Author: roymorgansocial

Wages growth tipped to hasten

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 12-Nov-18

The upcoming release of wage price index data for the September quarter will be a key focus for economists and investors in the next week. The general consensus of economists is for WPI growth of 0.6 per cent for the quarter and 2.3 per cent year-on-year. Felicity Emmett of the ANZ Bank expects a 3.5 per cent increase in the minimum wage that took effect at the start of July to have increased the WPI by about 0.15 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BLOOMBERG LP, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA

Almost 1 million Australians now play basketball

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that nearly 1 million Australians now play basketball either regularly or occasionally. The survey also shows that 667,000 of Australia’s basketballers are men, while 324,000 are women. More than half of Australia’s basketballers are under 25 years old, with 298,000 aged under 18 years old and a further 285,000 aged 18-24. Amongst their older peers a similar number are aged either 25-34 years old (186,000) or aged 35-49 years old (199,000). Only 23,000 Australians aged 50+ play basketball. Analyisis using Roy Morgan’s Helix Personas consumer segmentation and data integration tool shows that members of the Aspirationals (8.4%), Metrotechs (6.8%) and Doing Fine (5.2%) communities are all more likely to be basketballers than regular Australians.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Unemployment unchanged at 9.4% in October

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,194,000 Australians were employed in October 2018, up 427,000 over the past year. The increase was driven by equivalent increases in full-time employment (which was up 173,000 to 7,887,000) and part-time employment (up 254,000 to 4,307,000). The figures also show that 1,265,000 Australians (9.4% of the workforce) were unemployed in October, an increase of 39,000 on a year ago. In addition, 1,242,000 Australians (9.2% of the workforce) were under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, an increase of 134,000 in a year (up 0.7%). In total 2,507,000 Australians (18.6% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in October, an increase of 173,000 in a year (up 0.6%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.4% for October remains substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for September of 5.0%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the persistent high level of under-employment – which is up more than 130,000 from 1.1 million a year ago – is likely to emerge as a key election issue over the next few months.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

The launch of the new monthly Take 5 magazine has Take 5 readership over 1 million for first time

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Nov-18

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey shows that the launch of the new monthly "Take 5" magazine early in 2018 has proven a winner. Some 736,000 Australians read the monthly magazine in the four months to September, while readership of the traditional weekly magazine was 520,000. A total of 1,016,000 Australians read either the weekly or monthly magazine in the four months to September. The research also shows that only 242,000 Australians read both magazines, with the majority of readers of the new monthly magazine not being existing readers of the weekly magazine. A positive outcome from the launch of "Take 5 Monthly" is that the new magazine has attracted a far higher male readership; 28.8% of its readership are men, compared to only 19.4% of "Take 5 Weekly" magazine’s readership. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the positive impact that "Take 5 Monthly" has had so far shows that the ability to leverage a well-known title to launch a magazine with similar content and an existing audience can not only appeal to the traditional readers of a magazine but also attract a new readership willing to give an old favourite another look.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BAUER MEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

AUD breakout topside loses steam, wage price data now in focus – AFEX Monday Update – November 12, 2018

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

The Australian dollar finally enjoyed some upside in the first half of last week after many months of downward pressure. The initial breakout of the long-term downtrend that had been in play since January on the first day of the month quickly gained momentum. An overall optimistic RBA coupled with the Democrats winning majority in the House of Representatives during the US Midterms gave even more support to the AUD, enabling it to test resistance just above 0.7300, before the moves ran out of steam throughout Friday’s trading sessions.

The moves initially appeared technical, with the AUD reaching a double top near 0.7300 resistance and traders taking profits on the moves, but with the US printing strong producer price index late in the session, the AUD/USD losses extended and it closed the week at 0.7225.

Looking ahead and there are several key economic releases this week that should help drive the Australian dollar:

  • Australian wage price index (Wed)
  • Chinese fixed asset investment and industrial production (Wed)
  • US CPI (Wed)
  • Australian employment (Thu)
  • US retail sales (Thu)

With the US Fed likely to keep raising interest rates whilst the RBA remains on hold, the attractiveness of higher US interest rates should keep the USD supported over the longer-term. As a result, if the AUD is to find any support short-term, it needs to see domestic data outperform. The RBA is unlikely to move on interest rates until it sees inflation and wage growth lift. Therefore Wednesday’s quarterly wage prix index will be closely monitored by traders. A strong number would likely see the AUD retest last week’s highs at 0.7302, however a weak number would likely put further weight on the Aussie and potentially see a 0.71 handle once again.

James King
Head of FX Dealing, AFEX
www.afex.com

We don’t want the right to sack gay teachers, say Australia’s most senior Anglican leaders

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Koziol, Jordan Baker
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 9-Nov-18

The federal government has already committed to doing away with laws that allow schools to expel gay students. However, a similar move to do away with laws that allow schools to sack gay teachers has proven somewhat more controversial. Melbourne Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier and Sydney Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies both indicated on 8 November that there was no need to maintain laws that allows Anglican schools to fire gay teachers.

CORPORATES
ANGLICAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CENTRE LIMITED

Work with us, not against us, China urges Australia

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Smith, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 9-Nov-18

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on 8 November, with Wang telling Payne that the two countries should work together on funding infrastructure in the Pacific region, rather than trying to compete against each other. Wang said he hoped that China and Australia could further boost their trade and economic ties, and that the decision by Australia to block the Hong Kong-based CKI Group’s planned takeover of APA Group would not hurt the relationship between the two countries.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, APA GROUP – ASX APA

‘Blew up the government’: Malcolm Turnbull challenges plotters in defence of his government

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 9-Nov-18

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has told a special edition of "Q&A" that he does not blame Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his downfall as Liberal leader. Turnbull named Peter Dutton, Tony Abbott and Mitch Fifield as being among the main "plotters" in the bid to oust him, while he said that Seven Network chairman Kerry Stokes had relayed a comment to him from News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch that "Malcolm’s got to go". Turnbull called on those who conspired against him to explain why "they blew up the government", while he endorsed claims that some MPs had been "bullied and intimidated" to vote against him.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor crisis over sex scandal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Clennell
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 9-Nov-18

Luke Foley has quit as leader of the New South Wales Labor opposition over allegations he "drunkenly" placed his hands inside a female ABC reporter’s underwear after a 2016 Christmas party. He has denied the claims against him, made by Ashleigh Raper, and says he has sought legal advice in regard to launching possible defamation proceedings in the Federal Court. NSW police say they have spoken to ABC management about the claims, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Foley’s alleged behaviour as "very, very shocking and concerning"

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

News Corp in talks over content fee deal with Facebook, Google

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 21 : 9-Nov-18

News Corp CEO Robert Thomson says it is holding discussions with Facebook, Google and Amazon over the payment by them of a content carriage fee for distributing its content. Thomson made his remarks as News Corp revealed revenue for its most recent quarter was up 23 per cent. He said the current financial year was off to "an impressive start", and that News Corp was continuing to focus on "digital development". News Corp’s shares rose by 4.2 per cent on 8 November on the back of its latest results announcement.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA