1. Brisbane House Prices Record Slump

The AFR reports that Brisbane house prices crashed 2% in October, which was the worst capital city drop and a record monthly decline! That said, the capital of the sunshine state is faring better than many of its rivals. According to CoreLogic: “Since peaking in June, Brisbane house prices have dropped by 6.2 per cent, Sydney’s have plummeted by 10.2 per cent since peaking this January and Melbourne’s declined by 6.4 per cent since hitting their peak in February.”

2. Good interest rate sign

The SMH’s Clancy Yeates implies the RBA’s rate rises are working with this: “As the Reserve Bank prepares to raise interest rates again…loan growth in the $2-trillion mortgage market is showing signs of softening and analysts say the slowdown in lending has further to run. Housing credit growth slowed to a 10-month low of 7.3% in the year to September, from 7.6% a month earlier and that’s exactly what the RBA’s Dr Phil Lowe wants to see.

3. Gas cap calls getting louder

The AFR’s Angela McDonald-Smith tells us that “the average price that Origin’s Australia Pacific LNG venture in Queensland received for gas sold on the domestic east coast market rocketed to $12.44 a gigajoule in the September quarter, up from $6.36/GJ in the prior three months.” With sales volumes up 62% and forecasts of a 56% rise in gas prices over the next two years, Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has accused big gas companies of price-gouging consumers to make “obscene profits” during the current energy crisis.”

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen says all options were on the table to intervene in the market to lower power prices.

4. Bosses will strike back

The Australian reports that: “Employers are threatening to run a multimillion-dollar campaign against Labor’s industrial relations changes unless the Albanese government backs down on its plans to expand multi-employer bargaining and give greater powers to the Fair Work Commission.” It comes as the cross-bench has asked for a delay of the new IR bill but Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is resisting. The mining industry is set to dig deep to fund a campaign against the bill.

5. Cup Day rate rise a certainty

The Reserve Bank meets today and 30 minutes before the Cup we’ll see if the rate rise will be a 25 or 50 basis point rate hike, which has been ruled out by economists after the CPI surged 7.3% last week. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve and Bank of England meet Thursday amid expectations of 75 basis point hikes. And while the rises will be impactful on an increasingly positive stock market, it will be the commentaries that go with these changes that will be vital.