Breakfast briefing: Freight rates on the move up

US labour pressures remain; EU retail sales rise; Australian household spending up; supply chain pressures ease; but freight rates rise sharply this week; UST 10yr at 4.10%; gold eases lightly as oil firms slightly; AU$1 = 66.2 USc

Q3 economic activity rises less than expected

The latest GDP data shows private investment growth driven by machinery and equipment for data centers. Essential household spending rose as discretionary spending dropped. But the household saving ratio rose

Macbank keeps pressure on its rivals with a new market-leading one year TD rate

Moving fast, Macquarie extends its appeal to household savers, adding a new very competitive term deposit rate to an already competitive savings rate set

Teaching their rivals a lesson, some of them an increasingly painful one

Macquarie Bank has gained an extra $19 bln in household deposits over and above the market growth of +10.5%. And no rival seems to be able to do anything about their momentum

Hong Kong’s identity quandary

Stephen Roach thinks the China-centric administrative region of Hong Kong has changed irrevocably, despite its booming financial sector

Commbank really wants your attention

The biggest bank is making an outsized play for your savings with a hefty hike in their two year term deposit rate to a market-leading level

APRA to limit high debt-to-income home loans to constrain riskier lending

New rules arrive to try and limit the impending damage the Home Guarantee Scheme is expected to induce, after Canberra pulled taxpayers into backing up risky first home buyer lending in an already frothy housing market

CPI rose 3.8% in the year to October 2025

Inflation up unexpectedly, complicating the RBA's policy track. This is the highest inflation reading since the monthly data series began in April 2025

Most banks have four percent rates or higher for savers

Banks scramble to offer higher savings and term deposit rates as Macquarie Banks appetite for household deposits gathers momentum. We look at what is now available

Piling on the pressure

Suddenly, the tables have turned and household depositors who have good-sized balances are in a great position to negotiate much better rates for their funds

Stablecoins are inevitable

Lucrezia Reichlin applies the lessons of past financial innovations to predict where regulation of stablecoins is headed

Robots, humans and donkeys

No, AI probably won't take your (whole) job, but the future workforce will look different. Fortunately the labour force is already shifting in mostly the right direction. Policy and social changes are nonetheless needed, says Westpac's Luci Ellis

Can AI be Asia's next growth engine?

Asia’s growth model is under intense strain, and rapid population aging will only make matters worse. But Lee Jong-Wha thinks the key to maintaining its momentum will be adopting AI, building human capital, and a framework of enabling institutions

Risks and vulnerabilities

In its latest review of the financial system, APRA is seeing some signs of a pick-up in higher risk lending, particularly high debt-to-income borrowing by investors

IMF calls for increased indirect taxation (GST), reintroducing a resource revenue tax, and removing income tax exemptions

The IMF likes where Australia is at, but sees serious risks ahead. It wants to see "comprehensive tax reform" and "greater spending efficiency" to hold on to fiscal sustainability

Years in the making, the first complete monthly inflation report is almost here

If we all pay more attention to 'bad news' than following the underlying trends, will the release of monthly CPI inflation data make the RBA's policy justifications harder to accept?

Ranking variable mortgage rates

Although comparing bank mortgage rates appears daunting, we have the tools to allow you to take charge of this yourself so that you can know you always get the best deal