Lower rates won’t help: AFIC boss

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 & 28 : 3-Mar-20

The Australian Financial Investment Company’s MD Mark Freeman argues that official interest rates are already at a historically low level, so further monetary policy easing is unlikely to stimulate the economy or stabilise financial markets. The Reserve Bank is widely tipped to reduce the cash rate on 3 March, and there is growing speculation that it could pursue quantitative easing later in the year. However, Freeman has questioned the merits of quantitative easing. He adds that the sharemarket’s recent pullback has created some good buying opportunities.

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AUSTRALIAN FOUNDATION INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED – ASX AFI, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Over 3 million New Zealanders read newspapers and over 2 million read magazines in 2019

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Mar-20

Roy Morgan has released its New Zealand readership results for print newspapers and magazines for the 12 months to December 2019. Over 3 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (76.5%) now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period via print or online platforms. Nearly 2.1 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (52.3%) read magazines, whether in print or online. The ‘New Zealand Herald’ remains the country’s most-read daily newspaper, with a total cross-platform audience of 1,811,000 in the 12 months to December 2019, although this is down 41,000 on a year ago. Driving magazine ‘AA Directions’ remains New Zealand’s most widely-read magazine, with an average readership of 482,000 for each issue (up 10,000 over the last year). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source survey of 6,547 New Zealanders aged 14+ over the 12 months to December 2019.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

$A catches coronavirus, plummets to 11-year low

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Original article by Tom Richardson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 3-Mar-20

The Australian dollar reached a low of $US0.654 in local trading on 2 March, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monthly board meeting. Financial markets have priced in a near-97 per cent chance that the central bank will reduce the cash rate on 3 March, and a 67 per cent chance of a second rate cut in May. Morgan Stanley expects the cash rate to remain on hold until April, giving the RBA time to assess GDP data to be released on 4 March. The Commonwealth Bank says the economic impact of the coronavirus could prompt the Australian dollar to fall further in coming days.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

New data shows decreasing proportion of younger drivers on our roads, but more seniors staying behind the wheel

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Mar-20

New automotive data from Roy Morgan shows significant changes to who is likely to be behind the wheel in Australia; the proportion of people in younger age groups driving is decreasing, while the proportion in older age groups driving is rising. The data also reveals that of those intending to purchase a new vehicle in the future, a growing proportion are older Australians. As of December 2019, the 50-64 age group has the highest proportion of vehicle drivers, at 93%. This was followed by those aged 65-69 (91%), 35-49 (91%), 70-74 (89%), 75-79 (86%), 30-34 (84%), 25-29 (74%), 80+ (71%), 18-24 (63%) and 16-17 (32%). These findings are drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, compiled from in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Australia most exposed to virus: Trump adviser

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Mar-20

Kevin Hassett, the former chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, has forecast that the Chinese economy will contract by 10 per cent in the March 2020 quarter. He adds that China’s economic growth will return to normal if the coronavirus outbreak is quickly contained, but he warns that Australia faces the prospect of a recession if the outbreak is not brought under control by the start of the northern hemisphere’s summer. The US has introduced new travel restrictions on people who have recently visited Iran, while the nation has reported its first confirmed death from the virus.

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Forrest boosts his stake in Fortescue

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Original article by Melissa Yeo
The Weekend Australian – Page: 24 : 29-Feb-20

Fortescue Metals Group has advised that chairman and founder Andrew Forrest bought more than 22 million shares in the pure-play iron ore miner between 20 and 27 February. Forrest paid some $242m to lift his stake in Fortescue from 30 per cent to about 36 per cent. Forrest will receive $828m in dividends for the first half of 2019-20 after Fortescue recently announced an interim dividend of $0.76 per share.

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FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG

Rate cut tipped amid virus crisis

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 2-Mar-20

Financial markets have now priced in an 87 per cent chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia will reduce the cash rate on 3 March. This compares with an 18 per cent chance on 28 February. The case for further easing of monetary has been strengthened by the local sharemarket’s 9.8 per fall in the last week of February, amid global bearish sentiment as the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread beyond China. Shane Oliver of AMP Capital says the RBA would probably have preferred to wait a bit longer to act. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has also flagged the possibility of interest rate cuts to stimulate the US economy.

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RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Media regime just a way to keep bad laws

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Original article by Richard Ferguson, Leo Shanahan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 7 : 29-Feb-20

The Australian Federal Police and the Department of Home Affairs have used a joint submission to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security to propose a ‘notice to produce’ regime for journalists. This would require an independent body to assess requests from security agencies for access to documents and communications between journalists and their confidential sources. The proposal has been criticised by News Corp Australia’s executive chairman Michael Miller, while Labor contends that journalists would still be at risk from prosecution and jail.

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AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Regulator confident plans are in place

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 26 : 29-Feb-20

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is working with the Australian Financial Markets Association and large institutions to ensure that the coronavirus outbreak does not stop financial markets from remaining open. ASIC chairman James Shipton notes that it has a pandemic response plan in place, while ASIC’s executive director of markets Greg Yanco says the economic impact of the virus is uncertain. Shipton says ASIC has set up an internal working group to monitor the potential threat that the coronavirus poses and to work with other regulators.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL MARKETS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

Employer warning on wage reforms

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 2-Mar-20

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has criticised a proposal to allow workers to trade off penalty rates in return for higher basic wages. Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross has raised the prospect of extending ‘loaded rates’ in enterprise agreements to workers who are covered by industry awards. Employers’ groups have expressed support for the proposal, but some warn that it will not succeed if the FWC continues to adopt a ‘technical approach’ to approving enterprise agreements.

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AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP