Insights

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh has signalled he will take more costs out of the aluminium business before any potential spinoff, after taking what he says was ''one of the hardest decisions of my life'' to close the loss-making Gove alumina refinery in Arnhem Land.

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh says he is still optimistic about long-term demand for the commodities Rio sells. He even thinks the group's wounded aluminium business will one day have its "day in the sun", possibly as China's transformation into a consumer-driven economy sucks electricity away from the Chinese aluminium smelters that are keeping prices low.

Previously secret Reserve Bank documents reveal neither of Joe Hockey's two predecessors as treasurer were ever asked to top-up the bank's reserve fund by the $8.8 billion he said was needed.

Woolworths and Coles are close to doing a deal with the competition regulator over their controversial petrol shopper docket schemes that could see a cap placed on steep discounting at supermarket-owned petrol stations while still preserving the popular budget-saving promotion for consumers.

Spit happens to Max the Axe

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens wasn't expected to put an interest rate cut under the Christmas tree on Tuesday. As far as he is concerned, the community hasn't made full use of the various rate cuts he has been giving it over the past few years.

The Reserve Bank has left the cash rate on hold at its final meeting of the year as it continued to stress that the Australian dollar was "still uncomfortably high".

Well that was an easy Reserve Bank board meeting. With the possibility of a pleasant upside surprise in the September quarter national accounts on Wednesday, housing doing what it's meant to be doing, households starting to borrow and invest a little more and our main trading partners looking better by the day, the only thing to do was to leave the cash rate steady, have lunch and adjourn until February.

AGL Energy's proposed bid for huge NSW power producer Macquarie Generation is to be examined closely by the competition watchdog, which has also started a review of a similar proposal by smaller player ERM Power.

The Queensland government has cut its stake in Aurizon to below 5 per cent after selling $350 million of shares in the rail group to pay down debt.

Shares in sharemarket debutant Dick Smith are expected to trade strongly on Wednesday as investors rush the chance to invest in a mid-cap retailer with a national footprint of stores and chief executive Nick Abboud beats the drum over the electronic store's growth credentials.

Is now a good time to lock in a fixed-rate mortgage? It's a question that's received plenty of attention this year, after the Reserve Bank cut official interest rates to their lowest level on record.

Mesoblast is that rarest of beasts, a ground-breaking Australian biotech company with a solid international profile. It is developing a range of treatments using stem cell technologies that can be applied in regenerative medicine. Target applications include bone, cartilage and vertebral disc regeneration along with cardiac and vascular disease treatments.

Each week, financial adviser and international best-selling author Noel Whittaker answers your questions. noelwhit@gmail.com

Turnbull's NBN review will provide little comfort to the ALP but its more rigorous cost-benefit analysis will allow NBN Co chair Ziggy Switkowski to establish a realistic timeline for the Coalition's strategy.

Local market slips after Rio Tinto announces reduction in capital expenditure.

The ASX 200 has breached a key support level according to chartists and a downtrend looks likely for local shares.

The Reserve Bank's wait-and-see approach to rates says less about the current domestic market and more about the Fed's taper timeline. If it's not careful, it could end up in interest rate no-man's land.