New developments came thick and fast as the U.S. financial crisis quickly spread across global share markets and financial systems, with huge falls in most major markets, most European countries guaranteeing deposits and interest rates being cut deeply by central banks across the world, after the eventual passing of the US$700bn U.S. bailout did little to stem the panic, with scores of banks broke or close to it and the U.S. and all of Europe expected to slide into recession immediately.
The RBA was one of the first central banks to respond strongly to the global situation, surprising all of the business media and financial analysts by cutting official interest rates a full percentage point, twice what most expected. There was intense political debate over whether banks should pass on the full rate cut, the Government accusing Malcolm Turnbull of irresponsibility who in turn accused the PM and Treasurer of doing the banks PR work, with the four majors quickly announcing rate cuts of 0.8%.
The NRL Grand Final was as lopsided as the AFL Grand Final was close, with Manly scoring early and then running away with the game for a record win in the game’s 100th year. Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy apologised to the judiciary the day after the game while many of the Sea Eagles were picked in the Kangaroos side for the upcoming World Cup
Intense coverage of the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne continued last week, with the media focusing on the identity of a body found in the sea by Croatian authorities early last week, while the owners of the hostel at which Ms Lapthorne was staying also came under scrutiny.
A worrying year of safety incidents continued for Qantas this week, with a large number of passengers injured on a flight from Singapore to Perth after a sudden drop in altitude. There was considerable media speculation about the causes of the incident, although there was no official result from the inquiry by the end of the week.
After plenty of speculation about what the teams thought of each other and plenty of pre-match sledging, the First Test against India started with Australia batting and captain Ricky Ponting leading the way once more with a big hundred.
Many of the leading pundits have virtually given the U.S. Presidential election to Barack Obama after John McCain failed to claw back ground in the second debate, with most commentators thinking Obama’s lead will be further increased by the economic crisis.
In other news, the Bathurst 1000 rolls around this weekend as the NSW Central West town becomes the heart of all things V8; Bill Henson was the centre of yet another controversy surrounding an alleged primary school visit; and amidst all the carnage the Commonwealth Bank has picked up BankWest for $2.1billion.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“hell... easy to enter and almost impossible to exit"
Warren Buffett’s view of the derivatives market…in 2003
Tracking the media, monitoring the message
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