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moncler outlet Hockeynomics 101 the fiscal fumble while Can
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Even the &#8220;deficit bad, surplus good&#8221; chant is itself dangerous abercrombie Strong market prompts Park Street sale. As the RBA governor underlined earlier this month, the present pace of return to surplus is already taking 2 per cent off the nation's GDP in the new financial year. Hockeynomics might have fun explaining to the retailers and &#8220;Australian families doing it tough&#8221; that he'd like to reduce economic growth further. The current rate movement towards surplus is a finely balanced thing on the assumption that the commodities and capex booms will continue as planned.

As it is, much of Australian business is having difficulty adjusting to reality instead of listening to politicians' promises and scare campaigns. Apparently it has become accepted wisdom that the retail industry is in dire straits as a result of higher electricity charges and more costly bananas allegedly overwhelming households. The hard numbers are a little different.

Discuss the contradiction in the following statement: &#8220;You're facing higher interest rates over the next two years, rising prices, Australian families are doing it pretty tough and the best relief you can give them is to reduce the tax burden.&#8221 abercrombie abercrombie paris Fortis adds up to a fortune for Madam Cheung; For an extra mark, explain the compatibility of fiscal policy whose stated primary aim is returning to surplus with giving income tax cuts and scrapping a resources rent tax &#8211; if you can.

There could be few easier examples of how pedestrian much of the retail offer is than the immediate success of the Zara chain's launch in Sydney and Melbourne. Zara is a well-run Spanish version of Sportsgirl. They're not even trying very hard with the Sydney and Melbourne stores compared with some of their most recent European shops simply because they don't have to &#8211; the local competition isn't much good.

While the federal opposition makes plenty of political capital out of reminding the Prime Minister of her carbon tax lie last year, the rest of us are left to desperately hope Joe Hockey is lying now about the Liberal Party's economic policy.

It took shadow treasurer Hockey less than a minute from the first question on the ABC's Q&amp;A program to promise that dangerous contradiction of running fiscal policy to counter the Reserve Bank's monetary policy and to imply the intent to get into surplus even quicker than Wayne Swan.

Same mistakes?

But it provides no confidence for the nation if the alternative government proposes to repeat the same mistakes of Peter Costello's last few budgets. What if Hockey and Abbott really were silly enough to believe they were the good old days abercrombie france? Sure, there were surpluses, but fiscal policy was neutral, providing no fiscal drag while showering voters with tax cuts and throwing economic management responsibilities back on the Reserve Bank abercrombie paris. Consequently the headline variable home mortgage rate hit 9.6 per cent in 2008 before the GFC intervened and probably saved us from something worse.

Adjusting to reality

Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor.

So don't be taken in by politicians and tabloid media furiously trying to convince us that things are crook abercrombie paris. Some industries and regions inevitably do it much harder than others when faced by a major disruption such as the rise and rise of the Australian dollar. Some good businesses fail, but many more adapt and get better. That's what is making us a more wealthy country &#8211 moncler outlet; as long as silly macro policies don't stuff it up.

Here's a quick essay question that should be easy marks for a high school economics student:

It is the benefit of being in opposition that you don't really have to make sense - you can't do any of the stuff you rave about and it's pretty safe to assume the electorate will only remember the simplistic slogans and most outrageous claims, not the boring detail and more mundane realities moncler.

Reprinted above is a graph of retail sales volumes back to 1985 circulated by Morgan Stanley's Gerard Minack. The graph indicates Australian retailers are having trouble adjusting to more normal sales volume growth after being spoilt by the 2003-08 boom &#8211 abercrombie france Elliott buys the pain out of JB's scrip punishment; a boom that was getting out of control with consumption built upon a blowout in household debt.

The retailing readjustment has been made harder by deflation of traded goods &#8211; while volumes are up louboutin pas cher, prices aren't, meaning retailers have to run twice as hard to stand still. But that's business abercrombie. The number of customers in Australia with higher disposable incomes continues to grow &#8211; there are many more now than there were in that 2003-8 boom period, they just need the right offer to be convinced to part with their money.

While the government bumbles implementation and lets a jerking knee get in front of thinking (cattle exports just the latest example), the opposition promises damaging macro policies. Oh dear.

In any boom, money becomes easier to make as the good times roll. Standards and disciplines fall. When harder times, even more normal times return, there is pain readjusting. We very quickly get used to those good times louboutin.

abercrombie france Days of hiding in Telstra may be over
Initially, it introduced a means test and more recently it added some other measures that will result in the rebate paid fall by about a per cent each year from 2014. None of this is dramatic but it is a slight headwind when hospital margins are historically high and Ramsay is trading on a hefty 18.5 times current year earnings.

A STOCK that has been hitting 12-month highs recently is heavy engineering group E&amp moncler outlet;A abercrombie Qantas' abercrombie4m GST takings to face High Court ruling. The South Australian group floated at the peak of the market in 2007 for $1 a share and rocketed to a high of $1.59. The company missed its forecast profit in June 2008 and the stock began its long journey down to 12&#162; a share in mid-2011.

The Age takes no responsibility for stock tips.

matthewjkidman@gmail.com

It will be interesting to see if the company is still going so well at the half-yearly result. If so, the stock could easily move up to 45&#162 louboutin; a share.

The Labor government has been steadily chipping away at the $5 billion subsidy it pays into private health insurance.

Soon after the dividend re-investment plan, the company gave an upbeat assessment after a sturdy first quarter. For the three months to September, revenue was up 16 per cent while net profit was $1.6 million, compared with a full-year result of $3 moncler.8 million in 2012. If this rate can continue, the company will earn more than $6 million and pay a dividend of about 5&#162; a share. This would place the stock on a price-to-earnings multiple of 6.5 times and a yield of 13 per cent.

&#160;

The stock has climbed to 35&#162 louboutin pas cher; a share. Insiders have been picking up stock in the dividend re-investment plan and now control about 70 per cent of the shares.

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The catalyst for the stock to take off was a decision by the federal Liberal government to introduce a 30 per cent rebate for those who took out private health insurance. This drove the percentage of adult Australians in private health insurance from around 30 per cent to 45 per cent. Ramsay's earnings and share price have never looked back abercrombie france.

&#160;

A STOCK I have totally underestimated this year has been Telstra.

The biggest concern is the lack of earnings growth, with most analysts forecasting 2015 earnings per share between 28&#162; and 30&#162;. If this proves to be the case abercrombie Another down day as bank shares sag, investors should not expect the type of stunning capital gains they have had in addition to their dividends over the past year or so.

Surprise performer... Telstra. Photo: Peter Braig

The Telstra bulls believe there is upside in the share price because the company is fabulously placed to take advantage of the data explosion through mobile devices. This may be true, but given the valuation, this growth will have to appear soon to justify another leg-up in the share price. If the analysts are correct and there is little growth abercrombie, the days of hiding in Telstra may be coming to an end.

Stockbroking analysts who attended an upbeat Telstra investor day last month are still struggling to recommend the stock. The street values Telstra at $3.50 and $4 a share.

Ramsay Health Care

AT ITS annual meeting, Ramsay pointed out that shareholders had had a 23.7 per cent annual compound return since 1997. In comparison, the Australian sharemarket had an annual average return of 7.6 per cent abercrombie paris.

I have suggested we play the dividend game and buy the stock seven weeks out from the company going ex-dividend and then sell it. For the rest of the year you could leave the company alone because it offered very little earnings growth and looked expensive. The logic behind this approach was to ride the stock higher as franking-hungry superannuation accounts snaffled up the stock.

E&amp;A Ltd

The reality is Telstra's share price has rallied a mighty 14 per cent since going ex-dividend in August, compared with a paltry 2 per cent gain from the overall market. The stock sits at around $4.30 and is trading on a 2013 price-to-earnings multiple of 14.6 times - a 15 per cent premium to the market abercrombie. Management confirmed the company would continue to pay an annual fully-franked dividend of 28&#162; a share abercrombie france, putting it on a yield of 6.6 per cent. We must remember, though, this is almost a 100 per cent pay-out ratio.

Analysts generally have a price target on the stock about 5 to 10 per cent below its current levels of around $26.28. It is hard to sell a star performer abercrombie paris The man sees his girlfriend taking a man to go home with a kni, but it might be hard for the stock price to move higher.

moncler Demand a better deal and stop moaning about greedy b
(And don't forget that every home buyer with money parked in a redraw account is a lender as well as a borrower. Most of these people would, in effect, be earning an interest rate on their savings equal to the rate they pay on their loan.)

I guess when you get angry you forget to check things out and think them through. The media and the politicians on both sides are whipping up indignation, rather than conveying information and fostering understanding.

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Premiers talk on disability

Ross Gittins is economics editor.

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And those people have benefited from the same process people with home loans have been complaining about moncler. The banks have justified their various rate rises in excess of official increases by saying the cost to them of the funds they borrow for lending to home buyers and businesses has risen by more than the increase in the official rate. This isn't always true abercrombie, but it does contain a significant element of truth. And one respect in which it's true is that the banks are now paying much higher interest rates on deposits, particularly term deposits.

In the aftermath of the crisis abercrombie france, the banks decided they'd be better off getting more of their funds from retail depositors and less from wholesale money markets here and overseas. But as they battled for more deposits, they bid up the rates on those deposits to unheard of levels - further proof that competition between the big four isn't dead.

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Another sign of competition between the banks that the rabble-rousers haven't seen fit to remind us of is the way NAB has led the way in cutting its fees and charges, including unreasonable charges on credit cards.

The media always quote the banks' announced indicator rates on home loans. Before the latest rise in the official rate, the average indicator for standard variable mortgages from banks was 7.4 per cent. But whereas small businesses often pay more than their indicator rate, home buyers usually pay less abercrombie paris. The actual rate paid by people with mortgages averaged 6.75 per cent - a discount of 0.65 percentage points.

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Why not? Because the Reserve Bank has left little doubt it expects to announce further rate rises in the months ahead. With the economy back in a resources boom louboutin Vale, feeling prices squeeze, sheds jobs, it will be raising rates to discourage borrowing and spending and thus limit inflation pressure.

Incremental progress

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Before the global financial crisis, the rates the banks paid on term deposits were below the official interest rate. Now, however, they're well above it. Although the official rate is now 4.75 per cent, it's easy to get better than 6 per cent on a six-month deposit abercrombie france.

Much of the indignation has assumed that if the Commonwealth Bank has raised its mortgage interest rate by 0.2 percentage points more than the 0.25 percentage-point increase in the official interest rate, the other three big banks are sure to follow suit.

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But so far they haven't moncler ANZ tops RBA rate rise too. And I think it's unlikely they will. My bet is that some will raise their rates by more than the official increase, but by less than the Commonwealth. And at least one of them won't exceed the official increase. If that bank is National Australia Bank, its rate will be 0 abercrombie france Australia's top paid CEOs 2011.32 percentage points lower than the Commonwealth's moncler outlet.

If I'm on the right track, the oft-repeated claim that there's no competition between the banks will be seen as false.

Forgive me if I'm less than impressed by the tirade of righteous indignation being unleashed against the banks. It's self-serving, selective and uninformed.

OECD to weigh in on surplus

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We're suckers for illusions.

Sorry, whingeing lazybones, markets don't work like that. Those who say competition between the banks is inadequate are right. But they should be looking in the mirror as they say it.

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Why do bank managers charge less than the announced price? Because they're afraid of losing business to their competitors. But guess what? The biggest discounts go to those who bargain - those who look around at what others are offering and threaten to move unless their existing lender offers a better deal.

Competition isn't served on a plate

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So what do they do? They push more of their higher costs off onto business - particularly small business - and less onto home buyers. This gives them less grief from the noise-makers while imposing a hidden cost on the economy's ability to create jobs.

Another unwarranted assumption by the indignation merchants is that all of us are borrowers from the banks and none of us are lenders to the banks. Nonsense. Many people - including those in or approaching retirement, those who rent and those saving for a home deposit - have savings deposited with banks.

Everyone imagines the greedy banks love picking on helpless home buyers when they're trying to protect their profit margins by passing on their higher costs of borrowing. Don't kid yourself. They hate it because they know home buyers are protected by the fuss-making media and politicians.

Ross Gittins says there's more competition than we realise among banks, but it's up to us to take advantage of it.

Abbott's popularity hits new low

And here's the trick none of the rabble-rousers bothered to tell the punters: the Reserve long ago made it clear that the interest rates it cares about are those actually paid by households and businesses, not its own official rate. So if the banks get ahead of the game and raise their rates by twice the increase in the official rate, that just means we'll end up with one less increase in the official rate than we would have. It will all come out in the wash.

The trouble with all the media and political fuss about rates is it reinforces the impression competition is something the banks - or the government - should deliver to us on a plate.

What next in the Slipper case abercrombie?

But let's say I'm quite wrong and all the banks do as the cynics expect and follow the Commonwealth's lead in raising their mortgage rates by almost double the official increase louboutin. In that event home buyers won't end up being any worse off.

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Australia&#8217 abercrombie;s biggest iron ore producer shrugged off recent pessimism regarding a slowdown in the economic growth of its biggest customer moncler.

Recently rival BHP Billiton said it would not spend the $80 billion it had planned for growth projects up until 2015.

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Rio Tinto chief executive of iron ore Sam Walsh said his company expects Chinese economic growth to be around 8 per cent as it continues its process of urbanisation and industrialisation abercrombie.

Resources giant Rio Tinto is pressing ahead with expanding its robust iron ore business despite concerns about a slowdown in China.

&#8216 moncler Rejection does not slow BHP merger hunt;&#8216;If you look at the short-term our view is that the market is steady as it goes,&#8217;&#8217; Mr Walsh said louboutin. &#8216;&#8216;Right now we&#8217;re continuing to ship flat out with very good production and we see that Australia is uniquely placed in relation to the product we offer but also the proximity to demand and that certainly puts us in the box seat.

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abercrombie paris Guardian silent on talk of plans for onlin
The media company called for temporary redundancies but said just over 30 staff came forward, increasing the likelihood that it would have to turn to compulsory job cuts.

A spokeswoman for The Guardian would not comment on the report Six years' prison for Ariff insolvency fraud, only saying in a statement: As The Guardian's reach grows it's natural that we continually explore a wide range of opportunities and partnerships.

The voluntary redundancy scheme closed on Friday abercrombie france.

BusinessDay,with James Robertson

The sale of Trade Me was expected to cut Fairfax's net debt below $200 million.

Graeme Wood. Photo: Louise Kennerley

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In Britain, The Guardian's publisher abercrombie The man of theft to 10 years after being caught _ News Center _ sina, Guardian News &amp; Media, said it was set to axe 68 editorial jobs to save &#163;7 million ($10.8 million) a year from its annual editorial budget abercrombie.

This week, Fairfax Media abercrombie, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, confirmed it was moving ahead with the sale of its 51 per cent stake in Trade Me to institutional investors at about $3 abercrombie paris abercrombie Tinkler's Aston and Whitehaven in $5.1b merger deal.05 a share, yielding $616 million for the company.

Katharine Viner, who joined the newspaper in 1997, was set to lead a Guardian Australia team that would work in collaboration with Graeme Wood, the former of accommodation website Wotif abercrombie france.com and backer of non-profit, online media venture The Global Mail, the London Evening Standard reported.

THE GUARDIAN has reportedly appointed its deputy editor as the head of its online expansion into Australia, a British newspaper report says, just days after journalists at the British newspaper voted to go on strike if voluntary editorial redundancies become compulsory abercrombie.

Journalists at The Guardian and its Sunday newspaper The Observer voted last week to go on strike if compulsory redundancies were put in place abercrombie paris.

abercrombie paris Australian stocks weaker on soft US lead
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 6.17 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2 abercrombie france Shop til they drop retail stocks look overpriced,476.01.

Australian shares have opened weaker, after a soft lead from Wall Street.

ANZ had bucked the trend and had risen two cents, at $22 .84.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 15.62 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 11 abercrombie,007.88, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.25 points abercrombie paris, or 0.02 per cent, at 1,178.59.

In US trading, the financial sector was the weakest performer and at 1015 AEDT Australia's big banks were also mostly lower.

AAP

At 1015 AEDT the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 3.5 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 4,620.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 2.2 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 4,702 abercrombie france.9.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was one point lower at 4,635 points, with 9 abercrombie,380 contracts traded.

Commonwealth Bank was down 30 cents at $49 abercrombie france Australian stock market up at close.60, Westpac was three cents lower at $21.90, National Australia Bank was off four cents at $24.39 and Macquarie Group had dropped two cents abercrombie paris, at $36  Aevum's credibility springs an unfortunate leak.04.

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In the US overnight, stocks finished mixed, with concerns continuing over Europe's debt woes and weaker than expected consumer price data.

hollister france Hedging bets on takeover decision
Short-selling is when hedge funds and other investors borrow shares they don't own and sell them in the hope their price will go down woolrich outlet. If it does hollister, they buy back the shares at the lower price, return them to their owner and pocket the difference hollister.

The ACCC is scheduled to announce its decision by Thursday. However abercrombie Mining leaders and Tabcorp lead stocks, final approval for the merger will need to be given by the incoming treasurer hollister uk.

Stock lenders contacted by BusinessDay have reported a surge in inquiries over the availability of NAB and IOOF shares ahead of this week's decision.

While AMP hopes to have the merger blocked based on competition arguments hollister, the wealth manager has signalled that it is prepared to argue NAB's move on Axa would be against the national interest abercrombie france Macquarie tipsters add to the s. However, AMP lobbying efforts took an unusual turn last week when a confidential memo by its chief executive Craig Dunn was leaked to the media.

AMP is trying to have the proposed NAB-Axa Asia Pacific merger blocked. Photo: Reuters

HEDGE funds have flocked to the key companies involved in the proposed National Australia Bank and Axa Asia Pacific merger.

For the past month the ACCC has been assessing whether to give the merger the green light, based on the undertakings hollister online shop.

The move comes as rival wealth giant AMP Ltd mounts a last-ditch lobbying effort to have the bid blocked. AMP is understood to have bypassed the uncertainty in Canberra by briefing key players in both Labor and Liberal camps about the bid over the past two weeks hollister outlet.

A high level of interest among local and offshore hedge funds emerged last month with ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel saying hedge funds managers were calling to gauge his position.

The competition commission has also taken market soundings from other players in the wealth management sector that are not involved in the merger.

To do this, the bank has pledged to sell Axa's North platform, used by financial planners hollister france, to IOOF.

Mr Dunn warned that competition in the wealth management industry would be permanently damaged if IOOF could not successfully grow the North platform.

They are taking huge bets on the potential for the competition regulator to again take a hardline stance over one of the nation's biggest financial services takeovers.

NAB is trying to address the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's concerns that the bank would have too much power in the wealth-management sector if the takeover went ahead.

Short-selling activity in National Australia Bank last week moved close to 25 per cent of daily turnover hollister.

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Such a deal is seen as a significant benefit for IOOF woolrich abercrombie Gunns shoots up after billionaire take, given the North platform stands to substantially lower costs and replace its existing disparate portfolio of platforms. But in a sign that regulatory uncertainty is providing a boon to savvy investors at the expense of retail investors, daily short-selling figures show that nearly a third of IOOF Holding's daily turnover in recent sessions is linked to short-selling strategies.

www.abercrombieparis8s.com Australian stocks reverse early l
Telstra shares shed one cent to $2.84 as legislation to structurally separate its wholesale and retail arms passed the lower house in federal parliament.

Baraka shares gained 0.2 of a cent, or 33 per cent, to 0 abercrombie.8 cents abercrombie Engine haul for Qantas.

The resources sector was lower, with the smaller players losing more ground than the big miners.

In healthcare, Cochlear gained $2.20, or 2.79 per cent, to $80 abercrombie france.95, Sonic Healthcare added 15 cents, or 1 abercrombie france.28 per cent, to $11.88 and CSL was 24 cents higher at $35.24.

On the ASX24, the December share price index futures contract was 22 points higher at 4,619 points abercrombie, with 38,303 contracts traded.

Constructor and contract miner Leighton said the Spanish suitor of its major shareholder Hochtief had agreed to keep the governance agreements between the German and Australian companies if the takeover succeeds.

Rising oil prices boosted energy stocks, with Woodside adding 76 cents to $41.71, Oil Search gaining three cents to $6 abercrombie paris.73 and Santos up six cents at $12.37.

BHP Billiton added four cents to $43.24 and Rio Tinto lost 20 cents to $83.84, while Fortescue shed 11 cents to $6.54 and Iluka lost six cents to $7.59.

National turnover was 2.35 billion shares abercrombie, worth $4.66 billion, with 504 stocks trading higher, 596 down and 359 unchanged.

The Australian share market reversed its early losses to close higher as investors bought into healthcare, energy and bank stocks.

Agricultural chemicals supplier Nufarm Ltd was among the best performers, adding 21 cents, or 4 .95 per cent, to $4.45.

"Analysts also like the new $1 billion debt facility."

Among the banks, Commonwealth gained 99 cents to $48.57, Westpac rose by 40 cents to $21.55, ANZ Banking Group added 26 cents to $22.78 and National Australia Bank was unaffected by its technical woes to close 30 cents higher at $23.53.

AMP and AXA both lost a little ground after they signed documents to begin AMP's takeover of the wealth manager.

AMP lost two cents to $5 abercrombie paris.09 and AXA lost two cents to $6.18.

Leighton shares dropped two cents to $31.91 abercrombie Metcash CEO calls on Mitre 10 to choose.

"Nufarm received a broker upgrade today citing a recovery in crop protection volumes and higher crop prices," CMC Markets analyst David Taylor said.

AAP

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 20.2 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 4,618.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 16.5 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 4,706.7 points.

The gains came from the healthcare and energy sector stocks, while the big four banks also helped the major indices to a higher close.

The market opened the week lower, due to concerns about European sovereign debt and a negative lead from a shortened Wall Street session, but picked up during afternoon trade.

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Baraka Petroleum was the top traded stock by volume, with 165.4 million shares traded for a value of $1.28 million.

Gold miner Newcrest lost 60 cents to $39.77 as the spot price of gold in Sydney closed at $US1,363.25 per fine ounce, down $US7 Men ask for former arrears disputes will each other to death the _ News Center _ sina.com.cn.25 on Friday's closing price of $US1,370.50.

woolrich More jobs gloom as engineering firm collapses
The statement said receivers will manage businesses including Spectrum Fire and Safety hollister online shop, Hastie Services, Gordon Brothers Industries hollister, and Austral Refrigeration.

News of the collapse of Hastie Group - the nation's biggest provider of airconditioning and refrigeration systems for office towers, apartment blocks and hospitals - comes on the eve of a Labor caucus meeting in Canberra at which jobs will be high on the agenda.

After announcing a $150 million December-half loss, Hastie Group's ASX market value plunged to just $21 million before the company was put in a trading halt on April 13 and suspended from trading four days later. That was the result of a dispute over alleged unfair payment of performance bonds to a builder in the Middle East hollister.

Banks exposed to Hastie demise Reed faces wind-up within weeks

Trading 'as usual'

At the weekend, Hastie Group executives met advisers from corporate reconstruction specialist PPB, but last-ditch attempts to revive the recapitalisation failed. Early yesterday, the board decided to appoint PPB as administrator and McGrathNicol as receiver of the company hollister outlet. Both firms will be officially appointed today.

In a major blow to the Gillard government, most of the job losses will come in the economically troubled states of New South Wales and Victoria.

The company has reported the $20 million accounting discrepancy to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

McGrathNicol sought to ease concerns about imminent job losses for units under its control.

All four of Australia's major banks form part of an international syndicate that has lent $500 million to Hastie. ANZ is believed to have the biggest exposure woolrich outlet, and is owed an estimated $150 million.

The MEP unit, which included mechanical, electrical and plumbing businesses in Australia and the Middle East, may bear the brunt any job cuts. The units employ 2700 in Australia and 2000 in the Middle East.

''There are insufficient funds to enable the Adminstrators to operate the MEP companies," PPB said in a separate statement. "Regrettably the Administrators have no option but to suspend operations whilse they assess the financial position of each company."

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Engineering company Hastie has collapsed under an estimated $500 million debt. Photo: Michele Mossop

&#8220 hollister uk;I would like to assure customers and employees that our appointment allows the Spectrum, Services abercrombie Chi-X turns the key and market monopoly ends, Gordon Brothers and Austral businesses to continue to operate with minimal disruption while we run an orderly sale campaign for each business,'' said Peter Anderson, Partner at McGrathNicol. "We do not expect to make any significant structural changes to the businesses or their workforces."

Control of the Hastie Group itself Market ends flat as traders take profits, including its listed entity, its construction unit MEP hollister, and its Middle East operations rests with the voluntary administrators, David McEvoy, Craig Crosbie and Ian Carson of PPB Advisory.

On Friday, Hastie Group non-executive directors Lindsay Phillips and Harry Boon quit after a $20 million accounting irregularity emerged in the books of one of the company's Queensland divisions. That came as Hastie was in negotiations with its banks over a refinancing deal.

More than 2000 jobs will be axed after embattled engineering company Hastie collapsed under an estimated $500 million of debt.

BusinessDay believes up to 1300 Hastie Group staff in the two states will be told today they no longer have work.

In statements this morning hollister france, Hastie blamed mounting financial woes for forcing it into voluntary administration. All operations will "continue to trade as usual" while business sales are pursued, the company said in a media statement by receivers and managers, McGrathNicol.

$20m missing

By contrast, Hasties' Rotary UK and Ireland operations are profitable businesses "with liquidity headroom and continue to trade as normal under the control of the directors," the McGrathNicol statement said. "Over the coming weeks an orderly process will be carried out to sell the Rotary UK and Ireland businesses as going concerns."

Hastie is a conglomeration of more than 50 business units across Australia, New Zealand and Britain. Some of its profitable units will continue to operate, as will crucial business units that provide maintenance services to hospitals and apartment blocks.

The south-eastern states have borne the brunt of recent job losses in Australia hollister, with Qantas last week axing 500 engineering jobs from its heavy maintenance division, the majority at Tullamarine abercrombie Rio Tinto chief gets back on the acquisitions trail. News Limited is also days away from announcing major job cuts as it restructures its largely print-based publishing business, with up to 400 editorial jobs set to go woolrich, while Caltex has flagged it might shut down its two Australian oil refineries in the next year.

hollister uk Global events drag local market down
On the Sydney Futures Exchange at 1615 AEDT, the March share price index contract was 48 points lower at 4,606 on a volume of 37 hollister outlet,706 contracts.

AAP

Arrow Energy finished up three cents at $4.10, after announcing upgrades to its reserves.

Macquarie Group rose four cents to $51.34 woolrich.

European regulators have formally opened a probe into a deal between BHP Billiton and Rio that would see the mining companies merge their Pilbara iron ore operations.

ANZ fell 33 cents to $21.96, Commonwealth Bank was down 52 cents at $54.63 and National Australia Bank fell 24 cents to $26 hollister france.30.

Fortescue Metals also fell sharply, and was off 25 cents, or 5.22 per cent, at $4 hollister.54.

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Lihir Gold dropped 13 cents to $2.92, Newmont was off two cents at $4.89 and Newcrest lost $1.01 to $32.30.

Fairfax Media dropped 3.5 cents to $1.775 while rival Consolidated Media fell two cents to $3.01.

Among the retailers, Woolworths fell 68 cents, or 2.47 per cent, to $26.80, after reporting it expected second half sales to be affected by low price inflation.

Energy stocks were mainly lower, with Woodside falling $1.00 to $43.00 and Oil Search off 14 cents at $5.42 hollister.

The top-traded stock by volume was PharmaNet Group Ltd, with 96.5 million shares worth $1.92 million changing hands.

Gas giant Santos dropped 25 cents to $13.14 while Origin Energy lost 12 cents to $16.26.

Westpac dropped 59 cents, or 2.37 per cent, to $24.33.

Rival Wesfarmers fell 55 cents to $28.65 while Myer dropped 10 cents to $3.35 and David Jones was off 13 cents at $4.76.

Mr Taylor said Standard & Poor"s decision to put a negative outlook on Japan's sovereign debt rating also weighed on the market.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 73.3 points hollister france BHP halts Port Hedland ops after fatality, or 1.55 per cent, at 4,644 hollister online shop.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 73.1 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 4,670 points.

Preliminary national turnover was 2.52 billion shares worth $6.21 billion, with 325 stocks up, 795 down and 331 unchanged hollister uk.

Mining giant Rio Tinto ended the day down $3.44, or 4.69 per cent, at $69.90 while rival BHP Billiton fell 95 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $40.30.

Its shares were down 0.2 cents, or 10 per cent, at 1 woolrich outlet.8 cents woolrich outlet Aussie stocks end lacklustre day lower.

CMC Markets analyst David Taylor said the sell-off came as investors began to focus on world events.

"We are continually being weighed down by a negative mood in the US with the impending regulatory changes that may be imposed by the Obama administration hollister Sometimes retreat is better than conflict, and of course China's ongoing monetary policy issues," Mr Taylor said.

Breville Group fell 5.5 cents amid news GUD Holdings had backed down from its attempted takeover of the electrical appliance seller.

"We are not really seeing any panic selling as such, it is more like the market is nauseous but hasn't vomited yet," he said.

Media stocks finished the day mixed, with News Corp up 18 cents, or 1.09 per cent, to $16.70, and its non-voting scrip rising 15 cents to $14.14.

The gold miners also fared badly, after the price of the precious metal fell.

At 1626 AEDT, the spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,096.80 per fine ounce, down $US4 hollister.99 on Monday's closing price of $US1,101 hollister.79.

The banking sector was also hit hard, with Westpac leading the majors down.

The Australian share market fell more than 1.5 per cent after a broad-based sell-off sparked by concerns about global events.

abercrombie paris Rio to spread cash to shareholders
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Macquarie said the Rio result looked to be solid and clean. It told clients that the size and duration of the $US5 billion buyback was hardly aggressive, flagging the obvious that it could be completed before the stated end-of-2012 target.

Mr Albanese said acquisitions would be on the smallish side, not unlike the group's $US4 billion bid for African coal developer Riversdale.

Despite the surge in profits and the market's expectations of another profit rise this year, Mr Albanese cautioned on the potential for volatility with substantial swings in commodity prices caused by the timing and speed at which post-GFC stimulus packages around the world were removed.

He hinted that further divestments in the division was a possibility abercrombie france, but finance director Guy Elliott chipped in that because of the group's strong balance sheet, Rio could afford to take its time on any asset sales. And if did sell any more aluminium assets, it would only be at very good prices.

Rio chairman Jan du Plessis said that by limiting the buyback to $US5 billion - some analysts had argued that up to $US15 billion was doable - the company retained the flexibility to take advantage of future growth opportunities as and when they arise.

The increase in shareholder returns comes on a 2010 underlying profit that soared 122 per cent from $US6 abercrombie paris.3 billion in 2009 to a record $US13.98 billion abercrombie paris, a fraction below market expectations.

Rio's priority is to continue to invest in value-adding growth. On that score, it has committed $US12 billion since the start of 2010 to new projects and expansions, mostly on growing its highly lucrative iron ore business in the Pilbara region of Western Australia by 50 per cent in five years.

Rio managing director Tom Albanese said in London last night that the record was confirmation that Rio was reinvigorated and running strongly after having had to recapitalise and restructure early last year when the global financial crisis was at its worst.

Agitation for Rio to spread the cheer of the commodities price boom has been growing in recent months as fears grew that with its cash flow running at a staggering $US2 billion a month, Rio could be tempted seek out a big-bang acquisition abercrombie france.

Rio's final dividend is US63&cent; a share, taking total dividends for 2010 to $US1.08 a share abercrombie OZ Minerals maintains dividend as profit sags. That is up by 20 per cent on the US90&cent abercrombie; a share in 2009, higher than most analysts expected. The fully franked final is to be paid on March 31. The ex-dividend date is March 2.

The last time it spent up big on an acquisition was the ill-timed $US38 billion acquisition of aluminium group Alcan in 2007.

More heartening for Mr Albanese was the turnaround in profit from the aluminium division abercrombie, one greatly enlarged by the ill-timed Alcan acquisition, his first big move as managing director. Rio's aluminium division swung from a loss of $US560 million in 2009 to a profit of $US773 million. But Mr Albanese said more work needed to be done to improve the division's earnings margin from 21 per cent to the 40 per cent Rio had elsewhere.

The bonanza returns are set to grow further still with iron ore prices moving higher in the group's 2011 financial year Funds wary of big projects.

The iron ore business had a stellar year, due to rising production and an estimated 70 per cent increase in iron ore prices. The profit contribution from iron ore more than doubled to $US10.18 billion abercrombie.

But with net reduced debt down from $US18.9 billion to $US4.3 billion, Rio is now well placed to cope with the risks of both short-term volatility and long-term demand growth, Mr Albanese said abercrombie Banks, miners buoy stocks.

A higher-than-expected 20 per cent increase in annual dividend and a strongly tipped $US5 billion share buyback by the end of 2012 is to be served up to shareholders.

RIO Tinto is to meet shareholder demands for an immediate and greater share of its profit bonanza.

hollister online shop John Holland awarded Vic rail project
The other parties are Metro Trains Melbourne and several government departments NAB surprises again - with a positive resultwoolrich hollister It's Mac on the tarmac, checking out his.

Leighton Holdings Ltd's subsidiary hollister, construction firm John Holland hollister outlet, has been awarded a major stake in Victoria's $650 million South Morang rail extension project hollister online shop.

John Holland's stake in the project is expected to be more than $300 million, the company said on Monday.

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The project hollister france, designed to increase public transport capacity in Melbourne's north hollister, involves duplicating the rail line between Keon Park and Epping and the extension of the rail line to South Morang hollister.

Planning and design work begins immediately, and construction is scheduled to start in the second half of 2010 hollister hollister Victoria continues lead in new houses.

John Holland and alliance partner AECOM, an international engineering firm woolrich outlet, are one of several entities selected to build the rail extension hollister uk.

AAP

abercrombie france Foster's demerger gets Supreme Court nod
BARING a surprise minutes-to-midnight takeover bid from a beer abercrombie, wine or private equity firm, Foster's will strike its historic $11 billion demerger next week after the Victorian Supreme Court approved the scheme of arrangement for the corporate split abercrombie france hollister Djerriwarrh profit hit by market weakness.

The demerger is expected to be officially implemented on May 20.

Treasury Wine Estates, the spun-off wine company hollister france, which takes in some of the world's best-known brands such as Penfolds hollister, Rosemount Estate, Wolf Blass and Beringer, is set to list on the Australian Securities Exchange under the code TWE on May 10, on a deferred-settlement basis.

The incoming chief executive of Treasury Wine Estates will be David Dearie, and John Pollaers will lead Foster's.

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Foster's will emerge from the demerger as a pure beer play with its Carlton &amp abercrombie paris; United Breweries assets, which&#160; include leading beer brands such as Carlton Draught abercrombie, VB and Pure Blonde abercrombie Santos to sell gas into GLNG.

Shares in Foster's ended yesterday down 6&#162; at $5 hollister france.51 abercrombie france.

Foster's said yesterday that following the approval by the court and last week's approval by shareholders, it would lodge the court orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Monday hollister hollister france Foster's to split in May, earning, with the demerger to be effective on that date abercrombie paris.

hollister uk Time for a break Russel Howcroft joins Channel
Ten has not revealed whether Mr Howcroft will continue in his on-air roles on the ABC's Gruen programs, hosted by Wil Anderson and produced by Andrew Denton's production company woolrich outlet, Zapruder's Other Film.

''Russel is a great leader and one of the most outstanding advertising executives in Australia. We are very pleased he is joining Network Ten,'' Mr Warburton said hollister.

Mr Howcroft, the chief executive of the Australia and New Zealand arm of global agency Young &amp woolrich; Rubicam Brands, will take up the role of executive general manager at Ten in February hollister outlet.

Television is a very powerful and engaging medium and my experience over the past few years has fuelled my desire to work within the television business.

Network boss James Warburton made the announcement yesterday, capping off months of rumours.

He added that Mr Howcroft was ''extremely well connected in the marketing, advertising and media sectors. His appointment will bring new skills and strengths to the Network Ten management team, particularly in the Melbourne market.''

The recent departures of programming chief David Mott and publicity boss Jo'an Papadopoulos seemed to some observers as moves by a damaged organisation looking desperately for scapegoats.

Mr Howcroft said that after 24 years working for some of the best agencies in the world he felt privileged to be given the chance to pursue another great passion.

Pursuing a passion: Russel Howcroft hollister. Photo: Louie Douvie

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The appointment of Mr Howcroft, a director of the Melbourne Football Club, will come as a welcome show of strong leadership.

However hollister, an ABC spokesperson has indicated that all signs are positive that he will remain with the program. He is with us for this series, which finishes in October, and while we haven't confirmed the line-up for next year, our understanding is there is no reason to think he won't be able to continue with us hollister.

Ten is in desperate need of the boost Mr Howcroft's connections could bring hollister uk. Its ratings have slumped to such a degree it now trails the ABC hollister france. Its share of the advertising market is hovering around 23 per cent (against a target closer to 28 per cent - a serious shortfall given that each point is worth about $30 million in revenue).

IN A move long expected in the industry hollister online shop, Ten Network has appointed advertising boss and Gruen regular Russel Howcroft to a senior executive role.

He will be based in Melbourne and have responsibility for the network's operations in all mainland capital cities except Sydney. Related articles:  hollister Woodside accused hollister online shop When the RBA speaks, listen up hollister france Spin and substance in executive pay 

burberry outlet RBS Morgans upgrades media stocks
RBS raised its projections for job advertising growth in the first six months of 2010 to eight per cent - a turnaround from its earlier forecast for a three per cent decline.

RBS said it now saw scope for job ad volumes to return to growth earlier than expected as job ads moved back in line with employment market conditions hollister.

AAP

Job ads in newspapers and online have fallen by more than 50 per cent from their peak in April 2008 to a trough in July this year, making it the second largest fall in job ad volumes in Australian history burberry, RBS said.

"We therefore see potential for job ads to show a reasonable recovery to get back in step with employment market fundamentals."

For Seek, which sources about 80 per cent of its revenue from online job ads, RBS retained its "buy" rating and raised its target price on the stock to $7.00.

"However, unemployment has risen by only 1.6 per cent over that period, and actually fell in September versus August, making it one of the shallower employment market downturns in history hollister france.

Broker RBS Morgans Ltd has upgraded its ratings on Australian media companies with exposure to employment advertising due to encouraging advertising trends.

RBS retained its "hold" on WAN "due primarily to its higher relative trading multiple and lower leverage to a recovery".

Media companies have suffered over the past year from fewer job ads amid the economic downturn and from viewers shifting their job search from newspapers to the web.

The improved forecast for job ad trends prompted RBS to raise its target prices for media groups APN News & Media Ltd, Fairfax Media Ltd and West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd (WAN) and online job ads company Seek Ltd.

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RBS also raised its target price for Fairfax - publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age - to $1.95 and its rating to "buy".

At 1330 AEDT on Tuesday, Seek shares were up one cent at $6.39 hollister, APN was up 10 cents at $2 burberry outlet.43 hollister, Fairfax had lifted 4.5 cents to $1 hollister uk.745 and WAN was up 35 cents, or 4.53 per cent hollister, to $8 hollister milano.08.

RBS also raised its target price for APN, which publishes major metropolitan newspaper The New Zealand Herald, to $2.50 with a "buy" rating hollister outlet.

"On this basis it appears as if the fall in job advertising volumes has overshot the reality of the employment market. Related articles:   abercrombie paris Australia kicks on globally   hollister NAB net profit down almost 43%   hollister NBN pricing a concern for ACCC 

hollister milano Rates hope as services sector stumbles
The market is currently pricing in a one-in-two chance of a 25 basis point interest rate hike when the RBA next meets in February, according to Credit Suisse data. The central bank raised the cash rate to 3.75 per cent from 3.5 per cent in December, as it sought to extend Australia's economic expansion.

December's weaker reading on services was triggered by a fall in new orders, AiG said.

czappone@fairfax.com.au

Services make up the largest stake of the Australian economy, employing people in industries as diverse as food retailing to accounting.

"The December Australian PSI confirms that the recent improvement in the services sector lacks traction and adds weight to arguments for a pause to interest rate rises,” said AIG group chief executive, Heather Ridout.

Weaker services sector activity in December should make the Reserve Bank think twice about a rate rise next month, an industry group said today.

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"The business environment remains a challenge for many firms, particularly those in the consumer-related sectors of retail trade and personal and recreational services where the impact of government stimulus spending was most pronounced."

The sub-index dropped 8.6 points in December. Supplier deliveries also fell 2.7 points in the month.

BusinessDay

"Softer demand for services in December reflects remaining uncertainties about the durability of the economic recovery and the impact of rising interest rates in the December quarter,” Ms Ridout said.

The Australian Industry Group-Commonwealth Bank of Australia performance of services index dropped 2.5 points to 50 points in December, hitting the dividing line between index's expansion and contraction. It rose to 52.5 points in November. Related articles:  hollister uk Index dips but finishes well up on week</li> hollister It's manly at the top but here's a start</li> hollister milano News Corp eyes stake in Rotana Media</li> </ul>

hollister uk Woolworths starts to feel heat from Coles
The shares had flat-tracked since the interim result in February, on the theory that Woolies' growth momentum was fully priced. But after the full-year result came out they took off again, and hit that record of $34.84 on December 12 hollister. Based on the the 2006-07 profit result, that pushed the multiple up to a peak of just under 32 times.

It's a bit misleading of me to use historical profits to calculate the price-earnings ratios, of course. Investors who pay relatively high prices to get on board companies that have growth momentum are much more interested in what the company will earn in future burberry outlet. They compare the price with expected earnings, and in December 2007 were looking past that 32 times multiple to a prospective multiple of about 25 times if Woolies maintained its profit growth pace in 2008, something it duly did.

Woolies is developing an internal profit-boosting project hollister, Project Quantum, which aims to lower the cost of doing business. Key changes are an increase in direct sourcing of product - Luscombe says this is already occurring, and was a positive force on margins during the half - and an attack on the costs of goods and materials Woolies buys for its own use hollister milano, and does not resell.

Now let's look at yesterday's result. Earnings per share were 95.2&#162; for a $1.90-a-share running rate, and the group declared a dividend of 57&#162;, and will pay $1 hollister.19 a share if its final dividend is unchanged. But because earnings are much higher than they were four years ago and the share price is unchanged, the price-earnings multiple is down about 14 times, and the dividend yield is more than double than in 2007, about 4.4 per cent.

That was a growth multiple, and it got even steeper in the second half of 2007, after Woolies unveiled a full-year sales increase of 12.6 per cent, and a 27.5 per cent profit rise.

There's an element of catch-up involved. Woolies' food and liquor business is generating 7.8&#162; of EBIT per $1 of sales and Coles is still only generating 4.1&#162;. But that's actually a reason why Coles is the better growth story, and in the discount store market Kmart is now in the lead, after its everyday low price strategy boosted its EBIT-to-sales margin from 6.9 per cent to 7.7 per cent in the half, ahead of Big W's 5.23 per cent margin.

Net profit rose by 6 per cent in the six months to January. But Wesfarmers' Coles supermarket and liquor chain beat Woolies, posting a 5.9 per cent gain in sales and an 18.3 per cent rise in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) compared with an 8.1 per cent EBIT rise at Woolies' food and liquor division.

But the story is the same either way. Woolies' sales and profit momentum slowed last year, and the earnings multiple on the shares tell us investors don't believe it is coming back any time soon.

Consumer electronics stores were another problem. They are being revamped, and Luscombe says sales are much stronger in the renovated stores - but then again they need to be: the division's EBIT was only 2.4&#162; in the dollar in Australia during the half, and 1 burberry.7&#162; in the dollar in New Zealand hollister outlet.

Still, Luscombe held on to January's lowered guidance for a full-year net profit rise of between 5 and 8 per cent (down from earlier guidance for an 8 per cent to 11 per cent rise, and Woolies' first downgrade in 19 years) and he said the group had experienced better trading conditions in the first weeks of the new half-year, in Big W particularly.

Like Alexander on the banks of the Indus, he has run out of easy conquests. One of the consequences is that Woolies is now priced like an ex-growth share.

That was enough for investors to push Woolies' shares 1.3 per cent higher to $26.85 yesterday, in a market that rose by half a per cent hollister france.

And hollister, of course, Woolies is opening a new front in its war with Wesfarmers as it prepares to attack the Bunnings hardware chain with its own big box hardware outlets. The first big distribution centre has been built at Hoppers Crossing on Melbourne's south-west fringe, and Luscombe says the first big box will be open in the second half of this year, followed by another 15 to 20 over 18 months.

WOOLWORTHS CEO Michael Luscombe says he hasn't finished his shift at the checkout yet, but he will probably step down next year at the latest, and when he does he might mull the pitfalls of overachievement.

However, the shares are still $8, or almost 23 per cent, below their December 2007 high of $34.85 - when you consider how much money Woolies is making, that says a lot.

Woolies was building profits like an express train and bringing the still-independent Coles to its knees four years ago, as it turned profits back into expansion and lower prices. In the December 2006 half, when Luscombe took over as CEO, it lifted sales by 15.9 per cent, and net profit by 28 per cent. Its shares moved up $1 in February 2007 on that news to about $27 - the same price as today, basically. For the price, investors were buying into an annual earnings stream of $1.09 a share, and a 59&#162; annual dividend: they were in other words paying about 24 times earnings, and locking in a 2 per cent dividend yield.

But Wesfarmers is showing that it is a tough competitor. It won't have escaped you that Woolies was valued most highly for its growth prospects just as Wesfarmers was bedding down its takeover of the Coles group, including the Coles, Kmart, Target and Officeworks chains.

Wesfarmers' discount store chain, Kmart, also outperformed, boosting EBIT by 13 per cent while Woolies' Big W chain suffered a 17 hollister uk.1 per cent slide in EBIT, to $125 million.

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Related articles:  burberry outlet Rio bonuses safe... rain, hail or shine</li> hollister uk New quarterly pricing for Curragh coal</li> hollister milano Telstra pursues copyright fight</li> </ul>

hollister Industry set to be hit by Yasi
"If it happens once, it can always happen again," Australian Banana Growers' Council (ABGC) CEO Jonathan Eccles said.

Up to half of Australia's sugar crop could be lost and north Queensland banana growers are set for more hardship as tropical cyclone Yasi nears the coast.

Chief executive of the industry's peak body Canegrowers, Steve Greenwood, said a category four cyclone could wipe out 40 to 50 per cent of the the current season's cane crop.

"So 2010 wasn't a great season and if we do see the cyclone proceed as it is, it is going to have a reasonably significant impact on the 2011 season."

"Overall the industry production should have been worth about $2 billion, but instead it was about $1.5 billion," Mr Greenwood said.

"The overall impact to the industry could be very, very significant, not only to the cane crop itself but also to our infrastructure," he told AAP on Tuesday.

About 95 per cent of Australia's sugar production comes from Queensland, with a large proportion grown north of Townsville hollister, directly in the line of the impending storm.

Banana growers have also been under financial pressure due to a recent oversupply of the fruit hollister, and farmers are fearing a similar impact to that felt from Cyclone Larry in 2006.

Rail freight company QR National Ltd has suspended operations on two of its Queensland coal lines burberry outlet, with the last deliveries made on the Newlands and Goonyella lines made on Monday night.

"The southern side of the cyclone has got the strongest winds, and that's the side that could impact on the major production areas around Innisfail and Tully."

Rio Tinto Ltd has shut its coal mine at Hail Creek in central Queensland hollister milano, with all employees leaving the site except for skeleton crew of volunteers monitoring the mine.

AAP

"It is pretty standard, particularly given the size of this weather event hollister, for us to scale things back," a QR spokesman said.

The mining industry is also preparing to be impacted, although many mining operations are located well inland burberry.

"We are very concerned about the potential impact hollister france."

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BHP Billiton Ltd also has operations in the region but would not comment on whether it has closed any mines hollister.

Picking was continuing on Tuesday, meaning supplies will remain stable at least for the next two weeks.

Cane farmers have already been hampered by Queensland's wet weather and floods, reducing the size and value of the 2010 harvest hollister uk.

With the cyclone expected to hit on Thursday morning as a category four storm, ports have also been closed and the nation's largest rail freight company has suspended operations on two coal lines.

Ports in north Queensland have closed ahead of the cyclone threat hollister outlet, including the Abbot Point and Dalrymple Bay coal terminals, and the Port of Mackay. Related articles:  hollister france No room in cocoon for thread maker</li> hollister Oil gains on demand hopes</li> burberry outlet Sims Metal posts profit jump</li> </ul>

burberry Crisis leaves its mark in the value divide
It reminded Insider, as another day of price carnage hit almost every stock but Foster's, that there are some interesting value gaps opening up amid the volatility.

About a third of yesterday's turnover in the stock came out of Queensland broker Wilson HTM, including one line of just over 2 million shares at 43.5&#162;.

McPherson's published its diversity policy in mid-August, three days later released results in which Lacaze's impending arrival was noted, and yesterday welcomed her on board.

SPRAY IN FASHION

The model, Norwegian Erjana [sic] Ala, 16, a rising star for sure, discovered the SensaSlim spray in her native Norway where it has recently been released hollister, said the article.  'The other girls saw me spray it, and now everyone is wanting it.' 

WELL PLAYED

Unfortunately, the description in that story of a sign backstage about eating before strutting, and an accompanying picture, actually date back to a Givenchy show in 2009 - and a photo of models backstage is from Milan in 2009.

Brewing group SABMiller's decision not to put a sharemarket index detonator clause in its $10.8 billion bid for Foster's suggests that when you get your pricing right, such protections are less relevant.

Insider can only hope that the description is more accurate than the article that appeared this week on a site called pitchengine.com, that purports to describe its presence at the Big Apple's fashion show.

From bottom to now, NAB's market worth is up 54 per cent - which sounds you are talking about a company worth almost $50 billion.

That is certainly better than its sort-of competitor Wotif hollister.com hollister france, which soared from $570 million in 2009 to a $1.7 billion peak last year, but yesterday fell under $800 million in worth.

An ugly global outlook and a dirty sharemarket helped drive Kagara shares down almost 20 per cent to 41&#162;. Less than a fortnight ago they were 60&#162;, which means something like $150 million has been knocked off the company's market value.

The problem is that its three main rivals are almost double their 2009 values, with Westpac the leader on a 94 per cent gain to $57.3 billion. Commonwealth is bigger in dollar terms - $67 billion - but only 89 per cent higher. ANZ, the tiddler of the foursome in the 2009 doldrums at $25.7 billion, is now holding at around $50 billion - bigger than the NAB, which has never surpassed its 2007 peak. See what happens when you break with the pack hollister outlet?

IAG and fellow insurer QBE Insurance have also matched, or bettered, their lows of 2009 thanks to the natural disasters over this year.

If the index is accepted as a benchmark for roughly where stocks ought to be compared to that time, there are some individual shockers which have fallen above and beyond the call hollister, thanks to special circumstances. BlueScope Steel, for example, touched bottom with its market worth put at $2 billion in 2009, but is worth almost half that as it tries to cope with the twin stresses of a carbon-taxed future and the soaring Australian currency.

Insider's snout at Wednesday's presentation of the Kagara plan, held at Chillagoe west of Cairns, reckons that it was broadly well received by investors and brokers, although it was recognised that the near-term was less attractive.

TAKE A LONG VIEW

1) To Chris Harris and the Argo Investments board for leaving no mystery in what went into former managing director Rob Patterson's retirement payout burberry outlet.

The report also reckons that Heidi Klum, Alicia Keys, Emma Roberts, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stacy Ferguson hollister, Kanye West, Kelly Osbourne, Kirsten Dunst and Vanessa Hudgens are queuing up for the stuff.

Dieters, the consumer watchdog and stiffed franchisees will no doubt be pleased to know that SensaSlim has not only reformulated its oral weight-loss spray but was big at the New York fashion week - or so its new marketing says hollister uk.

Day one of base metals miner Kagara's new five-year plan could have worked out a whole lot better for chief Geoff Day.

Apparently SensaSlim, which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has alleged is an enterprise of noted conman Peter Foster hollister milano, has had a breakthrough in the formulation in its intra oral spray that has seen it withdraw SensaSlim Solution from the market and introduce a new product to be marketed as SensaSlim Slimming Spray in a pleasant vanilla flavor.

Whether investors agree or not with the decision, the board has said clearly that it took a decision to reward Patterson's 41 years of service and performance with a $500,000 golden goodbye burberry. The rest of his $628,140 of termination payment was accrued long service leave.

The S&amp;P/ASX 200 index is about 26 per cent above where it bottomed in the darkest days of the global financial crisis in March 2009.

2) To outgoing chairman of McPherson's, Simon Rowell, whose parting gift to his fellow directors has been the appointment of a woman, Amanda Lacaze, to the board.

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Pats on the back time &#8230;

Lastly, National Australia Bank's break with its rivals is now profoundly evident in its market value, as well as its marketing.

IAG is, just, holding the line with its market worth a touch over $6 billion last night, having got down to $5.8 billion back then. QBE, which in 2009 neared $15 billion, fell through that barrier last month and has kept on going. Yesterday, it finished at $13.2 billion, compared with its peak of $30.4 billion in 2007.

Flight Centre has been counter-cyclical, inspired by the rush of currency-enriched Australians to ticket counters. Having stepped down from $3.2 billion to a horrific capitalisation low of $342 million, it is now $1.7 billion. Related articles:  hollister uk Time to come clean on public-private finances</li> hollister Watchdog 'dropped the ball' on St George takeover</li> burberry Moody's upgrades FMG on better finances</li> </ul>

burberry A sound, multi-speed result Kelly
Home owners were responsible for much of that growth, having borrowed an extra $18 billion,hollister france. But a fair chunk of that was cancelled out by a $6 billion reduction in loans taken out by the business sector,burberry outlet.

Yes,isabel marant, it was a solid profit (which had analysts upgrading their full-year earnings forecasts by a tick) and yes, every one of its five divisions turned in increased contributions for the first time since late 2007 when the global financial crisis began to rage,hollister milano.

But for manufacturers, tourism operators, education providers whose customers are overseas students and many retailers,hollister, that is not the case.

Shareholders too would be applauding the higher-than-expected interim dividend of 76&#162; and while the bank's return on equity at 16.5 per cent was well shy of last decade's glory days of the mid-20s, that too is heading upwards again.

It has yet to pick up in any significant way and it seems that a return to solid growth will have to wait until the end of this calendar year.

Business credit is the real story of the present state of bank profitability and therefore the overall health of the economy.

For those companies and people dependent on the resources sector or who happen to be on the importing side of the strong Australian dollar,hollister uk, life is good.

AMID all the upbeat gloss that was put on a sound result by Gail Kelly yesterday, the Westpac chief executive was sensible enough to temper some of her optimism with a healthy dose of realism.

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This was reflected in Westpac's lending figures,hollister. On a year-on-year basis since last March, net lending increased by $10 billion - a rise of just 2 per cent.

Nonetheless, the bank is a long way from crying poor and as well as producing a sound result this was also another record.

But that doesn't mean the bank is firing on all cylinders. Yesterday's result was as good a reflection of the state of corporate Australia that you will find given that we are now living in what Mrs Kelly described as a multi-speed economy,burberry.

Consumers are in savings mode, says Mrs Kelly, saving 10&#162; in every dollar earned as opposed to pre-crisis days when they spent five to 10&#162; more than the dollar in their pockets.

That is an indication of just how cautious business - and by extension consumers - are,hollister sale. Everyone is waiting to see how the next stage of economic recovery plays out,hollister, one that includes expectations of a further interest rate rise.

Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister france Australian stocks finish flat</li> <li>hollister france Solve a mystery time to review the foreign</li> <li>hollister milano Flood damage grows for coal industry</li> </ul>

hollister Two-strikes policy hits home
Clive Hall,hollister france, GUD Holdings chairman. Photo: Rebecca Hallas

Transurban has topped the list, the toll-road operator averaging a 55 per cent no vote against its executive pay report over three years. Transurban is scheduled to hold its annual meeting on Tuesday,hollister.

If a simple majority of votes favour a spill, then a fresh election of all directors must occur within 90 days.

Rules introduced by the federal government in July make it tougher for companies to ignore protest votes,burberry. Under the two-strikes rule, if a company receives more than a 25 per cent no vote against a remuneration report at two consecutive annual meetings, then shareholders must vote on a board spill.

SOME of the country's most powerful investors have put corporate Australia on notice to respond to any protest vote against excessive executive pay or face a boardroom overhaul.

Our members expect executives to be paid for performance, said ACSI chief executive Ann Byrne. They expect there to be stretch hurdles for both short-term and long-term bonus payments.

JPMorgan analyst Gerry Sherriff said the rules would lead to an overhaul of executive pay.

ACSI represents investment mandates of about $300 billion.

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors said companies needed to revisit remuneration structures if they were hit with protest votes.

The warning came as homewares maker GUD Holdings yesterday became the first company to be hit with a protest vote under the tough new two-strikes rule on executive pay, giving the company a year to appease shareholders,hollister milano.

Nearly 42 per cent of GUD shareholders voted against the remuneration report,hollister, which last year gave chief executive Ian Campbell a 33 per cent pay increase to $2.23 million over the past year even as profits fell 14 per cent.

Challenger, which does not hold its meeting until next month, has received the highest single protest vote among big companies, with nearly 70 per cent of shareholders against the remuneration report last year. A further 10 companies, including Rio Tinto,hollister, Qantas and Downer EDI, remain on watchlists after receiving two strikes against their executive remuneration reports since 2008,isabel marant.

The two-strikes rule puts greater scrutiny on boards to devise executive remuneration structures better aligned with the performance of the company, Mr Sherriff said.

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The policy has been bitterly opposed by company directors, and former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus last week stoked more controversy, telling investors to sell their shares if they objected to executive pay,hollister.

GUD chairman Clive Hall was forced to defend his management team during the annual meeting,hollister uk, arguing the maker of Sunbeam appliances had delivered superior shareholder returns over the long term,hollister.

A list of Australia's worst performers on executive pay emerged yesterday, with three companies - Cabcharge, Challenger Financial and Transurban - receiving a strike that relates to a protest vote of more than 25 per cent against their remuneration reports in each of the past three years. Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister sale Liquidators in dark over $250m black hole</li> <li>hollister outlet Centro plans debt-equity swap</li> <li>hollister uk Banker so long on the road that he's</li> </ul>

burberry borse Elders slashes profit forecast
AGRIBUSINESS conglomerate Elders has slashed about $7 million off its full-year profit forecast after posting a $14.6 million loss for the first half,hollister.

A boost to underlying earnings from Elders' rural services division and cost cuts offset reduced earnings for its forestry and automotive divisions.

The company's reported loss for the six months to March 31 was narrower than the loss of $165.9 million in the previous corresponding period,burberry borse.

Natural forces: Elders blamed seasonal conditions - and the rising Australian dollar - for its reduced earnings. Photo: Robert Garvey

He said Elders' core business was in good shape.

Elders did not declare an interim dividend.

With AAP

The company's automotive arm was under pressure from falling motor vehicle build levels and the rising Australian dollar,hollister france. Meanwhile, its forestry operations faced softer-than-anticipated wood-fibre demand, following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and uncertainty created by high exchange rates and continuing woodchip price negotiations with Japanese buyers,burberry outlet.

Chief executive Malcolm Jackman expected a customary increase in second-half earnings and sales but said those estimates were being moderated as headwinds increase in a number of business areas,hollister.

Seasonal conditions in most areas of Australia were the most promising for many years, he said,hollister, but dry conditions prevailed in Western Australia, about 20 per cent of Elders' market.

Sales and demand for farm supplies was healthy, but competitive, Mr Jackman said.

Citigroup analyst Tim Mitchell said the fall in Elders' share price was justified.

Excluding one-off items, first-half underlying profit was $1 million, up from a loss of $2.4 million a year earlier.

''The business is definitely in a better position than what it was this time last year,hollister; conditions are better and these conditions should last for a number of years,hollister. We just hope the Australian dollar goes down and their negotiations with woodchip pricing are all right.''

''People have had to be patient in this stock for a long while and now they [Elders] are trying to get them to hold off for another year. It's a hard thing to ask many disappointed shareholders - you need another year and you'll have to have faith for at least another six months,'' Mr Mitchell said,hollister.

Livestock supply volumes were still tightening, which would affect Elders' business,hollister france, he said.

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Elders' shares plummeted yesterday after it announced that a rising Australian dollar and unseasonably wet weather had eroded previous profit guidance of $15 million to $30 million. Shares slid 9.09 per cent to 45 cents against a broader market decline of 1.88 per cent.

The result included impairments to recognise damage to its forestry plantation from cyclone Yasi, the write-off of the carrying value of Elders' shareholding in HiFert, and the sale from the divested shareholding in Rural Bank.

Related articles: <ul> <li>burberry outlet High labour costs impeding resource projects, says KBR</li> <li>hollister Europes beleaguered banks could push ou</li> <li>burberry borse Amcor boxes on after Alcan deal</li> </ul>

hollister france Budget report card not so bad
,burberry outlet Low Australian government bond rates have produced a new $6.5 billion non-cash deficit that will be reversed when the benchmark bond rate used to calculate future superannuation liabilities rises again.

Myer's chief executive Bernie Brookes said today that he saw no signs that the consumer spending strike was easing materially. And the pressure on Victoria from a high dollar and relatively high interest rates is set to continue as the Reserve Bank focuses on containing inflation flowing from the nation's resources boom.

The government says that the December-half results - a $341 million deficit for the government and an $810 million deficit for the state as a whole - are an "imperfect guide" to the full-year result, because revenue including Commonwealth grants for specific projects will flow more heavily between now and June 30,hollister.

But it would be a cost-benefit exercise: more stimulus would also boost growth,hollister france, pulling receipts back up. And the government could justify it by noting that while it aims to run surpluses through the normal economic cycle, things are not normal right now.

Consumer strike

A response to the structural pressure the resources boom is generating is also needed.

It says however that receipts softened in the December half as the housing boom cooled, household consumption remained weak, and as the strong Australian dollar continued to affect the competitiveness and profitability of Victorian manufacturers.

Tight enough to raise questions about whether a triple-A credit rating is really the holy grail given the structural pressure that the Victorian economy is under,hollister.

The Victorian government's half-year budget report card is not as bad as it looks at first glance.

The strategy was set to retain the State's triple-A rating, the government said, adding that it was "the cornerstone of the Government's agenda to build confidence,isabel marant, boost growth and improve productivity across the Victorian economy,hollister france."

An increase in spending, on infrastructure projects that provide jobs and activity in the short term and a boost to productivity in the longer term,hollister, would see Victoria's debt levels rise. And that could pressure the State's credit rating.

It has not changed the predictions it made in December before the half year was ruled off for theBudget revenue, and an overall budget surplus of $147 million in the year to June,hollister.

This year's surplus is contingent on the State not losing more economic momentum between now and June 30, however. That is far from assured,hollister, and in that respect, the downturn is creating a policy vice.

If the state's revenue base continues to shrink the government will need to find more savings, as it did last December to keep the budget in surplus,isabel marant sneakers, as it plans. That would subtract growth from an economy that is already in danger of stalling.

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The Victorian government says the pressures reinforce the need for sound economic management - management is believes should deliver consistent surpluses that rein-in debt and also generate funds for infrastructure spending that would otherwise need to be borrowed.

The state's accounts are tight, though. Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister Asciano closer to a corporate restructure to appeal to investors</li> <li>isabel marant Calendar of corporate earnings repor</li> <li>hollister france A bull story</li> </ul>

hollister Market sinks sharply on China, EU fears
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 54.4 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 4,589.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 54.9 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 4,676.9 points.

"Shanghai was down hard today, currently 2.6 per cent, and Hong Kong has led us down as well,hollister," he said.

"There is a concern in the market that although there was no interest rate rise on Friday, there may be one coming soon,burberry borse," Mr McCarthy said in reference to monetary tightening in China.

City Index Asia Pacific head of dealing Michael McCarthy said the market's fall was driven also by losses on Asian markets, concerned about tightening moves by Chinese authorities.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was US$1359,hollister sale.35 per ounce, down US$2.38 cents from Monday's close of $US1,361.73 per ounce.

AAP

Harvey Norman fell seven cents to $3.04 as chairman Gerry Harvey said the federal government should tax products bought from overseas-based online retailers.

Pike River Coal says work evaluating the effect of Friday's blast at its West Coast mine in New Zealand is "down the line" as it focuses on finding its 29 missing miners.

Commonwealth lost 55 cents, or 1.13 per cent, to $48.18, while Westpac fell 41 cents, or 1.89 per cent,hollister, to $21.31.

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The telco was the most heavily traded stock by value, with 172.58 million shares changing hands for $468.73 million.

Shares in NZ Oil and Gas fell 23 cents to 69 cents, while shares in Pike River Coal remain suspended from trading, last trading at 61 cents.

On the ASX24, the December share price index futures contract was 61 points lower at 4,604 points, with 28,055 contracts traded.

Grocery and hardware wholesaler Metcash was steady at $4.37 after saying it intends to pursue its takeover of Franklins, despite the opposition of the competition regulator,hollister.

Industrials, consumer-related stocks and normally defensive healthcare stocks all dropped away, some reversing earlier gains.

Telstra was the standout performer among the ASX100, adding nine cents, or 3.4 per cent, to $2.74,isabel marant sneakers.

National Australia Bank was down 44 cents, or 1.83 per cent, at $23.56 and ANZ Banking Group lost 14 cents to $22.34.

Newcrest Mining lost 49 cents, or 1.23 per cent, to $39.41.

Among the major miners, BHP Billiton lost 74 cents, or 1.69 per cent, to $43.14 and Rio Tinto fell $1.19, or 1.4 per cent, to $83.53.

"The People's Bank of China has shown a willingness to act quickly."

Among the retailers, Myer was down seven cents at $3.74 after announcing organisational changes to support its move into a "growth phase".

Fortescue Metals, which was before the Federal Court in Perth on Tuesday in a case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, was down 22 cents, or 3,hollister france.32 per cent, at $6.40.

Locally, the big four banks also contributed to the falling index.

Market turnover was 3.08 billion shares worth $5,burberry outlet.79 billion, with 371 up,isabel marant, 756 down and 385 unchanged.

New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd, Pike River Coal's major shareholder, lost 25 per cent after it resumed trading on Tuesday.

"The other evidence is that resource stocks have been particularly hard hit,hollister france."

The losses occurred across the board with only five out of the ASX top 50 stocks finishing higher.

The Australian share market sank more than one per cent on fresh concerns over European sovereign debt and China's fiscal tightening on a day with few domestic economic indicators. Related articles: <ul> <li>burberry outlet Aust stocks resilient amid Mideast strife</li> <li>hollister Post-Christmas sales cheer retailers</li> <li>hollister NAB profit soars</li> </ul>

hollister Headlines you may see in 2012
It's that time of the year,hollister. The Christmas Parties are underway and this year a lot of them are in the pub rather than the Ritz. It hasn&#8217;t been a good one.

That&#8217;s all I got before the beer ran out. Should be a good one then! Marcus Padley is a stockbroker with Patersons Securities&#160;and the author of stockmarket newsletter Marcus Today,abercrombie. For a free trial go to marcustoday.com.au - His views do not necessarily reflect the views of Patersons.

Seems they have contingency plans for two 2012s - two scenarios already typeset: &#8220;Bear Market&#8221; and &#8220;End of the World&#8221;. The headlines will include:

It wasn&#8217;t easy, I couldn&#8217;t find the headset (how do they dictate commands,hollister france?) and after touching the screen a few times realised they were still using keyboards. After a 13 minute boot up I quickly refreshed myself on MS-DOS and typed in C:\&gt;DIR *2012_businessheadlines*.doc.

ANZ raises interest rates 100bp at monthly monetary policy meeting. Declares interest rate settings &#8220;appropriate for our shareholders&#8221; and &#8220,hollister;profit margins within target band&#8221; RBA closed. Glenn Stevens joins Macquarie Westfield charges Retailers $10,000 per square megabyte on New Westfield Virtualand website Gerry Harvey declares the internet a &#8216;fad&#8217; Mercedes Benz prices jump 218% on euro break up. German exports fall 98% Greek Drachma jumps 14% to 0.0002374 Deutschmarks as faceless EU plant retires from post as Greek Prime Minister aged 45 on seven eighths of his final two years salary plus benefits German taxi driver earns 10 times as much as new Greek PM Rogue Trader at Goldman Sachs makes $US100bn profit shorting euro. Joins Cramer&#8217;s White House Administration as US Treasury Secretary Berlusconi releases second Love Song CD &#8220;Don&#8217;t cry for me Angela Merkel, you know the truth is, I never loved you. All through my wild days, my mad existence, I knew the euro, wouldn&#8217;t go the distance&#8221; Packer buys Channel Nine off private equity for a peppercorn. Launches World Series Cricket initiative saying we have always been a TV Channel at heart Stokes reverses Seven West Media into the National Bank. NAB share price falls 50%. Blames it on the turmoil in global markets,louboutin. Announces debt refinancing ASIC finally regulates CFD providers after the World&#8217;s largest market making CFD provider&#8217;s CEO, a 23 year-old computer programmer from Timbuktu, declares $6.4bn of customer money is his because its in his bank account. Supreme Court ruling agrees At a Senate Committee investigation the same CEO confesses that charging brokerage on CFD trades let alone charging punitive overnight interest rates on both sides of notional outstanding CFD exposures that were matched off,louboutin pas cher, never actually hedged and didn&#8217;t actually exist has been the biggest financial prank since his Philippines Gold Bullion scam Kathmandu and Starbucks confess Occupy Wall St initiative was their idea China reduces reserve requirements for Chinese banks after property development collapse. Announces QE4 to fund bailouts Chinese Senate enquiry condemns US for artificially supporting $US Marius Kloppers reaffirms &#8220;the long term demand outlook for commodity volumes is good but I never said anything about price&#8221; Iron-ore price jumps to pre resources boom peak of $20 per ton BHP rejects approach from Hanlong Mining Bluescope Steel launches renounceable 4 for 5 rights issue at 5c, a 50% discount to the market price whilst AGM resolution passes $3.1m in executive bonuses. Share price falls to 4c Wal King doesn&#8217;t leave job and doesn&#8217;t receive $29m Leighton Holdings doesn&#8217,hollister;t sack CEO after eight months and he doesn&#8217;t get $7m Qantas nationalised. Public servant appointed as CEO on $38,000 still manages to run company at a loss House prices fall for 24th month on-the-trot as mortgage rates hit 0-0.25% $50bn Telstra Notes III issue oversubscribed at yield of swap rate plus 0.01% Credit ratings agency downgrades Standard &amp; Poors, Moodys and Fitch to D minus Australian Government recommits to revised Budget Surplus of 23c in 2068 Julia Gillard imposes the Banks Are Spiteful Thoughtless And Really Despicable Scalawags Tax, otherwise known as the complete BASTARDS Tax. Banks still report record profits again and share prices still go down Gillard approval rating rises from 3 to 4,abercrombie france. Joe Hockey rating at 41. Karl Stefanovic at 55 Advertisement

And so it is that I wandered up to the editorial floor yesterday for a &#8220;free drink on the desk&#8221; and whilst the Business section was distracted by my case of European beer, a change up from VB,isabel marant sneakers, I conducted my annual hack into their computers,isabel marant. Related articles: <ul> <li>isabel marant Air NZ denies buying Virgin shares</li> <li>air jordan Stocks to watch June 15</li> <li>hollister Santos reports increased reserves</li> </ul>

hollister france Telstra split approval clears way for NBN
&#8216;&#8216;This SSU has been the subject of extensive consultation and public discussion. The ACCC acknowledges contributions from industry, as well as the preparedness of Telstra and NBN Co to modify the undertaking in response to legitimate concerns.&#8217;&#8217;

&#8216,hollister france;&#8216,hollister;The ACCC's acceptance of Telstra's undertaking marks a significant milestone in the structural reform of the telecommunications sector,&#8217;&#8217; ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard today claimed the structural separation of Telstra as a major achievement for her government, saying it was a long-held Labor ambition for reform of the communications sector.&#160;

Follow the National Times on Twitter: @NationalTimesAU

cyeates@smh.com,louboutin.au

This is an important development to those Australians and NBN is vital to our future competitive ability as a nation, she said.

Ms Gillard said by the end of this year the NBN would reach 750,000 Australians, either as a completed network or with work under way.

It comes after Telstra yesterday said it would charge between $80 a month to $150 a month to use its national broadband network services.

In return, the government and NBN Co will pay Telstra shareholders $11 billion. Critics of&#160; the NBN, including opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull, have attacked the deal as damaging to competition in telecommunications,hollister.

Under the arrangement, Telstra will gradually shut down its copper wire network over the next decade, moving its customer base of almost 10 million to the NBN,abercrombie france.

It will also share its infrastructure with the government-owned NBN Co, allowing the network to be rolled out faster and more cheaply,abercrombie milano.

After last year raising &#8216;&#8216;serious&#8217;&#8217; concerns about the deal, ACCC chairman Rod Sims this morning said Telstra had made &#8216;&#8216,air jordan;substantial&#8217;&#8217; improvements to the plan, known as a structural separation undertaking,hollister.

The $36 billion national broadband network has cleared its last big hurdle, after Telstra&#8217;s plan to split itself in two was approved by the competition watchdog.

- with Jessica Wright

The decision entrenches the structural separation of Telstra &#8211; and paves the way for the NBN to increase its customer numbers sharply as the roll-out continues. The government says splitting Telstra will also temper its market dominance, boosting competition and delivering lower prices to consumers.

Ms Gillard said the go-head cleared the way for the rollout of the national broadband network.

In an upbeat press conference, Ms Gillard repeatedly asked a laughing Senator Conroy to refrain from using acronyms and technical references&#160; &#8212; a task he failed woefully.

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She was joined at the announcment by a clearly ebullient Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy,abercrombie, who said the ACCC's approval for the separation of the telco was the holy grail of his portfolio,hollister.

There can be genuine competition in telecommunications from today on, Ms Gillard said. We now have the funding, the legislation and the regulatory approval we need for the rollout of the national broadband network.

The plan will see Telstra gradually shift its customers onto Labor&#8217;s new high-speed network. Telstra shares rose 5.5 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $3.285 in mid-morning trade. Related articles: <ul> <li>Mining boom fuels wages surge</li> <li>abercrombie State-owned generators for sale</li> <li>hollister Auctions slip in popularity</li> </ul>

isabel marant Rich in irony, but a few just got poorer
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,isabel marant And it has taken the share prices of the big miners with them. Estimates put the damage to the net worth of Australia's two richest people, Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest, at $5,hollister.6 billion.

Since the beginning of the financial year,air jordan, iron ore prices have fallen by about $US45 ($43) a tonne, to about $US90 a tonne.

Fortescue Metals shares hit a recent peak of $5,hollister.05 in early July, and had slumped to $3.59 by close yesterday,hollister sale, despite a $39 million buying spree by Mr Forrest over the past two days aimed at demonstrating support for the company,abercrombie milano.

THE August iron ore price meltdown has slashed the estimated worth of Australia's two richest people by more than $5.5 billion.

That's enough to cover the $12,700 annual payments for 323,000 dole recipients for a year,hollister.

Since early July, almost $1.5 billion has been wiped off the value of Mr Forrest's holding in Fortescue, as analysts cast doubt on its ability to repay debt if lower iron ore prices continue. Based on analysis of Mrs Rinehart's operating iron ore portfolio,louboutin pas cher, it could well have plunged more than $4,louboutin.1 billion in the same period,hollister.

It also comes after Mrs Rinehart on Wednesday said that those jealous of the wealthy should cut down on drinking, smoking and socialising. WEST AUSTRALIAN

Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister Stocks dip as profit-reporting season lo</li> <li>hollister sale Wesfarmers plays good cop, bad cop as brokers hunt for clues</li> <li>They're having a lend of us</li> </ul>

hollister ACCC's argument weakened
According to Rinehart, her reason for making the investment in Ten was for the national interest. Our company group is interested in making an investment towards the media business given its importance to the nation's future and has selected Channel 10 for this investment, she said.

Samuel's concern was that Packer might have purchased 18 per cent of Ten but if he was acting in concert with three other shareholders on the Ten share register - WIN TV's Bruce Gordon,abercrombie, fund manager Perpetual and Paradice Investments - then his actual control was far greater.

With Perpetual now replaced by Rinehart, who has no links to the media, the ACCC's argument has been substantially weakened.

In the case of Packer and Rinehart, spending a few hundred million dollars on Ten Network has given them huge bang for their buck in terms of public attention.

The ACCC is conducting its review of Ten on the hypothetical assumption a combination of shareholders might vote together to control Ten and what they then might do together that could lead to changes in government and company strategy that could effect competition.

Since March last year, when Ten launched the first digital TV station, followed by Seven and Nine, digital TV stations have become significant players in their own right. And with the anti-siphoning rules set to change,abercrombie france, it could be an even bigger boon for Ten,hollister, which has a digital network that focuses entirely on sport.

Fellow columnist Stuart Washington has been writing about risky derivatives for more than a year and writes today about a "risk surveillance" of industry practices that ASIC will release next year.

Unlike the others, Rinehart has no previous exposure to the media but she would recall her father Lang Hancock's foray in the 1970s when he opened the Sunday Independent in Perth.

While Perpetual,hollister france, which is generally considered a canny investor, opted to take the money and run, selling most of its remaining 7.5 per cent stake at an average price of $1,hollister france.65, four of Australia's richest people - Packer, Rinehart (pictured), Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon - think otherwise.

FUND manager Perpetual has been a master player in the revolving share register of Ten Network in the past month,hollister uk. After selling a stake to billionaire James Packer to get the game going,abercrombie milano, Perpetual was also behind the shock emergence of Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart.

&#160;

The upshot is spending less than $200 million on a 10 per cent stake in Ten is short change designed to give her acceptance rather than influence.

And while she is a fiercely private person, she would have got a taste for the power of the media this year when she joined a successful media-driven mining industry campaign that got rid of the mining tax and ousted prime minister Kevin Rudd.

With this in mind the ACCC sent letters to various parties and has asked them to communicate to the ACCC what they are doing. This was extended to Murdoch.

A WEEK after banning ads on prime-time TV, ASIC has continued to put the heat on contracts for difference (CFD) providers by issuing a 45-page guide for investors setting out the dangers of trading CFDs.

Samuel told BusinessDay last month that the ACCC was interested in the flow-on consequences of Packer taking an 18 per cent stake in Ten, rather than his actual shareholding. "It is controlling influence over a company's affairs that's far more important,'' he said.

On this basis, the ACCC said it would look at the impact of the purchases of content, the supply of content and advertising. If it found a substantial lessening of competition from the arrival of Packer and his hypothetical takeover of Ten, it has the power to either ask a court to order the sale of the shares under section 50 of the Trade Practices Act or take court orders to stop certain transactions taking place.

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The truth is, if she wanted influence she would buy 20 per cent of West Australian Newspapers and have a lot of influence in Perth.

Their sudden interest in Ten is part of a renaissance in the television industry, brought about by digital TV stations, which are making at least $2 million a month, have low costs and aren't shackled by the Australian content requirements,hollister. This means they can run what they like, when they like,abercrombie, and for a fraction of the price.

ASIC gave a detailed assessment of significant risks from the market maker business model used by some of the biggest CFD providers. It warned market makers quoted their own prices that may or may not diverge significantly from the market price of the underlying asset.

It also warned that,hollister, depending on market maker hedging policies, the CFD provider may directly benefit if you lose on your trade.

For Packer and Murdoch it also reduces the ACCC's formal examination of their move on to the Ten register. ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel is examining the effect on competition following Packer's recent share raid on the television network and news of Murdoch's appointment to the Ten board.

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hollister france Lowy scrubs up, gives question the brush
Many of our activities are subcontracted to the various trades that specialise in their field, explained Lowy.

In a repeat of last year's meeting, Lowy was again grilled on the low wages paid to cleaning staff and the allegedly low levels of cleanliness at the group's centres.

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy scrubs up.

In non-academic surroundings, these alarm bells are often detected with the use of instruments called bullshit detectors.

Barbarians at the mates

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They included a shift from first person singular pronouns (I, me,hollister, mine) to plural pronouns (we, us, ours) and to a dominant positive tone. There was also a tendency to use positive emotion words and a reluctance to use numerical terms,abercrombie france.

FORMER Allco boss David Coe and his fellow director Gordon Fell have failed in their attempt to stop the transcripts of examinations undertaken by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission being handed over to the receivers of the company, to be used in a possible civil action.

The New South Wales Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the receivers, Ferrier Hodgson, could obtain the transcripts in relation to the public examination of Allco's controversial scrip and $64 million purchase of the real estate firm partly owned by Coe and Fell, Rubicon.

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The women, who announced they were from the group La Barbe Australia, said they were there to 'congratulate' the 'beard dominated' mining industry for its exclusion of women, its active resistance to measures designed to combat climate change, and its persistent lobbying against the carbon tax, said the statement.

''The fact is that we at Westfield don't really know how to clean a shopping centre. We don't have that capacity,'' he said, noting that he also did not even know how to erect scaffolding,hollister.

Got a tip,hollister? srochfort@fairfax.com,hollister.au

Melbourne Mining Club committee member and EL &amp; C Baillieu broker Richard Morrow was presented with a fake beard at the function. La Barbe explained the prestigious golden beard was awarded for outstanding services to the patriarchy.

When contacted by CBD, La Barbe organiser Ms Beard (aka Casey Jenkins) said it was only of minor concern that the mining industry's richest person (Gina Rinehart) was a woman.

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Lowy said he felt the question on low-paid cleaning staff really belonged to the cleaning industry,hollister, the people that provide the services to us.

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Transcript bid fails

The University of Victoria (aka Footscray) yesterday released the findings of a study that found the tone and choice of words in financial reports could signal whether a company was being deceptive.

''We've got a freak occurrence in Gina. But, of course, we've got to keep an eye on it,'' said Ms Beard.

Long live the France of our fathers, long live La Barbe,hollister france! they yelled.

The word on the dodge

CLEANING and security are not the only things that Westfield likes to subcontract. At the shopping centre group's annual meeting yesterday, non-executive chairman Frank Lowy appeared keen to outsource at least one reply to a prickly question,air jordan.

It was only later in the evening that the quintet explained their motivations via a statement sent to news outlets.

MOVE aside, Occupy Wall and Swanston streets and Martin Place. Another (slightly more ironic) protest movement has reached Australian shores.

APPARENTLY there is a nifty way to work out whether a chief executive is being slightly dodgy in his or her conduct.

The mostly male attendees at a Melbourne Mining Club function on Tuesday night were startled when a group of five women with fake beards hijacked the meeting, some of them holding signs saying, Congratulations Mining Beards.

But this time around, the billionaire did not think he was qualified enough to fully answer the question, aside from noting that his centres were indeed as clean as they could be.

It was the first action by La Barbe in Australia,hollister uk. The feminist satirical protest group, which started in France in 2008, has also staged actions in Mexico and Denmark.

The study focused on the Indian IT company Satyam, which collapsed after chairman Ramalinga Raju confessed to playing around with about $1 billion worth of numbers.

The best-known action by La Barbe so far was when six fake-bearded women took the podium of the French senate chamber on National French Heritage Day.

Apparently there were several linguistic alarm bells in the five Satyam annual reports before the company's collapse,louboutin pas cher.

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hollister Double rate cut tipped for September
Westpac broke ranks with other major Australian banks last month by predicting rate cuts by the end of the year, and a total of four by the end of 2012,hollister uk. ANZ, for instance, forecast the RBA would lift rates at its board meeting last Tuesday.

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"A survey last Friday showed [most economists] expect no change at the September meeting. The RBA also signalled on Friday that a rate rise at some point was more likely than a cut. They refused to endorse market pricing for rate cuts in their forecasting assumptions,hollister france," he said.

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But the RBA said measures that better indicate the trend in inflation had "begun to rise over the past six months after declining for the previous two years",louboutin pas cher.

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In recent comments on interest rates, the RBA board has stuck with its cautionary language. The bank said that the "current mildly restrictive stance of monetary policy [was] appropriate", and that although "year-end inflation was high",hollister, it was most likely caused by "extreme weather events earlier in the year".

Bank liquidity rules watered down

Soft job ads point to rates cuts

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Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe was less confident of a rate cut, saying there was "a bit of divergence" between interest rate futures and other views on rate moves.

"While they have, to date, remained consistent with the 2&#8211;3 per cent target on a year-ended basis, the board remains concerned about the medium-term outlook for inflation," the RBA said last week.

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Economising Greeks burn wood for fuel

RBA view

Prospective home buyers and those with variable mortgages will be hoping financial markets are right in predicting the RBA will cut rates soon.

US banks to pay $8,hollister.5b for foreclosure abuse

The prospect of lower interest rates may help shore up the real estate market in Australian capitals. The auction clearance rate remained steady in Sydney and Melbourne over the past weekend, at 56,hollister.2 per cent and 58.1 per cent, respectively.

Boeing Dreamliner aborts takeoff after fuel leak

Business Day reporter Chris Zappone examines the drop in job advertisements and how it may affect Australian households,air jordan.

With Chris Zappone, BusinessDay

After global shares sustained $2.5 trillion losses last week and US government had its credit rating cut by Standard &amp; Poor's late on Friday (US time), investors are now pricing in a 50 basis point cut by the Reserve Bank as a three-in-four chance when its board meets on September 6, according to Credit Suisse data.

Investors this afternoon were betting that the RBA will lower rates,louboutin, with the equivalent of two typical moves of 25 basis points likely to be wrapped into the one meeting in September. In a year's time,abercrombie france, the cut may be almost triple the size, with markets tipping the RBA's cash rate will be slashed 1.25 percentage points to 3.5 per cent - not far above the 3 per cent 50-year low reached during the depths of the global recession in April 2009,hollister.

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"During the GFC, it was very willing and able to cut rates aggressively when things deteriorated," he told BusinessDay. "If it continues to get worse, they could well pull the trigger."

The clouds of economic gloom gathering over the US and Europe could have a silver lining for Australian borrowers - a double rate cut is now predicted for next month.

In early trading today, local shares had shed another $27 billion in value - before a modest bounce - adding to the $100 billion lost last week.

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While a rate cut might cheer borrowers, it would only come if the RBA took a very dim view of Australia's immediate growth prospects. A global tilt back into recession would likely mean rising unemployment and tumbling commodity prices - reversing two of the main reasons Australia managed to dodge a recession in the 2008-09 period.

Shares hit high note but euro doubts remain

A move of that size would lop the official cash rate from 4,hollister.75 per cent down to 4.25 per cent and save the holder of a $300,000 mortgage about $93 a month if passed on in full by the commercial lenders.

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Russell Jones, Westpac's global head of interest rate strategy, said Europe's debt woes and developments in the US including the country's first-ever debt downgrade, would be on the RBA's radar.

Mr Blythe said that while the odds had shifted towards a cut in the last few days, a move downward was still "a long way off".

Until a little over a week ago, most commentators had been tipping the next rates move by the central bank to be an increase following sharply higher inflation figures in the June quarter,hollister france. That sentiment took a 180-degree turn during last week's global sharemarket rout, a slide that looks like continuing into this week. Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister $A closes higher after equities rally</li> <li>louboutin pas cher Amcor to raise $US850m</li> <li>hollister france RBA should show caution on rates ACCI</li> </ul>

louboutin pas cher Westpac sets high target for growth
The latest result was driven by a stronger-than-expected second-half profit of $3.4 billion,louboutin pas cher. Although analysts noted this was boosted by

Even after axing thousands of jobs across the bank over the past few years, Mrs Kelly said further job losses were likely as Westpac seeks to improve efficiency. Westpac axed the equivalent of 2037 full-time roles over the past 12 months. I expect overall the numbers of staff to reduce next year,abercrombie france, but probably not at quite the rate we had over the last few years, she said.

WESTPAC chief Gail Kelly declared she is prepared to draw a line in the sand over the the bank's profitability, saying the lender will be prepared to forgo lower-returning business for areas of faster growth.

some $225 million in one-off items including higher treasury income and funds management fees,abercrombie.

We're directing our effort and energy where we believe we can get the best returns.

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Mrs Kelly said yesterday she was unwilling to let the bank's profitability fall back to the levels seen in the midst of the global financial crisis, with a key profit measure - return on equity - to remain above the critical 15 per cent mark.

There is evidence that Westpac's strategy is working well, Deutsche Bank analyst James Freeman said,hollister.

Even with Mrs Kelly's promise,abercrombie milano, return on equity came in at 15.5 per cent, falling from 16 per cent over the past year. While this measure is ahead of many of its rivals, it is still some way behind bigger rival Commonwealth Bank's 18.6 per cent,air jordan.

This will see Westpac making more aggressive moves into areas such as attracting retail deposits, superannuation and trade finance.

We've put a line in the sand about making sure we maintain our [return on equity], Mrs Kelly said.

Westpac's headline profit of $5.97 billion was down 15 per cent on the same period last year. However,hollister france, the previous year's result had been inflated by a one-off $1.11 billion tax credit as a result of a benefit from the merger with St George Bank,hollister.

It will also lend more to faster-growing industries such as natural resources and the healthcare sector. However,abercrombie, this may come at a cost to customers in the case of those industries that are struggling under a higher dollar, or face a subdued outlook.

Westpac declared a fully franked final dividend of 84&#162; a share, in line with expectations. This took the full-year dividend to $1.66 a share which is up 6 per cent on the last year.

The comments came as Westpac delivered a 5 per cent lift in full-year cash profit to $6.6 billion,hollister, buoyed by a revitalised retail banking arm, tighter costs and a boost in markets-related trading income.

The latest result rounds off the big bank reporting season, with profit growth among the big four running at the slowest rate for some time. Combined full-year cash profits for the four major banks of $25.2 billion,hollister france, was up 4 per cent from the previous year. CBA was the standout with a bumper $7.1 billion profit,hollister uk, while rival NAB's $5.4 billion profit was weighed down by its UK business.

Westpac's flagship retail and business banking arm powered the latest result with profit up 14 per cent over the year as profit margins improved. At the same time there were signs of a recovery in flat first-half performance for both Westpac's St George Bank and its BT Wealth arm.

Mrs Kelly said it was a lineball call on whether the Reserve Bank cuts rates today.

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louboutin Consumers lose confidence ahead of rate rises
Even with the retreat, though, the index remains 36 per cent higher than a year ago, and 2,hollister uk.9 per cent above its reading for last December 2009,abercrombie, Westpac said,hollister.

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"RBA Board members were last week unsure how households were reacting to the rise in borrowing costs late last year,abercrombie," said JP Morgans economist Helen Kevans. "Indeed, this caution has been justified by today's consumer confidence numbers, on top of the sub-par retail sales report on Friday which also showed an unexpected decline." &nbsp,air jordan; "The 75 basis points of tightening delivered in the fourth quarter and the decision in December by several commercial banks to out-hike the RBA have clearly started to bite."

Update Consumer confidence dropped in February for the third month in the past four,hollister, as worries about rising interest rates began to sink in with households.

Rising rates remain on the cards,hollister france, after RBA Governor Glenn Stevens spoke at length about central banks lifting rates to ward off asset bubbles,abercrombie milano, with Australian property prices viewed by some as a likely area of concern.

The Westpac/Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment Index eased by 2.6 per cent in February to 117 index points after rising to 120,hollister.1 in January.

One-in-four chance

That view is echoed in the markets, with investors betting interest rates will be 4.75 per cent within 12 months, Credit Suisse said,louboutin.

About 60 per cent of consumers polled in the survey said rates would climb by 1 full percentage point within a year.

The Reserve Bank surprised pundits by keeping interest rates on hold at 3.75 per cent this month, after three successive 25 basis point hikes at the end of 2009.

Currently the market rates the probability of an official rate rise of 25 basis point rise in March at just over a one-in-four chance, according to Credit Suisse data. Such an increase would take the RBA's cash rate to 4 per cent.

The February consumer survey included a question on expectations for mortgage rates increases,louboutin pas cher, with an overwhelming 93 per cent of consumers betting rates will rise over the next year, Mr Evans said.

While recognising that rates were held steady in February, households do not expect rates to have peaked, said Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said.

czappone@fairfax.com,abercrombie france.au

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hollister Bank on it mortgage exit fees to be banned
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The symbol is part of a broader plan to make smaller lenders a fifth pillar,abercrombie france, in addition to the big four banks. The measures are sure to anger the banking sector, which argues that banning mortgage exit fees would merely force smaller lenders to raise other charges to offset the lost revenue.

DISGRUNTLED bank customers will be able to switch home loans with impunity from the middle of next year under an overhaul of the banking sector designed to break the dominance of the big banks.

The Sunday Age believes the much-anticipated banking competition package also includes a plan to give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sharper teeth to stamp out anti-competitive behaviour by the big banks.

The opposition also remains opposed to banning mortgage exit fees, although shadow treasurer Joe Hockey favours stronger powers for the ACCC.

But Mr Swan said he wanted to empower customers to get a better deal and help smaller lenders put more competitive pressure on the big banks to do the right thing by their customers.

Treasurer Wayne Swan will announce today plans to ban mortgage exit fees - blamed for dampening competition by making it prohibitively expensive for customers to switch to cheaper loans - from July 1 next year.

Under the changes, the ACCC will get new powers to crack down on so-called price signalling, an anti-competitive behaviour where the banks publicly announce their intentions to lift interest rates.

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Consumer groups and the Greens have backed strongly the idea of banning mortgage exit fees in Australia, where they are the highest in the world,abercrombie.

Competition is the best way to keep interest rates lower over time,air jordan, and helping Australians walk down the road and get a better deal if their existing lender isn't looking after them is crucial to that, Mr Swan said,louboutin pas cher.

He said lawyers of big banks would be warning executives not to comment about funding for fear of attracting negative headlines and accusations of anti-competitive behaviour.

Australian Bankers Association chief executive Steven Munchenberg said most mortgages exit fees reflected genuine costs and banning them would hurt smaller lenders most. It is much harder for smaller lenders to distribute costs across their business, unlike the major banks,hollister france, Mr Munchenberg said.

A Fujitsu Consulting report found that Australian lenders had charges for exiting mortgages early,hollister, with an average fee of $1500, compared with $400 in Britain and $550 in the US,hollister.

And in a bid to help the banks' smaller rivals reclaim a larger share of the lending market, the government is launching a government-protected deposits symbol - designed to provide comfort to customers that their money is just as safe with credit unions and building societies as it is with the big banks.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said the practice, which has been outlawed in several countries,hollister france, removed a level of competition from the lending sector by giving rivals a degree of comfort to also lift their interest rates above any Reserve Bank rate without suffering a competitive disadvantage,hollister. It gives them a comfort level that avoids the sort of competitive tensions that we like to see take place,hollister, he said,hollister france.

He was also concerned about giving the ACCC extra powers on price signalling.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has already announced a crackdown on excessive fees,hollister france. But the measure to ban them will be contested by the big banks. Related articles: <ul> <li>air jordan Consumer sentiment hits lowest level since August</li> <li>hollister france Resource rent tax could add glitter for some</li> <li>louboutin pas cher Shareholder vote on exec pay a success</li> </ul>

abercrombie All about Overseas Recruitment Companies in Indi
Author is running an International Recruitment Firm online via ; you can get all the information about Offshore Recruitment,hollister, Overseas Recruitment and can get the more information by Staffing Agency.

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Whether you are out of work for some time, or if you are beginner, who wants to attempt something new, then it is better to contact placement companies. It is believed that the placement companies can assess your strengths,abercrombie, skills and weakness as well as they can determine what are the areas in which you need to improve? This will help you to get ready for an interview of the potential job. The main aim of placement companies is to match the candidates with appropriate jobs from their databases,hollister. All these jobs are sourced from the organizations which require the employees with specific qualifications and attributes so as to meet up the specific job criteria. In India, with the booming job sector,air jordan, there is a huge demand of placement companies. These placement companies are like god to all the job seekers as well as employers. In last few years,hollister, the hiring companies have delivered employment to most of the candidates and placed them on their preferred profile,hollister france. The main objective of the Overseas Recruitment India is to assist the candidates in planning their career. The Overseas Recruitment services of these companies are very good,hollister france. The placement agencies wade through application after application for job seekers as well as employers and find a perfect fit for them in just few minutes. All this is possible if you choose a good placement company,abercrombie france. Consultants of such placement companies act as an advisor which can tell you about your pros and cons. undoubtedly, they are very talented and improve the overall personality of job seekers. The best part is that these consultants can help the job seekers to chart out their career in right direction,hollister france. In the current Indian employment market, various placement companies offer their International Recruitment services. These companies can help to match the candidates skill with the requirement of specific jobs. The placement companies can save lot of your efforts and can also find you with a work more quickly. This is because most of the organizations actually go through the job placement companies because they are much easier for their recruitment process. These companies save the time of the organization and help them to narrow down the candidates. Since the placement companies comprise of qualified candidates, thus most of the organizations always prefer to consult these companies only. Generally, all the placement companies are reliable and known to do their jobs perfectly. However,hollister, if an individual make a thorough research, then he/she can find that there are some completely unreliable companies which do not have enough resources to perform their job well,hollister. Hence,louboutin pas cher, you should avoid such companies.

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hollister Kirin plunges after poor Australian growth
Lion's dairy division, which owns Pura milk, King Island cheese and Yoplait yoghurt,hollister france, reported an 8.9 per cent fall in sales for the first half of 2012 to $1,hollister france.317 billion while EBIT fell 27 per cent to $49.8 million.

The blame was laid squarely at the feet of its Australian dairy operations,hollister, which sit under its Lion subsidiary.

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Lion overtook market leader Foster's as Australia's biggest brewer earlier this year following continued market share gains by its XXXX Gold and Toohey's brands as well as picking up distribution deals for Corona,louboutin pas cher, the country's most popular imported beer, Guinness and Stella Artois,hollister france.

Kirin Holdings fell the most in almost a year in Tokyo trading this afternoon after cutting its 2015 sales forecast on weakening demand in its home market of Japan and a worsening outlook for its Australian subsidiary,hollister, which sells a portfolio of beers as well as milk, yoghurt and other dairy products,hollister france.

Australia's biggest brewer Lion has been hit by sluggish earnings growth,hollister, discounting and intense competition in its dairy division,hollister, forcing its Japanese conglomerate owner Kirin to issue a profit warning which sent its shares plunging on the Tokyo stock exchange.

&#8220;Domestic [Japanese] liquor and beverage business didn't grow as expected and growth in Australia's dairy business wasn't enough,louboutin,&#8221; Kirin president Senji Miyake said at a press conference in Tokyo,air jordan.

Earlier this year Kirin forecast 2012 earnings would land below analyst estimates amid declines in its Lion unit in Australia and in the Japanese drinks market. Kirin has forecast pre-tax earnings this year of $96 million from Lion, its Australian dairy, brewing and soft drink business, lower than the $350 million target set in 2010,hollister uk.

The earnings disappointment is further proof of a worsening market for dairy producers in Australia following the introduction of $1 per litre milk by the leading supermarket chains nearly two years ago and the rush by customers away from branded dairy foods to private label products.

Kirin shares fell more than 3 per cent, its biggest slide since November, when the conglomerate announced its annual sales would reach around 2.3 trillion yen by 2015, significantly lower than an earlier projection of 3 trillion yen. Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister france ANZ posts $2.97b first-half cash</li> <li>louboutin Bouquets at beating Wall St</li> <li>hollister CPI loads the RBA rate cut gun</li> </ul>

abercrombie milano ANZ boss rejects Abbott's China line
In a speech to the Asia Society in Hong Kong on July 31, Mr Smith warned of Australia's complacency in dealing with its biggest economic partner. Given the massive economic dependency Australia has on Asia, and in particular on China, it is clear that a much more sustained effort has to be put into framing the relationship in the region,hollister france.

He supported the idea of signing a comprehensive economic and friendship treaty with China similar to that of the 1976 pact with Japan,hollister.

''To me it's clear that we have to shift public sentiment faster, and that's a crucial job for all of Australia's leaders - and I include business in that.

Australia could also revive a strong sense of shared interest that would enable our relationship to weather inevitable short-term issues, he said,hollister.

ONE of Australia's most senior banking figures, ANZ chief executive Mike Smith, has taken a veiled swipe at Tony Abbott over the Opposition Leader's push for tougher rules covering investment in Australia by Chinese state-owned enterprises.

He said Australia was ideally positioned to attract Chinese investment because of its abundant natural resources and stable political and legal systems.

He said that although a Lowy Institute survey found two-thirds of Australians believed it was very important to be seen in a positive light by other countries in the region, only 16 per cent believed Australia should be doing more to attract Asian investment.

So I would not be hung up on it.

Asked at a business breakfast yesterday what controls he would like to see on foreign investment by state-owned enterprises, Mr Smith said: ''What is a state-owned institution,abercrombie france? The obvious target here is China. I think you have to look at China and say, of its state-owned institutions,hollister france, what are truly controlled for the interests of the state or, actually, what are run as businesses that happen to be owned by the state.''

But we need the public to support this,louboutin.

''National interest is something that we have to think about, but it should normally be based on defence issues, and I think commercial issues are far less important in that respect,hollister france.

His remarks in favour of foreign investment form part of a campaign he has been running since at least late last month,hollister deutschland, just days before Mr Abbott flagged a Coalition government would dramatically step up scrutiny of foreign investment, focusing on state-owned enterprises.

He said that to attract capital the government should also consider tax breaks for savings,abercrombie, the simplification of the Byzantine tax system and changes to industrial relations rules to increase labour flexibility.

ANZ's Mike Smith: Australia is ideally positioned to attract Chinese investment. Photo: Tamara Voninski

Mr Smith, whose bank is heavily invested in Asia,hollister france, said business and political leaders should be campaigning to shift public opinion, rather than pandering to it.

He said he would have no problem with Chinese companies using investment in Australia to secure supplies of raw materials.

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Public opinion needs to be shaped, not pandered to.

Recent issues demonstrate we can benefit from greater clarity and a longer-term perspective in the approach to foreign investment, he said.

Separately, in an interview with Reuters,hollister, he said that if the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority did not loosen capital rules he would consider selling ANZ's stakes in eight Asian banks.

It does mean you have to look at your options,abercrombie, Mr Smith told Reuters.

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abercrombie Future Fund expands its hedging
The listed equities exposure was built as markets demonstrated some recovery from the volatility of recent times, but the design of the portfolio means we are less reliant on equity markets to generate returns than many other investors,hollister france.

AUSTRALIA'S Future Fund poured billions of dollars into US hedge funds and developed markets last financial year,louboutin, despite the poor economic outlook for those regions, with smaller increases in property and infrastructure investments taking its total asset pool to $67 billion.

The fund has $23.2 billion invested in equities, with a third in Australian equities and the rest in European and North American markets.

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Up until this year, the fund had retained large cash holdings in its asset portfolio, waiting for global markets to steady following the financial crisis in late 2008. The cash holding decreased from $22.2 billion in June last year to $8,doudoune moncler.2 billion this year.

The Finance Minister is expected to release the board's annual report by October 31.

The Future Fund appointed nine US-based and one British-based boutique hedge funds to manage $9.8 billion during 2009-10, up from $2.6 billion in June last year.

The Future Fund was set up in 2006 with a mandate to invest government funds and profits from the sale of Telstra to pay for public sector pensions and superannuation after 2020,hollister deutschland.

The fund lost 1 per cent between March and June as the Greek debt crisis and concerns about a second recession in the US shook international markets,abercrombie milano.

Improved market confidence through the year has seen performance pick up, albeit that the outlook for global markets remains fragile in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Future Fund chairman David Murray said.

The Future Fund still owns 10,hollister.9 per cent of Telstra and had a return of 6.7 per cent on $4.2 billion of shares,air jordan, including the profit from selling 684 million shares in August last year.

Property investments increased from $757 million last year to $3.12 billion and were expected to provide steady long-term returns.

The Future Fund also manages $20 billion of funds set aside for infrastructure, education and hospitals,hollister. These funds returned 4.6 and 4.7 per cent against a benchmark of 4.2 per cent,hollister, and the government withdrew $2.46 billion for projects.

The fund generated an overall return of 10.6 per cent last financial year, compared with average returns of 11.19 per cent for funds with similar assets,abercrombie, according to investment researcher Morningstar.

The fund's investment in developing markets remains about 3 per cent of assets,hollister, even though other fund managers see developing countries as key growth areas in coming years.

More than 15 per cent of assets are now invested in the alternatives program, which the fund described as using skilled managers to take advantage of capital scarcity and market inefficiency.

AustralianSuper has 40 per cent of global equities allocated to emerging markets,abercrombie, its chief investment officer, Mark Delaney, said. Related articles: <ul> <li>hollister deutschland Ex-CBA chief Norris's pay to</li> <li>abercrombie CBA says rate pain on the horizon</li> <li>abercrombie france Consumer sentiment rebounds Westpac</li> </ul>

doudoune moncler Investors switch off Rio Tinto pay plan
Rio said it would not back down from its plans,air jordan.

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As Rio profits tripled last year,hollister, chief executive Tom Albanese's pay rose by almost a third to &#163;5.5 million ($A8,louboutin.36 million).

Tom Albanese, CEO of Rio Tinto,hollister.

A remuneration report tabled at the annual meeting in London on April 14 and in Australia on May 5 failed to gain the support of 25 per cent of shareholders,doudoune moncler, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

Results from the London shareholder vote on the report were not released before the Australian meeting so that the latter could be conducted without being disturbed,moncler, the article said.

We were disappointed that Rio's remuneration committee did not get to grips with pay policies over the last year,hollister france, Guy Jubb, head of corporate governance at Standard Life Investments,abercrombie france, Rio's fifth-largest shareholder,hollister uk, told the Telegraph,hollister.

''The high level of dissent at last year's AGM sent a strong signal. At this stage of the cycle we want to see excess capital returned to investors rather than used on major acquisitions.''

A BIG Rio Tinto investor has expressed disappointment over increased pay packets for senior management,abercrombie.

AAP

There was similar shareholder opposition in 2010 when 37 per cent voted against the dual-listed company's pay scheme,hollister france.

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abercrombie france $A slightly lower after RBA minutes
"We're ever so slightly firmer at the close ,moncler... it might be people just buying on the close."

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Ms Auld said bonds had no significant reaction to the publication of the RBA minutes because they contained little new information.

"I think it's really going to be offshore that is going to drive the currency. It's been pretty quiet here, in terms of data and events for the rest of the week,louboutin."

The RBA's trade weighted index (TWI) was at 75.1, level with its Monday's close.

AAP

The US dollar was at 83.49 Japanese yen, up from 83.19,louboutin pas cher.

"It really confirmed that tightening bias and the likelihood of further hikes this year.

The Australian dollar ended the session slightly lower, but got some support after the release of the central bank's minutes of its February board meeting.

Dr Lowe will speak at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia function in Sydney.

The March three-year bond futures contract price was at 94.730 (5.270 per cent), up from 94.720 (5.280 per cent).

JP Morgan interest rate strategist Sally Auld said it had been a quiet session for bonds, with little economic data to react to.

At 1630 AEDT on the ASX 24 on Tuesday, the March 10-year bond futures contract price was 94.285 (implying a yield of 5.715 per cent), up from Monday's close of 94,doudoune moncler.275 (5.725 per cent).

"The market is clearly worried about inflation and we get some updates this week and the odds are the Australian dollar is going to take direction from the offshore numbers for the rest of the week," Ms Ong said,hollister.

"We traded in a three-point range today. Not very exciting at all," she said.

The 90-day bank bill was at 4.920, up from Monday's close of 4.900, while the 180-day bank bill rate was at 5.080, up from 5,abercrombie.070,hollister.

Since 0700 AEDT on Tuesday, the Australian dollar traded between 100.19 US cents and 100.57 US cents, according to Iress data.

"The minutes were reasonably upbeat in their tone. It confirmed a lot of their key themes - above trend growth, historically high terms of trade, strong investment,hollister deutschland," she said.

At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 83.84 Japanese yen,hollister, up from Monday's close of 83.65, and at 74.31 euro cents, up from its previous close of 74.23.

The euro finished at 1.3513 US dollars,hollister france, down from 1.3546 US dollars, and at 112,abercrombie milano.81 yen, up from 112.69 yen.

At 1700 AEDT, the local unit was trading at 100.42 US cents, down from 100.55 cents on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Australian bond market closed marginally firmer on Tuesday as investors engaged in late buying at the end of a quiet session.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the minutes from its February 1 board meeting that decided to keep the cash rate on hold at 4.75 per cent.

RBC senior economist Su-Lin Ong said the Australian dollar gained some ground after the release of the RBA minutes but failed to recover overnight losses.

Key overseas data out this week includes UK January inflation figures on Tuesday night (AEDT) and US January inflation out on Thursday night,hollister france.

She said investors would look now toward a speech by RBA assistant governor (economic) Philip Lowe on Thursday.

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abercrombie ANZ to close fund after $100m lost
,louboutin pas cher An ANZ spokesman declined to say how much the bank had written off to cover its exposure to the fund. Any write-downs for ANZ related to the ANZ Business Equity Fund are not material to the group, he said.

An ANZ spokesman declined to say how much the bank had written off to cover its exposure to the fund. Photo: Glenn Hunt

Former ANZ chief executive John McFarlane launched the fund in 2006, at the peak of the boom,hollister france, with high hopes that its plans to invest in small to medium-sized companies in Australia and New Zealand would pay handsome dividends.

This prompted new boss Mike Smith, who has disparaged private equity as a cottage industry, to begin the long process of winding down the fund.

He said there were only a handful of assets remaining in the fund, which the bank had been winding down since 2008.

In 2009, the bank reportedly took a $114 million provision to cover losses in its private equity group,louboutin, with up to $300 million said to be at risk. Total impairments suffered by fund investors total $34.4 million,doudoune moncler, meaning that if the bank suffered write-downs at the same rate, its impairment would be about $120 million,moncler.

To reduce the ongoing cost of running the fund for investors,hollister, we destapled the trust from its management company, but will continue to operate the fund with ANZ Specialist Asset Management acting as its trustee,hollister uk, he said.

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ANZ last week appointed Sal Algeri of Deloitte to liquidate part of the ANZ Business Equity Fund,abercrombie milano, which has accumulated losses of $62,hollister deutschland.9 million.

Investors who poured $113 million into the fund have so far clawed back just 41&#162; in the dollar through distributions,hollister, and the appointment of Mr Algeri raises doubts as to whether any further payments will be forthcoming.

In the fund's latest annual report, filed with the corporate regulator in January, director Garry Cameron said it was likely the directors will seek to wind up the structure of the fund within the next 12 months.

Mr Algeri will wind up the company portion of the fund. Responsibility for selling off its few remaining assets has been moved to a different bank entity, ANZ Specialist Asset Management.

Those investors include ANZ itself, which tipped in $19.5 million. But the venture has cost the bank hundreds of millions more. This is because it used shareholders' money to co-invest in businesses backed by the fund, putting at risk a reported $400 million,hollister.

ANZ is moving to shut down a crippled private equity fund as it seeks to end a six-year saga that has cost the bank more than $100 million,abercrombie.

However, many of the companies in which it invested wilted when the global financial crisis struck two years later. Related articles: <ul> <li>abercrombie milano Reliable Attributes Of IBM VXA-2 Tape Dri</li> <li>moncler Future Fund ends Transurban talks</li> <li>hollister france Fresher jobs are on the rise. Thanks to the reviving economy</li> </ul>

louboutin Australian business press digest - 9 February
--Commodities trader Glencore and global miner Xstrata yesterday confirmed their US$90 billion all-scrip merger, a deal that values Xstrata at US$62 billion. Mick Davis, chief executive of Xstrata and the proposed head of the new merged entity, yesterday said the agreement was a 21 percent premium for shareholders based on the miner's previous closing share price,abercrombie milano. "Increased scale will improve our risk profile, enhance access to capital markets and allow us to participate in industry consolidation," Mr Davis said. Page 35.

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (.au)

--Lindsay Fox,doudoune moncler, head of the Linfox logistics and transport empire, yesterday slammed supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths for "dictating" terms throughout the retail supply network. "They are expecting everything for nothing. They are going to crucify the farmers, crucify the bread manufacturers and if you spoke to most of the consumer goods manufactures at the moment, you would get a very mixed response about the aspects of dealing with these companies," he added. Page 35.

THE AUSTRALIAN (.au)

--Macquarie Group yesterday announced it was cutting 1000 jobs, along with a stark 25 percent downgrade to the investment bank's full-year profit. The news shocked investors, who sent Macquarie stock down 5 percent at one stage, although the firm's shares rebounded late in the day to close 0.7 percent lower at A$25.90. "Europe has had a big impact on our market over the last 12 months and certainly over the past quarter &#127; we don't know whether 2011 is the bottom," Nicholas Moore, chief executive of Macquarie, said,louboutin. Page 35.

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--National Australia Bank (NAB) yesterday announced a review into its British division, including its Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank branches, a move that could result in the lender making a multibillion-dollar sale to exit the region. "We felt the economy was bottoming last year and now that's clearly not the case &#127; it's likely the [United Kingdom] will be in a prolonged recession," Cameron Clyne, chief executive of NAB, said. Page B1.

--St George Bank yesterday apologised for an "inadvertent" mistake that result in the email addresses of 500 customers of St George Margin Lending (SGML) services being revealed in a mass message sent by the bank. "When I rang they said they 'retracted' it. Which apparently means if you didn't open it, it is replaced by another email. I have opened it already hence I have the private emails of 500 SGML clients. No apology email either," one client said. Page B4.

--Visy has launched an inquiry into an alleged "widespread" fraud in its payroll office,moncler, with the packaging group accusing a worker of stealing more than A$3.31 million. Visy acquired court orders last week preventing Loretta Delianov, one of the firm's payroll managers, from using her bank accounts or dealing with three properties in Victoria. According to an affidavit from David Latta, head of risk management at Visy, Ms Delianov signed a document admitting to stealing A$991,769 since 2006, but he questioned her honesty. Page B3.

--Shares in Cochlear jumped by 7.59 percent yesterday to finish at A$62.52, despite the bionic ear manufacturer announcing a A$20.4 million half-year loss after it was forced to spend A$100.5 million recalling its Nucleus CI500 series of implants,hollister. "While the A$20 million loss was disappointing, the recall costs have been quarantined and importantly, a record number of recipients received a cochlear implant in the first half," chief executive Chris Roberts said. Page B3.

--Employees at supermarket chain Woolworths may be denied hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses this year if the retailer fails to meet earnings growth goals under an incentive scheme. The company's earnings before interest and tax will need to rise by 3.7 percent before short-term cash bonuses can be awarded to staff. "The 3.7 percent is low by historical standards but there's doubt they'll achieve it this year," John Guadagnuolo from asset management group Aviva Investors said yesterday. Page 47.

Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

--The former head of Woolworths' food and liquor unit, Greg Foran, has been selected to lead the Chinese operations of United States retailer Walmart. Mr Foran resigned from the Australian supermarket chain last year after losing out to Grant O'Brien in a bid to become Woolworths chief executive. "China is a very important market for Walmart and I look forward to working with our 100,000 associates," Mr Foran said. Page 47.

--An investigation into the United States parent of futures trader and contracts for difference provider MF Global found the company misused clients' funds five days before filing for bankruptcy last year. Chris Campbell, partner at professional services group Deloitte, was appointed administrator of MF Global's Australian division, which held a A$319 million trading book for approximately 13,000 customers, a day after the parent company folded,hollister france. Page B4,abercrombie.

--National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne yesterday announced that the bank's revenue had dropped by A$80 million due to increased volatility in global funding markets. Mr Clyne made the comments yesterday at the release of the lender's A$1.4 billion earnings result for the first-quarter. "We continue to operate in a very challenging, uncertain macro environment," the chief executive said,hollister. Page 35.

--Australian fund manager Industry Funds Management has been selected by the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) to manage more than US$500 million worth of infrastructure investments. The appointment is one of the largest commitments in infrastructure handed out by a pension fund in the United States. Chris Ailman, chief investment officer of CalSTRS,hollister, said the investment would emulate the framework of Australian super funds which have "pioneered this sector". Page B4,hollister uk.

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

--Chris Lynch,hollister deutschland, the outgoing chief executive of Transurban, yesterday announced solid first-half earnings for the toll road developer while predicting more franked dividends. Transurban recorded a 7.5 percent increase in proportional earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to A$390 million. However, the firm also revealed a 2 percent fall in free cash flow to A$184.2 million, dampening expectations that Transurban will be able to overcome its dividend guidance for 2012. Page 47.

--Local brewer Foster's Group yesterday lost the right to import beers from Japanese rival Asahi,hollister france, with the latter looking to establish a foothold of its own in the Australian market. Asahi Group Tokyo will begin importing and marketing its Asahi Super Dry through its Australian business, Independent Distillers, from April 2. Foster's has responded by increasing local promotions of its international beers. Page B3.

Reuters

--Julie and Emmanuel Cassimatis, founders of Storm Financial, yesterday said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had conducted audits and reviews of the collapsed financial planning firm "on numerous occasions from 1993 to 2008" without complaint. The corporate regulator began civil penalty proceedings against the pair last year in Federal Court, claiming the founders had violated their duties as directors. ASIC is seeking to have Mr and Mrs Cassimatis banned from company directorship. Page B3.

--Observers expect one of the wealthiest men in Singapore, Richard Chandler, to make widespread changes to forestry group Gunns after being outed as a key backer of the company's latest capital raising. Mr Chandler will become the largest shareholder in Gunns, with sources believing he will own up to 40 percent of the company after the raising. Page 46.

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