Insights

National Australia Bank chief economist Alan Oster has demolished the argument put forward by retailers that scrapping the $1000 GST-free threshold on imported goods would trigger an $800 million windfall for state revenues, arguing it would fail to raise even half that.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sought to dampen expectations that the government will offer financial help to Qantas to preserve its investment-grade credit rating, saying the airline has yet to tell politicians exactly what it wants.

The government will need a full-time workforce of 3000 engineers plus contractors to achieve a full fibre-to-the-node rollout by mid-2020. That figure is based on Britain's Openreach rollout of 300 street cabinets a week, says Informa senior analyst Tony Brown. bit.ly/Iyyh4P

Indian outsourcer Infosys has opened a new Sydney office to cope with growth of more than 500 per cent over the past five years. It expects to hire 85 employees in NSW as well as short-term imported specialists. The company says it employs about 2600 people in Australia and New Zealand.

Forrester Research has forecast a modest increase of 2.4 per cent in overall technology spending in Australia in 2014. Senior analyst Tim Sheedy says Australian chief information officers have managed to reduce operational costs and are pumping the savings back into IT.

Social media is monitored to gauge what consumers want, writes Brad Howarth.

Jumbo Interactive (JIN) suffers its worst one-day fall in six months after its first half profit guidance raised concerns that the online lottery reseller will not meet consensus expectations.

How should Tony Abbott respond to Qantas' pleas for help? A guarantee of the airline's debt would secure its credit rating, but its offshore expansion presents additional risks for taxpayers.

The Federal Government may need to dust off some blueprints to help first-home buyers.

Income on shares held in a SMSF is not taxable in pension mode.

No news is good news for self-managed funds.

A new phone app and index designed to tap the trading mindsets of US billionaires.

This article bravely names the stocks most at risk of cutting dividends.

The coalminer has secured approval to amend its $1.2 billion corporate debt facility.

The food and grocery supply code may embolden larger suppliers to speak out against unfairness in supermarket conduct, but will it help small and family-sized businesses?

Building approvals data showed some encouraging signs, but residential investment is a small driver of the economy. US payroll figures will provide more clues on how the Reserve Bank will act.