iron ore

ASX falls 0.8%, retail in the spotlight, China’s economic miracle, QBE gets slammed The ASX200 (ASX:XJO) started the week on a negative footing, falling 0.8%. The discretionary retail (0.2%) and IT (0.5%) sectors were the only highlights but weren’t sufficient to offset a fall in the materials sector (-1.9%). It was the normal culprits pushing the market…

Australia is facing yet another round of export bans after Chinese authorities knocked back tonnes of lobsters, timber from Queensland and barley from a second grain grower. Without warning, paid goods that had arrived at ports were sent back in what is known as a ‘soft ban’ that falls outside of current trade agreements. Authorities…

If you’re looking for some generous dividend-paying stocks before the end of the year, you’ll find that the usual suspects – the banks, Telstra, and the real estate investment trusts (REITs) – have fallen in share price due to COVID-19, but that their dividend yields have remained quite high (although the REITs don’t offer franking)….

OK, so you want to own a big global diversified bulk miner, to take advantage of the impending commodities boom – let’s take a look at the contenders, BHP and Rio Tinto. Here’s the tale of the tape. BHP (BHP, $36.35)Market capitalisation: $183.7 billionOne-year total return: +6.9%Three-year total return: +17.9% a yearFive-year total return: +14.2%…

Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) today announced that CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques, Head of Iron Ore, Chris Salisbury and Head of Corporate Affairs Simone Niven, will be stepping down from their roles following the Juukan Gorge incident. Whilst someone losing their job should never been seen as a positive, is this the first high profile ‘win’ for…