ABOUT 800,000 Australian households and up to 2 million small and medium-sized enterprises are living on a knife-edge and could go under in the face of high costs of debt, the latest mortgage report compiled by JPMorgan and Fujitsu warned yesterday. More than 800,000 households are experiencing some form of mortgage stress — five times…
THE dollar has opened lower for the 12th consecutive local session after dropping to a five-year low overnight as the bleak global economic outlook caused investors to abandon the high-yielding currency. The dollar touched a five-year low of $US0.6454 during the overnight session, but recovered slightly after a number of global central banks eased monetary…
THE share market was down 4 per cent at noon after a horror session on Wall St overnight, where stocks fell to a five-year low. At 12noon (AEDT) the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 4.08 per cent at 4430.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index had lost 4.03 per cent, to 4412.7. Macquarie Equities adviser Helen…
AUSTRALIA leads the world, and a bloody good thing it is, too. This is the theme of the response to Glenn Stevens’ bold 100-point cut to interest rates. I agree with it, and congratulate the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the RBA board for their boldness at a time of great global…
No two financial crises are exactly the same. There are times to be an observer, watching from the sidelines. And there are times to act. A week ago Monday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 777 points after the House rejected the proposed $700 billion rescue legislation, the Nasdaq Composite dropped through my latest…
HOMEOWNERS will receive the biggest single reduction to their mortgage payments in 16 years after a worried Reserve Bank slashed interest rates by one percentage point yesterday to shield the economy against the global financial crisis. None of the major banks will pass on the cut in full but Westpac, the Commonwealth Bank, the NAB…
This note looks at the continuing turmoil in financial markets. The key points are as follows: • Shares have made new lows in the past week on more bank failures and uncertainty about the US relief package. • Successful approval the implementation of the US debt relief package should head off a worst case economic…
This note looks at the wild swings in financial markets over the last week or so. The key points are as follows: • The move to a comprehensive solution to the financial crisis by US authorities substantially removes the risk of a financial meltdown. • The ride for investors will remain rough though as the…
Every year, many thousands of Australians try to come to terms with a surprisingly common financial setback – the loss of money through personal fraud. Losing money is hard enough at any time – perhaps after making a poor but legitimate investment – but losing money to crooks must be particularly hard to take. The…
In a recent decision, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) partially disallowed rental deductions on the grounds that the property was purchased for use as a residence and not as a rental property The applicant owned a rental property in Sydney for which he claimed rental deductions totalling over $400,000 between 2001-2003. All of these deductions…