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Investors hope for ASX bounce as Trump walks back tariffs
US futures are pointing to a strong start for the week on Wall Street with fund managers hopeful that the White House’s damaging trade plans could start to be unwound.
‘We will restore the dream of home ownership’ to millions: Dutton
WATCH the Liberal campaign launch here; both parties housing policies are irresponsible, Chris Richardson says: Sussan Ley goes hard at Coalition launch. Follow the latest here.
UTS to cut $100m and sack 400 despite surge in foreign students
UTS is facing a staff backlash and questions over its governance as it pushes ahead with a cost-cutting plan triggered by the student cap legislation that never passed the federal parliament.
Dutton promises tax-deductible mortgages for first home buyers
First home buyers who buy newly built homes will be able to deduct their interest payments for five years, as both parties up the ante on housing.
Time to go back to the basics and buy stocks like these
We, like almost every other investor on the planet, underestimated Trump’s resolve to reshape global trade and just how far he appears willing to go to do this, writes Jun Bei Liu.
Can billionaire Anthony Hall build the next great seafood business?
The businessman made his fortune in medical imaging giant Pro Medicus. He’s snapping up abalone producers, oyster farms and fisheries for his next venture.
Our tax system is a dog’s breakfast. Here’s a 3x3 blueprint to fix it
Three “maxims” to guide the changes. Three “no-regrets” steps either side of politics could institute right away. And three “big-picture” medium-term measures, writes Steven Hamiliton.
Find out everything you need to know before Australians go to the polls on May 3.
WEEKEND READS
Could China win a ‘fight to the end’ against Trump?
There is a real chance the two largest economies in the world decouple. If that happens, both will be competing to be the engine room, and the cornerstone, of global trade.
The bond market teaches Trump the art of the squeal
The US president is not easily humbled, but he’s learnt to respect a bond market that has grown far more powerful and consequential than ever.
What happened when the first black golfer played the US Masters
Fifty years ago this week, Lee Elder broke the colour barrier at the Augusta National Golf Club. He had risked his life to do it.
Welcome to capitalism (Taylor’s version)
Swift is a self-made billionaire and the most profitable live musician in history. A new book asks what her ascendance can teach us.
Europe could end up more like 1980s Qld than 1930s Germany
There’s a problem with being on the lookout for a rerun of the 1930s: you could miss what’s actually happening.
smart investor
I’m 72 with $2.3m in super. How much more can I contribute?
There is a lifetime limit on the amount of super that can be transferred into your tax-free pension accounts.
One surprising group sailed through the Trump turmoil - here’s how
As markets plunged, jumped, slumped and soared around them, the one thing this group didn’t do was panic.
3 charts that show why housing is a key battleground for PMs
Residential property values have surged almost five times as much under Coalition governments than Labor ones over the past 35 years. Here are the reasons.
‘Feels like the commissioner is sitting at the kitchen table’
What was once a relatively simple formula has become a maze of complex decisions with potentially severe tax consequences.
Why your SMSF is not a de facto private bank
Many self-managed super fund trustees continue to cite a handful of persistent myths to justify – or excuse – unlawful loans.
Companies
Inside the art collections of our investment banks
Bulge-bracket finance firms are defying global trends and investing in fine artwork. How do their Australian offices look?
Waugh says Rugby Australia will hit $50m surplus after ‘reset’ year
The governing body posted a $36.8 million loss as it took ownership of three state-based clubs. The chief executive says the code will now make history.
Rio says Australian dividends at risk if investors back activist fund
ASX shareholders will vote on whether to force the miner to review its dual-company structure and end its primary London listing next month.
These women are conquering Aussie dinner tables, one lasagne at a time
The Dinner Ladies began with two women selling home-cooked meals to friends. It now delivers 40,000 meals a week and is expanding in a $2 billion market.
Dexus forced to sell $830m stake in Macquarie Centre to super giants
The Supreme Court of NSW has rejected a last-minute bid from the ASX-listed landlord to stave off the transaction, having found it was required to sell.
Greens flag $30m to lure Aldi to Tasmania
As part of an election pitch, the Greens are seeking to lure the discount supermarket chain to the Apple Isle to help boost competition and lower grocery bills.
Armaguard, banks seek independent price-setter for cash delivery
Resolving the cash transport drama is one step closer, with a callout this week for an expert to set contract prices – at a fair margin for Linfox.
Markets
Wall St recovers from early swoon as bond rout eases
The S&P 500 rallied 1.8 per cent to record its best week since November 2023, though volatility persisted with US-China trade relations in focus.
US Treasuries slide with worst sell-off since 2019
Volatility continued to lash assets in the US markets with bonds extending a slide that could be the biggest in more than five years.
Trump’s trade ructions will end up disrupting banking and payments
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde has lamented an almost exclusively American financial infrastructure. Others feel the same way.
Bond markets left reeling as epic week scars traders
The wild swings across bond markets this week were reminiscent of the biggest crises in modern history. Battered traders are now moving to more reliable havens.
Eight ideas on how to play a roller-coaster sharemarket
Uncertainty abounds – will global tariffs make a return? How far will a China trade war go? But some of our biggest investors are seeing big opportunities.
Opinion
The Trump effect is a wrecking ball, and we’re in the blast zone
As the US president declares victory at every turn, he will leave behind a profoundly changed world. The implications for Australia are profound.
Contributor
Labor’s efforts to link Dutton to Trump are proving effective
Like the rest of the world, WA politics has been upended by Donald Trump’s reckless tariff war, which has a sharp edge in a resources-dependent economy closely intertwined with China’s growth.
Columnist
Hawke and Keating were wrong. There is a strong case for tariffs
The Hawke-Keating-Howard era got rid of tariffs. But in their place, they brought in a range of imposts that never existed before, or at least not to the same degree.
Voters deserve better than empty slugfests dressed up as debates
The closer we get to May 3, substance is being swiftly usurped by banal talking points and shrill attack lines whenever politicians step up to a microphone.
Canberra Bureau Chief
Trump isn’t kowtowing to the market – he’s doubling down
Investors need to be bold during these dark days. You want to be buying when the crowd is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Columnist
Trump’s pause no relief from great power showdown on trade
Australia confronts a worrying dilemma as the economic conflict between our major alliance partner and our major trade partner ramps up.
Editorial
Reports
BOSS Best Places to Work
The BOSS Best Places to Work awards celebrate the achievements of the best small, medium and large organisations and nine sector winners.
Politics
Albanese offers first home buyers 5pc deposits, fuelling demand
The new policy is a dramatic expansion of the government’s first home guarantee scheme as Labor seeks to grab voters’ attention on the issue of housing.
Dutton marches into hostile territory: a Perth business breakfast
Peter Dutton told a business crowd that their worries were very different to those of millions Australians around their kitchen tables.
Labor’s housing fund may need bailout after stock slump
A deal with the Greens to draw down the HAFF each year could force taxpayers to top up the $10bn fund if markets don't recover soon.
Dutton says Ro Knox will be minister. She needs to win Wentworth first
The Liberals want Wentworth’s rich and powerful to put Knox into government – and a ministry – but independent MP Allegra Spender remains popular there.
RBA awaits China stimulus to protect Australia
The Reserve Bank and Treasury are pinning their hopes on infrastructure assistance from Beijing to shield the nation from a deepening trade war.
SPONSORED
World
Trump exempts smartphones from China tariffs in climbdown
The US administration’s move is the first sign of a softening of levies against China and provides a big boost for Apple and Nvidia.
UK to seize control of Chinese-owned British Steel mill
Keir Starmer’s government accused the firm of trying to shut down the country’s last steel-making plant as Labour took a major step towards nationalising it.
Trump-Xi truce appears elusive as China digs in
The complaint from Beijing is that there’s no consistent set of demands from the Trump administration and so there’s nothing to negotiate yet.
China hikes tariffs, says Trump’s trade war ‘has become a joke’
China’s commerce ministry said Donald Trump’s use of excessively high tariffs has become little more than a numbers game.
China’s $2trn market rescue is just the start as trade war intensifies
State-linked funds stepped in to rescue Chinese stocks this week as the battle with the US intensified. But it’s an expensive exercise.
Property
New Forests’ agriculture arm launches $750m raising
Previously, the fund manager has landed mega deals on cropping and cattle properties backed by Canadian giant AIMCo. Now it’s throwing the net wider.
How ‘least likely to succeed’ Simon Cohen cracked the eastern suburbs
The real estate guru introduced a buyer’s advocacy model to Australia with a desk above a pub. Now he has 100 staff and offices across the country.
Darling Point penthouse with royal connection offered for $160m
A yet-to-be-built Darling Point boutique apartment block could soon be home to Australia’s most expensive penthouse.
This top agent says luxury property will weather the market storm
Property veteran Ken Jacobs, who has been selling premium homes for 50 years, says the sector is one of the safest investments amid sharemarket chaos.
Dexus forced to sell $830m stake in Macquarie Centre to super giants
The Supreme Court of NSW has rejected a last-minute bid from the ASX-listed landlord to stave off the transaction, having found it was required to sell.
Wealth
I’m 72 with $2.3m in super. How much more can I contribute?
There is a lifetime limit on the amount of super that can be transferred into your tax-free pension accounts.
How markets just got real for these 4 Millennial investors
Meet four young investors who this week experienced their first major market shock (albeit a very quick one). Here’s what they plan to do next.
3 charts that show why housing is a key battleground for PMs
Residential property values have surged almost five times as much under Coalition governments than Labor ones over the past 35 years. Here are the reasons.
Technology
Canva makes its pitch to take on Microsoft with an AI Excel rival
Canva has launched its biggest product update, including a move to take on the industry giant with a re-imagining of the Excel spreadsheet.
Minecraft’s creator sold it for a fortune. Then things got strange
Markus ‘Notch’ Persson built the world’s biggest video game. He sold it for billions for the sake of his “sanity”.
For a revealing insight into Nvidia, this book is unrivalled
Jensen Huang’s brainchild, Nvidia, has had astronomic success making microchips. Stephen Witt’s “The Thinking Machine” tells the inside story.
Work & Careers
BHP taken to umpire for ‘bad faith bargaining’ in the Pilbara
Mining unions accuse BHP of cancelling meetings as part of the first union talks for iron ore workers in the Pilbara.
‘We’re not allocating talent’ and that makes us all poorer
Not enough men working in education is holding back the sector’s productivity, just as much as the lack of women in mining does.
Life & Luxury
This epic but intimate Aussie war series deserves to be a hit
Justin Kurzel’s five-episode adaptation of fellow Tasmanian Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize winner, Narrow Road to the Deep North, is storytelling at its best.
Welcome to capitalism (Taylor’s version)
Swift is a self-made billionaire and the most profitable live musician in history. A new book asks what her ascendance can teach us.
Could this be the author of the funniest book ever written?
The cult following for J.P Donleavy’s self-help manual from 1975 deserves to be much bigger, especially in dark times like these.
Singing in English a ‘blessing and curse’ for Oz music: Grammy boss
The president of the Recording Academy says singing in English can be a disadvantage outside America – but Australia’s music industry can conquer it.
Which crisis sent markets down 57 per cent? Take our quiz
Have you been paying attention this week? Test your knowledge across politics, business and world news.
