The OECD has reviewed our economy and outlook

The OECD wants to see more effective work on reducing the budget deficit, and more effective actions on housing affordability

Breakfast briefing: The debasement trade gathers momentum

Trump in full insult mode at Europe; US housing data mixed; Canada PPI soft; EU suspends approval of US trade deal; OECD likes Australia; equities can't hold rebound; UST 10yr at 4.28%; gold still rising; oil flat; AU$1 = 67.7 USc; bitcoin falls

"We will not be undersold!"

Macbank ensures it offers top term deposit rates after a new small increase in its popular term deposit rates

Should you go 'short' or 'long' when there is no premium for term?

With at-call savings rates little different to one-year term deposit rates for savers, why lock up your money on a fixed term? In fact the 'best' (highest) rate offers are for at-call savings

"Most investors face losses, and even profitable trades can be entirely eroded by trading costs"

ASIC says complex, high risk CFDs result in large losses by 'investors' (speculators), made worse by platform practices that contravene licensing obligations

Moves and countermoves in the savings sector

Both big and challenger banks have moved to counter Macbank's recent hikes in term deposit and savings account rates

Why do educated people fall for conspiracy theories? It could be narcissism

Tylor Cosgrove notes that conspiracy theories spread wider in times of uncertainty, including during war, economic downturn and widespread hardship. He looks at the type of personalities that are drawn to them

The revenge of global imbalances

Barry Eichengreen explains why, after 20 years, major economies' external deficits and surpluses are again a focus of attention

Commbank raises all its fixed home loan rates

Fixed home loan rates are on the move higher. All banks are looking at raising fixed rates now as sentiment shifts to higher rate expectations in 2026

'The states are spending like they are in lockdown': S&P

NSW and Queensland are singled out as at risk of a credit rating downgrade as infrastructure projects and entitlement claims mount, while tax increases become politically much harder

The 2026 outlook calls for recalibration

Mohamed El-Erian thinks that last year's economic tailwinds will give way to more challenging conditions as the AI narrative fades

How big is the iceberg?

Nolan Fahrenkopf says rogue nations are capitalising on gaps in crypto regulation to finance weapons programmes

Macbank goes even higher

With their retail funding strategy working a treat, Macquarie has just piled more rate pressure on its rivals with yet another increase for savers

Thoughts on the 2026 outlook

Unlike the sanguine outlook reviews from many others, David Skilling says 2026 will be another disruptive year of structural global economic and geopolitical change

Precious metal thunder

The World Gold Council sees the sharp rises in precious metal prices as quite divergent. Silver and platinum are responding to short supply, while gold to risk. Gold may be more resilient in the long term as politics skews the economic cycle

Despite new tariffs on beef, China is far from closing the door on trade with Australia

Less than a quarter of beef exports to China will be vulnerable to their new higher tariffs. James Laurenceson explains both exporters and Chinese importers have many ways to make this hit less onerous than it seems

Macquarie monsters up the household deposit growth

The latest APRA data shows Macquarie winning the battle for household deposits bigly, grabbing share faster even as the overall sector growth slows