US Economic Update – 30 April 2015
U.S. GDP growth slowed to a crawl in the March quarter. Details were weak, with the major support for growth coming from inventories. We expect the slowdown will be temporary and above trend growth to resume. Read more
Quarterly SME Survey – March Quarter 2015
SMEs’ quarterly business conditions remained largely stable in the first quarter of 2015, with firms from all tiers showing broadly similar conditions from the previous quarter. SME trading and profitability conditions have deteriorated, offset by improved employment conditions overall. Read more
The door to China opens for Australian healthcare
The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), reached in November 2014, is opening up a massive potential market for Australian healthcare providers. Tom Taylor, NAB Head of International Economics, and Nehemiah Richardson, NAB Health General Manager, discuss the opportunities and ways of making the most of them. Read more
Markets Today: US Fed keeping options open with deliberately vague guidance
The FOMC statement issued earlier this morning has made it clear that there is no pre-determined timeline for Fed rate lift-off. Read more
Recover fast from business disruptions
Infrastructure failure, cyber-attack, extreme weather – whatever the disruption, you need to get your business up and running as quickly as possible. Matt Henderson, Head of NAB’s Group Business Continuity Management, shares six steps to consider that may help your business recover. Read more
Markets Today: $A tops the leaderboard overnight, AUD/USD up over 0.80
The overnight session was one of US$ weakness and $A strength, trades that gathered momentum early in the London session, a session marked by a big miss on US consumer confidence. Read more
Markets Today: Stevens Speaks – Nothing to See Here?
Eurozone markets have been cheered by reports that Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has been removed from the debt-deal negotiation table by his prime minister. Varoufakis’ hard-ball tactics have been a source of huge frustration for the Brussels group of international creditors. Read more
Building sustainable relationships for care in the home
There’s a growing need for in-home care services and we are seeing more private operators come into the sector. Caroline Ucherek and Sheree Gover from CJU Medical Marketing share their tips for driving business growth by building relationships with clients, their families and referrers. Read more
In focus: Beef Market Update – April 2015
Cattle prices began to ease in February and continued to fall until late March, before trending upward in early April in line with higher 90CL export prices to the US. Overall, the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator fell 4.6% (AUD) month on month to 424.7 AUc/kg. Read more
Markets Today: When less is more
Almost without irony, we have to report that Friday’s US durable goods orders report was sufficiently weak to power US stock indices to new record highs, such was the ‘zero for longer’ interpretation of the data. Not the better than expected +4% headline read-out, but the core numbers for capital goods that exclude both (exceptionally strong) Boeing aircraft orders and also relatively strong auto orders. Read more
Markets Today: The battle for the low end
It was a case of softer than expected readings on both sides of the Atlantic overnight, but in the wash up, the market was inclined to give more credence to the softer suite of US economy reports than for Europe’s. Read more
Quarterly Business Survey – March 2015
Business confidence dropped back again in the first quarter of 2015, falling even further below the long run average level. This is consistent with a pull back in confidence in the February monthly survey, although this was completely unwound in March. Read more
