Picks of the Week

In this week’s essential reading guide, Bartholomeusz sounds the alarm on ballooning debt, while Gottliebsen eyes trouble ahead for Woolworths.

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A global debt time bomb is ticking

Stephen Bartholomeusz

Ballooning debt in emerging markets and the oil and gas sector presents a growing threat to global financial stability.

Woolworths pays a high price for hubris

Robert Gottliebsen

Given the number of properties involved, Woolworths will likely struggle to pack away its Masters mess on budget.

What Bunnings can learn from Masters

Miranda Maxwell

Woolworths’ Masters debacle bears a striking resemblance to Target Corporation’s ill-fated Canadian play.

A bad omen for commodity markets

Victoria Thieberger

A key indicator of global trade paints a bleak picture for commodity prices.

Curbs on coal and steel will test Beijing’s resolve

Peter Cai

China desperately needs to rein in overcapacity in its coal and steel sectors, but it’s unclear whether yet another commitment to curb production will succeed.

The euro has become a zombie currency

Oliver Marc Hartwich

While the euro continues to survive, the broken promises and unconventional policies of the past six years have rendered it a dead currency walking.

Driverless cars are a step closer

Chris Griffith

Driverless technology is developing at such a fast pace that self-driving cars are likely to hit the streets well before 2020.

Most Read

The Masters disaster offers some home truths for Woolworths

Stephen Bartholomeusz

Woolworths’ decision to cut its losses and abandon its ill-fated hardware strategy will finally allow the retailer to focus on its core supermarkets business.

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The great danger lurking in US markets

Robert Gottliebsen

US non-bank institutions’ exposure to energy stocks and emerging markets could prove costly.