Author: roymorgansocial

Flash crash pushes Aussie to an 11-year low

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Original article by William McInnes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 10-Mar-20

The Australian dollar fell by 4.6 per cent to an intra-day low of $US0.6312 during a 20-minute period in local trading on 9 March. It was the currency’s lowest level since early March 2009, as growing concern about the coronavirus weighed on financial markets. Sean Callow of Westpac says the sell-off appears to have been driven by Japanese investors exiting their Australian dollar positions, with the ‘flash crash’ coinciding with a rally in the yen against the greenback. The Australian dollar rebounded to around $US0.6550 late in the local trading session.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

RBA may need $30b in bonds for a shot at QE, says Deutsche Bank

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Mar-20

Deutsche Bank economist Phil O’Donaghoe does not expect quantitative easing to be necessary in response to the coronavirus. He says another official interest rate cut in April and the federal government’s stimulus package should result in a 2019-20 Budget deficit of about 1.2 per cent of GDP. However, O’Donaghoe warns that if the Reserve Bank of Australia does resort to quantitative easing, it would need to purchase up to $30bn worth of bonds to generate the same macroeconomic stimulus as a rate cut of 25 basis points.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

$150bn shares rout as oil crunch sparks panic

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 10-Mar-20

The Australian sharemarket has recorded its biggest one-day fall since the global financial crisis. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 shed 455.6 points or 7.3 per cent to close at 5,760.6 points on 9 March. The local market has now lost 19.6 per cent in less than three weeks. Asian markets were also heavily sold down. Mining and energy stocks have been amongst the hardest hit, with BHP falling 14 per cent and Oil Search down 35 per cent after a big fall in the crude oil price.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH

Tax-slugged miners are bankrolling us all

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 2 : 10-Mar-20

A report produced by KPMG on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia highlights the importance of the mining sector to government revenue. It shows that corporate taxes and royalties have accounted for 39- 49 per cent of the sector’s earnings since 2011-12. MCA CEO Tania Constable says that on average, the minerals sector has paid more than $20bn in taxes and royalties annually over this period. She adds that the sector is helping to finance infrastructure projects and the salaries of public sector workers such as teachers and nurses.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Job sharing: Why Australian businesses should rethink full-time work

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Original article by Killian Plastow
The New Daily – Page: Online : 6-Mar-20

Job sharing has traditionally involved two people with similar skills splitting a full-time job in half. However, the University of New South Wales has called for this arrangement to be revised because of the changing nature of work. It states that future arrangements should allow job-sharing employees to work unequal hours, for senior staff to share jobs with junior colleagues, and for the ‘senior’ work partner to be in charge of decision making. With underemployment being a growing problem in Australia in recent years, Professor Rosalind Dixon from the UNSW says these new job-sharing arrangements would help both those who are working too hard and those who are underemployed.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Green lawfare hits projects worth $65bn

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Mar-20

The Institute of Public Affairs claims that 28 projects between 2000 and 2019 were delayed as a result of action by activist groups using section 487 of the federal Environment Protection Act. The IPA claims that these projects have a combined value of more than $65 billion. They include Adani’s $16.5 billion coalmine in Queensland, a $140 million port in the Northern Territory and a $30 million salmon farm in Tasmania. Kurt Wallace from the IPA claims that 94 per cent of the cases instigated by activists under s 487 failed to bring about any significant change to the original project.

CORPORATES
INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS LIMITED, ADANI MINING PTY LTD

Trade figures underscore economy’s reliance on mining and China

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Original article by Euan Black
The New Daily – Page: Online : 6-Mar-20

Official data shows that Australia’s trade surplus fell by three per cent to $5.2bn in January, although this was better than economists had expected. The value of iron ore exports was 17.4 per cent lower than the peak in July, while coal exports were down 25 per cent from a May peak. The data also shows that the total value of the nation’s exports to China was 12 per cent lower than the peak recorded in June. This is despite the fact that China accounted for 38 per cent of exports in January. Indeed economist Callam Pickering says the figures demonstrate the Australian economy’s dependence on the mining sector and trade with China.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, INDEED INCORPORATED

Guardian hypocrisy over AAP shutdown

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 6-Mar-20

Australian Associated Press chairman Campbell Reid has accused UK-based media company The Guardian of hypocrisy. A report in ‘The Guardian’ claimed that AAP is being closed down to harm small media organisations, but Reid notes that The Guardian had slashed its annual payment to the newswire company. Meanwhile, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says it is examining the impact that AAP’s closure will have on the Australian media landscape; Sims has described AAP’s closure as a "very sad development".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, THE GUARDIAN AND MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

World hunkers down for fight against virus

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 29 : 6-Mar-20

Investors have responded positively to the announcement of economic stimulus measures in Australia and the US in response to the coronavirus. Wall Street and sharemarkets across the Asia-Pacific region rallied on 5 March, while the yield on 10-year Australian government bonds rose six basis points to 0.78 per cent. Meanwhile, financial markets expect further official interest rate cuts in both Australia and the US in coming months.

CORPORATES
STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, STANDARD AND POOR’S 500 INDEX, SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX, NIKKEI 225 INDEX, HANG SENG INDEX, KOSPI INDEX, TAIEX INDEX

Fears of low-ball offer for TV rights

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Original article by Jamie Pandaram
The Australian – Page: 32 : 6-Mar-20

Rugby Australia will give prospective bidders an additional week to submit offers for its next broadcasting rights deal, after failing to attract any interest. Optus appears set to gain the broadcasting rights after RA’s current broadcast partner Fox Sports declined to sign a non-disclosure agreement. There is speculation that Optus will capitalise on the lack of rival bidders to offer a low price for the rights; RA rejected Fox Sports’ offer of $40m a year in late 2019. Ten Network is tipped to offer about $5m for limited free-to-air coverage of rugby matches.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, RUGBY AUSTRALIA, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED