During last week’s roller-coaster ride on markets, most of the focus was on the wild swings in the value of equities, bonds and currencies. Almost overlooked was the fact that commodities also had a shocker of a week.
Commodity prices
Maley: waging a battle against stalling productivity
There’s no doubt that the core reason that our productivity is ebbing is that we’ve lost the zeal for microeconomic reforms, writes Karen Maley of Business Spectator.
Joe cut and pastes on commodity prices
Joe Hockey misses the point in his cut’n’paste effort today about our reliance on commodity prices. Australia has always ridden commodity booms. The real issue is the strength of the dollar.
Business As Usual: China holding off on its melting moments … Commodity prices and echoes of 2008 …
While low prices and high power costs have put China’s aluminium industry on hold, the country is also freezing coal prices. Plus, refinancing Europe’s banks goes better than expected and other business news.
WSJ: The RBA is dancing to China’s tune
The RBA’s decision to keep rates steady is hardly a surprise, says the Wall Street Journal: it was just reacting to the movements of our real economic overlord, China.
Rising coffee prices leaves a bitter taste
Coffee and sugar prices are rising and Glenn Dyer is now in mortal fear of mornings.
Recycling industry down in the dumps
The drop in consumer spending has hit the recycling industry hard as commodity prices slump.
US economy keeps sliding southward
The US economy is in recession, if you discount the sharp improvement in the country’s trade deficit, as the Australian dollar jumped to a new near 24 year high, writes Glenn Dyer.
Hello interest rates: Aussie dollar at 23-year high
Another surge in commodity prices has pushed the Australian dollar to a 23 year high, writes Glenn Dyer.
What the RBA said
The bank’s statement in full.
US rate cut prompts a frenetic day for the markets
Wall Street dithered overnight, then rose and ended up by just over 100 points, the Fed mentions inflation and economic stability in the same breath and US bond rates rose: all in all it was all a bit frenetic, reports Glenn Dyer.
Rising Aussie dollar and high oil prices
If Peter Costello wants a tsunami, the Aussie dollar and high oil prices could ensure he gets what he wants: a nasty mixture of high oil and commodity prices and a currency carving a hole in the earnings of corporate Australia, writes Glenn Dyer.
BHP stuffed? Who’s right, Kloppers or Costello?
Monday’s glittering tax cuts overshadowed any number of interesting figures and forecasts tucked away in the Treasury’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook - things like the prediction that BHP is going to be stuffed in three years’ time, writes Michael Pascoe.
Making hay in the dry: farmers turn water into profit
The big dry is increasing the value of water and there are some big, big winners, writes Lionel Elmore.
Parity with the greenback not all Disneyland and Vegas
Some markets react more quickly to fundamental changes than others. For example, the trans-Pacific air fare market is already showing the impact of the rising Australian dollar/falling US dollar, but the Australian stock market seems to be ignoring it, writes Michael Pascoe.
ABARE outlooks fuels commodities illusion
For the sake of the currently highly charged Australian stock market, BHP Billiton had better reveal a big upgrade in its mineral resources in its annual report tomorrow. If it doesn’t, there’s not much to support the market except an illusion built on higher commodity prices, which in turn are being driven by the weakening US dollar.
Postpone the party: US housing sector is headed south
American financial markets got a dose of reality yesterday about the true state of affairs of the troubled housing sector: its bad and going to get worse, writes Glenn Dyer.
The Coates Hire director who bought on the cheap
Coates Hire director Vince Gauci deserves to be asked some hard questions about his share trading in the takeover target last week, says Stephen Mayne.
The Economy: Economic growth to trouble RBA
Yesterday saw the release of the July Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating, which showed a 4.5 point jump to a two-and-a-half year high of 126.8 - an understandable result.
The Economy: Remote services, interest rates and the currency market
Should anyone who chooses to live beyond the natural limits of civilisation be provided with all the benefits of civilisation? An economist’s natural propensity is to say “Let them sort it out themselves”, but in the case of indigenous people caught in a cycle of poverty and ignorance this is not good enough.
