Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Aussie $: $0.6500 USD (unchanged)

Iron Ore (SGX): $93.55 (up $0.10 USD)

Oil (WTI): $88.02 USD (up $1.82 USD)

Gold: $1,717.03 USD (down $8.07 USD)

Copper (CME): $3.5480 (up 0.0510 USD)

Bit-coin: $20,158.92 (down 0.09%)

Dow Jones: 30,273.87 (down 42.45pts)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Ukraine War:

Putin appears to admit severe Russian losses in Ukraine

Putin has appeared to concede the severity of the Kremlin’s recent military reversals in Ukraine, insisting Russia would “stabilise” the situation in four Ukrainian regions it illegally claimed as its own territory last week.

Russia has suffered significant losses in two of the four regions since Friday, when Putin signed treaties to incorporate them into Russia by force, with Russian officials saying their forces were “regrouping”.

“We are working on the assumption that the situation in the new territories will stabilise,” Putin told Russian teachers during a televised video call.

With Ukraine pushing its advance in the east and south, Russian troops have been retreating under pressure on both fronts, confronted by fast moving and agile Ukrainian forces supplied with advanced western-supplied artillery systems.

Some Russian propagandists and officials blamed the losses on NATO.

“We are regrouping [our forces] along the front, which means that we can gather strength and strike back,” Kirill Stremousov, the Moscow-appointed deputy head of Kherson region, told the RIA Novosti news agency. Stremousov said it was “Impossible” for them to enter Kherson city.

A Russian war reporter for state TV, Roman Saponkov, wrote to his Telegram followers that Russia was losing in Kherson. “Friends, I know you’re waiting for me to comment on the situation. But I really don’t know what to say to you. The retreat from the north on the right bank is a disaster.”

Putin signs laws absorbing four Ukrainian regions into Russia:

Delusional Putin has signed fantasy laws supposedly 'Absorbing' four Ukrainian regions, which he doesn't control, into Russia.

Earlier this week, both houses of the Russian parliament ratified treaties making the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions part of Russia.

The formalities followed Kremlin-orchestrated sham referendums in the four regions, which Ukraine and the West have rejected.

This is a blatant attempt to expand Russian as Putin claims around 18% of Ukrainians territory, although the exact borders are still to be clarified.

Dream on looser.

Ukrainian forces advance into Luhansk region

Social media images from Wednesday showed Ukrainian troops in at least one village in the eastern Luhansk area, after crossing from the neighboring Donetsk region.

One photograph showed a Ukrainian unit kneeling and standing around a road sign at the village of Hrekivka, just inside Luhansk region.

It is the first time since the beginning of the conflict in March that Ukrainian troops have advanced into Luhansk.  

More on Ukraine's advances: All of Luhansk region is claimed as Russian territory by the Kremlin, following its forcible annexation. But in recent days Ukrainian forces have been approaching the region from several directions, building on their successful offenses in Kharkiv and Donetsk. 

Social media video also showed Ukrainian troops in the town of Terny in Donetsk region, about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) from the town of Kreminna in Luhansk, which analysts believe is a critical defensive line for the Russians now that they have lost ground in both Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.

Port Macquarie Whale-watchers stunned after 'Rare' killer whale sighting

The sighting of a pod of normally elusive orcas during a whale-watching tour on the New South Wales Mid North Coast has thrilled tourists and excited conservationists.

A Port Macquarie whale-watching operator said his crew and holiday makers had been looking for humpback whales off the coast on Monday when the large pod of killer whales surprised them and circled the boat.

"It was unreal," Port Jet Cruise Adventures owner Anthony Heeney said. 

"We'd been spotting a couple of humpbacks and then we saw a disturbance a little way away from us.

"Next thing we could see was a little calf with its tail in the air and we could see the big dorsal fins of the orcas."

Millions to pay cost of tax cuts reversal

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Patrick Commins, Greg Brown - Portmac.News Summary

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated that the federal government is reviewing the stage-three income tax cuts package.

Analysis suggests that about 2.5 million middle-income earners will pay thousands of dollars in additional tax if the legislated tax cuts are scrapped.

Some MPs in Labor's Right faction contend that the government should honour its election promise to retain the tax cuts.

However, ACTU secretary Sally McManus says the tax cuts are "grossly unfair".

She says circumstances have changed since Labor supported the package in 2018, noting that challenges since then have included COVID-19 and associated lockdowns, unprecedented fiscal stimulus and the current cost-of-living crisis.

One million face the top tax rate by 2030

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 4 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by John Kehoe, Michael Read - Portmac.News Summary

Analysis of data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that so-called 'Bracket creep' pushed about 300,000 individuals into the top income tax bracket of 47% in the 10 years to 2019-20.

Some 546,000 people were in this tax bracket in 2019-20, compared with just 252,000 in 2010-11.

The analysis suggests that more than one million taxpayers will be in the highest tax bracket by 2030.

Simon Cowan of the Centre for Independent Studies warns that the rising inflation rate means that bracket creep will become a greater problem in coming years.

Errant central banks risk making volatility worse

The Australian - Page 20 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - Portmac.News Summary

Many of the world's central banks now realise that they made horrendous mistakes in overstimulating their economies.

Accordingly, they are incredibly nervous that they will make the same mistakes in reverse as they attempt to slow their economies down.

The Reserve Bank of Australia slowed the pace of interest rate increases in October in response to concerns about the impact of tightening monetary policy too aggressively.

The greatest concern for the nation might be a global raid on the Australian dollar, which would send the inflation rate upwards and force the RBA to take draconian action.

Bernard Collaery likens prosecution to 'Moscow show trial'

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Christopher Knaus - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government recently dropped legal action against lawyer Bernard Collaery in one of Australia's most high-profile whistleblower cases.

Collaery and a former intelligence officer known as Witness K were prosecuted for their role in exposing a secret mission to bug Timor-Leste's government offices in 2004.

Collaery used a Queensland Council for Civil Liberties speech on Wednesday to claim that their prosecution was aimed at hiding the former Coalition government's "Dirty linen" in Timor-Leste.

He also said the case also demonstrates the need for changes to the National Security Information Act, which was used to impose secrecy on the legal proceedings.

Bosses crying out for workers as skills crisis bites

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Geoff Chambers - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government has released the National Skills Commission's revised skills priority list; it shows that the number of occupations that are experiencing a national labour shortage has risen from 153 to 286 in the last year.

Technology workers, engineers, tradespersons, teachers and GPs are among those that are in short supply.

The NSC also notes that there are labour shortages in 31% of the 914 occupations it has assessed.

Skills and Training Minister Brendan O'Connor will discuss the labour shortage with his state and territory counterparts at a meeting in Melbourne on Friday.

Labor signals delay to start date for franked dividend hit

The Australian Financial Review - Page 2 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by John Kehoe - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government has indicated that it will press ahead with plans to crack down on franked dividends that are funded by capital raisings.

However, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says the government is open to changing the starting date for the retrospective measure.

It had been slated to take effect as from 19 December 2016, but the move to impose the crackdown retrospectively has attracted criticism from business leaders such as Gerry Harvey.

The Treasury estimates that the measure will raise about $10m in additional government revenue each year.

Wave of downgrades about to hit says BlackRock

The Australian Financial Review - Page 23 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Alex Gluyas - Portmac.News Summary

BlackRock has warned that the sharemarket rally of recent days will not be sustained, and earnings downgrades can be expected when US companies start reporting their financial results for the September quarter.

BlackRock also forecasts that the Federal Reserve will need to lift the cash rate to 5% to return inflation to its target of 2%; this in turn will prompt a severe recession in the US, according to BlackRock.

Mike McCorry of BlackRock Australia says the full effect of monetary policy tightening will be felt more quickly in Australia than in the US, which has a lower proportion of variable-rate mortgages.

Tesla has nation's No.3 selling vehicle

The Australian Financial Review - Page 13 & 16 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Simon Evans - Portmac.News Summary

Data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries highlights the continued strong demand for new cars.

Some 93,555 vehicles were sold nationwide in September, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%. The Toyota Hi-Lux was the most popular vehicle for the month, recording 5,170 sales; it was followed by the Ford Ranger (4,890) and the Tesla Model Y (4,359).

Meanwhile, a total of 811,130 new vehicles have been sold across Australia so far in 2022, including 21,771 electric vehicles. Tesla accounts for nearly two-thirds of all electric vehicles sold in Australia in 2022.

Heartbreak High reboot becomes a huge hit for Netflix

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Michael Sun - Portmac.News Summary

The success of Netflix's remake of Australian drama series 'Heartbreak High' has reinvigorated the debate regarding local content quotas for streaming services.

Netflix is a member of the Australia New Zealand Screen Association, which opposes the introduction of local content quotas.

Heartbreak High, which is Netflix's second original Australian series, has been one of the streaming giant's top 10 programs globally and has attracted some 33 million hours of viewing time since its launch in mid-September.

The show has also been popular on short-form video service TikTok.

WA resources sector sales hit a record $231b

The Australian Financial Review - Page 14 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Brad Thompson - Portmac.News Summary

Data from Western Australia's Department of Mines, Industry Regulation & Safety highlights the economic contribution of the state's resources sector.

The total value of WA's minerals and energy exports rose to a new high of $231bn in 2021-22, marking a fourth consecutive year of record sales for the sector.

The value of iron ore exports eased to $137bn in 2021-22, due to a fall in the price of the steel input; however, this was offset by higher prices for LNG and lithium.

The WA resources sector employed a record 157,700 workers in 2021-21, a year-on-year increase of 6%.

Shares up 1.7% on hope of central bank pivot

The Australian Financial Review - Page 22 : 6 October 2022 - Original article by Vesna Poljak - Portmac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted another strong gain on 5 October, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 116.4 points to close at 6,815.7 points.

The local bourse took its lead from Wall Street, which rallied amid growing speculation that the US Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate increases.

BHP rose 1.1% to $40.50, the Commonwealth Bank was up 2.6% at $97.29 and Harvey Norman added 1.2% to end the session at $4.20.