Talking Business with Leon Gettler

The International Monetary Fund trims its global growth outlook and warns recession risks have grown on tremors in the banking sector. Grattan Institute says the Australian government should reduce deficits by redesigning the stage 3 tax cuts, raising the GST to 15%, cutting superannuation tax concessions and reining in the NDIS Milkrun has gone bust with all staff made redundant. New home buildin...

By cutting oil output so much with Brent close to $100, OPEC+ is gambling with the global economy. Medicare is haemorrhaging up to $3bn a year in waste, according to a government review. Local Australian start-up investment cratered in the first quarter of 2023. Tax breaks on superannuation cost the budget $45b a year. And they'll soon exceed the cost of the age pension according to the Grattan In...

 After three decades of mostly fast-paced growth, the World Bank warns the global economy may finally be in for a big slowdown. Analysis of how an American company paid consulting firm Synergy 360 to gain behind-the-scenes support from Liberal MP Stuart Robert to lobby MPs. The Reserve Bank of Australia review is poised to recommend shaking up the board Latitude suffered potentially the large...

 Banking stocks and bonds tumble as initial relief over a historic state-backed rescue of troubled lender Credit Suisse by Swiss rival UBS gives way to new worries about the risks of high-yield debt issued by big banks.   Amazon cuts 9000 more jobs, bringing 2023 total to 27,000   The Five Wives of Rupert Murdoch. Challenging Henry VIII. IPCC report warns that massive change is need...

  China’s efforts to ramp up lithium extraction could see it accounting for nearly a third of the world’s supply by the middle of the decade, according to UBS Analysing the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank   Australian Treasury may block tax advisory firms from winning major government contracts if they do not have robust processes in place to “curb misconduct” in th...

Atlassian cuts 5% of its workforce as tech industry pain intensifies A slowing Australian economy has stalled women’s financial progress for the first time in a decade as higher interest rates weighed on female employment. Australian Industry and retail super funds recorded negative annual returns of -5.5% in 2022 compared to 12.9% the year before, as they felt the bite of the broader economic dow...

 Twitter has laid off at least 200 more workers. The platform now employs less than 2,000, down from 7,500 when Elon Musk took over.   A major supplier to Australia’s biggest supermarkets has been plunged into receivership, putting 1500 jobs at risk and threatening the delivery of food supplies.   Bunnings will launch a new and expanded pets offer next month that will see the bigges...

NAB predicts Australia will be flirting with recession in 2023.    Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers opens door to changing superannuation tax concessions Homes and businesses in every state on Australia’s eastern seaboard are at risk of electricity shortages from 2027   A report shows Australian universities are underpaying their casual staff. More than $83 million was underpaid in...

625 of Twitter's top 1,000 advertisers (including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Jeep, Wells Fargo and Merck) had stopped ads on the platform by late January, according to Pathmatics.   Business leaders believe Treasurer Jim Chalmers will appoint a senior female Canberra mandarin, with a strong Treasury pedigree as the next head of the RBA.   Commonwealth Bank has broken ranks with its main rivals...

Google announces Bard A.I. in response to ChatGPT Nine hikes and more to come: RBA lifts rates by .25pc, Inflation won’t be anywhere close to the RBA’s target until 2025! Some 80% of Australia’s large organisations upped their cyber security spend in 2022 NAB Consumer Sentiment Survey shows 4 in 10 Australian consumers have cut back or stopped buying coffees or lunches, car trips to save petrol an...

Highly radioactive' tiny capsule lost in Australian desert. Mining giant Rio Tinto says 'sorry'.   Adani Group shares tumble another 20% and now down over $50 billion following a report exposing them for fraud by Hindenburg Research.   We’re not ready for it’: chief scientist warns on ChatGPT. Cathy Foley expects her office will be asked to respond quickly to the potential poli...

The gift that no one wants but everyone is getting this year? Inflation. Higher prices are hitting shoppers hard as 2022 comes to a close    Tristar Medical Group 'systematically rorted Medicare over a number of years while authorities failed to act on a series of tip-offs and red flags. An Australian company will train Ukrainian war veterans in cybersecurity to ward off hackers ami...

Australian company gross operating profits tumble 12.4% In Q3, the biggest fall since at least 1994 Medicare is ill-equipped for 21st century doctor and patient needs, a new Grattan Institute report has found. And it recommends a drastic overhaul of Australia’s universal healthcare system to fix the frontline of general medicine.   Lawyers for Brittany Higgins are pursuing a $3 million civil...

 Global stocks slide as protests in Chinese cities against the country's strict zero-COVID curbs raise worries about growth expectations in the world's second-largest economy In less than a month, Elon Musk has driven away Twitter’s top advertisers. Liquidators can see how an ASX-listed fund named after a dead pirate got its name. Philip Lowe's, "I’m sorry if people listened to what we said",...

 COP 27 deal in Egypt leaves out more ambitious commitments of emissions peaking in 2025 and a phase-down of all fossil fuels — not just coal as agreed at COP26 in Glasgow. ASX dumps its $250 million blockchain experiment. It was only 63% complete after seven years and faced key latency and concurrency issues. Medibank to face $1 bn compensation bill from damaging cyberattack that hit 10...

Jeff Bezos plans to give away most of his $124 billion fortune to charity. Find out who gets the cash. Omnicom, the massive advertising firm that represents McDonald's, Apple, Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson recommends all its clients stop Twitter ad spending. Analysis of the impact on Twitter   Cannon-Brookes wins historic battle to green up AGL Energy's board. Watch this space.   D...

Musk now considering putting ALL of Twitter behind a paywall and charging ALL users a subscription fee to use Twitter   Apple warns that China’s zero-Covid policies are hurting iPhone production. Westpac/MI Australian Consumer Confidence now lower than GFC levels--and aside from March 2020, the lowest since 1990, the last recession.   Russia-backed cybercriminal group REvil.claims respon...

Elon Musk examines paid verification for Twitter and plans mass lay offs Eurozone inflation has reached 10.7% higher than Britain’s latest CPI figure of 10.1%. Australian super funds suffering as global recession fears bite. Qantas pilot Davida Forshaw sues airline amid sexual harassment and discrimination claims   Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s $4 million pay day faces an investor backlash and poss...

 Australia’s federal budget will see a massive increase of 56% in electricity costs over the next 18 months. RBA data shows Australia’s home prices to drop by up to 20%     The latest inflation data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows annual inflation was 7.3% for the September quarter, the highest since June 1990.   Australia has joined the Global Methane Pledge, be...

Rupert Murdoch is putting the band together again. News Corp explores merger with Fox Corporation to reunite Murdoch’s empires     Corporate Britain has turned on Liz Truss as MPs are calling on her to resign.   Chinese President Xi Jinping signals no change in direction for two main risk factors dragging down China’s economy — strict COVID-19 rules and housing market policies....

The IMF points to a growing risk that the global economy will slide into recession next year as households and businesses face 'stormy waters' in most countries Boris Johnson Inc. Is About to Go Public The Australian dollar is being steamrolled by world recession fears. Australian power prices will soar by at least 35% in 2023 amid a choppy energy transition and the closure of coal plants. CSIRO R...

The UK lesson of blundering Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng's tax U-turn Elon Musk proposes to proceed with deal to buy Twitter Jim Chalmers says the government had not changed its tax policy on the stage three cuts but warns “storm clouds” in the global economy were a major factor in looming decisions on tax and spending Asic sues Harvey Norman over ads for ‘interest-free’ purchases   Australia...

Federal Reserve unsure of US economy’s direction as Wall Street meltdown worsens British pound plummets to record low against the dollar   Moody’s Analytics lowered its global economic growth forecast to 2.7% for 2022 from 4.2% forecast in January, citing rising stagflation risks worldwide Rio Tinto is reeling from allegations that a worker in its iron ore operations sexually assaulted a woma...

Central banks are intent on driving the world economy perilously close to a recession.    Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fell by more than 50% this year as Meta struggles to find a footing in the tech industry.   The RBA will tip Australia into recession and cause a ‘material’ property downturn if it lifts rates as aggressively as expected, Barrenjoey’s Jo Masters says.     F...

Central banks are intent on driving the world economy perilously close to a recession.    Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fell by more than 50% this year as Meta struggles to find a footing in the tech industry.   The RBA will tip Australia into recession and cause a ‘material’ property downturn if it lifts rates as aggressively as expected, Barrenjoey’s Jo Masters says.     F...