Insights

A rise in building approvals highlights the surprising resilience of the residential construction sector. But a weak outlook for commodity prices poses a risk.

In an interview that went from trouble to farce, the chair of the renewable energy review fumbled questions about coal's windfall before admitting he has no figures to support his argument to slash the renewables target because Direct Action is cheaper.

A new report commissioned by the REC Agents Association paints a picture of a vibrant but vulnerable solar sector in Australia, dominated by small enterprises that would struggle to survive an RET cut.

The latest solar stats from Energex - southeast Queensland's network business - shows an upswing in commercial installations, but there may be bumps ahead for residential.

BHP Billiton, Vale and Rio Tinto are set to ramp up iron ore production, despite softening demand from China and a sinking price. The pressure's on for smaller miners and Chinese steel producers.

China's upcoming party plenum will focus on legal reform for the first time -- but Beijing has little intention of building up legal institutions as a truly independent check on party power.

The President is trying to mark a clear distinction between the administrative role of the state and the executive management of the companies it owns. The big question is whether his reforms will get the job done.

The notion that the government will remove the attractive tax-breaks given to property investment in this country and hand them to local tech investors is a pipe dream. So why are we still talking about it?

Rather than simply destroying jobs, robotics will polarise the labour force by reducing wages in a number of sectors, thereby diminishing the middle class -- and the trend has already started.

Big stimulus programs around the world mitigated the severity of a global recession, but the enormous reduction in corporate costs and the globalisation of labour mean there hasn't been a corresponding rise in consumer spending.

Online bulletin board, 4chan, is at it again and the latest episode of celebrity baiting again enhances its reputation as the platform of choice for controversy and internet virality.

The journey to web-scale IT will not be easy for most enterprises. It won't be a straight line but will look more like a roadmap with many twists and turns.

Macquarie Group is leading the race for ING Direct's $1.5bn non-branded mortgage book, while due diligence on Treasury Wine Estates begins to wrap up.

European markets rose slightly as speculation of M&A activity in the media sector supported sentiment following weaker-than-expected PMI data.

A raft of data releases this week, including trade balance, retail sales and building approvals, should have little effect on the Australian dollar. But if GDP comes in weaker than forecast, expect its recent trading range to be tested.

Australia is a leader in the complex data-adjustment techniques needed to correct historical temperature records and our bureau's overall changes have, in fact, tended towards less warming.