1. No pay rises until 2025

Those hoping for a pay rise any time soon won’t like hearing what the Reserve Bank governor Dr Philip Lowe told a Parliamentary Committee last week. He signalled workers are unlikely to get a meaningful lift in pay until the middle of the decade and warned that businesses and government would need to take the lead in driving prosperity. Dr Lowe said pushing wages growth substantially above its current historically low level would require unemployment to fall significantly — even below the level seen before the COVID recession.

If he’s right, it has implications for interest rates as well, with Westpac chief economist Bill Evans saying that Dr Lowe’s forecasts suggest that it may be extremely doubtful that even 2024 seems a realistic goal for raising interest rates from where they are now!

2. CBA reporting on Wednesday

Reporting season for some of the most well-known companies hots up this week and investors are hopeful that the Commonwealth Bank will provide a nice surprise and raise its dividend and reveal lower bad debt problems. If this week’s show-and-tell for the country’s biggest bank comes up with a great report card, it will be because of the country’s great economic recovery, the bounce-back of the housing market and our great success beating the coronavirus compared to most countries. In one of the most-anticipated results this earnings season, CBA will hand down its half-year profits on Wednesday, with the market expecting profits of around $3.9 billion. In four months, the bank’s share price has spiked 40% to $88!

3. NSW treasurer calls on states to lead economic reform

In an interview with the AFR, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said that "many of the reforms that are going to drive substantial economic gains are at a state level" and noted that states should not rely on the federal government to always do the "heavy lifting". Perrottet highlighted recommendations by the Productivity Commission which found that many of the areas for reform are solely or jointly the responsibility of the states.

4. Animals predict Super Bowl result

Super Bowl LV will kick off later this morning Australia time, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. With the big game come some big predictions from animals across the US, including a controversial pick for the Chiefs by Tampa local Nick the Dolphin. Buffett the manatee from Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, who has picked 10 out of the last 12 games, is tipping a win for the Bucs.

5. A positive Wall St should push our market up today

The local stock market should benefit today from another record close on Wall Street over the weekend despite a disappointing jobs report. All three major stock market indexes notched their best week since November. The blue chip Dow gained 3.9% for the week, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 4.7% and 6% respectively. In January the US gained only 49,000 after losing, wait for it, 140,000 in December, which was revised for an even bigger loss of 227,000 jobs in one month. So why did stocks rise? Well, the market thinks the new President Biden will deliver far more stimulus and infection rates are, at long last, starting to fall.