The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Friday, September 17, 2010

Goldman's ballsy rates call...

Goldman Sachs's always erudite Tim Toohey is the lone ranger on rates at the October RBA meeting (the results of the Reuters survey are enclosed below). I note that the notoriously strong technician, Kieran Davies of RBS, is not yet included in the survey, and I would expect KD to be pretty trigger happy given he is very bullish on upside growth risks and the cash rate trajectory generally. Having said all of this, a lot of fellas are calling hikes in either November and/or December, with ANZ and ICAP out on a limb with the expectation of two. Assuming that any rate rises are gradually effected over time, the housing market should weather it just fine.