Insights

The Productivity Commission's raising of the possibility of lifting the age pension threshold to 70 is a warning to get serious about saving for retirement.

Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has consolidated her status as the biggest shareholder in a small Victorian oil and gas company, just 24 hours after Victoria extended a ban on the sort of unconventional oil and gas it plans to extract.

The red earth beneath Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest must have been shrinking at an incredible rate as he stood over his self-made empire in the Pilbara earlier this year.

The Australian dollar has fallen to a 2½-month low after RBA governor Glenn Stevens increased his jawboning about the need for a lower currency, saying he was "open minded" about intervening in the foreign exchange markets.

Currency traders were right to trim the value of the Australian dollar on comments by Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens that the central bank still thinks the $A is too high and remains "open minded" about intervening in the markets to try to push it down.

Prosecutors have placed three senior Ikea executives in France under investigation amid allegations that they authorised illegal spying on employees and customers.

Lucy Turnbull has increased her stake in Prima BioMed shortly after talking of "difficult times" as far as the share price was concerned.

Australia's smallest government-owned gaming business is to be sold because the ACT can't inject the cash needed to make the ailing betting agency competitive again.

We are on the third and final part of our series "A Trading Plan for Investors", based on the trading plan that traders use. We have adapted it for investors.

A menu designed by Neil Perry, a toiletry bag designed with the patterns of Florence Broadhurst - it's the finer details that make a business class flight memorable.

Tony Abbott's prying eyes raise the ire of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Twitter, while Ten's TV woes look set to worsen.

The financial crisis illustrated the limits of unconventional monetary policy and its effects on liquidity and capital flows. Combating these challenges in the post-crisis climate will require a fresh approach.

In this week's reading guide, the cheese war keeps churning for Bartholomeusz, Kohler looks at the LNG time-bomb and Gottliebsen advises Abbott to eat some humble pie.

The conflict between politics and national interest will weigh heavily on Joe Hockey's GrainCorp decision. The risk of deterring inward investment in agribusiness could tear the Coalition asunder.

Potential movements in house prices have made the Reserve Bank reluctant to make further rate cuts to dent the dollar. Intervention may be an option if the dollar refuses to budge.

Investors piled back into defensive assets this week as the prospect of a reduction in Fed stimulus resurfaced.