RBA to set off raging bull markets
Fund managers and economists say the Reserve Bank’s decision to add billions of dollars in more record low-cost borrowing for years out will set off a raging bull market this year with more GameStop-style events and stoke asset prices – from housing to aggressive mergers and acquisitions. The Fin
WA to help small businesses
Small businesses caught up in Western Australia’s snap lockdown will receive government support after the government conceded the state was left more vulnerable as complacency set in after 10 months without community transmission of COVID-19. The Fin
Forrest: racism hits Indigenous business growth
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs continue to be hamstrung by systemic racism, intergenerational disadvantage and economic exclusion, with very few having access to mainstream capital. The Aus
PM sticking with hotel quarantine
Scott Morrison has rebuffed calls to set up alternatives to hotel quarantine despite the rising number of coronavirus leaks triggering fresh lockdowns and border restrictions. The Fin
Millennials, Gen Z now the main game
Afterpay co-CEO Nick Molnar says the GameStop share saga is indicative of the changing and increasing financial power of Millennials and Gen Z, and the way the cohort disrupted the market last week was no surprise to him. The Fin
PM’s call with Google boss ‘constructive’
Google has not backed down on its threat to withdraw from Australia in a call between Scott Morrison and the tech giant’s parent company boss Sundar Pichai yesterday, but tensions appear to be easing. The Fin
Low power prices hammer energy majors
Australia’s two biggest power and gas suppliers have been smashed by a collapse in wholesale power prices triggered by surging renewables, with AGL Energy booking shock writedowns of almost $2.7 billion and Origin Energy warning of a two-year profit hit. The Fin
Cyprium eyes Metals X assets
ASX-listed mineral explorer Cyprium Metals is in the hunt to acquire tin producer Metals X’s three West Australian copper assets. The Fin
Andrew Forrest buys into national stockfeed company
Andrew Forrest has added to his ever-expanding agricultural interests, emerging with a $12 million stake in stockfeed group Ridley. The West
Domestic flights hit hardest in Australia
Australia suffered the world’s worst collapse in domestic air traffic last year as hard State borders and travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic brought aircraft movements in the country to a virtual standstill. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Fund managers and economists say the Reserve Bank’s decision to add billions of dollars in more record low-cost borrowing for years out will set off a raging bull market this year with more GameStop-style events and stoke asset prices – from housing to aggressive mergers and acquisitions.
Page 3: Western Australia and other states should follow the battle-hardened lead of NSW and Victoria to avoid strict lockdowns as further community cases of COVID-19 emerge, health experts say.
Page 4: Scott Morrison has rebuffed calls to set up alternatives to hotel quarantine despite the rising number of coronavirus leaks triggering fresh lockdowns and border restrictions.
Page 5: Afterpay co-CEO Nick Molnar says the GameStop share saga is indicative of the changing and increasing financial power of Millennials and Gen Z, and the way the cohort disrupted the market last week was no surprise to him.
Page 7: Small businesses caught up in Western Australia’s snap lockdown will receive government support after the government conceded the state was left more vulnerable as complacency set in after 10 months without community transmission of COVID-19.
China’s restrictions on Australian coal might be proving futile, with exports finding new markets, helping to drive the strongest monthly trade surplus in six months.
Page 8: Google has not backed down on its threat to withdraw from Australia in a call between Scott Morrison and the tech giant’s parent company boss Sundar Pichai yesterday, but tensions appear to be easing.
Page 9: Employees at the Department of Home Affairs have been restricted from using the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on their work phones, following a similar move at the Defence Department.
Page 12: McKinsey & Co, the consultant to bluechip corporations and governments around the world, has agreed to pay $US573 million ($752 million) to settle investigations into its role in helping ‘‘turbocharge’’ opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable for its work with clients.
Page 13: Australia’s two biggest power and gas suppliers have been smashed by a collapse in wholesale power prices triggered by surging renewables, with AGL Energy booking shock write-downs of almost $2.7 billion and Origin Energy warning of a two-year profit hit.
Page 14: ASX-listed mineral explorer Cyprium Metals is in the hunt to acquire tin producer Metals X’s three West Australian copper assets.
Page 15: Apple’s ‘‘unrestrained market power’’ is artificially jacking up the price of phone and tablet apps and suppressing competition and innovation in a key gateway to the Australian economy, one of the world’s most successful app developers has warned Australia’s market regulator.
Page 19: Hydrogen-powered buses will be shipped to Australia in April and made in this country from 2022, as manufacturers respond to state governments’ calls for zero emissions vehicles.
The Australian
Page 1: A Chinese company says it wants to build a new $39bn city with a major seaport, industrial area and free-trade zone on Papua New Guinea’s south coast, just kilometres from Australian territory.
Page 4: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs continue to be hamstrung by systemic racism, intergenerational disadvantage and economic exclusion, with very few having access to mainstream capital.
Page 6: Australia’s trade surplus reached a record $73bn in 2020, propelled by surging iron ore sales and a slump in demand for imported goods through the COVID-19 crisis.
Travel firm HelloWorld, whose chief executive is former Liberal Party federal treasurer Andrew Burnes, is seeking to impose pay cuts of up to 20 per cent on employees when JobKeeper ends in March.
Page 7: Western Australia’s higher “vulnerability” to COVID-19 meant the state needed to take more drastic action over its latest coronavirus case than Victoria, WA Premier Mark McGowan says.
Page 15: “Buy now, pay later” platform provider Limepay is putting together a new board, embarking on an executive hiring spree and has tapped advisers to step up plans for a 2021 ASX listing.
Page 17: Nick Scali chief executive Anthony Scali says he struggled over whether to return $3.55m in Job-Keeper payments and wages subsidies in light of the retailer’s profit boom and near doubling of its dividend, but argued his business contributed to Treasury coffers by paying double the amount of tax in the December half.
National auto transport company Autocare Services has called in administrators after a slide in car sales caused losses in excess of $54 million in the past three years.
Page 18: Qantas will pursue an even larger share of the domestic market as it seeks to recover from the COVID crisis, with the help of Alliance Aviation.
The West Australian
Page 1: More than two million West Aussies will be granted freedom from coronavirus lockdown at 6pm tonight — pending no further local cases — but masks will remain compulsory in public and at work across Perth and Peel for another eight days.
Page 3: Mandatory wearing of face masks by security guards working in hotel quarantine systems across Australia was commonplace before the Perth lockdown, a survey of has revealed — just not in WA.
Page 4: Medical experts believe it is increasingly likely that Perth’s COVID-19 case 903 caught the virus through the air, rather than by droplets or physical contact.
Page 8: Insurers fear the costs from fencing and sheds lost in the Hills bushfire could exceed the $40 million-plus value of homes destroyed in the prime equestrian and hobby farm country.
Page 14: Scott Morrison has held his first official phone conversation with US President Joe Biden.
Page 52: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has pledged to mobilise enough international pressure on Myanmar’s military “to make sure that this coup fails”.
Business: WA small businesses are being smashed by late payments as they struggle to overcome major disruptions to cash flow and revenue, a report shows.
Andrew Forrest has added to his ever-expanding agricultural interests, emerging with a $12 million stake in stockfeed group Ridley.
Perth’s five-day lockdown, which ends tonight, has led to a lot of financial pain for local business owners, with some reporting six-figure losses as they continue to meet the full cost of staff wages and expenses.
The wild swings in the price of Bitcoin prove it’s not a real unit of value, though blockchain technology “is here to stay”, according to Goldman Sachs Group’s Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani.
Australia suffered the world’s worst collapse in domestic air traffic last year as hard State borders and travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic brought aircraft movements in the country to a virtual standstill.
