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."

Sunday, July 10, 2011

TDS: Equities and Aussie dollar likely to suffer short-term from Carbon Tax

From TDS tonight:

"For markets, the tax is within expectations. Nevertheless, we will probably see equities lower on Monday, led by LNG producers. Simply putting official estimates to the economic impact (e.g. slower national income growth) makes it ‘real’ for investors who will now discount Australia’s future growth potential and lower the return on equity. AUD should underperform on a weaker outlook for equities. Expectations for future rate cuts may be shifted further out the curve (even though the RBA will look through the tax’s impact). But because the tax is within expectations, these near-term responses will probably be priced out by the end of this week; hence investors could look to fade the move. Broader macro factors such as the high AUD, global growth concerns and China growth concerns are likely to remain the bigger influences on Australian fixed income and currency markets this week."