1. Banks showing their nicer side

With the escalation of Covid-19 infections and an extension of restrictions in Sydney, the big banks have mounted a rescue plan. Within 24 hours of the surprise ramping up of Sydney’s lockdown rules, banks detailed measures including free overdrafts for small businesses, targeted home loan deferrals and had extended a promise not to evict home loan customers. The CBA said the number of customers calling its support lines doubled on Saturday, with many of them from tradies with construction sites closed. Sydney has 250,000 construction workers!

2. Should employers say no jab, no job?

Politicians won’t mandate Coronavirus vaccinations but three out of five workers believe no jab should mean no job. A survey of more than 1,000 workers by HR software company ELMO found three in five workers say employers should mandate Covid-19 vaccinations as a condition of being in a workplace. And nearly half would feel uncomfortable working alongside unvaccinated colleagues. Also, the lockdowns have meant job security has declined significantly.

3. Home sold $2 million above reserve

Despite lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne, one Sydney home sold $2 million over its reserve. The Kangaroo Point home sold for $4.2 million, which was nearly $2 million over the reserve and it sold online in 50 minutes with 19 bidders. And despite the lockdowns, the auction clearance rate was 77% but that was down 8.5% from before Sydney’s shutdown. Melbourne’s clearance rate was 76.4%.

4. Buyer of $38 million ticket to space drops out

An unnamed man who won the $US28 million ($38 million) auction to join Jeff Bezos on the inaugural crewed Blue Origin spaceflight this week has dropped out, with 18-year-old student Oliver Daemen from Texas set to replace the man after paying an undisclosed ticket price. Most of the proceeds from both sales will be distributed to charity.

5. Nasdaq ends the week down almost 2%

The Nasdaq had the biggest fall of the major US indexes last week, falling 1.87% from a week earlier to 14,427.24. The S&P 500 was next, falling 0.97% for the week to 4,327.16, while the Dow Jones was down 0.52% to 34,687.85.