Insights

Despite a relief rally on Friday, local shares fell over the past week as speculation mounted that the US Federal Reserve might start to cut stimulus next week. On Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 35.9 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5098.4, while the broader All Ordinaries Index gained 32.3 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 5101.5, as investors decided that after a six-day losing streak, the longest since July 2012, blue-chip shares had been oversold.

A clutch of stocks that have been falling to earth and hitting 52-week lows have attracted some support from directors. Fleetwood Corporation has been particularly harshly dealt with and is now fetching $2.33 compared with $10.66 earlier this year.

Canada's Saputo has extended its $9-a-share cash takeover offer for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter as it awaits the Takeovers Panel's ruling on whether it has misled shareholders with its revised bid.

The Abbott government clocks up 100 days since its September 7 election win on Monday. It was sworn in on September 18. The 100-day window on that measure passes on December 27 by my count.

James Packer's casino company Crown is expected to push for lower tax rates on high rollers in response to the Victorian government's plan to tax its 2500 pokies to the tune of $56 million a year.

The telecommunications industry is braced for more changes to the regulations surrounding the national broadband network, after the company overseeing construction proposed a rethink of the $41 billion project.

Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has backed Glenn Stevens' campaign to talk down the Australian dollar, saying the high currency continued to obstruct the expansion plans of many businesses.

Almost 50 years ago Toyota bought the land in Altona, west of Melbourne, it now uses to produce more than 100,000 cars annually. Yet the Japanese car maker didn't open a manufacturing facility there until 1978, instead relying on a partnership with Australian Motor Industries to assemble vehicles in Port Melbourne.

The story of Holden and its demise needs to be viewed through a global lens if it's to be fully understood, writes Mark Hawthorne.

Against the backdrop of surging domestic gas prices, independent explorer and producer AWE has attracted takeover interest, prompting it to go into a trading halt on Friday.

The anticipated decline in the carbon price is expected to take the sting out of the recent sustained upswing in electricity prices, with the household electricity bill forecast to rise over the next few years at less than the rate of inflation.

Shares in financing company Silver Chef have plummeted after the company joined other non-bank lenders in downgrading its profit for the full year.

Regional NSW carrier Brindabella Airlines is feared to be in a precarious financial position now that eight of its 10 aircraft are grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for maintenance reviews.

Figures for the economy's productivity performance haven't looked good for the past decade, causing consternation among economists and business people. But a careful study by the Productivity Commission has failed to find any particular problem, nor anything we could do to make the figures look better.

When I was a lad'', confided an old-timer many years ago to your humble essayist, ''we used to like American cars and European women. But the young people these days'' - he shook his head - ''they like European cars and American women.''

We are nearly at the end of a crucial year in our history. The issues that face us seem to be mounting, rather than diminishing and there is a constant and overriding concern about leadership.