This is weekly market update, starting in the US, Europe, then Asia and then the US, as I get my thoughts organised! This week, punctuated by a Wednesday US holiday, saw markets taking a breather following recent volatility and record highs. The Nasdaq had hit record highs on Thursday, boosted by strong gains in tech, … Continue reading "Markets Calm Before The Storm, As The AI Wave Wains?"

As I discussed on my live show, on Tuesday night with Leith van Onselen, the RBA decided to hold the cash rate at 4.35%, but there were signs of a more hawkish tone from the meeting notes, and the subsequent press conference (which I might add is becoming less useful each time thanks to weak … Continue reading "Is A 5% Cash Rate For Australia On The Cards?"

Struggling homeowners are increasingly hitting the pricey reset button on their loans in the hope of dragging down their monthly repayments.It’s adding years to the length of their loans and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest costs. A recent Finder.com.au survey revealed one in eight mortgage holders polled revealed they had extended their … Continue reading "One In Eight Mortgage Borrowers “Extend And Pretend”!"

Last week, yet another building and construction firm hit the wall, collapsing into liquidation owing $5.7m straddling two different states and territories, leading to a “domino effect” impacting 130 projects and 80 staff members. This is part of the continuing litany of failure, as data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) shows that … Continue reading "Construction Firms Failures Hit A New Peak: There Will Be Consequences…"

This is an edited version of a live discussion, with Leith van Onselen, Chief Economist at Nucleus Wealth, and co-founder of MacroBusiness. In this show we discussed the recent developments in the housing market, and how economics is playing into the current broken system. Governments are not being transparent about their motives, or their continued … Continue reading "DFA Live Q&A HD Replay: The Housing Poker Game: With Leith van Onselen"

I caught up with accountant, Allan Mason, who was Kerry Packer’s accountant and is the best-selling author of “Tax Secrets of The Rich”. As the tax year looms, its important to take charge of your tax affairs, and we discuss some of the main issues to consider. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3019211844/view Note this is not specific tax advice, … Continue reading "It’s A Taxing Time, But Make Sure You Do It Right! : With Allan Mason"

In this weeks show Edwin and I look at the latest in political interventions to “help” the property market, consider the impact of more Chinese money coming into Australian property, and the impact of the Bank Of Mum and Dad. Plus, our normal updates on listings, and Edwin’s latest Tip Of The Week. http://www.martinnorth.com/ https://www.ribbonproperty.com.au … Continue reading "Its Edwin’s Monday Evening Property Rant!"

It’s raining “announcables” at the moment, with interesting developments this past week on the housing and finance front as city, state and federal Governments continue to poke at the broken system. Schemes include, government buying off the plan to give construction firms a leg up, cheap housing for essential workers, changes to lending rules, higher … Continue reading "Hello, I’m From The Government, And I’m Here To Help You! (Honest!!?)"

This is our weekly market update, is the best way I have found to organize my thoughts for the week and to track what’s going on. We start in the US, crosses to Europe, then Asia, and Australia, and we also cover commodities and crypto. In the US, the Nasdaq eked out a fifth straight … Continue reading "The Investor’s Dilemma: Hang In Or Jump Out?"

In this show we will look at some of the recent data relating to the New Zealand economy, which is sitting in a high interest rate, recessionary condition, as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand wrangles inflation towards its targets. We saw a significant rise in people leaving the country, with New Zealand Citizens voting … Continue reading "The Kiwi Economy On A Knife Edge… As More Leave!"