RBA Board meeting week and it was steady as she goes. A change in RBA Governor from Philip Lowe to Michele Bullock made no difference at all… and I suspect that was the point. There was all sorts of talk in the lead up to the meeting about whether Michele would stamp her own unique… Read more »
Inflation is stabilising, consumers are reining in their spending and the strong job market is showing signs of weakening. Economically we are kicking a few goals when it comes to inflation. This week’s monthly Consumer Price Index for August was in line with economist forecasts and steady at 5.6 per cent – still well above… Read more »
Last week I wrote about how landlords are being driven out of the rental market, which is exacerbating the crisis. I was interested in an analysis by the research director at Ray White, Nerida Conisbee on the rental crisis and what is causing it. Proportion of households under rental stress The Economist magazine recently undertook an… Read more »
Research from Compare the Market’s new Household Budget Barometer has revealed the nation’s surprising financial fears for the next 12 months. According to the report, the cost of groceries, energy and fuel are the bills that Australians believe will cause the most pain in the next year. In fact, a whopping 66.4 per cent of… Read more »
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment survey has found that Australians haven’t been this gloomy since the 1990s recession. The last Reserve Bank Board meeting pointed out that the key economic indicators it is following for future interest rate decisions are the labour market (which, as we now know continues to be tight) and household confidence… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
