Sharemarket wobbles
News

Are the sharemarket wobbles anything to worry about?

- April 19, 2024 2 MIN READ

It seems the International Monetary Fund shares my uncertainty around the sharemarket. Earlier this month when the Australian sharemarket touched a record high I admitted I was nervous. Was it “peak greed”, with markets getting too hot on the back of irrational optimism? On Wednesday the International Monetary Fund shared my uncertainty. I’m old enough… Read more »

Rents to keep rising
News

Rents to keep climbing

- April 19, 2024 2 MIN READ

Basically there are very few places to rent. According to SQM Research the national vacancy rate hasn’t improved at all and remains steady at just 1 per cent. As you can see from the SQM table, in March last year the vacancy rate was 1.1 per cent so over the last 12 months nothing has… Read more »

RBA board announcement
News

A noteworthy change in this week’s RBA Board announcment

- March 22, 2024 3 MIN READ

Reserve Bank Board meeting week and, as expected, official interest rates were kept on hold. But there was an important change in the statement explaining the announcement. The words are now more important than the actual decision. From saying “a further increase in interest rates cannot be ruled out” in September, this week’s statement said… Read more »

Governments need to help fight inflation
News

Governments need to step up and help the RBA fight inflation

- February 23, 2024 3 MIN READ

Interest rates are a blunt instrument, but governments have more options to help fight inflation. They’re just not using them. The Reserve Bank boss, Michele Bullock, recently said interest rates were a “blunt instrument” when it came to fighting inflation. In other words, the impact of interest rate rises can be a bit of a… Read more »