Marcus Padley reports on the highs and lows of today’s markets.
Business economy
Green and Groves: the gap between rhetoric and the real economy
If we’ve learnt anything from the spate of corporate collapses this year, it’s that rhetoric and the real economy can be poles apart, writes Andrew Crook.
Auditors pocket millions while asleep on the job
Collapsing markets have shown once more that the multi-national firms paid millions of dollars to audit public companies financial statements have been asleep on the job, writes Adam Schwab.
Could Trump’s house of cards collapse?
Donald Trump, already the target of debates over his actual wealth, could be the next high-profile victim of the global financial crisis writes Glenn Dyer and Andrew Crook.
Real economy: US chickens cooped, miners get shafted, military pulls back
Chickens and cars hit trouble while workers continue to feel the pinch at the GFC’s real economy frontline.
AirServices Australia go uncontrolled
Last Friday afternoon for about two hours, thousands of passengers were trapped in jets or terminals because AirServices Australia couldnt fully man the air traffic control system, writes Ben Sandilands.
Morning Market Report
The highs and lows of the sharemarket.
Rio board looks like a bunch of prize fools
The Rio board completely misjudged the commodity and debt cycle, and refused to truly engage their potential suitor. Not good enough, writes Adam Schwab.
Best time to sell? When China starts buying
While the Chinese certainly aren’t alone in losing money of late, they’re certainly excelling at it, writes Adam Schwab.
The BHP bid has been dead for months
Some people were surprised by BHP Billiton’s decision to abandon the $102 billion all share offer for Rio Tinto last night, but they shouldn’t have been, writes Glenn Dyer.
Real economy: No chunky soup for you, beans up, minivans down
The best way to get a sense of how far we’ve gone down the gurglar is to study the nation’s shopping lists, writes Glenn Dyer.
Ask the economists: Could a GST cut be coming?
Could the Rudd Government be contemplating a cut in the GST?Crikey asked a group of leading Australian economists if a cut in the rate of GST is the best hope for boosting growth:
Suncorp Metway taps insurance subsidies to preserve capital
Suncorp Metway looks like being the first major Australian financial group to slash dividends to preserve capital, writes Glenn Dyer.
Bank Deathwatch: US, Dubai, Germany, Ireland — no one’s safe
Just another three days of activity in the tottering global banking system, reports Glenn Dyer.
Business briefs: Retail figures to paint a grim picture… Waiting for Black Friday
Retail figures to paint a grim picture … The Reserve Bank’s credit figures … Waiting for Black Friday … Wesfarmers defends Coles purchase … The rise and fall of Jeremy Reid … Rubin under the microscope
Jobless 7.5% and recession: Australia 2009
The economics teams at Goldman Sachs JBWere and Merrill Lynch have slashed their estimates of 2008 and 2009 economic growth for Australia and are now predicting recession, reports Glenn Dyer.
Citigroup proof that shorting is destructive
If Citigroup is worth nothing, then we are all stuffed. So much for the claim that the stockmarket is “efficient”. It’s no more efficient at the moment than the NSW Government is in running a train, writes Glenn Dyer.
Hard to beat automakers for greed and incompetence
Just when you thought that the automakers deserved one last chance — what do the CEOs do? They fly down from Detroit to Washington in private jets, writes Adam Schwab.
Falling consumer prices flag further economic turmoil
October is emerging as tipping point for the global economy. With the latest US consumer price numbers, Glenn Dyer reports on what we have tipped into.
Selling the effects of short selling short
While many intelligent and respected business people blamed short-selling for their company’s ills, it appears that short-selling did not have a negative effect on share prices, writes Adam Schwab.
Is the Coke-Lion Nathan deal selling Aussie borrowers short?
The Coca Cola-Lion Nathan deal raises questions about where the funding is coming from and why it hasn’t been made available to other borrowers, writes Glenn Dyer.
Automotive Holdings streets ahead on car finance
The vacuum left by the departure of GE Money and GMAC from the car finance sector is being filled already, reports Glenn Dyer.
US, Japan, New Zealand et al playing follow the leader into recession
Recession is spreading through global economies at a great pace, reports Glenn Dyer.
Retail sales flat as consumers curtail non-essential spending
Another flat set of numbers on consumer spending have been released by the ABS, reports Glenn Dyer.
Commentary wrap: BHP bites the bullet, backs down
Crikey / Wednesday, 26 November 2008
In an announcement to the ASX last night, BHP Billiton backed away from its $100 billion hostile bid for Rio Tinto. The commentariat weighs in: