OK that's a wrap from the ABC's business team today.
It was a day for records.
The share market seems keen to test another record high, and Qantas Airways shares pulled upward to new heights.
Wesfarmers shareholders though clearly wanted more bang for their investment buck.
And the partial data we have now suggests official economic growth figures next week could see GDP lift a tad... hopefully.
Catch y'all next time.
Deutsche Bank has written a compelling research note on how Australia could speed-up the build of new dwellings.
The economics suggests the faster we build new dwellings, the less upwards pressure on home prices.
"History – and evidence from Germany – suggests Australia’s housing target will be more achievable if construction tilts significantly in favour of attached dwellings (apartments) rather than stand-alone houses," Deutsche Bank chief economist Phil O'Donoghoe noted.
"In other words, Australia needs more flats, fewer fences…"
The note goes on to say...
"...there is a strong correlation between the value of dwelling construction work done (i.e. the ‘cost of work’) and the number of dwellings completed (the ‘end result’)."
"But the correlation has weakened in recent years.
"In 2019, we calculate that every $1bn in residential construction expenditure translated into ~2,200 dwellings brought to completion.
"In 2025, that same $1bn is ‘only’ delivering ~1,910 dwellings."
So are we getting less bang for our property building buck?
"Falling productivity is very likely part of the problem," Mr O'Donaghoe said.
"But the main driver is the type of dwellings being built."
Wesfarmers, owner of Bunnings and Kmart, is up 5 cents to $91.74 as we approach the final minutes of trade.
Earlier today it posted a 14.4 per cent rise in net profit of $2.92 billion and rewarded investors with a special dividend.
The stock is essentially trading flat after a sizeable increase in earnings.
ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender will speak with Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott on ABC Radio National's PM program this evening.
Our very own host of The Business, Alicia Barry, interviewed Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, following the airline's profit result, which showed a strong performance in the 2025 financial year.
That's despite Qantas facing significant penalties and legal costs in the past year.
Last week, it was ordered to pay a record $90 million penalty for its illegal outsourcing of ground handling work during the pandemic, on top of $120 million compensation to former employees who it had unlawfully sacked.
While it will pay the Federal Court penalty in the current 2026 financial year, Qantas said it increased its provisions in financial year 2025 to account for the fine.
Given the airline still saved itself hundreds of millions of dollar in annual salary expenses, leaving it financially on top despite the mounting costs of the fallout, Alicia asked Ms Hudson, is it simply the cost of doing business for Qantas?
"Absolutely not," the chief executive said.
"From the outset, I have said, in terms of the judgement that came down from the court ,that I accept that and we are accountable for those actions.
"We are going to learn from this — there is absolutely no motivation that these kind of examples is a cost of doing a business."
The annual report of the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) is out!
You’re joining a very small audience — governance nerds, the team of people at each bank who are tasked to check it out — exploring its contents.
Its main job is to regulate the application of the Banking Code of Conduct, a rule book about how banks treat their customers.
It's meant to have the "weight of law" because it is written into standard contracts for products like loans.
But in reality, it is down to how different institutions take it on, and the BCCC has a focus on systemic issues rather than individual cases.
Hold on, the who-what?
The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) is a kinda-independent body that is full of well-meaning people with good reputations and a track record of working to help people, particularly those who are vulnerable.
But it is hard to take seriously.
The BCCC has few staff, extremely limited resources and its most serious sanction is — I hope you are sitting down — naming an institution.
Saying their name! Like Lord Voldemort.
The BCCC generally only gets its Big Stick out once a year.
This year, it actually said "Bank of Queensland" when describing an institution that on more than 2,500 occasions failed to stop or refund interest and fees on the accounts of deceased customers over a period of years.
(Of course, the bank had “ample time to improve and ensure the effectiveness of its processes and controls to prevent recurrence of its breaches” and didn't).
Other banks that did bad things that year? Stole money from clients? Failed to support vulnerable people in hardship?
They will be called "a bank" in the published investigation summary.
You will never know if it is your bank.
You could be with the worst, most Code-crushing bank in Australia.
You will never know.
And the reason I say "kinda independent" is that despite overseeing breaches by banks, all of the powers the BCCC holds are given to it by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) — the peak body of the industry it oversees.
The ABA is also the sole funder of the body, to the tune of $2.5 million last year.
In recent years, the BCCC asked the ABA for more powers and the ABA said... No.
If you think that sounds fine and normal from a governance standpoint, you are set for a long and profitable career in Australian business, particularly financial services.
But there is a big positive change.
One of the BCCC's key asks is finally happening – the Big Stick is getting bigger.
The report notes an intention to:
“...transition our Compliance Statements to named reporting – in progress and scheduled for implementation in 2025–26”
As ever, you can't take the BCCC too seriously — the industry certainly doesn’t.
When the BCCC asked the ABA for the power to force banks to publish sanctions on their own websites... not a chance!
“The ABA considered this inconsistent with the self-regulatory nature of the Code. We retain the power to publish naming sanctions on our website and in our annual report”.
Given the tiny number of people who visit the BCCC website or read its annual report, they’d be better off printing flyers and handing them outside of train stations.
Even one train station.
OK, so what did they do?
Here are some of the highlights of the report, which you can read for yourself:
The Reserve Bank next makes an interest rate decision on September 30.
Since the August meeting, there's been official data on unemployment, monthly inflation, and some economic "partials" or elements of the gross domestic product (GDP).
This afternoon the interest rate-sensitive three-year Australian government bond yield has inched up two basis points to 3.41 per cent.
Swaps are pricing in a 20% probability for an RBA interest rate cut at the next Reserve Bank (RBA) meeting in September, and an 86% chance of a lowering in borrowing costs in November.
If the RBA does cut interest rates in November we would end up with a year-end cash rate of 3.35 per cent.
Earlier this year, in April, the Australian share market was sideswiped by US President Donald Trump's so-called Liberation Day.
The reciprocal tariffs proposed by the Trump administration threatened to produce an inflation spike across the global economy.
Shares dived and bonds sold off.
Later in April, shares began rallying as the tariff threat subsided and the acronym TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) began to gain traction.
Fast forward to August 25 and the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index hit an all-time high of 9,054 index points.
As it 3pm AEST, the index is sitting at 8,977 points.
This means the share market, broadly speaking, is still just 0.8 percentage points from once again cracking an all-time high.
It comes as analysts wade through this full year corporate earnings season.
The Port of Los Angeles's CEO, Gene Seroka, has said they've seen a rollercoaster of cargo volume since US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariff in April.
Cargo shipments dropped 19% in May compared to April, as importers expected newly announced tariffs to take effect, Mr Seroka told the ABC.
Then, the traffic bounced back in June and July with a heavy flow of imports arriving at the port, after tariffs for many countries were extended, he said.
"In fact, the Port of Los Angeles set a new all-time monthly record in July, handling 1,020,000 container units," he said.
"Our data indicates that July was likely our volume peak as retailers and manufacturers have already brought in much of the finished goods for the holiday season, several months earlier than usual."
The CEO noted that the termination of the de minimis exemption would take a toll on American smaller businesses, especially those with fast delivery models.
"Likely, we’ll see the US Customs process for a lot of these smaller packages lengthen.
"'Next-day' delivery service may begin to look like 'Next-week' delivery service for a lot of these smaller companies shipping smaller parcels.
"Many of them will not be able to absorb the new costs the way a larger company might."
Mr Seroka said that could lead to fewer orders and higher prices for consumers.
The Port of Los Angeles is one of the world’s busiest seaports for international trade in the Western Hemisphere.
It has ranked as the number one container port in the US each year since 2000, according to its website.
The Australian dollar has been range-bound in recent weeks -- moving from a low of 64.19 US cents earlier this month to 65.68 US cents last week.
The Commonwealth Bank has penned some notes on today's ABS business capital expenditure data, what it means for economic growth (GDP) and the Australian dollar.
"Combined with the solid construction work data, today’s capex figures imply a small positive contribution from private investment to next week's GDP data, as some private sector weakness persists."
"Today’s Aussie capex data had a limited impact on financial markets after yesterday’s stronger-than-expected monthly inflation figures.
"The Aussie dollar (AUD) ticked up 0.1 per cent to near 65.12 US cents after the release of the capex data, having edged 0.2 per cent higher overnight to stand back above US65 cents, the middle of the recent trading range of between US64 and US66 cents," the CBA noted.
The Australian dollar was trading near 65.10 cents at 2:30pm AEST.
The ABS just gives and gives: answering the questions Australians want to know:
Where the ladiez at? Where the boyz?
Here's what they say: "Sex ratios also varied considerably across the country."
Hobart and Adelaide not only had the oldest populations, but they were also the capitals where women outnumbered men the most.
Here's Tricia Chester, ABS head of demography statistics, again:
"Our youngest capital, Darwin, was the only capital with more men than women".
Men outnumbered women the most in Wacol, Brisbane.
Why? Male jail.
Multiple "male correctional centres" are based there, were 290.1 males per 100 females.
Conversely, women outnumbered men the most in Woollahra in inner-city Sydney, where there were 80 males for every 100 females.
As far as I am aware, there isn't a female correctional facility there.