Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7711 USD (down $0.0188 USD)

Iron Ore Mar Spot Price (SGX): $172.80 USD (up $1.20 USD)

Iron Ore Apr Spot Price (SGX): $169.00 USD (up $2.37 USD

Oil Price (WTI): $61.50 USD (down $1.93 USD)

Gold Price (26 Feb): $1,734.60 (down $37.60 USD)

Gold Price (1 Mar): $1,734.78 (up $0.18 USD)

Bitcoin: $44,539.65 USD (down 5.72 % in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 30,932.37 (down 469.64 points on Thursday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Joe Biden scores legislative win as US House passes trillion-dollar COVID-19 relief bill

The US President has called on the Senate to quickly vote on the $A2.5 trillion pandemic relief billl, saying there was 'no time to waste'.

US President Joe Biden has called on the Senate to quickly vote on a $US1.9 trillion ($A2.5 trillion) pandemic relief bill, hours after the proposal passed the House of Representatives.

The bill is a cornerstone of Mr Biden's economic recovery plan for the United States, and its passage in Congress would mark his first major legislative achievement as president.

"Now the bill moves to the United States Senate, where I hope it will receive quick action. We have no time to waste," Mr Biden said in brief remarks delivered at the White House.

"If we act now - decisively, quickly and boldly - we can finally get ahead of this virus, we can finally get our economy moving again.

"The people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering."

The House of Representatives, dominated by Mr Biden's Democrats, approved the bill by a narrow majority of 219 to 212. The next step is for the Senate to consider the House bill, possibly make changes to it, and then vote on it.

Mr Biden's proposal was dealt a setback in the Senate after the official in charge of procedural rules in the upper chamber ruled that a nationwide hike in the minimum wage to $US15 ($A19) per hour could not be attached to the legislation.

The wage hike was a priority for the White House, but its cancellation could help the relief bill's chances of passing in the Senate, where the provision had been less popular.

The size of Mr Biden's proposed measures would be equivalent to nearly 10 per cent of US economic output.

Billionaire Warren Buffett, AKA 'The Oracle of Omaha' said he made a mistake.

In his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), investing guru Warren Buffett disclosed that the company took an $11 billion hit last year on its 2016 purchase of Precision Castparts, describing it as "a mistake."

The 90-year-old billionaire, Berkshire's chairman since 1970, said in the company's annual letter to shareholders that the "ugly" writedown had a simple explanation.

"I paid too much for the company," he said. "My miscalculation was laid bare by adverse developments throughout the aerospace industry."

Despite that loss and fallout from the pandemic in general, the company's operating businesses enjoyed a solid end to 2020.

The sprawling conglomerate, which owns Geico, Dairy Queen, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, Duracell batteries and many other consumer, financial, industrial and energy companies, said Saturday it posted a net profit of $35.8 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of 23%.

Berkshire's operating profit rose nearly 14% in the quarter, to $5 billion.

The Oracle of Omaha goes to Hollywood

In the letter, Buffett also disclosed that Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on May 1, normally held in Buffett's home town of Omaha, Nebraska, will instead be livestreamed from Los Angeles so that vice chairman Charlie Munger, who lives in Southern California, can attend.

ABC ignored 'Don't broadcast' plea from family of alleged rape victim

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Sharri Markson - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government is under further scrutiny following allegations that a current cabinet minister raped a woman in 1988.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says Prime Minister Scott Morrison should consider removing the minister concerned until the matter is resolved. Meanwhile, a friend of the alleged victim - who took her own life in mid-2020 - has criticised the ABC for reporting the story, arguing that her family had been through enough.

The allegation against the unnamed minister follows revelations that a former government staffer was raped by a colleague in March 2019.

Increased rollout after jab target miss

The Australian - Page 5 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Adeshola Ore - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government's COVID-19 vaccine rollout has fallen well behind schedule; just 30,000 people nationwide received the Pfizer vaccine in the first week of the rollout, compared with the government's target of 60,000 by the end of February.

However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the arrival of the first 300,000 overseas-made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will allow the inoculation of priority groups to be ramped up.

Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, although residents in 10 suburbs in Melbourne's east have been put on alert after virus fragments were detected in wastewater.

How COVID-19 bumped the handshake

The Sunday Age - Page 8 : 27 February 2021 - Original article by Andrew Taylor - PortMac.News Summary

A recent survey of more than 1,000 people by Roy Morgan has found that just 30% want to shake hands with a colleague or stranger, down from 88% prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The percentage of people wanting to hug family and friends has declined from 87% to 67%, while the percentage that are happy to kiss family and friends has fallen from 63% to 37%.

Zarife Taylor from the Australian School of Etiquette says the pandemic has resulted in an immediate change to personal greetings, but that shaking hands will remain a fundamental part of personal interaction.

Australian 'Myth-busting' unit established to take on Covid misinformation

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Michael McGowan - PortMac.News Summary

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has stated that his department and Home Affairs established a unit in 2020 aimed at dispelling misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.

He said that some of the misinformation being spread by anti-vaxxers is "Plainly ridiculous", while law enforcement agencies have become more vocal in expressing their fears about the increase in COVID-inspired misinformation.

They have established a joint intelligence network to ensure the security of Australia's vaccine supply.

Split over aged-care reforms

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers, Stephen Lunn -PortMac.News Summary

The federal government will release the final report of the aged-care royal commission on 1 March.

The two commissioners, Tony Pagone QC and Lynelle Briggs, are believed to be in agreement on more than 100 recommendations.

However, they are said to be in conflict on a number of issues and will make some separate recommendations. Amongst other things, they are believed to have disagreed with regard to the future oversight and funding of the aged-care sector.

Deal done for local quotas on subs

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Greg Sheridan - PortMac.News Summary

France's Naval Group and the federal government have reached an in-principle agreement that will see 60% local expenditure over the life of the contract to build Australia's new submarine fleet.

Local content cannot commence at 60% because of the time it will take to 'gear up' local industry but it will increase as a proportion of the project over its duration.

The 60% local expenditure commitment was agreed upon during the recent visit of Naval Group's global chairman and CEO Pierre-Eric Pommellet.

Chinese investment plunges to $1b in 2020

The Australian Financial Review - Page 2 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Andrew Tillett - PortMac.News Summary

Chinese investment in Australia fell by 61% to just $1 billion in 2020, according to the Australian National University's Chinese Investment in Australia database.

This followed a 47% fall in 2019; just 20 Chinese investments were recorded in 2020, down from a high of 111 in 2016 when the value of Chinese investment peaked at $16 billion.

Only three sectors - real estate, mining and manufacturing - attracted Chinese investment in 2020, while the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased tensions between Canberra and Beijing were two of the main factors behind the investment slump.

Don't fall for China 'Playing the victim'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Matthew Cranston - PortMac.News Summary

Federal Liberal-National Party of Queensland MP Ted O'Brien has accused the Chinese Communist Party of playing a 'victimisation game' and of trying to create division between Australian business and the federal government.

O'Brien says the CCP is trying to wrongly portray Australia as being one of the foreign powers that 'defeated and subjugated' China in the period between the First Opium War in 1839 and the conclusion of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945.

He says business should avoid making comments during the current debate over how to mend strained relations between China and Australia that are "ultimately counter to Australian interests".

Historic deal gives retail sector penalty relief

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Patrick Durkin, David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

The ACTU and the Council of Small Business Organisations are backing an agreement between Master Grocers Australia and the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association.

The agreement will allow part-time retail workers to work extra shifts without their employer having to incur penalty rates.

The agreement makes changes to the Retail Award that covers 1.2 million workers, and will be put to the Fair Work Commission on 1 March; Master Grocers Australia represents independent retailers such as Foodworks, IGA and Foodland.

Critics of dole hike not living in the real world

The Australian - Page 9 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Nick Cater - PortMac.News Summary

The $50 a fortnight increase in the JobSeeker allowance announced in the week ending 26 February has attracted criticism from the welfare sector that it was not sufficient.

It was reasonable that income support was doubled in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, but the economy has now bounced back and the work of reforming welfare that has been in place since the Coalition was elected in 2013 must re-commence.

There is clear evidence from around the world that being on welfare for an extended period has a number of damaging consequences, while work remains the best and most reliable way of escaping from poverty.

Shift from the cities 'Is just a sugar hit'

The Australian - Page 3 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Stephen Lunn - PortMac.News Summary

Urban planner Shane Geha has described the recent trend for people to leave Australia's major cities because of COVID-19 as a "Sugar hit to the ­regions".

He says the basic reason why 70% of Australians live in the six main cities has not altered because of the pandemic - capital cities are where the jobs and the services that people want are located.

Geha says it is more important to focus on getting the infrastructure settings correct for the big cities than to provide incentives for people to move to regional areas.

Rex flights bump into Sydney Airport hurdle

The Australian Financial Review - Page 22 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Jenny Wiggins - PortMac.News Summary

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert says Regional Express (Rex) may find it hard to secure more landing and take-off slots if its new flights between east coast capital cities become popular with consumers.

Culbert says Rex cannot secure access to any slots held at the airport by incumbents prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to waivers introduced by the federal government when the pandemic began.

Sydney Airport stated in a submission in December to an inquiry on the future of aviation that the waivers could impede new entrants to the aviation market.

Call for pathway to open borders

The Australian - Page 17 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Glenda Korporaal - PortMac.News Summary

Suncorp Group chair Christine McLoughlin says business and ordinary Australians want to see the federal government's plans for opening up the nation's international borders.

She says many businesses are suffering because of the government's ban on overseas tourists, and rural industries have been impacted by a loss of access to labour; meanwhile, many Australians remain stranded overseas.

McLoughlin adds that businesses should be encouraging all of their staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine to help Australia to recover from the pandemic.

Competition policy sealed tech giants deal

The Australian - Page 19 : 1 March 2021- Original article by James Madden - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government's news media bargaining code has already prompted Google to secure commercial deals with some media companies.

Facebook in turn has signed a letter of intent with Seven West Media and is negotiating with other news publishers.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says there has been "Significant overseas interest" in the approach the government took in treating the code as an issue of competition policy rather than copyright law.

He adds that the code provided the leverage needed to ensure a level playing field between traditional media and digital platforms.

'Poison pill' holds up Facebook deals

The Australian Financial Review - Page 32 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Miranda Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Facebook launched its 'Facebook News' product in the US in 2020, but Australia was not included in the launch because of the ongoing discussions about the federal government's proposed media bargaining code.

That code has now passed into law, while Facebook is expected to launch Facebook News in Australia once it has concluded deals with local news publishers.

However, such deals are stalling over Facebook's so-called 'poison pen' clause.

There are suggestions that publishers could use the code to enter into an arbitration process with Facebook, should it decide to initiate the poison pill.

Better than we bargained for: it's a win for media and democracy

The Australian - Page 19 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Michael Miller - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's news media bargaining code will help to ensure that the nation has a vibrant and sustainable media industry, which is important for free speech and democracy.

It will hopefully lead to a better relationship between digital platforms and the Australian media, as well as cutting back some of the market power imbalance held by Google and Facebook.

The US News Media Alliance, publisher USA Today, and Canada's Minister for Cultural Policy, Steven Guilbeault, are among those from overseas who have welcomed the new code.

Nine Radio smashed as ad spending stalls

The Australian - Page 19 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Lilly Vitorovich - PortMac.News Summary

Nine Entertainment Company's CFO Maria Phillips has conceded that the latest financial results for the group's radio stations business were "disappointing".

Nine Radio posted earnings of just $2.9m for the first half of 2020-21, which is 62%t lower than previously, while revenue was down 24% at $44m.

HT&E's radio division has also reported a sharp fall in earnings and revenue for the half-year; the radio broadcaster sector overall recorded a 19% fall in advertising revenue across Australia's five major capital cities during the period.

Call for code of conduct for 'Cowboy' digital marketers

The Australian Financial Review - Page 32 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Miranda Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell says she receives a lot of complaints from small businesses about digital marketers, and she has urged the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to impose some degree of regulation over the digital marketing sector.

Carnell says that there are too many 'cowboys' in the sector, while Sagar Sethi, who runs digital marketing agency Xugar, backs Carnell's call for greater regulation of the sector.

Sethis says the industry's 'cowboys' will have a detrimental impact on the sector's reputation.

Fortescue's clean energy initiative is a 'Perfect' 10

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Peter Ker - PortMac.News Summary

Fortescue Metals Group recently announced that it would devote 10% of its profits to its Fortescue Future Industries unit, which is pursuing opportunities in green hydrogen production and renewable energy generation.

Todd Warren from Tribeca Investment Partners says Fortescues' move into the clean energy sector could be compared to BHP's foray into potash, in that both are looking to the future.

Anton du Preez from Pengana says Fortescue has shown it can be disciplined with money, and that he trusts its management not to do anything stupid.

Little foundation to housing boom

The Australian - Page 4 : 1 March 2021 - Original article by Adam Creighton - PortMac.News Summary

Westpac is predicting capital city house ­price increases of 10% for both 2021 and 2022, which might be good news for the two-thirds of households that own their home, either outright or with a mortgage.

However, it may not be so good for the other third trying to get into the housing market. Although interest rates are low, there are other factors that might cause people to wonder prices are likely to rise as much as has been forecast, including the collapse of immigration and a pending plunge in the birth rate.