How are we travelling:a big week for stats

Australians should have a much better idea of how their country is travelling through presently troubled waters by the end of the week.

The Statistician is planning to release house price index figures, for the eight Australian capitals later today, along with trend indicators for retail trade throughout the nation in September.

The bureau is not planning to release any figures on Tuesday which of course is Melbourne Cup day.

But with a little bit of luck you should be able to pick up some good quotes, either from the betting ring or your local bookmaker.

The Statistician will be reporting on both Australia’s international trade for September – and building approvals for the same month – on Wednesday.

And his labour force figures, which are due out on Thursday, will be eagerly watched, for any sign that the Australian economy might be slowing.

A new set of figures, that the Statistician plans to release on Friday, is also also likely to attract a good deal of interest.

These will be on employment arrangements, retirement and superannuation, for the period between April and July this year.

This is not a good time to retire.

Those hitting the big 65 this year, or next, will probably find that their superannuation cheque is smaller than they had expected, as a direct result of the global financial  crisis.

Repeated surveys have shown  that both business and consumer confidence have been hit hard by the global downturn.

While the Federal government insists that Australia is still one of the best countries to be in right now, it also concedes that Australia won’t be immune from the world’s economic troubles.

This week’s statistics will still be early indicators of the economic damage that Australia is likely to suffer as a result of the global meltdown.

But they will still be worth watching, very closely.

Related stories:

1. A Super Tuesday this week
2. Big numbers this week

Your best investment, in today’s world

It’s a sad thing to say, but the $20 you put on the horse of your choice, in tomorrow’s Melbourne cup, could  be safest investment you make this week.

The weekend market results were mixed.

The Dow Jones index rose  144.32 points on Friday, US time, to 9,325.01.

But the Nikkei plunged 452.76 points, to 8,576.98.

Europe’s DJ Stoxx 50 index, though, rose by 67.57 points, to 2.331.43.

Don’t expect to see any member of the Reserve Bank board out on the track, for the Melbourne cup, tomorrow.

They’ll all be busy at a board meeting, at which Australia’s marker interest rate, of 6 per cent, will be reviewed.

With a rate still that high, the bank still has plenty of room to lower the nation’s interest rates, even though it cut rates by a 100 basis points, only last month.

A further cut, tomorrow, is certainly expected.

However, the Reserve Bank won’t be happy about it.

A deputy governor, Ric Battelino, let the nation know, only last week, that the bank would be much happier fighting inflation, even now, than cutting interest rates.

With Australia’s inflation rate now at 5 per cent, that shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

In its heart, if it has one, the bank sees raising interest rates as virtuous, and lowering them as risky.

Or, as one previous governor put it, “our job is to take away the punch, just as the party gets going.”

The party is certainly not going, at present.

But the Reserve Bank will still be reluctant to cut rates.

Probably, though, it will be forced to do so.

Expectations are very powerful.

Related stories:

1. World share markets dive as US recession approaches
2. Property investment fades, but…