If the local stock market does not fall today that will be a big surprise after Wall Street headed south following a surprise drop in consumer confidence. This coincides with the end of the quarter and it follows a big quarter for stocks and a sensational four months since the S&P 500 index in America […]

With a new financial year ahead, how are the stock market, property and general investment ‘planets’ lining up with the economy? Are we in for another market rally where we rocket ahead? Or are we set to end up like a shooting star? Despite apparent evidence to the contrary, I have backed the optimistic scenario […]

You can’t easily live without the work of journalists but sometimes they write some crap! The most recent comes out of Wall Street where they are suggesting that Bernie Madoff getting handed down 150 years for his Ponzi scheme somehow sparked the 90-point rally on Wall Street. The reality is that most investors are caught […]

Local doomsday merchants got a statistical kick in the pants this week when the OECD gave the Aussie economy a big tick, claiming that our economy will contract by only 0.3 per cent this year but will roar back to solid growth next year, with a 2.4 per cent figure tipped. But the even better […]

Economists have long had to endure being called "Dismal Scientists", but really that's not hard enough on them. With their proclivity to invent trite phrases to describe complex issues, they deserve to be known as Dismal Poets as well. The latest cliché off the economic jargon production line is "Green Shoots of Recovery". With governments […]

Upcoming economic and financial market events Australia 30 June Private sector credit (May): Housing credit is growing, but other lending is becalmed. 1 July Retail trade (May): We tip a 0.4pct increase in sales. Building approvals (May): Another solid increase in approvals is tipped, up by around 7pct. 2 July International trade (May): A small […]

For those in a quandary over whether they should be fixing their home loan interest rates or gambling on the more volatile variable rate of interest, this is your chance to see what’s going on in my head about this thorny, hip-pocket dilemma. A reader called Jessica recently sent me an interesting question, which I […]

It’s the stuff made of nightmares, nevertheless it does need to be taken into consideration. I’m stating the obvious here, but children are just as susceptible as adults to debilitating diseases or injuries that may result in permanent disability or death. What many parents don't realise until it’s too late is that it’s just as […]

The big news during May was of course the Federal Budget. On June 3, we got ‘great’ economic growth figures, but I will leave that until later. A lot of the Budget information was leaked before the actual night, so most were prepared for what was in store. I did an economics wrap-up for PriceWaterhouseCoopers […]

It’s official — Australia is NOT in recession! And no matter what negative, doomsday merchants want to say to justify their incorrect calls, there’s no official recession here. This is great news and will help a recovery in consumer and business confidence. This in turn will boost business investment sooner rather than later and that’s […]

The question I am fielding all the time right now is — how do I play this rally? A related one is about whether the worst is behind us and is it time to buy shares? Regular readers know I have pointed out that the US stock market has a history of bouncing around 26% […]

This article focuses on some of the more important and common records that business owners are required to keep for income tax, Fringe Benefits Tax, GST and capital gains tax purposes. For taxation purposes, records generally need to be kept: For five years after they are prepared, obtained or the transactions completed (whichever occurs later) […]