Morning Headlines

Investors try to hold their nerve

An escalation of the global sharemarket rout and a record points drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average has investors braced for further volatility and the risk of a correction in equities, ending the bull market in stocks created by a decade of easy money. The Fin

Builder reveals cause of woes

The owner of embattled builder Cooper & Oxley has broken his silence, hitting back at claims subcontractors were mistreated and revealing the cause of the company’s financial difficulties. The West

Surprise as gold moves slowly

Gold stocks provided investors with some rare safety amid the carnage on the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, but some analysts have expressed surprise the precious metal has not rallied higher. The West

Fortescue deepens iron ore discount

Fortescue Metals Group has further discounted its high-grade iron ore in China for February despite expectations the worst of the price cuts had taken place in the December quarter. The Fin

NDIS housing blowout threat

The agency running the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme privately concedes it may need to spend more than a projected $700 million on housing each and every year as it grapples with one of the most underdeveloped parts of the project. The Aus

Miners healthy but caught in the crush

High commodity prices? Tick. Solid global growth? Tick. A softer Australian dollar? Tick. Everything is going right for Australia’s mining stocks, yet their shares are being hammered. The Aus

Nahan puts roadblock on Labor’s build plan

Premier Mark McGowan’s hopes of a bipartisan adoption of his Infrastructure WA policy were dashed yesterday when Opposition Leader Mike Nahan labelled the proposal a “highly political toothless tiger”. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: An escalation of the global sharemarket rout and a record points drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average has investors braced for further volatility and the risk of a correction in equities, ending the bull market in stocks created by a decade of easy money.

Page 3: Unions have lost a five-year equal pay case for childcare workers after the Fair Work Commission blasted them for failing to produce ‘‘any evidence whatsoever’’ that childcare work was undervalued due to gender inequality.

Page 4: The mortgage broking revolution has failed and many brokers now act in the best interest of the banks that own them and not consumers, a scathing Productivity Commission report has found.

Page 5: Federal Labor has all but resolved to oppose the $16.5 billion Adani coal mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin but is grappling to come up with a rationale to avoid increasing Australia’s sovereign risk or exposing the Commonwealth to a compensation claim.

Page 9: The Reserve Bank of Australia has kicked off the year with an optimistic tone, despite leaving the official cash rate unchanged for a 16th straight meeting, the longest run of inaction in almost 22 years, saying inflation and employment will ‘‘gradually’’ improve after a long summer of good news.

Page 10: Banks in Britain and the United States have banned the use of credit cards to buy bitcoin and other ‘‘cryptocurrencies’’, fearing a plunge in their value will leave customers unable to repay their debts.

Page 13: Macquarie Group chief executive Nicholas Moore has shrugged off concerns about a sharp market correction and any threat posed by rising global interest rates, as investors punished the company for not upgrading 2018 earnings guidance to above the $2.4 billion already expected by analysts.

Hamish Douglass’s Magellan Financial Group will spend about $140 million buying John Sevior’s Airlie Funds Management and US wealth group Frontier Partners, bringing Australian equities under the Magellan umbrella for the first time.

Page 15: Analysts say Wesfarmers’ Bunnings UK and Ireland business (BUKI) may not break even until 2022 and could rack up another $300 million to $384 million in operating losses, while the cost of converting another 180 Homebase stores to Bunnings stores could reach $540 million.

Page 18: Fortescue Metals Group has further discounted its high-grade iron ore in China for February despite expectations the worst of the price cuts had taken place in the December quarter.

Page 28: There’s no connection between a brutal two-day correction in stocks and the proliferation of investment products that allow investors to gain easy access to market indices, says BlackRock’s global head of strategy Geraldine Buckingham.

The Australian

Page 1: The Productivity Commission has warned the federal government that tighter lending rules have allowed major banks to jack up rates on existing residential and business loans in a profit gouge that is not only now costing mortgage holders but slugging taxpayers by up to $500 million a year.

Page 2: The agency running the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme privately concedes it may need to spend more than a projected $700 million on housing each and every year as it grapples with one of the most underdeveloped parts of the project.

Page 3: The nation’s wealthiest private schools are reaping $750 million in taxpayer money and engaging in an “arms race” for facilities despite raising enough private income to educate their students, according to a new analysis of education finding.

Page A generally upbeat central bank yesterday kept Australia’s cash rate at its record low level of 1.5 per cent, with Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe signalling an intention for the next move to be upwards, but not for some time as concerns remain about limp household spending and inflation.

Page 6: Labor has split with the government on national security, with Bill Shorten declaring he would vote down laws to curb foreign interference unless they were changed to ensure journalists could not be locked-up “simply for doing their jobs”.

Page 17: Investors were on edge after a worsening global rout wiped almost $60 billion off Australian shares, marking the local market’s sharpest fall in 2½ years.

Page 19: Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has reignited its BHP Billiton restructure campaign after a six-month hiatus, claiming dissolving the big miner’s dual-listed structure could provide $US22 billion ($28bn) of value.

Page 21: High commodity prices? Tick. Solid global growth? Tick. A softer Australian dollar? Tick. Everything is going right for Australia’s mining stocks, yet their shares are being hammered.

The West Australian

Page 3: Dodgy egg producers falsely claiming their eggs are free-range face greater risk of prosecution under standards proposed by the Federal consumer watchdog.

Page 5: Optus Stadium designers considered incorporating a “roof climb” similar to the popular Adelaide Oval attraction but shelved it because they struggled to make it accessible for people with disabilities or restricted mobility.

Page 8: The owner of embattled builder Cooper & Oxley has broken his silence, hitting back at claims subcontractors were mistreated and revealing the cause of the company’s financial difficulties.

Page 13: One Nation has called on the Federal Government to redirect company tax cuts stalled in the Senate to middle-income workers, rejecting its renewed push to pass the tax package through the Upper House.

Page 20: A shortage of bricklaying apprentices has emerged as young people turn their back on the trade, with claims that some see the job as too much like hard work.

Page 24: Premier Mark McGowan’s hopes of a bipartisan adoption of his Infrastructure WA policy were dashed yesterday when Opposition Leader Mike Nahan labelled the proposal a “highly political toothless tiger”.

Business: Gold stocks provided investors with some rare safety amid the carnage on the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, but some analysts have expressed surprise the precious metal has not rallied higher.
BHP did not respond yesterday to a renewed push from US activist investor group Elliott Management for the mining giant to review and dump its dual-listed structure.

Harvey dairy farmer Dale Hanks, who was forced out of the industry in 2016, is again milking cows after being thrown a lifeline by Parmalat-owned Harvey Fresh.

Perth’s office towers are enjoying a moment in the spotlight with the sale of three St Georges Terrace office buildings for $123.3 million setting an upbeat mood for the year.