Perry Finance Blog

AUD/USD – Short term trend UP, Long term trend DOWN

The AUD/USD has strengthened further as

As we close out 2011 and reflect on the year that was, the only thing that appears predictable in our current economic environment is unpredictability. Part of the reason for this is that it is near impossible to read the minds of policy makers, but attempting to do so, see to occupy an inmsordinate amount of the time of financial commentators and economists.

CURRENCY WATCH

AUD/USD – Short term trend DOWN, Long term trend DOWN

The AUD/USD falls further as risk sell

AUD/USD – Short term trend UP, Long term trend

1. Super is the most tax effective investment structure in Australia today. Superannuation monies are tax free after age 60. That’s right, tax free. Can’t do better.

2. But what is super? Good question, I’ve heard it many times. Super is simply the name for money that is preserved until a certain requirement is met (for example retirement or age). It can also be taxed at a lower tax rate than you usually pay on your non super money. So, in a nutshell, the key things that make super different are access and rates of taxation.

3. Where is my super?

Chris Vedalago describes the legal loopholes that allow "underquoting". The major issue here is the difficulty of striking a balance between protecting consumers and allowing vendors the freedom to set prices as they wish, which is an important right in what is a free market place.

A TOP economist and the Federal Opposition have urged the Reserve Bank to cut the cash interest rate by at least 0.25 percentage points to avoid recession.

Interesting article in today's Age about stamp duty. It looks like some very influential people are advocating for it to be severely scaled down or abolished. This is an argument that is long overdue in my opinion, but it will be politically difficult as the revenue reductions for state government will need to be made up somewhere, and that somewhere will probably be either an increase in the GST duty, or increases in income tax. 

CURRENCY ALERT