Insight

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Brown calls for global tax
The international finance community was split over the weekend after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised world leaders by announcing that he wanted to explore a multibillion-dollar worldwide tax on financial transactions.

Resource projects dig us out of a hole
Australia's growth to track above long-term trends, buoyed by record expenditure in resources projects.

Sloppy directors miss deadlines
Increasing number of listed-company directors are flouting disclosure rules on their shareholdings.

More shareholders want a say on executive pay rises
One in five top-100 companies has been hit with substantial shareholder protest votes on pay in this year's round of annual meetings.

Weight will stay on the $A
US Reserve unlikely to raise its official cash rate for at least a year - keeping the Australian dollar in high demand.

Global rules will hurt: CBA
Moves to toughen financial regulations could hamper economic recovery, says CBA chairman.

Profit of $1.4b bolsters claim worst is over
Worst of the global financial crisis is over, says Commonwealth.

The fastest guns in the market
Secret software is helping a new breed of high-speed traders get really rich, really quick, writes Michael Evans.

Much to gain if we get rid of corporate jargon
One big benefit is that staff would start listening, write Andrew Boughton and Julia Bowen.

Get set: rate rise that stops a nation
Cup Day rise looms

Plan to tighten liquidity rules irks banks
Banks are arguing against proposed measures to improve confidence in the financial system.

Employers wake up to idea of power naps
Victorian employers are warming to the idea of an afternoon siesta for sleepy workers.

Pay backlash for Qantas
Shareholders voice their anger over former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon's multi-million dollar payout.

Companies keen to kiss green frogs
World's largest companies are increasing investment in ethically sourced products to gain marketing edge.

It's tough at the top for China's billionaires
The ranks of China's billionaires have swelled from three to 130 in just five years.

United they rise: adviser takes aim at bosses' pay
United joins growing list of companies facing a shareholder revolt over executive pay.

Break a leg
Directors who step up to the AGM stage this season are likely to face angry audiences.

Business attacks remuneration proposal
The "two strikes" plan forcing boards to reform executive pay structures could destabilise companies.

Probe on capital raisings
The Securities Exchange is considering clamping down on capital raisings rules.

Making pink the new black
Corporate governance must address the issue of more women in the boardroom, writes, Ann-Maree Moodie.

King of the fat cats lost a bit of cream
Chief exec of Leighton Holdings, Wal King, has become Australia's highest earner.

Lapping it up: fat cats earn more than enough for two lifetimes
You could work for two lifetimes and still earn less than what Australia's top execs are paid in one year.

G20 prepares to take centre stage
Although light on detail, the G20 decision is being hailed as a big step forward, writes Anne Davies.

Crisis helps big banks reap bigger returns
Australia's banks continue to chalk up profits above the average of the past 20 years.

Feeling the pinch but still doing nicely

Resilient India defies downward trend
India's economic resilience has been a bright spot on the mostly bleak global economic landscape

Crisis? What crisis? Sky's the limit for high flyers
Global financial crisis has failed to dent pay cheques of some of Australia's highest-profile corporate leaders.

How the ratings agencies let us down
After The Meltdown - The Problem

Lead-up to the GFC: Key people's stories
One year on from the collapse, nine people at the centre of the action give their candid accounts.

Nation ill-equipped for green future
Australia in weakest position of any industrialised nation to compete in a clean energy world, says report.

Bad week for Julia, worse week for Joe
For the Government at the moment, it's a case of every silver lining has a cloud.

Rich get walloped by the downturn
A dramatic role reversal is playing out in Sydney's suburbs as double digit house price falls in east and north are matched by price gains in west.

Economy looks rosy, Australians tell new survey
We're more optimistic about our economic outlook than ever, says the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey.

Conroy's baby needs to get out of the cradle
... and plenty of bells and whistles may do the trick.

Not much to fear after all
The reporting season was not the bloodbath many investors had expected.

Tanner decries 'chronic weaknesses' in economy
A senior Rudd Government minister has expressed concern at ''chronic weaknesses'' in the Australian economy, singling out a ''very large'' current account deficit.

Global jitters counter positive data
Investors shrug off the latest batch of upbeat economic news to drive the market into the red.

Women urged to sue to fix pay gap
Women need to sue if they want employers to take the widening gender pay gap seriously, say international labour experts.

Poor worker literacy 'hurting business
Endemic literacy and numeracy problems are having a dramatic effect on the productivity of Australian companies, according to one of the nation's biggest business groups.

Australia not out of the woods, figures show
Newdata has thrown doubt on the strength of Australia's rebound from the global financial crisis.

Let stimulus funds roll on, says Treasury
Philip Coorey Chief Political Correspondent

Bligh's $10m jobs rescue plan
QLD Premier Anna Bligh will this morning launch a $10 million program that she says promises to help our most vulnerable firms avoid job losses

Recession in retreat
The optimist looks at the glass and says it's half full; the pessimist says it's half empty; the CFO says: ''You have a glass twice as big as you need, downsize!''

Business lobby goes into bat for golden handshakes
A clear majority of the country's biggest firms keep "golden handshake" payments within the limit proposed by the Federal Government, undermining business arguments against the changes.

Now we feel like a Bluetongue or two
Premium beers are where the action is for brewers, writes Eli Greenblat.

Morgan won't be pressed on readership audits
The $4 billion market in newspaper advertising threatens to be engulfed in an increasingly acrimonious battle over control of newspaper readership, as the researcher Roy Morgan vows to go head to head with the newspaper industry.

The misery of long hours
Too many people are doing unpaid overtime and their health and family life are suffering, writes Joshua Jennings.

Murdoch pledges to make online news pay
Rupert Murdoch vows to make consumers pay for online news

Bosses pay to meet Brumby
Personal sessions held in Labor fund-raiser

Business fat cats lashed over pay
Excessive rewards for private sector executives has been lashed by public pay setting body.

Reporting season a reality check for roaring bulls
If you ever doubted that markets are ruled by emotions, not logic, take a look at what has been happening to shares. Since the market bottomed in early March, the S&P/ASX200 index has risen by about a third and that exuberant growling you can hear is the bulls starting to roar.

Don't stifle innovation, says Macquarie
Macquarie calls on government to resist upping regulations

Seizing opportunities from the financial crisis
It is time companies told their story more broadly, writes Nick Ridehalgh.

Banking execs scrambling for jobs
Thanks to the constant game of musical chairs in senior bank positions, there are always a number of players left without a seat at any one time.

Media giants fight to survive
APN News & Media's key shareholder, Independent News & Media, and Network Ten's majority owner, CanWest, have continued rescue talks with their lenders to find a way out of their debt woes.

Newspapers digital in 10 years: Murdoch
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, one of the staunchest believers in the future of newspapers, expects nearly all of them will be delivered electronically within a decade.

Book Review: Filthy Lucre by Joseph Heath
Joseph Heath's Filthy Lucre is an antidote to glib pop economics, writes James Robertson.

What's the next Big Thing?
Want to know where the opportunities are, right now? Want to know what industries will pull us out of this mess?

Microsoft v Google in battle of titans
Microsoft will unveil plans for its biggest and probably final attack on Google's $20 billion global search cash cow tomorrow, led in Australia by ninemsn.

Nick Bolton: Stockmarket's young whiz or spoilt rich kid?
The jury is still out on Nicholas Bolton, but if he has his way we'll be hearing more of him yet.

Few dotted lines for property deals
Only three large-scale property deals have been finalised in Sydney's CBD over the past year, as the full impact of the financial crisis hits the beleaguered commercial property sector.

Online shines as ad revenue shows 14% lift
Online advertising continued to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise gloomy $12 billion media advertising market.

Surprise jobs boost
Australia's unemployment rate has posted a surprise drop, the latest sign that a recovery may be on the horizon.

Fat cats' pay cuts all relative
Not only will Macquarie Group's most senior executives be feeling poorer, they actually are.

Are open-plan offices sickening and unproductive?
When researcher Dr Vinesh Oommen published a study confirming long-held fears that open-plan offices were a health hazard, he did not expect a worldwide reaction.

Web users under the behavioural microscope
For years advertisers were told that only size mattered when it came to audiences. Now digital publishers are selling the behaviour of their online audiences as the next frontier in advertising.

Big banks want bigger profits
Banks should be allowed to increase pricing on loans or hold onto further interest rate cuts to bolster profits in the slowing economy, argues Australia's bank body.

Tax havens are on the run
Crackdown is working in Europe, but Pacific remains a hotbed.

Facebook discipline may be illegal: expert
Firms who discipline or sack staff for comments made on Facebook and Twitter could be acting illegally.

The Houdinis escaping from the economic gloom
Meet a few of Australia's economic Houdinis. While doom and gloom is the order of the day for most commentators, there are still scores of products, services and brands surprising even themselves with strong sales results this year.

Old rules don't apply in a shifting job landscape
As unemployment rises, formerly safe sectors of the economy are under threat.

Financial crisis spells boom for masters of spin
High drama has always been good for the public relations industry and the economic turmoil is proving no different.

IBM's strategies for the downturn
In the light of predictions that the Australian economy may be doomed to sink with Japan's, IBM business analyst Jeffrey Winslow shares a few simple steps to stay positive.

Reporting season's moment of truth
Debt-riddled companies are falling like flies. Barbara Drury looks at five key indicators that can help investors in turbulent times.

Sexual discrimination: Handle with care
Swift action on sexual discrimination claims is critical.

Recession fear as iron, coal prices set to dive
Australia's once-triumphant iron ore and coal miners are facing price cuts of between 30 and 50 per cent, which would slash export income by the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP and increase the likelihood of recession.

Top technology companies in Asia-Pacific
Judging the top technology companies in the Asia-Pacific region is a tricky exercise. The key is finding the right criteria.

Era of dead company walking
The admission by Babcock & Brown that its equity is worthless, raises questions about what shareholders can do in this new era, where companies that would once have been declared dead are kept on life support to satisfy their lenders.

Old ideas become new in stimulating times
Everyone is entitled to change their mind. And in this sort of environment, rather quickly it seems. Nationalisation has replaced privatisation. Inflation has been overtaken by recession.

Recession: Let the bad times roll
It was a night of largesse in the liquidation industry - almost 300 liquidators sat under the six chandeliers hanging over the largest party venue in Sydney. As the champagne flowed, they could not help but smile: business was good - and expected to get better.

Size matters online in unstable times
The online trading market is contracting as customers seek out the larger players with the biggest profiles.

Pubs wake up to a throbbing hangover
The bubble has burst in the NSW hotel industry, and it hurts.

More mergers in 2009
A difficult market environment is likely to spur greater merger and acquisition activity during 2009.

Hot high-tech predictions for 2009
Take a look at our technology predictions for next year that could change your business.

Hot jobs in the financial crisis
The downturn is creating jobs in a range of sectors.

Cloud computing - take an umbrella
There is much buzz at present about "Cloud Computing", otherwise known as "SaaS" - Software as a Service.

Victoria in top spot for green funds
Victoria is in pole position to attract the most investment in renewable energy over the long term, according to a recent report.

Companies losing data at an alarming rate
Privacy breaches are shaping up as the new pandemic infecting business stability.

Rookies can't bank on future
High-flying young investment bankers need to save for a rainy day.

Green-collar army recruits for the solar boom
Leah Callon-Butler gave up a career in fashion last year to become a solar panel saleswoman, joining a surge towards green jobs predicted by the Federal Government.

Google phone hits Australia via eBay
As with the first iPhone, eBay has created a grey market for Australians looking to buy the Google mobile phone, which is only available in the US with no clear local launch date in sight.

Australian businesses want faster broadband
66% of businesses would benefit greatly from faster connections but only 25% are willing to pay.

Generations at work
Life for gen Ys is not as peachy as gen Xs think.

Where is your data stored?
Email, photos, software... your data host could be using cloud computing.

Biggest advertisers plan to slash spending
Some of Australia's largest advertisers are reviewing their marketing spend.

All signs point to Melbourne
Melbourne is Australia's city of the future

Grass may be greener at home
The global economic downturn makes it more attractive to stay put.

Is Australia losing out on innovation?
Report shows Australia falling behind competitors

From all angles, times are tough at the track
They're off and racing but there's trouble down at the track

Why brands want to be retailers
Technology makes it easier for elite brands to become retailers and many are seizing a niche.

Advertising in your head
Welcome to the age of neuromarketing.

Gulp, gulp, gullible
The push to turn water into the new wine is a marketing phenomenon.

iPhone could spur mobile ad growth
The mobile advertising market is set to expand by 300 per cent this year.

Postcodes point to brand popularity
Census data reveals what cars live where.

Jumping on the brand wagon
The new frontier of the globalised world relies on the ability to spot and implement fashions.

Champagne's big bubble
Bubbly sales are soaring, but can they be sustained?

Finance industry slams brain drain into reverse
Australia has become a refuge for a new endangered species: the high-flying banker.

Emerging markets get retail excited
Retailers are looking to the world's emerging markets to drive the success of their businesses.

Luxury car tax hike a bit rich
Big brands say higher prices will drive inflation, not reduce it.

Game girls
Girl gamers are on the rise, so why isn't anything being made for them?

Office building on a roll
Commercial building is holding up the construction sector nationally.

Where the money is
Luxury goods are the toast of the top end of town.

Internet a standout performer
The march of new media continues.

Retail sector feeling the pinch
Shoppers have closed their purses and battened down the hatches.

Turning generation Y into generation $
Industries are poised to profit from the spending habits of the new kids on the block.

E-reports just what the doctor ordered
The aged-care industry is embracing e-health.

Gold still shines
Record prices for gold are putting pressure on Australian jewellery makers to pass on costs

Package deal
From the comfort of the couch, shoppers have made online shopping a billion-dollar success.

Organic produce moves from trendy to mainstream
The popularity of organic food, it seems, can no longer be considered a market glitch.

Helping hands
The touch industry is booming.

Mobile industry embraces touch
A Danish company thinks it's found the solution to the mobile industry's problem of trying to offer video services on a tiny screen.

Pioneering spirit
Australia has a young whisky industry but some of our drops are world class.

The future is here but is the music biz in it?
CD sales are down and music downloads are up.

Education bigger than tourism
Education has replaced tourism as Australia's top services export.

Best of times for hotels
The hotel sector was one of the busiest last year.

Game industry breaks records
Australians spent $1.3 billion on video game software and game consoles last year.

Mobile banking steps up a gear
Major banks are rolling out mobile phone banking services.

Manufacturing up, but exports weak
The local manufacturing industry is in its healthiest state for years.

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