Bank bargains after rate cut a mirage. A 50-basis-point interest rate cut would undermine the RBA’s credibility: Christopher Joye. Student Loans Deterring Marriage, Children. Total student loan debt in America recently exceeded $1 trillion and is now higher than credit card debt.
It’s a mind-boggling figure, and one which has led some economists and commentators to claim it’s simply the latest financial bubble waiting to burst. Others editorialize about what all that debt says about the state of higher education in contemporary America. Lost amid these discussions, however, is the impact this debt is having on the life decisions of an entire generation. They are mostly young twenty- and thirty-somethings who did everything they were told to do. They went to college. S&P Lowers Spain's Rating. What Does Today's VIX Spike Tell us About the Market? - ETF Guide. Costco: At Costco, Members Can Now Buy Aetna Health Insurance. April 24, 2012|By MATTHEW STURDEVANT, msturdevant@courant.com, The Hartford Courant In addition to a huge jug of laundry detergent and a hefty bag of dog food, Costco members can now buy Aetna's individual health insurance.
Customers won't actually sign up for coverage at the bulk grocery store, but a new joint effort between the warehouse retailer and the Hartford-based health insurer is making health plans available exclusively to Costco members. The Costco Personal Health Insurance program includes five Aetna health plans with medical benefits and the Hartford insurer's network of doctors and hospitals. Petrobras, Vale eye rare earths deal to replace China. Mining: the final frontier, robots to dig on asteroids.
Tom Jones, a scientist, author, pilot and veteran NASA astronaut and advisor to Planetary Resources, speaks at a news conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle AP Donna Blankinship and Seth Borenstein Planetary Resources mechanical engineer Peter Illsley puts finishing touches on a full-size prototype model of a low-orbit spacecraft before a news conference announcing a plan to mine nearby asteroids AP.
Rio launches blitz to find 6000 workers. Mining giant Rio Tinto will today launch one of the single biggest recruitment drives in Australian history, using Olympians to appeal to the aspirations of thousands of potential new workers.
The miner wants tradespeople, engineers, planners, project professionals, geologists and operators to fill vacancies at projects worth $22 billion that are either under way or about to start at sites across the country. It is understood Rio hopes to fill about 6000 vacancies during the four-month campaign, with about two-thirds at its 14 WA sites. The company is seeking to increase capacity in the Pilbara by 50 per cent by 2013 to 353 million tonnes per annum, which would create Australia's the largest integrated mining project. A third industrial revolution. Manufacturing: The third industrial revolution. THE first industrial revolution began in Britain in the late 18th century, with the mechanisation of the textile industry.
Tasks previously done laboriously by hand in hundreds of weavers' cottages were brought together in a single cotton mill, and the factory was born. The second industrial revolution came in the early 20th century, when Henry Ford mastered the moving assembly line and ushered in the age of mass production. The first two industrial revolutions made people richer and more urban. Now a third revolution is under way. Manufacturing is going digital. New port at Webb Dock set to create 2500 jobs. PDF telstra productivity-indicator-2012. Mark Graph: CPI Q1 2012. Wow!
Was that the sound of the CPI hitting the floor? Headline CPI grew at 0.1 per cent Q/Q to be 1.6 per cent higher through the year (tty). Core inflation, grew at 0.35 per cent Q/Q to be 2.15 per cent high through the year. [Source: ABS Consumer Price Index for Q1 2012]. Mark Graph: CPI Q1 2012 - supplementary charts. Inflation Rate: CPI 1.6 per cent (and the Phillips Curve) The ABS released the first quarter inflation figures.
NOMURA Fair-Value Of European Currencies In A Euro Breakup Scenario. As investors proceed happily through the forest that is this week's potentially epic fail, Nomura asks the question on every European is asking - What's in my wallet?
Investors holding EUR-denominated assets and obligations face potential redenomination of contracts into new currencies. Based on the current misalignment of the real exchange rate and future inflation risk estimates, the fixed income group sees very material depreciation risks in most of the periphery and one surprise but critically the research enables risk-reward trade-offs on intra-European trades. This potential 'fungibility' issue is exactly what we described last week as a potential driver of stress and Nomura's work provides a framework for quantifying that relative stress. NOMURA Accounting for break-up and redenomination risk.pdf.
NOMURA Europe will work FINAL_March2011.pdf. Extremism’s on the march in a declining Europe. Europe's social contract begins to crack. UK recession: Economy suffers double dip as GDP figures fall for second quarter in a row. Changing course would be 'absolute folly', says PMEconomy slumps 0.2 per cent unexpectedlyIt follows a fall of 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2011 By Hugo Duncan and James Chapman and Becky Barrow Published: 08:50 GMT, 25 April 2012 | Updated: 11:48 GMT, 17 May 2012 Britain has plunged into the first double-dip recession since 1975 and is enduring its longest economic slump for a century, shock figures confirmed yesterday.
But the Prime Minister insisted it would be ‘absolute folly’ to heed Labour calls to change course and borrow more money to try to get out of a debt crisis. Economists had expected official data to show the economy grew by 0.1 per cent between January and March. U.K. Succumbs to First Double-Dip Recession Since 1970s: Economy. The U.K. economy shrank in the first quarter as Britain slid into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s, forcing Prime Minister David Cameron to defend his spending cuts in Parliament.
Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, when it declined 0.3 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median of 40 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for an increase of 0.1 percent. Global wobble may unbalance Swan. Doubling Down in Europe. Macro Factors and their impact on Monetary Policy the Economy, and Financial Markets MacroTides.newsletter@gmail.com Investment letter – April 17, 2012 Doubling Down in Europe. UK economy falls back into recession. UK economy in context. Insight into macroeconomics and the financial markets from the Financial Times. On macroeconomics. Greece facing worse than expected recession. France's election: The rather dangerous Monsieur Hollande.
High time for high yield. Asset rich hit hard by aged-care reforms. NAB faces $1bn hit from UK: analysts. Barclays $3.8 billion profit surprises. More seek better deal on mortgages. Banks to report declining loan profits. Borrowers slash big four’s satisfaction ratings. Banks may hold back on rates. MAJOR banks are unlikely to pass on the full benefit of a cut in interest rates to mortgage holders if the Reserve Bank lowers the cash rate next week, preferring to pocket some of the cut to offset higher funding costs, say analysts.
With a cut to interest rates now considered a certainty after inflation figures released yesterday showed the economy cooling more than expected, debate turned to whether a 25-basis-point cut would be enough to kickstart the economy - and whether banks would pass it all on. Inflation for the March quarter rose just 0.1 per cent, much lower than economists expected, pulling annual inflation down to 1.2 per cent, and well below the bottom of the RBA's target band of 2 per cent. Annette Beacher, head of Asia-Pacific Research at TD Securities, told clients her ''guesstimate'' was the banks would likely pass on a 15-basis-point cut by mid-May if rates are cut 25 basis points next week. Alarm as taxman takes interest. St George app increases its bank ability.
Apple profit rises on higher iPhone and iPad sales. Coles outpaces Woolies for 11th qtr. Loyalty has rewards for Coles. Correct weight for Coles in a Woolworths challenge.