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Ten shares hitting historical lows

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

A large shareholder appears to be exiting the Ten Network registry outside of the company’s billionaire owners coterie, pushing shares down to an all-time low of 52?? on Tuesday.

The selldown comes as shareholders brace for a poor half-year result in the wake of a profit warning issued on February 17.

Shares were at 92?? before the profit warning, but have since tumbled 44 per cent. Ten opened at 56.5?? on Tuesday and ended the day 7 per cent lower at 52.5??.

Trading volumes during the rout have been very low with just 818,200 shares trading hands on Tuesday – a fraction of the 370 million shares on issue. These low volumes amplify the low prices.

Since last Wednesday an institutional trader with Sydney brokerage CCZ Statton equities has sold about 810,000 shares on behalf of a client, according to trading information provided by Bloomberg.

This suggests an institutional shareholder has been selling out, but Ten has not yet issued any change in substantial holding notices.

Institutional shareholders with more than 800,000 shares but less than 5 per cent include Blackrock, SIG, State of California, Vanguard Group, and Network Investment Holdings (part of Seven Group Holdings).

However the majority of shares – 56 per cent – are tied up with major shareholders such as James Packer’s Aidem Holdings, Lazard Limited, Foxtel, Bruce Gordon’s Birketu and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.

In mid-February Ten issued a profit warning saying mid-year losses could be up to $30 million and its industry was “under severe duress” and advertising revenue continues to decline. iFrameResize({enablePublicMethods : true, heightCalculationMethod : “lowestElement”,resizedCallback : function(messageData){}, checkOrigin: false},”#pez_iframeA”);

The outlook for the metropolitan advertising market is a 5 per cent decline over 2016-17, and networks still haven’t convinced the government to cut their broadcast licence fees, which cost Ten about $22 million last financial year.

Ten’s marquee show at the moment, I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, has not been gaining as good ratings as Nine and Seven’s prime-time reality shows. [email protected] 1.01 Million Viewers Nationally Last Night. Peaked At 1.28m. 2017 Series-To-Date Audience Up 9% On 2016 Average. pic.twitter苏州夜总会招聘/WrITcpkgrQ??? Network Ten (@Ten_Corporate) March 6, 2017

Troy Miles: the former Newcastle Knight in the fight of his life

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

Troy Miles refuses to be broken BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles at Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

BRAVE: Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Pictures: Katherine Griffiths

TweetFacebook Troy’s brave fight – Pictures: Katherine GriffithsTroy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year.BROKEN man doesn’t come to mind when you think about Troy Miles.

He was a tough as nails Newcastle Knight, part of the history-making 1995 reserve grade premiership team; a widely admired community man whose name is synonymous with the Lakes United Seagulls Rugby League Football Club; and, his biggest achievement, a devoted husband andproud father of three.

That’s where Miles, 42, has come from –but it’s not where he is today.

His life changed forever in May last year on a motorcycle trip with two mates in South .

Miles’s bike flipped on the remote Strzelecki Track, sending him over the handlebars at high speed.

He was unable to move and instantly knew something was wrong.

In agony and isolation, the trio waited on the side of the road for help to arrive.

Three hours later, a helicopter finally landed at the crash scene, such was its remoteness, after the group was able to trigger an emergency beacon.

Troy Miles in his Lakes United playing days. Picture: Supplied

“It was just so lucky the guys didn’t didn’t take Troy’s helmet off, or roll him, because that saved his life,” wife Nicole recalled.

“It was a miracle.”

But Miles’s injuries were severe.

He broke his C2 to C6 vertebrae, with initial surgery in Adelaide able to successfully replace his C3 and C4 veterbrae with a cervios cage,while fusing the rest.

Despite dire predictions, the first months of Miles’s recovery were positive.

He defied medical opinion and started to regain movement in his toes, fingers and legs.

Troy Miles was part of the history-making 1995 Knights premiership team. Picture: Katherine Griffiths

The word “lucky” started to be thrown around a lot, and Miles quickly became a well-liked patient at Royal Rehab hospital in Ryde, in Sydney’s northern suburbs, as he put in the hard yards and slowlyrecovered.

His mission was to “go hard” for 90 days at a time, live in the present and take each day as it came.

Though persevering, his condition began to deteriorate, his spasms and convulsions started to become longer and more frequent.

It was a test of his tenacity, but a test he was determined to pass.

(Anyone at Royal Rehab will tell you negativity is death –just ask popular Hunter footballers Alex McKinnon, Dom Punch and, most recently, Damian Jobson, whose tales of courage have inspired Novocastrians for years.)

“Everyone loves Troy –no matter what he’s going through,” Mrs Miles said.

“He’s had a big couple of convulsion episodes in front of the other clients at physio; they’re all mortified.

“Then they’ll see Troy a couple of days later once he’s rested. He’s always got a smile on his face. He’s positive to everyone.

“They say, ‘Mate, how are you still being positive after everything you’re going through?’.

Troy Miles with wife Nicole in his room at Royal Rehab. Picture: Katherine Griffiths

“Troy says, ‘There’s no point bitching and moaning’.

“He thinks there’s always someone worse off.”

But everyone has a breaking point.

For Miles, it came after a stint in Royal North Shore Hospital after three days of seizures and convulsions.

“That experiencebroke him mentally, physically and emotionally,” Mrs Miles said.

“It changed him.

“Even he said he wasn’t the same person.”

Miles’s three sons– Bailey, Toby and Zac –have watched their father’s condition rapidly deteriorate, and it’s taken its toll.

His hypersensitivity, which advanced after surgery to remove two cysts from his spinal cordin November, is one of the worst cases specialists have seen.

Miles has not been outside in five months, and simply touching him can trigger a seizure, the longest of which can last up to two hours.

“No doctors can seem to help him, there’s no answers,” Mrs Miles said.

“He just lives inside his room.”

Asked about the future, she said she was yet to see it.

“It’s hard to look down the track”: Nicole Miles when asked about the family’s future. Picture: Katherine Griffiths

“It’s hard to look down the track,” she said. “We just need to keep living day by day.”

With the family’s finances depleted and the medical outlook bleak, the rugby league fraternity has stepped in.

Next week, a benefit night hosted by Fox Sports presenter Tony Squires will be held at Belmont 16ft Sailing Club.

With special guests Alex McKinnon and Teigan Power, the event is organised by the Running for Miles committee, which has raisedvital funds for the family for months.

Former Knights coach and premiership-winning captain Michael Hagan said Miles was a “typical, hard-working Novocastrian” who the community needed to get behind.

“It’s just the unannounced nature of how it’s all come about,” he said.

“When you go out to enjoy yourself, you’re not thinking about the risks.

“

Obamacare shift sparks ASX turnaround

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

The sharemarket reversed early losses to close higher on Tuesday after morning news of a Republican Party draft bill to repeal and replace Obamacare sparked a 50-point rally in the benchmark index.

The rebound was led by the big four banks and a 1.1 per cent gain in bio-pharmaceutical company CSL, pushing the S&P/ASX 200 index up 15 points, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 5761.

Westpac climbed 0.8 per cent, NAB 0.7 per cent, and ANZ added 0.5 per cent, while CBA ended the day only marginally higher. Westfield, which fell 1.5 per cent on a broker downgrade, and the major miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, were the primary drags on the index as most stocks ended the session higher.

The impressive morning bounce looked to have been investors responding positively to any signs of policy progress in Washington after a chaotic start to the new administration under President Donald Trump.

“It’s all about reducing political risk,” Perpetual head of investment strategy Matt Sherwood said. “Investors hope that Congress can work well with the Republican president.

“The proposed bill would only work at the very margin in improving the US budget balance,”Mr Sherwood said. “It won’t change the US growth dynamics, and probably won’t on the whole change the trajectory of US earnings, either.”

The sharp bounce on the ASX was timed almost perfectly with the breaking news out of Washington.

“Markets probably responded to this by thinking that this is a first step to progress on a number of fronts,” Westpac senior international economist Elliott Clarke said. “It reduces the timing uncertainty and hopefully reduces any kind of gridlock, and I think that was really the rationale for why the markets liked it: we are starting to see the ball rolling.”

“If they can get this done and through the Congress and signed off by the President, then the focus then changes to tax cuts, regulatory reform, stimulus programs – all which are growth friendly,” Mr Sherwood said.

The other major news of the day was the Reserve Bank of in its monthly meeting held its cash rate target steady at 1.5 per cent, surprising no-one on the day. The RBA’s accompanying statement did little to dissuade the consensus view that the central bank remains firmly on hold as it balances booming property markets in Sydney and Melbourne – an increasing concern – with a mixed employment picture and sluggish, below-target inflation.

Weighing on the sharemarket were a number of stocks trading ex-dividend, including the likes of Qantas, Medicare Private, Blackmores and Ramsay Health Care. Stock of the day: Westfield

Shares in global shopping centre owner Westfield lost 1.5 per cent to $8.68 on Tuesday, after Credit Suisse downgraded the company over “frequent disappointments”. It’s not you; it’s me,” the Credit Suisse analysts said. “Our recent history with Westfield has been characterised by a plethora of ‘outperform’ ratings and frequent disappointments, as asset disposals, foreign exchange, invasive developments, technology spend, and intensive retailer remixing have all conspired to cap earnings growth. We had hoped for 2018 to be different. The maths tells us that it still could be – but both history and Westfield’s focus on portfolio quality tell a different story.” Westfield shares peaked at $11.00 in July last year, but have largely trended down since. Most analysts retain ‘buy ratings’, despite Westfield’s somewhat soft earnings guidance. Market movers

Aussie spike

The spike higher in the n dollar just before the RBA’s rates announcement at 2.30pm AEDT raised a few eyebrows among traders. The Aussie suddenly jumped a quarter of a cent to the day’s high of US76.25?? three minutes before the decision, only to retreat just as quickly on the decision to fetch US76.05?? late in the session. Some traders blamed algorithms, others said the spike was most likely due to an investor taking a punt on a more hawkish RBA statement.

More “macro-pru”

Regulators are “increasingly likely” to lower the speed limit on investment property lending growth from the current 10 per cent, Morgan Stanley analysts argue. The broker says the rhetoric from APRA is getting stronger, with the chairman stating last week that “strong competitive pressures are producing higher rates of lending growth again??? we therefore see no room for complacency”. That echoes the thoughts of a number of economists following the RBA’s statement, where the central bank was seen as a bit more worried about the housing market’s strength.

Building activity

In an encouraging signs for the domestic economy, building activity picked up for the first time in five months. The Ai Group and Housing Industry Association Performance of Construction Index (PCI) rose 5.4 points to 53.1 points in February, from 47.7 points the previous month. “There is still life left in ‘s new home building sectors,” HIA chief economist Harley Dale said. “New home construction activity will hold up very well in the short term, after which there will be a marked decline in medium/high density construction relative to detached housing.”

Snapped

After a euphoric public market debut, Snap shares dropped for the first time in three days after analysts began weighing in with their thoughts on the company’s true valuation. The parent company of disappearing-photo app maker Snapchat priced shares in its initial public offering last Wednesday and they surged 44 per cent on the first day of trading. By Monday, five of the seven analysts who cover the company had a sell rating on it while two said hold, and overnight the stock, all the rage among millennials, dropped 12 per cent.

‘Ridiculous’ – CBA’s Yes Minister moment

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

The parliamentary inquiry into banking was always going to be entertaining with the big bosses stepping into the arena for a public smack down but it was never expected to descend into biting satire. That’s where those watching were taken on Tuesday.

“It reminds me of Jim Hacker in Yes Minister visiting St Edwards, a hospital that had no patients,” an incredulous Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite told Commonwealth Bank of boss Ian Narev after grilling him about an “independent” report into its life insurance division.

“You’ve got a report based on victims, that’s arisen because the victims have been denied claims, but don’t interview anyone covered by the policies,” he said at the banking tribunal on Tuesday. “It is ridiculous. It beggars belief.”

Thistlethwaite was referring to the Deloitte report, which was commissioned after a joint media investigation found rampant misconduct inside the bank’s life insurance division, including selling outdated medical definitions and putting profit before customers.

The report, which found no evidence of systemic issues, has been criticised as too limited in its terms of reference, including not speaking to customers.

Narev revealed the CommInsure board paid for the report and wrote the terms of reference.

But he repeatedly told members of the tribunal that APRA considered the Deloitte report robust and independent.

That prompted a swipe from Thistlethwaite: “APRA will get their two bobs’ worth on that.” Financial planning

Narev answered a range of questions including some about its financial planning division and in particular the case of a 97-year-old woman who still hadn’t been fully repaid years after dodgy financial adviser Don Nguyen had given her inappropriate advice.

He was quizzed about a landmark report from ASIC in October that estimated hundreds of thousands of customers had been charged $178 million for financial services they never got. CBA was the worst offender, accounting for $105 million.

Narev was also asked whether he thought there might have been problems in the banks after they moved from a service-based culture to a sales-driven culture.

All questions were valid. Royal commission

But the question of the day was why CBA didn’t just agree to a royal commission and get it over with. With 20 different inquiries being conducted into the banks, it was the obvious question.

The banking inquiry was called by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as a substitute for a royal commission. But the more we see the chief executives in action, slickly dodging and weaving questions and making motherhood statements, the more the case grows for a royal commission.

Narev gave his usual response: “The message that the convening of a royal commission would send about policymakers over the last decade, regulators over the last decade, bank management and governments over the past decade would not be positive for the industry, would not be positive for strength and would not be positive for the perception of our industry as unquestionably strong,” he told politicians.

Is the implication they should be beyond scrutiny?

David Murray’s financial system inquiry concluded our banks are “unquestionably strong” and have capital ratios in the top quartile internationally. The banks’ strength and standing with international investors is not the issue.

The flaw in the well-trotted out argument against a royal commission is that investors place their money where they get the best return. It is why recent financial scandals, no matter how egregious, have had little or no impact on the share prices of the banks.

The issue is trust. This was no more evident than a recent global banking survey by Ernst & Young that found four out of five n customers say they don’t trust their bank to give unbiased advice and put their interests first.

Banks trade on trust, and for the past few years that trust has been breached as they built cultures based on profit before people – they sold inappropriate products, delayed or denied life insurance policy claims and failed to pass on interest rate cuts across home loans, small business loans and credit cards.

Narev did little to appease many of the politicians that lined up to question him, even those who don’t agree with a royal commission.

At the end of the day there has been little or no accountability. When committee chairman David Coleman asked Narev if any senior executives had been removed given the recent scandals, including CommInsure, financial planning or rate rigging, the response was no.

Bank executives do an important job and they are well rewarded. It is why they should be accountable when things go seriously wrong in their division. Until the banks stop hiding behind the “few bad apples” cliche and start shouldering the blame with actions, little will change.

Hunter BreakfastWednesday, March 8, 2017

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

Hunter roads: All Hunter roads are clear this morning.

Hunter trains: There is a good service on the Hunter line and delays on the Central Coast and Newcastle line. Passengers catching trains towards Newcastle on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line are advised to allow additional travel time due to urgent signal equipment repairs at Morisset. Passengers should also listen to announcements and check indicator boards.

Hunter weather: Cloudy and showers in Newcastle (22 degrees), Raymond Terrace is in for a cloudy day with showers (22 degrees), cloudy day for Maitland with showers (24 degrees) and a cloudy day with a medium chance of showers in Scone (25 degrees).

Hunter beachwatch by Daniel Mason:Large swell with messy conditions again. Swell has straightened up a lot, southern corners will be your only option for a wave and will be for experienced surfers only .

►BROKEN man doesn’t come to mind when you think about Troy Miles.He was a tough as nails Newcastle Knight, part of the history-making 1995 reserve grade premiership team; a widely admired community man whose name is synonymous with the Lakes United Seagulls Rugby League Football Club; and, his biggest achievement, a devoted husband andproud father of three. More here.

►A heritage report prepared for Supercars says the Newcastle race in November will not affect the East End’s heritage character and may even enhance the area. More here.

► THE ABC has an all-women line-up on Wednesday, for International Women’s Day, which is such a mind-blowingly extraordinary event that theDaily Telegraphthundered about it on the front page. More here.

►NATHAN Brown has watched Jarryd Hayne almost single-handedly win NSW a State-of-Origin series. The Knights coachisn’t about to start doubting the Titans superstar now. More here.

►CHILDCARE workers will walk off the job on Wednesday afternoon to highlight the large pay gap between male and female dominated industries. More here.

►NEWCASTLE Council spent $83,000 on five overseas trips during this term, with Liberal Brad Luke questioning why ratepayers were footing the bill for councillors to go on trips he said had“no benefit”. More here.

►NOW there’s something you don’t see every day: a surfer riding a wave with industrial Newcastle Harbour as his backdrop. More here.

►A MAN accused of slashing a teenager’s face with a knife at Cooranbong has been refused bail, with a magistrate ruling the fact he would likely lose his job was not sufficient reason to release him from custody. More here.

►HUNTER schools have attributed their improved NAPLAN performance to providing more personalised support to students, professional development for teachers and extra emphasis on literacy.More here.

►Three adults and two children were attacked by dogs in Metford on Monday. More here.

►The first stage of the $412 million Stockland Green Hills redevelopment will open next month. More here.

►A dog owner has apologised after two canines escaped from his Gillieston Heights backyard and killed a pet rabbit and several pet chickens. More here.

►Celebrity chef Paul West has backed the city’s fresh food revolution and is full of praise for the Maitland produce market. More here.

►A Department of Planning assessment has foundthe controversialWallarah 2 Coal Project at Jilliby could be approved, despite concerns about impacts on the region’s water supply. More here.

►You might notice a few women dressed in red on Wednesday forInternational Women’s Day. Women around the globe are striking to show what the world would be like without women, but for those who can’t, they are being encouraged to don red clothing instead. More here.

►A deal worth $10 million between a US Defence Force contractor and Varley is tipped to mean more jobs. More here.

►The iconic Maitland pumpkin is preparing to invade the city for a two-day pumpkin festival in the city centre. More here.

►Brian Faust still cannot recallthe moment a car struck him at Salamander Bay shopping centre on Boxing Day, 2016. More here.

►POLICING of the Westlakes area hasreceived a major boost with the opening on Tuesday of the new Toronto police station. More here.

State of the nationNeed anational newssnapshot first thing – well, we have you covered.

► INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY:Despitehuge advancements towards gender equalityover the past 140 years, women are still fighting for true parity with their male counterparts in .

Oneprominent issueis that of the pay gap, with the federal Workplace Gender Equality Agency reporting that women working full-time earn 16 per cent less than men.

The fight for gender equality has made huge advancements, but women still face disadvantage in several key spheres. Picture: GETTY IMAGES

The WGEA says it is a complex issue, influencedby work, family and societal factors, including perceptions of what work men and women ‘should’ do. More here.

► WOLLONGONG:Two men accused of participating in the fatal shooting of Wollongong underworld figure Darko Janceski have gone on trial in the NSW Supreme Court, almost five years after he was gunned down in the front yard of his parent’s Berkeley home in a targeted attack.

Janceski, a known standover man for the Comancheros outlaw motorcycle gang in the Illawarra, was shot by a masked man who rode up to the Gannet Avenue home on a motorcycle on the afternoon of April 14, 2012.More here.

Victim: Darko Janceski.

►CHINCHILLA:It was meant to be a six month fundraiser to help people during the droughtbut three years later the assistance of two Chinchilla women is being called on from farmers like never before.

Tash Johnston and Nicki Blackwell, also known as the Drought Angels, providefood, toiletries, toys and hay todroughtaffected farmers and their surrounding communities throughout Queensland and other parts of .More here.

►YARRAWONGA:A beekeeper has been left devastated by the theft of 70 of his hives, with the future of his business now in jeopardy.

Nicki Blackwell and Tash Johnston, also known as the Drought Angels.

Jason Partelle checked on the Berrigan property where some of his hives were in transit at the end of February, to find bees missing.

The Yarrawonga Apiaries owner suspected the boxes had been removed by trailer at some point between February 14 and 26.More here.

►NEWCASTLE:Brokenman doesn’t come to mind when you think about Troy Miles.

70 hives have been stolen from the Berrigan property where Yarrawonga’s Jason Partelle keeps his bees. Picture: JAMES WILTSHIRE

He was a tough as nails Newcastle Knight, part of the history-making 1995 reserve grade premiership team; a widely admired community man whose name is synonymous with the Lakes United Seagulls Rugby League Football Club; and, his biggest achievement, a devoted husband andproud father of three.

That’s where Miles, 42, has come from –but it’s not where he is today. More here.

► TASMANIA:The state government will take control of TasWater from next year but will not stop councils from receiving up to $20 million in dividend paymentseach year.

Troy Miles with wife Nicole in Royal Rehab Ryde. Miles became a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident last year. Picture: Katherine Griffiths

Premier Will Hodgman made the announcement in his Premier’s Address to Parliament, criticising the 2008 water and sewerage reform, which bore TasWater,for not fixing the problems it set out to do.

“Tasmania is a world-class destination with third-world water and sewerage services,” he said in his speech.More here.

National news► One in five ABC managers – totalling up to 200 staff – will lose their jobs under a sweeping restructure announced by ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie.

Ms Guthrie acknowledged the “painful” cuts would be a blow for staff who lose their jobs, but said “swift and decisive action” was needed for the ABC to remain relevant to audiences.More here.

► Embattled former Victorian deputy speaker Don Nardella has been kicked out of the Labor Party caucus after he refused to pay back more than $100,000 he’d claimed to maintain a beachside residence.

Speaking to media on Tuesday morning, Premier Daniel Andrews said he had put it in “very clear terms” to Mr Nardella that he should resign from the parliamentary Labor Party if he was unwilling to repay the money.More here.

► An independent expert panel contracted by the Federal government to examine allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation in immigration detention failed to interview any victims, a royal commission has heard.

Don Nardella. Photo: Darrian Traynor

The three memberChild ProtectionPanelwas convened in 2015 in the wake of two inquiries which raised serious allegations about abuse in detention in and offshore.More here.

► First they build our submarines, now the French will roll out a Commodore car.Next they’ll be after meat pies and kangaroos. Surely not the football.

Although the future has long been foreign, what was once dubbed “‘s own car” – the Commodore – is set to be produced by a French-owned company.More here.

National weather radarOn this dayThe faces of :Jay BeaumontPort Macquarie’s Jay Beaumont will make his fourth trip to Thailand this month to complete a 500-kilometre bike ride for charity.

Jumping for joy: Jay Beaumont will make his fourth trip to Thailand this month for charity. He is shown here in front of a temple in 2016.

Jay is part of the “Blueprint Bikeriders”, a business group which completes the ride annually.

This year, Jay’s father, Paul, brother Dale and cousin Luke will all travel together to complete the ride.

The fundraising is for Hands Across the Water – a charity created by Peter Baines after the 2006 Boxing Day Tsunami which left thousands of children homeless and orphaned.Read more here.

Long-term bond yields reflect growth doubts

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

While many global sharemarkets have surged higher this year, yields on longer-term bonds remain well below their December highs, signalling fixed-income investors are more circumspect on long-term economic growth and inflationary expectations than could be deduced from equity markets.

Bond yields move inversely to prices, meaning they fall when demand for the safe harbour asset is high. The decline in longer-term yields since December suggests some doubts over the long-term economic outlook.

“In the last quarter of 2016, we had a vast shock,” said Jamieson Coote Bonds’ executive director Charlie Jamieson. “Not just in Trump’s election necessarily but in Republican clean sweep of Washington. It wasn’t expected by the market. It created a decent pullback on bonds in expectation of much higher US domestic growth, and much higher additional inflation.

“After a move of that magnitude – bond yields don’t continue to move with that kind of voracity.”

This may be due to a continuing lack of detail about the shape of US economic policy.

“We don’t have any details about Trump’s plans,” Mr Jamieson said. “We know there’s a plan to have a plan. But haven’t seen detail or funding implications of how things will be paid for. That makes it difficult to have concrete moves of any additional magnitude.”

In , the government easily sold $11 billion of 10-year notes last month – the third time in six months a new record bond offering has been set. Both two-year and 10-year government bond yields trended lower in the first six weeks of 2017 before edging up over the past few weeks as markets brace for US rate rises. But at 1.84 per cent and 2.81 per cent respectively they still remain well below their December peaks. n bond yields remain well above their US peers, but the spread has narrowed in recent months as global investors price in more monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.

The outlier in the bond picture is the yield on two-year US government bonds. This spiked to an eight-year high at the end of February, to above 1.3 per cent or even higher than the sharp rise in December. The gap between short and long-term yields suggests investors are more bullish on short-term than long-term US growth.

“Expectation of rate hikes, [which occur] late in economic cycle, is bad for long dated bonds,” Mr Jamieson said. The last Federal Reserve rate-hiking cycle was between 2004 and 2006, and during this period the yield on 10-year US government bonds fell almost 99 basis points, from 4.9 per cent to 3.8 per cent in mid-2005, with yield peaking just before the first rate hike in 2004.

Perhaps something of this effect can be seen in the soaring of bond yields late last year. Markets are pricing in three US interest rate hikes in 2017, after sabre-rattling from a number of US Federal Reserve officials.

Long-term bond yields have been falling consistently since the 1980s, a dynamic that has left some viewing the December 2016 spike as something of a correction. Bell Potter research analyst Damien Williamson said the sharp yield rises seen in late 2016 could be attributed to a normalisation of 10-year government bonds from all-time record low yields set in the September 2016 quarter. Despite recent falls, bond yields remain elevated from 2016 levels.

ANZ says departures not linked to rate rigging allegations

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

Senior executives within ANZ’s institutional bank, including the former managing director, all resigned at around the same time the bank was subject to an investigation by the corporate watchdog over the alleged rigging of the bank bill swap rate.

The revelation came as ANZ also defended its treatment of small business customers, particularly farmers, to the parliamentary committee running the ongoing inquiry into the banking sector.

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott confirmed on Tuesday to the committee the executives had all let the bank “at around the same time”.

The executives named before Parliament today by Labor MP Matt Keogh were former global head of markets Steve Bellotti, former acting managing director of markets Eddie Listorti, former head of global markets sales Peter Maddox and former head of ANZ’s institutional bank Andrew Geczy.

However, Mr Elliott said the resignations of the executives were not linked to the bank bill swap rate investigation.

“Yes. They did leave at about the same time though for varying reasons,” Mr Elliott said.

“So, some were resignations, well they were all resignations actually. It was essentially to do with the way we restructured the bank.

“Some of it was a result of me coming in an undertaking a structural and cultural change within the bank. Some of those people were no longer the right people for those roles.”

He then clarified that the resignations were not related to BBSW, but added some of the challenges the bank had around rate rigging allegations were considered in the restructure.

“Were they taken into consideration in thinking the best way to run that business going forward, yes, of course,” Mr Elliott said.

When asked by Mr Keogh whether Mr Elliott’s pause before saying the men had resigned reflected whether ANZ had asked any of the men to resign, Mr Elliott said: “The reason I hesitated is you get into a delicate point of employment law. The reality is most of them were very simple resignations.”

ANZ, along with National Bank and Westpac have been accused by the n Securities and Investments Commission of rigging the bank bill swap rate. Small loan rejection

Mr Elliott was also pressed on the bank’s lack of support for a key recommendation from the small business banking inquiry conducted by Kate Carnell that small business loans under $5 million should not include non-financial covenants.

Mr Elliott said ANZ only used non-financial covenants to have “a conversation” with its customers and to leverage its view that the business should be improved. He said the market would change if ANZ was made to follow the recommendation.

“What will happen is that it will be harder for small businesses will have less access to credit and the credit they get will be more expensive and shorter term because the risk is higher,” Mr Elliott said.

Mr Elliott was challenged by committee chair David Coleman, who said that on the one hand Mr Elliott was saying the bank rarely used these clauses to foreclose on a loan, but on the other hand said that the bank needed the clause.

Mr Elliott said the clauses allowed the bank to stop small businesses from becoming distressed.

China’s worst-paid public servants finally get a raise

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

‘s lowest-paid public servants have finally had a win on pay with some Aboriginal Hotels Limited workers scoring wage rises of $9000 a year.

But the tens of thousands of public servants still embroiled in the the bitter three-year dispute with the Coalition government over working conditions and pay should not get their hopes up, the main public sector unions says.

Staff at Aboriginal Hostels have voted to accept a deal that pays an increase of three per cent up front with 2 per cent a year later and another 1 per cent in the final year of their agreement.

The effect of the new enterprise agreement, plus boosts to some allowances and fringe benefits will be worth as much as $9000 per year to some workers at AHL, the lowest-paid workforce in the 155,000-strong n Public Service.

There was outrage last year when AHL offered its workforce less than 1 per cent per year when public servants at other, departments were offered more than twice that amount.

The agency, which, at 67 per cent, has the highest percentage of Indigenous staff in the n Public Service, provides accommodation at 47 sites around the country for Indigenous ns from rural and remote communities.

CPSU official Beth Vincent-Pietsch said the combined effects of the improvements to the pay scales, access to salary packaging opportunities and the introduction of a “district allowance” for staff working in remote locations meant that some of the poorest paid AHL public servants could be up to $9000 a year better off.

“For these people, this was huge,” Ms Vincent-Pietsch

“This offer gave some seriously improved pay.”

The union official said she and her colleagues were pleased with the outcome for the AHL workers, despite the union having urged them to reject it in last month’s workplace ballot, but cautioned it was no watershed in the broader workplace disputes racking the public service.

“The circumstances are very exceptional and they’re a sad set of facts,” Ms Vincent-Pietsch said.

“They only got more because they were at the bottom of the barrell and that’s something the government should not be proud of, to allow an agency to fall so far.

“But I don’t see this as a breakthrough that other agencies could use and that’s because nobody was as badly off to begin with.”

AHL chief executive Tony Usher said he too was pleased with the outcome that had been achieved and said that many other things had improved since he and his colleagues had taken over the management of the agency in 2016.

“The original offer that the previous management made, along with a whole lot of other stuff, I wouldn’t have called best practice,”

“When you get a 96 per cent no-vote, that’s about more than the offer, that’s about perception of management.”

The chief executive says he and his colleagues had worked hard to put together a reasonable offer and get the approval of the government’s workplace enforce, The Public Service Commission.

“We were doing it one two basis, one to make sure they support us, but two, to make sure they had a reasonable offer for the work they do for us,” Mr Usher said.

“Sometimes it’s a tough environment that these guys work in.”

US travel ban: Malcolm Turnbull praises Indonesia when asked about ban

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

n Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, center, walks on sidelines of at Indian Ocean Rim Association summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, March 7, 2017.(Photo/Tatan Syuflana) . Photo: Tatan SyuflanaJakarta: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the most important allies in the war against terror are Muslim leaders like Indonesian President Joko Widodo and praised Indonesia when asked how it might react to the reinstated US travel ban.

US President Donald Trump on Monday reinstated a ban on immigration from six Muslim-majority countries – Iraq has now been removed from the list of banned states – and suspended the US refugee program.

Those countries affected are Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.

Mr Turnbull was in Jakarta to attend the 20th anniversary meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), an organisation comprising 21 countries that border the Indian Ocean.

On the sidelines of the summit he was asked what Indonesia would think of the reinstated US travel ban, given that it is a majority-Muslim country.

“Well, this is the largest majority-Muslim country and President Widodo, as he often says … Indonesia is proof that Islam, democracy and moderation are compatible,” Mr Turnbull said.

“A quarter of a billion Muslims live in Indonesia and it is a nation where democracy, Islam is the religion of the majority of its people and tolerance and mutual respect operate hand in hand and it is a great example to the world.”

Mr Turnbull stressed the reinstated travel ban would not affect ‘s deal with the US to take refugees from Manus Island and Nauru detention centres.

“No, the President has agreed to honour, continue with, the arrangements entered into with his predecessor,” he said.

Mr Turnbull deplored the sentiments of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who suggested on A Current Affair that it would be difficult to spot a good Muslim.

“I believe there are some that want to live a good life and a quiet life,” Senator Hanson said. “But you tell me – you line up a number of Muslims, who’s the good one?”

Mr Turnbull said he rejected those sentiments entirely. “In this country we see a country with whom we are building closer ties, we see that democracy, Islam, moderation and tolerance are compatible,” he said.

“I might say that in the war against terror ??? our best allies, our most important allies are Muslim leaders like Joko Widodo, the millions and billions of Muslims who are thoroughly committed to peace.”

Senator Hanson responded to the Prime Minister’s criticisms on Twitter, questioning Indonesia’s record on women’s rights. Does the PM know women in Indonesia can be publicly whipped for breaking Sharia Law or does he think that’s just moderate Islam? #auspol??? Pauline Hanson (@PaulineHansonOz) March 7, 2017 Photo: NASA/Skytruth

He and Ms Bishop had also discussed the 2009 Montara oil spill, which fishermen and seaweed farmers from the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara say devastated their livelihoods.

More than 13,000 seaweed farmers have launched a $200 million class action in the Federal Court in Sydney against PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of Thai state-owned oil company PTTEP.

The Indonesian government is also planning to file a lawsuit against PTTEP Australasia in the Central Jakarta District Court.

Rote Island seaweed farmer Nikodemus Manefa with his crop. Seaweed farmers say the Montara spill devastated their livelihoods. Photo: Jewel Topsfield

” as a very good partner can do something also to help the people of the area in eastern part of Indonesia especially in that Montara area,” Mr Pandjaitan said.

Mr Turnbull said in his speech to the IORA summit on Tuesday that a secure, stable and connected Indian Ocean was crucial for ‘s national security and prosperity.

“We have a fundamental national interest in fostering peace and security in this maritime domain, which straddles half the globe and accounts for approximately half the planet’s container traffic and carries two-thirds of its petroleum,” Mr Turnbull said.

He also welcomed a declaration on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism which was issued by foreign ministers at the summit on Monday.

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Crush hour in the time tunnel of love

By admin|苏州桑拿会所

SIMON WALKER: That’s Life Archive

I was moved recently by an experience I’m going to file under the heading “passage of time”.

It involves memories, real and imagined, sliding doors, and that most painful of afflictions –unrequited teenage love.

Let’s just say there was someone in my past that possibly I only really ever knew in my imagination. Because that’s the only place I ever really met her.

Unless you count those two glorious lunchtimes we spent together on the steps at the quadrangle near A-Block in year seven. Or it might have been year eight.

It’s hard to pin down the facts when it comes to teenage love because possibly there’s such little evidence, but the feelings certainly seem crystal clear.

A stomach-churning, sweaty-palmedcrush that triggered the moment I saw her and lingered the entire length of high school, erupting in blushes at a mere glance, contact or mention.

I hope it wasn’t obvious. But maybe it was, because at one stage a meeting was arranged by friends and confidantes, as isthe fashion in year seven (or was it eight?)when the only thing breaking more than your nerve is your voice box.

In scenes reminiscent of the Paris peace talks, envoys secured a lunchtime rendezvous with some heavy negotiations which went along the lines of: “Do you like her? I reckon she likes you.”

Nothing could have made my world more complete than the thought that she did, and that we might, if I played my cards right, end up “going together”, whatever that meant. And going where, it was hard to tell. But as we sat down that lunchtime, I was thinkingit was in the right direction.

Not that I was able to communicate that succinctly because, being a hormone-hamstrung teenager,I was paralysed by self consciousness.

We might have met twice on the quadrangle stairs. Or it may have been once. Emotion fogs the rose-coloured glasses.

But looking back, I wouldn’t blame her if it had been once, because the conversation was far fromriveting. Unless awkward silence gets you going.

I think it did get her going, because before I knew it, our chances of going were gone.

Things fizzled from a pretty unspectacular beginning and in the end, I suspect she preferredto spend her lunchtime with people who spoke. And maybe play handball. It was never really clarified.

After that stymied encounter, the relationship ebbed and well it probably wouldn’t be fair to say it died, because really, it never had a pulse, but the thought of it still sends mine racing.

We remained friends for the next four years, offering shy acknowlegments in the stairwellas we moved between class each day. I never really gave up hope, but when she started going out with someone in the year above, and then left school in year 10, I concludedit was time to face facts.

I never saw her again, mainly because I moved away from home, butI heard she got married, had kids and lived out all those other lyrics from country songs that get you pining from time to time.

That’s destiny for you. And what’s interesting is the turns destiny can take when you fast forward nearly four decades later and I’m visiting the old home town, as you do.

We head out for a meal and not surprisingly, there’s a few familiar faces, but it’s hard to put names to them after all these years.

You get up a couple of times to get serviettes and water and what not, and each time you go past a particular table, they’re looking. So eventually I go over, apologise because I’m drawing a blank and say gday.

Blow me over, if it’s not her –the greatest single crush of my youth. Boom.

Thankfully tongue-tiedness didn’tovercome this time and we got chatting about our various matches, hatches and despatches over the years.

There were a few things I could have said which thankfully I didn’t, because that might have been “awks”all over again.

Her life and times were sitting there at her table and mine were across the room, contemplating whether to have the porkor the beef. It was a classic case of water under the bridge on two different rivers that had flowedout to separate seas.

We smiled and said our goodbyes and as her group departed the restaurant I realised that was probablythe longest conversation I’d had with her in my life, which was amusing, given all those heartfelt high school yearnings.

I’ve since thought about emailing, Facebooking, or even phoning to expand on these profound observations, but realisethat it might reflect poorly on me,as a stalker.

So I’m letting go of what I never held as I come to grips with the passage of time and the intensity of high school crushes, rejoicing in the beauty of what never was and how italways will be.