Insights

German savers, stuck as hapless players in Europe's zero sum game, face annual bank deposit losses of 1 per cent. But that's only the start - they are in for more rude shocks.

Jotters consider where the escalating Qantas-Virgin tensions could lead, and one says the stoush is personal.

Virgin Australia has upped the stakes in its public stoush with Qantas by threatening legal action against its rival's chief executive, Alan Joyce, for his remarks about its $350 million capital raising.

Virgin boss John Borghetti has sent a clear message to counterpart Alan Joyce - Qantas doesn't have a monopoly on grenades.

Where's Reg?

Myer chairman Paul McClintock believes the Coalition government will act quickly to repair commonwealth-state relations, which had become frayed under the previous administration in Canberra, as a crucial first step to eliminate the GST exemption on imported goods.

Fallout from the disclosure of how much taxpayers' money the ABC spends on its senior staff and star broadcasters has put an unlikely organisation under pressure: the Institute of Public Affairs.

Bankers who met Joe Hockey and Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson in New York in October reported that the pair worked closely and effectively together.

A profit downgrade by the contractor WorleyParsons sent the Australian sharemarket lower on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has flagged that interest rates will remain low for a ''considerable time'' after quantitative easing ends, as the Reserve Bank of Australia's assistant governor said the US central bank held the key to a lower dollar here.

Online currency group OzForex has passed its first test as a listed company, reporting a 14 per cent rise in net profit to $9.5 million for the first half of the year.

Investors in the Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA) are expecting a revised offer from joint suitors Dexus Property and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in what has become a bidding war after the surprise $4 billion offer from rival GPT.

The company producing a spray-on skin treatment developed by Australian of the Year Fiona Wood is all but certain to receive a first strike when shareholders meet on Friday.

Returning Channel Ten to its roots as a youth-focused TV station would be certain death, its chief executive says.

At least 300 people are set to lose their jobs as global energy company BP cuts costs at its Australian business.

Shares in global consulting engineer WorleyParsons slumped to post-GFC lows on Wednesday, following a severe profit downgrade - just weeks after it told shareholders it was upbeat on its prospects for the year ahead.