Author: Martin North

Martin North is the Principal of Digital Finance Analytics

The Battle For The Commercial Heart Of Coober Pedy

Westpac is planning to remove the final branch from Opal Regional Centre Coober Pedy. The next branch is 440 kms away.

Senator Rennick made a statement on this in the Senate yesterday. And after a town meeting on Monday, it was clear this decision would adversely hit the town commercially, socially and from a mental health perspective.

The Advertiser ran an article on the closure, which may not yet be a done deal.

So, if you care about this issue, I suggest contacting the SA Premier Peter Malinauskas premier@sa.gov.au https://www.dpc.sa.gov.au/the-premier and Westpac CEO Peter King https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/westpac-group/executive-team/ and John McFarlane Chairman and Independent Non-executive Director https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/westpac-group/board-of-directors/
https://banking.westpac.com.au/olfmu/eforms/ConsumerFeedback/#/welcome

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

The Natural, But Unnatural Acts That Will Be Used To Try To Save The Mortgage System!

Spain has announced a “Mortgage Keeper” strategy to assist struggling mortgage holders as interest rates rise. So, we discuss the range of supports designed to prop up the market and insulate the banks from property risks.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.

New Zealanders Must Continue To Take The Interest Rate Rise Medicine!

The NZ Monetary Policy Committee today increased the Official Cash Rate (OCR) from 3.5 percent to 4.25 percent. Core consumer price inflation is too high, employment is beyond its maximum sustainable level, and near-term inflation expectations have risen.

Demand in the New Zealand economy has remained resilient. Worker shortages are holding the economy back and increasing inflation. Global developments are adding to inflation in New Zealand but weakening our economic growth outlook. Higher interest rates are needed to meet our inflation and employment objectives

So, The Committee agreed that the OCR needs to reach a higher level, and sooner than previously indicated, to ensure inflation returns to within its target range over the medium term.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

FINAL REMINDER: DFA Q&A Property Now With Veronica Morgan 8pm Sydney Tonight

Join Veronica and I tonight for a deep dive on property – and whats happening on the ground.

Veronica Morgan is the Founder and Principal of Good Deeds Property Buyers. She is also the co-host of the popular series Location Location Location Australia and Relocation Relocation Australia with Bryce Holdaway on Foxtel’s The Lifestyle Channel Australia. You can tune into Veronica as she co-hosts the Your First Home Buyer Guide podcast & The Elephant in the Room property podcast, which investigates who is really in control when you buy property. She’s also recently co-founded Home Buyer Academy, which provides online support for first home buyers so they can get onto the property ladder without making costly mistakes.

The Buy Now Pay Later Credit Card Duck Just Got Shot!

An estimated 7 million “buy now pay later” users will soon see new laws introduced by the federal government that aims to better protect them against financial abuse.

A new Treasury paper released by Financial Service Minister Stephen Jones today suggests buy now pay later players could soon be subject to the same laws as credit card providers, as “unaffordable or inappropriate lending practices are contributing to financial stress and hardship, and other types of consumer harm”.

The paper said there were 7 million active buy now pay later accounts in the 2021-22 financial year resulting in $16 billion in transactions, an increase of almost 37 per cent on the previous financial year.

The Treasury paper makes it clear self-regulation, without some controls, is no longer an option.

It raises a range of issues, noting there’s been reports of “poor complaints handling processes” and that “the lack of hardship assistance for consumers leads to delayed or unsatisfactory remediation”.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

A Major Presentation On Property, Households, Finance And Stress

This is an edited version of a major presentation I gave a couple of day back to a range of Finance Professionals across Investment Banking, Hedge Funds and Analysts. I walk through our analysis and models and take questions from the audience.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

The Market’s Twisted Hands….

The latest edition of our finance and property news digest with a distinctively Australian flavour.

In another wild week, where FED speak on one hand, and hopium on the other drove markets all over the show, the Dow ended higher on Friday as investors weighed up further hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials, and the latest wave of quarterly results from retailers. Looking to the shortened trading week ahead, the Fed’s minutes from its October meeting will garner investor attention for clues on the central bank’s thinking on monetary policy.

Chief Hawk, St. Louis Fed President Bullard said this week that “Thus far, the change in the monetary policy stance appears to have had only limited effects on observed inflation,” in an analysis by the St. Louis Fed that debated the appropriate rate regime for the central bank after six increases since March.

  • CONTENTS
    0:00 Introduction
    0:40 US Monetary Policy
  • 4:15 US Markets
  • 6:00 Oil
    12:22 Gold
    15:20 Europe and UK
  • 18:00 ECB Monetary Policy
  • 21:10 Asia
    25:02 Australia
  • 27:30 Crypto Winter
    28:10 Close

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

The Biggest Drop In Living Standards In Many Decades…

A quick market update and a deep dive in the UK’s budget announcement, which was as political as it gets! The headline is households will go backwards, as unemployment rises, and a 2-year recession is likely. Worse, personal income tax bands are frozen, so the total tax take will be bigger than ever!

Investment allowances have been cut, and the future Government spending cuts have been pushed out beyond the next election.

The cost of debt to the Government rises.

This scenario is one we should expect to see playing out in other economies too. Living standards will drop.

Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.

Local Communities Strangled By Loss Of In-Person Banking – And What You Can Do About It!

We (Dale Webster and I) have written to the Senate Standing Committee on Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport about the economic fallout from the removal of in person banking services across Australia. Today I discuss this with Robbie Barwick from The Australian Citizens Party and the need to lobby Senate members on this important issue.

Our submission is available to view here and download : https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/loss-of-in-person-banking-letter-to-rarat-committee/

And a list of Senators by state is available here: https://citizensparty.org.au/aus-senate

If you care about the economic future of our regional towns and suburbs, then please contact your local Senators and tell them that they should support the initiative, ideally over the next few days, so as to create maximum impact in the final sitting weeks of the year.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/