in 2027, and exporters would be required to set aside
The ferrous jaws must close! Scuttelbutt is bearish. More steel mills have started equipment maintenance in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday in February, dampening appetite for feedstocks including iron ore, analysts at broker Zhengxin Futures said in a note. Steelmakers in China typically conduct furnace maintenance during winter when demand weakens in
US consumer confidence dropped to decade lows (hard to do your shopping when ICE agents are dragging you out of your car) which was the real catalyst for another huge selloff in USD overnight as the DXY dollar index crashed to a four year low. Gold and silver surged to record highs again while Wall
Recently when the ABS released the latest housing finance data, it came with a headline unwelcome to anyone concerned about housing affordability: ‘Investment loans reach record high’ Now, if we were to wind the clock back 40 years to the mid-1980’s, the assessment of this headline would be entirely different. At that time, ABS housing
The American madman wants a lower currency, and he’s going to convulse until he gets it. AUD is off the hook. Way overbought, but this has legs. CNY and JPY support. Gold wavered. Metals too. Maybe frotnrun. Big mining heaven. EM rocket. Junk no bueno. Curve steepened. Stocks ATH. How far and fast can the
Australian housing valuations, in relation to household incomes, have never been more stretched: Cotality’s December chart pack valued the average Australian home at an astonishing $1,079,000, turning the average homeowning Australian into a housing millionaire. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is predicted by financial markets to hike the official cash rate (OCR) twice this