The Ticker: Modern business life

On today's blog:

• This chart reveals why 2014 was a nightmare year for most of our miners
   
• Despite all the rhetoric, Australia is still missing out on the Asian century 
   
• Australia's youth adamantly believe they will be homeowners
   
• House prices slip as Mighty Melbourne lags
   
• Napthine went viral on #VicVotes, and he still didn't win the election 
   
• Interesting reads from around the web

Got something you would like to add to the blog? Email (harrison.polites@businessspectator.com.au) or get in touch on Twitter.

3.15pm - This chart reveals why 2014 was a nightmare year for most of our miners

The graph featured in today's UBS analyst note. While the weekly price is interesting, it's the grey year-to-date figures that are perhaps the most revealing. Weak commodity prices have taken their toll on most of our miners. In recent months the damage has been compounded by a falling iron ore price. 

2.30pm - Despite all the rhetoric, Australia is still missing out on the Asian century 

So much for the ‘Asian century'. Though 2015 is just around the corner, according to this graphic from PwC, we're still investing more in New Zealand than in Asia. 

Why is this case? Well, the firm also produced this chart showing the typical concerns with overseas investment. As some may expect, corruption tops the list.

As for cultural differences, another key deterrent, the group came up with this handy cheat sheet. 

11.50am - Australia's youth adamantly believe they will be homeowners

It sounds like a contradiction, but according to today's Mission Australia youth survey, Australian teenagers believe that they are more likely to become a home owners than they are to attain financial independence or career success.

We all know that all three of these factors are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, most of the respondents -- over 13,000 Australians aged between 15 and 19 -- would understand this too.  So, perhaps this data is a good indicator of just how strong Australia's ‘home-ownership culture' actually is.

Taking this study way out of its intended context -- to highlight issues facing Australian youth -- it could also be interpreted as an indicator of future housing demand.

But one wonders whether the result would change if before they were asked the question the respondents were shown the graph below from CoreLogic. 

10.40am - House prices slip as Mighty Melbourne lags

By Chris Kohler, BusinessNow

The value of houses in Australian capital cities fell in November, with Melbourne showing uncharacteristic weakness following years of strong growth.

The average dwelling value across Australia's capital cities fell 0.3 per cent in November, with Melbourne falling 2.6 per cent in the month -- the worst performance from any Australian capital city.

Melbourne's prices dropped 1.6 per cent for the three months to November 31, according to RP Data Core Logic research.

The result marks a turning point in the values for Victoria's capital, which has seen an 8.3 per cent rise in values this year and an overall 6.1 per cent rise over the past decade.

Sydney is still the Australian housing heavyweight, showing a 1 per cent lift in November and a 3.1 per cent rise in the quarter, compared with a 13.2 per cent surge year-on-year.

It's still the most expensive city to buy in, with a median price of $705,000.

The worst performing city over the quarter has been Hobart, losing 2.4 per cent, with a median house price of $315,000.

“Although combined capital city home values increased by a healthy 8.5 per cent over the 12 months to November 2014, the annual growth rate is now at its lowest level in the year. The rate of annual home value growth across the combined capital cities continued to slow after peaking at 11.5 per cent over the 12 months to April 2014,” CoreLogic RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher said.

10.20am - Napthine went viral on #VicVotes, and he still didn't win the election 

The results are in, and Twitter just declared this most recent poll the most tweeted Victorian election in history. Though, with Twitter's uptake in Australia growing by the year, that finding isn't much of a revelation.

However, there is one fascinating outcome buried in Twitter's own analysis. There's ongoing debate as to how much social media can influence or predict the poll; this latest race proves what could be deemed common sense: mentions on Twitter don't equal votes.

Over the last month Premier Dennis Napthine easily outranked his rivals in terms of overall exposure within the Twittersphere. Mentions of the Greens only peaked on election night, when the party won their first seat in the lower house of the Victorian parliament. 

Not all of the coverage was kind, but as some may argue, any publicity is good publicity. Take this tweet from The Australian's Victoria bureau chief Patricia Karvelas. Twitter identified it as one of the most retweeted pictures throughout the campaign. 

This pic is hilarious #vicvotes pic.twitter.com/WKl7W7ScML

— PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) November 28, 2014

And yet, despite all of these Tweets, the Napthine government was still kicked out of office.

Twitter isn't useless in elections. Some may argue that it's an effective starting point for recruiting volunteers and sparking a grassroots campaign. But this latest poll puts the hype to bed and its influence in perspective. 

9am - Interesting reads from around the web

The secret weapon that outmanoeuvred the Coalition in the Victorian election. Hint: It's not social media.

A lesson in empire building: The challenges Netflix is facing in leading a new round of media globalisation.

Move over 20/20 Cricket: Tennis is attempting to reinvent itself as a high-octane action sport.

Forget the Turing test: This new study promises to be a more objective means of testing for true artificial intelligence.

Can you be friends with your boss? Five questions you should ask yourself before you pursue a friendship with your superior.