Housing, like every other asset, should be valued with respect to the cash flows it can generate.
Business / Markets
What electricity will really cost under a carbon tax
Media beat-ups aside, the proportion of the carbon price that is passed onto consumers remains a great unknown. ANU’s Andrew Macintosh The Australia Institute’s Richard Denniss report.
Gottliebsen: BHP sets its market cement
The shut down of the Norwich Park mine by BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance is an important signal that BHP is sending to both its unions and the markets, writes Robert Gottliebsen.
Joye: banks on track to bump house rates
The “stabilisation” evident in Australia’s housing market in 2012 has galvanised further during the month of April. Banks are now on track to bump rates, says Christopher Joye of Property Observer.
The stockmarket parasites that can’t be slowed down
High-frequency share trading is big business. The question is whether it’s fair to the rest of us; whether parasites with their suckers fastened directly into the heart of the ASX should be allowed to do it.
Budget surplus: why everyone agreed to the wrong path
Wayne Swan’s 2012-13 budget will be Australia’s sharpest fiscal U-turn since the dramatic rebalancing of Treasury finances in 1951. And there’s no stopping the bipartisan approach, says Rob Burgess of Business Spectator.
Transfield’s bottom line fails to weather the storm
It will be the second year in a row that Transfield has disappointed in the profit stakes.
Australian investors begin to hedge carbon risk
The move towards low-carbon investment portfolios has taken a small but significant step in Australia, writes RenewEconomy’s Giles Parkinson .
Debt v surplus: watch out, we’re going to have a crash
Cutting rates too far at the present time carries serious risks. And yet not cutting far enough will force business closures at the margins, writes Rob Burgess of Business Spectator.
Successful retailers let their results do the talking
Don’t worry too much about retail. As it always has, the low margin, cut-throat sector will continue to reward innovative, forward-thinking companies.
Coles slams whingeing suppliers — what about the morning after?
The delicate balance between the retailer and its suppliers is out of whack, writes Kath Walters, editor of LeadingCompany.
Swan’s near perfect application of economic policy
Swan’s very clear message to the RBA is that it can easily cut interest rates knowing that government demand will be dampening demand and inflation pressures over the forecast horizon, writes economist Stephen Koukoulas.
Households paying mortgages faster doesn’t mean they’re feeling the pinch
The Reserve Bank says there is a continued pattern of many households choosing to repay their mortgages more quickly than required.
The danger of the ‘surplus we had to have’
Wayne Swan is in a pickle. Revised Treasury figures make his task of delivering a surplus for 2012/13 not just harder, but also much more dangerous, writes Rob Burgess.
Six Pack a not-so-sexy solution to eurozone woes
A new fiscal compact requires eurozone countries to introduce balanced budget rules, explains Keshia Jacotine. If the limit is broken a correction mechanism will be triggered.
Maley: smashing the yen to save Japan
Japanese officials are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief as the yen has weakened against the US dollar this year.
Milking the NGO cash cow
Wall Street executives aren’t the only people positioned in the notorious “one percent” the Occupy movement have been banging on about. The nonprofit sector also houses the excessively rich, writes Steven Thrasher.
Shorten lands FOFA with a compromise on opt-in
It will take a while for the dust to settle on the Future of Financial Advice reform package, which passed the House of Reps after negotiations between the independents and Bill Shorten.
Bartholomeusz: NAB’s British balancing act
For Cameron Clyne, and his colleagues at National Australia Bank conducting its strategic review of its UK banks, Wednesday’s UK budget would have made depressing reading.
DJs is making big changes: is this Paul Zahra’s last chance?
David Jones announced a dramatic transformation of the beleaguered retail chain, putting a lot of pressure on its chief executive, Paul Zahra, writes Kath Walters, editor of LeadingCompany.
Have your say on the Queensland mining industry …
A new survey invites Queenslanders to offer their views on more help for the mining industry.
Official: Australia the best place for miners in the world (again)
Despite what Tony Abbott might like you to believe, a leading US mining consultancy has, for third year in a row, listed Australia as the best place to be a miner.
All-singin’ all-dancin’ DJs gets on board the Omni bus
A drowning retailer in an online world will grab any idea that sounds good and is being used by a peer offshore or at home.
Kohler: a mining tax only W. Heath Robinson could love
In 2009 Ken Henry offered a recommendation for a resources rent tax. Two years, three months and one prime minister later, a bastardised version of that idea was finally passed by the parliament.
Barnstorming Apple’s iBubble will eventually go iPop
Nasdaq, the US stockmarket that houses tech stocks such as Apple, has already recognised the wealth dangers from Apple’s soaring share price.
