More bad news for Victoria this week with increased coronavirus numbers and a lockdown in Melbourne.
Meanwhile the economic recovery seems to be slowing down in Australia and the US. The RBA calls it the biggest correction since the 1930s.
In good news, Banks will extend loan payment deferral after September while calls are increasing to extend JobKeeper and the current levels of JobSeeker.
In our Brain Food section, we look at new research on the effect of bone hormones on ageing. It promises new treatments for memory and muscle loss.
The one-minute weekly recap
- On Tuesday, Victoria reimposed a stage-three lockdown for metropolitan Melbourne. Let’s hope the case numbers fall quickly.
- The RBA says that the Australian economy is experiencing its biggest correction since the 1930s and that the RBA will keep the cash rate unchanged until the economy improves. At least mortgage payments won’t be going up anytime soon.
- The CBA’s chief economist is predicting a slower than expected recovery for Australia as the spending recovery fuelled by stimulus loses steam.
- Deloitte is the latest to call for a delay to the September cut in JobSeeker.
- The share price of pay-later fintech, Afterpay, is surging again but IML warns it could be part of a tech bubble. Meanwhile the founders cashed in some of their shares.
- Bain Capital has won the race for Virgin Australia. They will focus on profitability rather than trying to push Qantas for market share.
- The Federal government has committed $575bn to defence spending for the next ten years under an update to the 2016 whitepaper. It includes the bolstering of coastal defences, ballistic missile defence, 12 new submarines, and 9 new frigates. Let’s hope the submarine budget can stay above water.
- Australia’s first ‘green bonds’ managed fund has been launched’ with the funds raised to be invested in projects to reduce carbon emissions.
- A record 4.8m jobs were created in the US in June but unemployment remains above 10 percent. A Fed official has said that the US recovery may be slowing down.
- Tesla’s recent stock surge makes it the most valuable global car maker. Elon is loving it!
A Sniippet for You
Banks to extend mortgage loan deferral to customers still struggling with coronavirus restrictions (ABC News, 8 July)
- Banks will offer some customers another four months to start paying back their loans after the initial deferral period ends in September
- Banks may also contact customers to restructure their loans
- More than 800,000 people had deferred repayments during the coronavirus pandemic
Property prices fall as fiscal cliff looms (AFR, 1 July)
- Property values in Melbourne and Perth fell by 1.1 percent in June, a 0.8 percent fall in Sydney, a 0.4 percent fall in Brisbane and a 0.2 percent fall in Adelaide, according to CoreLogic
- Nationally, prices fell by 0.7 per cent
- This follows on from falls in May
Coles, Woolworths say supplies safe despite NSW-VIC border closure (AFR, 7 July)
- Freight will continue to flow across the border
- Supermarkets have been designated as an essential service
Tax office tells some businesses who received Jobkeeper they were not entitled to payments (The Guardian, 2 July)
- Sole traders who started their businesses after 1 January this year may have to pay JobKeeper payments back
- The ATO has sent emails to some sole traders
- The problem is that new companies cannot meet the requirement to show that their revenue has fallen by 30 percent compared to 2018-19 financial year
Small businesses call for mandatory maximum payment times as late payments cost them hundreds of millions of dollars (ABC News, 7 July)
- Small businesses are calling for mandatory maximum payment times
- Late payments are getting worse for small businesses during the pandemic
- Late payments cost small businesses $7 billion a year
- If you are a small business struggling with late payments then Sniip can help! Get in touch at info@sniip.com
Land-clearing in NSW rises nearly 60% since laws were relaxed (The Guardian, 2 July)
- Laws were relaxed in 2017
- 73 percent of clearings did not not have an environmental assessment
- A Natural Resources Commission report from early this year labelled NSW’s land-clearing laws as a “state-wide risk to biodiversity”
A Sniippet of Finance advice
Investing during a recession can pay off handsomely (AFR, 30 June)
- Equities actually do better during a recession than the conventional wisdom would have us believe
- The ASX increased by 13 percent during the last recession
- Save more during a recession and keep investing
A Sniippet of Brain food
Bone hormones can fight against the effects of ageing (The Guardian, 5 July)
- Research has found that our bones communicate to our other organs through hormones that circulate in our blood
- Scientists are developing treatments for memory and muscle loss based on some of these hormones
- Exercise stimulates the production of these hormones
A Sniippet of Trivia
The Eiffel Tower could have been built in Barcelona (theculturetrip.com)
- It is rumoured that the Eiffel Tower was first offered to Barcelona
- The Eiffel Tower was originally built as a temporary showcase for the Parisian World Fair in 1889
- Barcelona held its own world fair a year before Paris