Travellers to Switzerland overwhelmingly describe the alpine nation as breathtaking, safe, and efficient – a dream destination with dreamlike Alpine landscapes. Those with a keen eye will also notice that one of the most beautiful places they have ever visited is expensive, but it’s clean, the public transport is punctual, and the villages are charming.

  In this video insight, I explain why, while economists continue debating whether a recession is coming, many Australians are already living through one, as falling retail volumes, reduced discretionary spending and rising everyday costs take hold.

There’s been a conga line of prognosticators who have forecast falling house prices. All of them have faded into history as house prices have grown since the 1970s, first at the rate of inflation, then at the rate of wage growth, then at the rate of Artemis II launch. Recently, Money. com.

Corporate strategic pivots are common throughout history and particularly during market booms. Recall the mining companies that became internet companies during the internet bubble of 1999. Back then, merely adding “. com” to a company’s name saw its share price surge.   In the 1920s, radio was the ‘Internet and artificial intelligence (AI)’ equivalent of its day.

The gigawatt IPOs Ahead of a multi-billion-dollar Australian data centre Initial Public Offering (IPO), many local investors are taking a particular interest in the sector, swatting up on everything they can learn. Of particular interest are the latest developments at Datacentre hopeful Fermi America.

Should persistent inflation drive a portfolio shift? Helped by a 12 per cent rally since the war-inspired low recorded on March 30, the U. S. S&P 500 index is now at new all-time highs and more than two per cent above its previous all-time high recorded in February.   It’s reasonable to conclude the global and U. S.

Yikes! Did the U. S. Federal Reserve (Fed) just propose a material reduction in its balance sheet? After the war is over, investors will revert to concentrating on earnings and other thematics again, and a recent Fed research paper may give investors something to worry about. The U. S.

In late March 2026, the ANZ Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Index hit the lowest level since the survey began in the early 1970s.   Last week (5 April 2026), it rallied to the second worst week on record, as motorists received a $0. 26 per litre reduction in the fuel excise.

What’s war good for? With apologies to Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, absolutely nothing from humanity’s point of view.

The upcoming listing of Firmus on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is being pitched as a generational opportunity to capitalise on the artificial intelligence boom, yet a closer examination of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) Factory model reveals a series of architectural and financial cracks that prospective investors should scrutinise.

I know everyone is focused on Iran and oil at the moment, but when the conflict eventually ends, investors will cheer…and return to the themes that previously dominated markets. And that theme is artificial intelligence (AI).

Pivots galore Few global macroeconomists have carried as much recent optimism as Ed Yardeni, who, as president of Yardeni Research, has spent the better part of this decade championing a ‘Roaring 2020s’ thesis – a nod to the roaring 1920s, on the back of productivity gains, technological innovation, and a resilient American consumer, Yardeni’s thesis has included a very bullish end…