Consumers have gone so deep into the bunker and reigned in their spending so much that we are all but in an economic recession, except by name. Don’t be fooled by the latest economic growth figures for the March to June quarter. Yes, it’s looking in the rear-view mirror a fair way back, but that’s… Read more »
Good news for renters – there are some early signs that the rent crisis is starting to soften. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing about emerging signs that the horrendous spike in rents is turning, despite what’s currently coming through in the CPI figures. There were more signs of that this week.… Read more »
The Aussie dollar has dropped sharply to a nine-month low and that impacts everyone. Our Australian dollar has dropped sharply over the last couple of weeks to a nine-month low. And the fact that our interest rate cycle is peaking while other countries are still raising rates is also dampening the value of the Aussie… Read more »
More signs that Australian consumers are locking down in the bunker. While official retail sales have been weak for a couple of months as higher loan repayments take cash out of pockets, a new Commonwealth Bank report shows consumers continued to tighten their belts in July, with spending growth declining nationally to just 1.3 per… Read more »
The state of the US Government and American household debt is mindboggling. In my newsletter last week I talked about how global credit rating agency Fitch had downgraded the US credit rating from Triple A to AA+ — only the second time ever that the US has been downgraded. The reason was its huge level… Read more »
Consumer sentiment is at near record lows and most customers are heading for the bunker. Not our farmers, though, who apparently have never had it so good. It seems most of us are very glum at the moment. That’s according to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index which fell another 0.4 per cent to… Read more »
More entrepreneurial Aussies than ever are starting side hustles to plug the income gap. The combined impact of high inflation and rising mortgage repayments is playing havoc with the household budget of average Aussie families. There are two solutions… cut your expenses or boost your income. It seems boosting income is the answer for many… Read more »
It’s the first week of the month and all eyes were on the Reserve Bank board meeting which decided to keep official interest rates on hold for a second consecutive month at 4.1 per cent. This time last Friday morning I said the latest retail figures would swing the RBA vote. If retail sales slowed,… Read more »
This week’s quarterly inflation figures are the lowest since September 2021. After last week’s very low unemployment figure, we knew this week’s quarterly inflation figure would play a critical role in the next RBA decision… it had to offset the tight labour market. And it did. The June quarter CPI was 0.8 per cent and… Read more »
Yes, it’s that time of the month when the Reserve Bank decides your mortgage repayments. This time they’ve given us a breather. On Tuesday, the RBA kept official interest rates on hold at 4.1 per cent. BUT (yes, I deliberately put this in capitals) don’t think this is the end of the rate hike cycle.… Read more »
