Comments on: ANZ Bank CEO Mike Smith and His Analysis of the Australian Economy

By: etch

etch — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:06:29 +0000

so is australia in for its own “sub-prime ” type of crisis?

“”"Some of these first home buyers are using this money as a major part of the deposit. This would suggest they don’t have a strong saving discipline. Spending $400-$500k with 80-90% borrowing”"

By: Banker in Meloburne

Banker in Meloburne — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:22:59 +0000

When you see top managers like Brian Hartzer leave ANZ, you wonder what’s behind it. After reading Mike Smith’s words you start to understand why people don’t want to work for this man. The banks contribute to the problem of Australians losing their jobs when they try to offshore everything they can, hence people can’t pay their mortgages. There seems something morally repugnant when the very people who contribute to the immense profits the four pillars make are shafted by them to squeeze out a little more profitability.

By: RealEstateMan

RealEstateMan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:30:32 +0000

I work in Real Estate and see the first home buyer spending, with confidence, the free money gives them. Some of these first home buyers are using this money as a major part of the deposit. This would suggest they don’t have a strong saving discipline. Spending $400-$500k with 80-90% borrowing! That’s the action. The re-action is coming, it’s just the lag that is hard to predict.

I do not have a great understanding of how things work in the financial markets, so a question that comes to mind is, as I read the USA is so dependent on China. Is not China so dependent on the USA for a place to sell their goods? Is this why China is happy to support the US $, and continue to do so, as any major collapse of the USA will affect their economy greatly?

By: etch

etch — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:19:11 +0000

“”"Maybe the property cheer squad will be able to pick up a few bargains when the market collapses.
But based on the desperation in some of the comments we’ve seen, the odds are they themselves are so leveraged to the teeth on ‘ever rising’ property valuations they’ll need to grab some of those mortgage-payment holiday brochures too.”"”"”"

thats the clincher

By: etch

etch — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:51:11 +0000

well if the shit hits the fan or in this case ..
the fan hits the shit……………………………………………………………..

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:36:35 +0000

I agree with Roger; I shared the sobering news of MM with a real estate agent (freind?) and his workmates and alas, I have become a pariah – a gloomer & a doomer. Having said this, some normal & sensible people I know are saying that the boom must be close to running out of steam, and they are hoping for the ’soft landing’. I hope so to, but I’m not to sure this will be the case.

By: Roger of Sydney

Roger of Sydney — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:40:55 +0000

I have been a Monday Money reader for sometime and sadly when I share some of those thoughts about property prices and the GFC, I become an outcast and a negetive sceptic. As a person who has run large National Sales organisations ,and have trained high level Sales Executives on how to open and close, I am dumbfounded at how under read, and ill informed the average Australia now is. If the local Real Estate agent saws its about to boom , that must be fact.

I have many friends who have been out of work for 12 months now and not one call from a head hunter. Middle Management is all but extinct, yet none of this shows up in government statistics as they are all living on redundancy payouts.

The con job which has been placed upon the Australian public by the Government is the best I have ever seen and I have worked with some extremely professional con people. People need to be a bit more objective and ask, does this person have an agenda, before they believe what they say.