Australia’s sharemarket is at its highest ever level, company profits are strong, immigration has helped ease the skills shortage, supply chains are almost back to normal, and the domestic and global economies have handled rapid interest rate rises.

So corporate Australia is flying, right? We hear time and time again that the forward-looking market is never wrong, and record highs at the ASX’s biggest citizens – Commonwealth Bank of Australia, BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals – over the Christmas period should mean everything is on track for better times in 2024.