The Federal Government has [finally] declared Buy Now Pay Later products as credit products and has outlined a path to regulation in the months ahead, recognizing that the products can harm customers.
Big players like CBA pushed the Government into a more gentle regime than I think is idea,, but at least its a step in the right direction. But two questions, will BNPL appear on credit files, and what about those thousands of customers of these products who are already in over the heads. We note from our surveys significant growth in use of these products as inflation and interest rate rises bite.
This is too little too late!
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We look at the latest Senate hearings on Regional Branch closures, and discuss the continued misdirection coming from the cost-cutting banks – justified – so called – by the migration to digital banking.
But as discussed during the hearings, the banks do not want to talk about what they are doing, and a peoples bank is required to offer a real alternative.
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This is an edited version of my latest live stream, featuring Leath van Onselen, joint founder of Macrobusiness and Chief Economist at Nucleus Wealth.
We explored the consequences of the massive waves of migration now forecast in the budget pages (hidden in an appendix) and the potential impact of home prices and quality of life.
The original show is available here: https://youtube.com/live/_DxR9F4l20g
This version tidied up the audio, as we had renovators noises off during the live show.
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Join me for a live discussion with Leith van Onselen, Chief Economist at Nucleus Wealth and Co-founder of Macrobusiness. Given the population growth now projected in the latest budget, Leith has pivoted on home prices, so we explore these dynamics. You can ask a question live.
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Our latest property discussion, with Edwin Almeida, covering sinkholes, buyer competition (and what is driving them), migration, and the need for insurance… plus lots of other items too!
The financial markets have been fighting the Fed since October of last year, especially since the start of this year, in two ways. The first involves bidding-up stock prices in anticipation of a ‘Fed pivot’, which is probably a self-defeating strategy. The second involves factoring lower interest rates into bond prices.
The backdrop is mounting economic uncertainty as Finance leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations warned on Saturday in a subdued end to a three-day meeting overshadowed by concerns about the U.S. debt stalemate and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The gathering in the Japanese city of Niigata came as global policymakers – already preoccupied by U.S. bank failures and efforts to reduce reliance on China – are now forced to grapple with a potential default by the world’s largest economy. While the communique made no mention of the U.S. debt ceiling stalemate, it figured constantly in discussions.
U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Friday, led by weaker megacap shares following their recent rally, as data showed U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to a six-month low. The Dow was barely lower in its fifth straight day of declines, the blue-chip index’s longest losing streak in two months.
May consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest since November. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment reading for May came in at 57.7, much lower than the 63 expected and down from 63.5 in April.
Treasury yields rose in the bond market following the consumer-sentiment report. The yield on the 10-year Treasury erased an earlier dip and climbed to 3.46 per cent from 3.39 per cent late Thursday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.
The risks are building, and recession is becoming more likely!
CONTENT
0:00 Start 0:15 Introduction 0:50 G7 Warnings 4:44 US Markets 6:50 US Consumer Sentiment Crashes 7:50 Bonds 9:15 Debt Default? 11:22 Europe 13:40 Oil and Gold 15:40 Asia 17:45 Australia 21:20 Bitcoin Halving 23:16 Summary and Conclusion
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Our latest Friday evening chat with Tarric Brooker. We answer follower questions on the mortgage market. And we got into some deep discussion about where prices may go!
Breaking news, as Westpac reverses its decision to close some of its regional branches, in response to the pressure form the Senate inquiry (which we managed to get up). I discuss this with Robbie Barwick from the Citizens Party.
The job is not done yet, and we need to ensure the Treasurer reverses his support for a totally independent Central Bank!
Giving up authority over the RBA – The ultimate BETRAYAL of the Australian people https://youtu.be/EA7FhBZxfuM
Dale Webster at The Regional has caught CBA out, as despite their promise not to close regional branches while the Senate Inequity is running, they are, by carefully defining down “Regional” to a very narrow definition, conveniently leveraging the ABS definitions, despite elsewhere calling these same regions Regional.
The Senate needs to hold CBA to account here. Write to your Senator, and also CBA management. This is plainly not acceptable nor within the spirit of their earlier statement! Well done Dale!
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The latest RBA’s Statement On Monetary Policy (More than 80 pages) said very little which was new, with inflation not expected to land within their target zone until 2025, with lower growth and higher unemployment. They reconfirmed an expectation rates could still go higher.
They did try to defend corporate profits as not driving inflation…. hum… but not very successfully in my book.
