Friday, September 30, 2011

German approval a victory for Angela Merkel but not a solution to Europe's debt crisis

Germany's approval of the enhanced bailout fund might be a political victory for Angela Merkel.

But analysts say much more is needed to end the crisis of confidence that is threatening not just Europe but the global economy.

The general view is that Germany and the EU are behind the curve in confronting the crisis given that the German Parliament's approval is only ratification of a deal proposed back in July.

Here's my analysis from this morning's edition of AM.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Credibility of trader who "dreams about a recession" under spotlight; admits he more of an "attention seeker" than a trader.

From The Telegraph in London:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8792829/BBC-financial-expert-Alessio-Rastani-Im-an-attention-seeker-not-a-trader.html


Trader Alessio Rastani tells the BBC he "dreams of a recession", says "the market is toast" and that Goldman Sachs controls the world.

Obama says Europe's debt crisis is "scaring the world".


Barack Obama has urged European leaders to confront the deepening sovereign debt crisis, warning their inaction is "scaring the world".

Listen to my analysis of this latest development broadcast on the "The World Today".

The US president's blunt message follows an earlier warning from his treasury secretary Timothy Geithner that a fresh economic shock from Europe could cause cascading defaults and runs on banks.

"What's happening in Europe, they have not fully healed from the crisis back in 2007 and never fully dealt with all the challenges that their banking system faced," he said.

"It's now being compounded by what's happening in Greece.

"So they're going through a financial crisis that is scaring the world, and they're trying to take responsible actions, but those actions haven't been quite as quick as they need to be."

The pressure on the EU is immense - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have already urged EU leaders to get their act together and agree on a plan.

EU leaders appear to be listening and say they are inching towards a multi-trillion-dollar bailout mechanism to firewall Italy and Spain from the debt contagion.

Mr Obama's re-election is dependent on turning around the economy, getting unemployment below 9 per cent, and avoiding another recession.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Retail super funds a poor investment compared to money in the bank over 14 years - with the benefit of hindsight.

By Business editor Peter Ryan

Anyone close to retirement or already retired will be closely watching the performance of their superannuation fund given the current market volatility.

Even though superannuation needs to be viewed over the long term, the returns also depend on the type of fund managing retirement nest eggs.

Research out today from the Industry Super Network shows that when it comes to retail super funds, some investors would have been better off putting their super contributions in the bank.

Listen to my interview with David Whiteley from the Industry Super Network from this morning's edition of AM.

"Many of those people would be deeply alarmed to find that if they've invested in a retail fund, if that is the default fund at their workplace, over 14 years the performance of that is likely to be inferior to cash. That means many of these people would have been better just putting their money in the bank," according to the Mr Whiteley.