News & Insights
Vance says Fed should lower interest rates: ‘Would be nice to have some help’
4 Sep 2026
The Federal Reserve should cut interest rates to make homes more affordable, Vice President JD Vance said Thursday, adding to the pressure President Donald Trump has placed on the central bank to cut borrowing costs. The remarks came days after Trump’s handpicked Fed…
Read moreThe one thing that caught Goldman Sachs’ notice this earnings season
4 Sep 2026
After the relentless barrage of ASX earnings announcements during the August reporting season, the one thing that stood out the most for Goldman Sachs was the number of companies that rallied on better-than-expected results only…
Read more‘Brace for swings on every tweet’: Investors bamboozled by peace talks
Investors tentatively emerged from their bunkers on Tuesday to buy up everything from stocks to gold after United States President Donald Trump boosted hopes of an imminent de-escalation of the Iran war that has erased…
ASX to open higher, S&P fluctuates
Australian shares are poised to open higher. US equities ended lower amid conflicting headlines about the US-Israeli war against Iran with President Donald Trump saying Iran “badly” wants to make a deal, while the US…
Stagflation alarm bells ring in the euro zone as energy crunch hits the global economy
Private sector output in the euro zone sank to a 10-month low in March, amid mounting evidence of the impact the Iran conflict is having on the global economy. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/24/euro-zone-pmi-staglation-risks-critical-energy-crunch-vdl-iran-war.html
Trump administration plans to bring more diesel to market as fuel prices surge, Wright says
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/chris-wright-trump-diesel-iran-war-oil-price.html
Crisis a reminder fossil fuels still key to global economic health
What a difference a war makes to confident predictions about the global energy market. The executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, reassured the World Economic Forum in January there were still several…
Why last year’s safe haven assets are now getting smashed
Gold and silver became the defining trade of 2025 after US President Donald Trump roiled financial markets with his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs that prompted investors to pile into traditional safe-haven assets. But this year,…
Recession risk ignored as traders bet on triple rate rise
Bond traders are betting on a fresh wave of interest rate rises in Australia this year as the war in the Middle East deepens and US President Donald Trump threatens to “obliterate” Iran’s energy assets.…
Volume in stock and oil futures surged minutes before Trump’s market-turning post
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/volume-in-stock-and-oil-futures-surged-minutes-before-trumps-market-turning-post.html
PACIFIC COMPASS – Resilience Amid Rotation and Rising Complexity [March 2026 Review]
Executive Summary February was characterised by strong performance in Australian equities, rising geopolitical tensions and growing debate around the structural implications of artificial intelligence for global markets. Australian equities materially outperformed global peers, supported by…
$166 a barrel? Middle East oil gives clue to where all prices could be headed if Iran war drags on
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/19/166-a-barrel-middle-east-oil-gives-clue-to-where-all-prices-could-be-headed-if-iran-war-drags-on.html