Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7440 USD (up $0.0030 USD)

Iron Ore Jan Spot Price (SGX): $146.29 USD (up $1.75 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $45.55 USD (down $0.06 USD)

Gold Price: $1,834.39 (down $35.27 USD)

Dow Jones: 30,011.31 at 3.10pm NY time (down 151.71 points on yesterday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Huge US lawsuits seek break up of Facebook

US federal regulators and more than 45 state prosecutors have sued Facebook, accusing the social media company of taking illegal actions to buy up rivals and stifle competition.

The lawsuits are one of the most significant legal actions the US government has taken against the firm.

Officials are asking the court to consider breaking up the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.

Facebook has previously defended its actions.

Officials said the lawsuits by the states and Federal Trade Commission (FTC)were focused on Facebook's 2012 acquisition of Instagram, 2014 purchase of WhatsApp and rules governing outside software developers.

They said Facebook had taken a "buy or bury" approach to potential rivals, hurting competitors and users, who have lost control of their own data to support the firm's advertising revenue.

"No company should have this much unchecked power over our personal interaction and social interactions," said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the legal fight by the states. "That's why we are taking action today."

It's quite hard sometimes to comprehend just how massive Facebook is.

Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram - all owned by Facebook - all have more than a billion monthly users.

WhatsApp and Facebook have more than two billion.

What the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is arguing is that there's a reason why Facebook came to dominate this highly lucrative sector - it acquired the competition illegally.

In 2012 Instagram was growing rapidly. Facebook was worried.

Zuckerberg has admitted himself previously that Instagram was a competitor to Facebook.

It was bought, for what now seems a ludicrously low figure of $1bn.

WhatsApp too in 2014 was growing at incredible speeds. Was it going to threaten Facebook's own messenger service?

Facebook bought WhatsApp too.

Both of these acquisitions were previously looked at by the FTC and were approved.

That is Facebook's argument - that they bought these companies when they were much smaller - that there was nothing pre-ordained about their success. In other words, don't punish Facebook for building strong American companies.

Whether Instagram and WhatsApp will be cleaved off from Facebook will now be decided in the courts - and these antitrust lawsuits take time.

There will also be ample opportunity for appeals. Don't expect a breakup of Facebook soon.

But this is yet more indication of where the courts and politicians are now headed.

Big Tech is a little too big in many peoples' eyes - and it needs to cutting down to size.

Allergy warning for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine after UK health workers with allergy history suffer reaction

People with a "significant history of allergic reactions" should not be given the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, UK health authorities said Wednesday, after two health care workers experienced symptoms after receiving a shot the day before.

The precautionary advice was given after the pair "responded adversely" following their shots on the first day of the mass vaccination rollout in the UK, National Health Service England said Wednesday.

The two staff members -- who both carried an adrenaline auto injector and had a history of allergic reactions -- developed symptoms of anaphylactoid reaction after receiving the vaccine on Tuesday. Thousands overall were vaccinated in the UK on Tuesday, NHS England told CNN on Wednesday.

"As is common with new vaccines the MHRA [Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency] have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday," said Stephen Powis, the national medical director for NHS England, in a statement. "Both are recovering well.

PM ready to bargain on IR

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 10 December 2020 -Original article by Ewin Hannan - PortMac.News Summary

The Senate has passed the federal government's union demerger bill after Labor backed the legislation.

The government has also tabled its industrial relations omnibus bill, which will be scrutinised by a Senate committee before Parliament resumes in 2021.

Attorney-General Christian Porter has signalled that the government is open to dropping a proposal to allow employers to negotiate enterprise agreements that do not comply with the 'better-off-overall test' in the Fair Work Act.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the proposed changes are "dangerous and extreme", but Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox contends that the Fair Work Act already allows non-compliant enterprise agreements to be approved in very limited circumstances.

Replace penalty rate with loaded payment: Porter

The Australian Financial Review - Page 4 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has urged the Fair Work Commission to allow employers in sectors that have been hard-hit by the COVID pandemic to pay their staff a single loaded wage rate rather than penalty rates.

Porter has proposed in a letter to FWC president Iain Ross that industrial award classifications could also be 'substantially' reduced. Employees would be able to opt-in to the loaded rates and new classifications, and subsequently opt-out if they choose to do so.

Flexible part-time a 'Win-win' for staff and business

The Australian Financial Review - Page 5 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Hannah Wootton - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government proposes to introduce 'part-time flexibility' for workers covered by 12 industry awards in its industrial relations omnibus bill.

The Australian Hotels Association has already negotiated the inclusion of part-time flexibility in the award for the sector, and CEO Stephen Ferguson says more hotels have hired part-time workers as a result of the change.

Boutique hotel chain Ovolo introduced part-time flexibility in 2019, and the company says this has allowed it to retain the majority of its staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top route back, 'Every flight full'

The Australian - Page 6 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Robyn Ironside - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's airlines have ramped up the number of flights they operate each week since state governments reopened their borders to interstate travellers.

The sector has returned to about 50% of its capacity of a year ago, which has in turn boosted the hard-hit tourism industry.

However, Australian Tourism Industry Council executive director Simon Westaway cautions that demand for air travel may fall after the holiday season and when the novelty of being able to travel interstate starts to wear off.

China warnings on wheat, cotton

The Australian - Page 1 & 2 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Will Glasgow, Matthew Denholm, Perry Williams - PortMac.News Summary

The total value of Australia's exports to China so far in 2020 has topped $140bn, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the two nations.

The federal government has warned that cotton and wheat may be China's next targets for trade sanctions.

Australia exports some $568m worth of wheat and $611m worth of cotton to China each year.

Australian beef, sheepmeat, barley, coal and timber are among the commodities that are already subject to import restrictions.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Canberra has rejected suggestions that the nation is failing to meet its obligations under the free-trade agreement with Australia.

Controversial cashless welfare card trial extended for two years

The New Daily - Page Online : 10 December 2020 - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government's legislation to permanently introduce a cashless debit scheme for welfare recipients has been defeated in the Senate.

Labor, the Greens and two key independent senators have opposed the legislation, prompting the government to extend the existing trials of the Cashless Debit Card scheme by two years.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston says the government is still committed to making the scheme permanent.

Covid optimism an elixir for ASX

The Australian - Page 20 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a solid gain on 9 December, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.61% to close at 6,728.5 points. Fortescue Metals Group rose 1.58% to $21.80, the Commonwealth Bank was up 1.68% at $83.18 and Healius advanced 7.44% to end the session at $3.90. However, Silver Lake Resources was down 3.44% at $1.82 and the ANZ Bank shed 0.43% to finish at $23.30.

Sharemarket back in black after a year of living dangerously

The Australian - Page 13 & 20 : 10 December 202 - Original article by David Rogers - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 has gained 3.2% so in December, compared with a 20-year average of 1.2% for the final month of the year.

The ASX 200 is now 0.7% higher than at the end of 2019; it is just seven per cent below its record high of 7,197.2 points, having reached a low of 4,402.5 in March.

Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson is upbeat about the outlook for sharemarkets in 2021, citing factors such as historically low interest rates and the prospect of an earnings boost due to stimulus measures and the re-opening of economies.

CBA 'Bought' stressed loans

The Australian - Page 13 & 17 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Cliona O'Dowd - PortMac.News Summary

The Commonwealth Bank has declined to comment on reports that it repurchased stressed home loans from its securitisation trusts at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bank is believed to have bought about $80m worth of such home loans between March and July. Such action may be a breach of prudential standards, and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority released new guidelines in July which stated that banks are not permitted to buy back stressed mortgages that are subject to repayment deferrals.

Some $68bn worth of home loans are still on a repayment 'holiday', compared with $170bn at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

Facebook maintains its threat of news blackout

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by David Swan, Olivia Caisley - PortMac.News Summary

Facebook Australia's MD Will Easton say the social media giant is reviewing the federal government's draft legislation for its proposed new media bargaining code.

However, Facebook is believed to still be considering the option of blocking Australian users from sharing news on its platform if the code is enacted.

Seven West Media CEO James Warburton says Facebook and Google have received significant concessions in the final version of the code, and they should now co-operate with news publishers.

He adds that the code will help ensure a sustainable future for Australian media companies.

Hope that new media law will not be needed

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 10 December 2020 -Original article by Max Mason - PortMac.News Summary

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says the arbitration process in the federal government's news media bargaining code should be used only as a last resort.

Meanwhile, News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller says the 'two-way value exchange' clause in the proposed code is unlikely to have much impact on the amount of revenue that media companies receive from digital platforms.

Nine Entertainment has previously expressed concern about this clause.

Iron ore's run not done yet: Fortescue

The Australian - Page 13 & 20 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Nick Evans - PortMac.News Summary

Fortescue Metals Group is bullish about the outlook for iron ore, after the benchmark price recently rose above $200 per tonne in Australian dollar terms for the first time in more than 10 years.

Fortescue's marketing director Danny Goeman says iron ore inventories at Chinese ports have fallen to 128.7 million tonnes in recent weeks, adding that this could potentially fall to around 100 million tonnes during the March 2021 quarter.

Meanwhile, CEO Elizabeth Gaines says the trade tensions between Australia and China do not appear to have affected Fortescue's relationship with its Chinese customers.

However, she has reiterated the need for the two nations to repair their rift.

Rio Tinto in frame for caves payout

The Australian - Page 5 : 10 December 2020 - Original article by Paul Garvey - PortMac.News Summary

The parliamentary inquiry into Rio Tinto's destruction of ancient indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge has tabled its interim report.

Amongst other things, the committee has recommended that Rio Tinto should pay for the restoration of the shelters and provide restitution to the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people.

The committee has also recommended that the Western Australian government should impose a moratorium on approvals for new projects under section 18 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972.