Michael West
Banks: deep pockets, short arms and shorter memories
Michael West It's a tough struggle in the world of the big four banks, especially when rewriting history.
Raider Weiss readies to bring on a revolution
Michael West THE first shot in the battle for Perpetual is about to be fired.
Corporate raider sets sights on besieged Perpetual board
Michael West The first shot in the battle for Perpetual is about to be fired by Gary Weiss.
Market darling betrays the trust
Michael West On January 12 disaster struck. Just as the market bigwigs were kicking back in Palm Beach and Portsea, the most azure of insurance sector blue chips, QBE, unveiled a horrendous profit shock.
Mystery buyer in Fortescue seen as Noble
Michael West Fortescue shares jumped today amid speculation Noble Group may have secured a strategic stake in Andrew Forrest’s independent iron ore group.
Dollar's long rally far from done
Michael West The dollar's rise is closely tied to Asian sharemarkets - and lately, the trend has largely been one way.
Watch for the debt avalanche
Michael West The wrap-up from Davos: One of the best weeks ever! A big dump in mid-January left a solid base of 1.5 metres in the valley and 2.5 metres at the summit.
In deep at the summit while Europe leads downhill race
Michael West It is all downhill from a World Economic Forum held on a mountain top, with a few peaks.
Rates cut ahead as deflation arrives
Michael West The sales results from the supermarket giants show two things: Coles is still whipping Woolies and the RBA can comfortably cut rates.
Gina Rinehart's Fairfax ploy
Michael West Gina Rinehart's interest in buying Fairfax shares is more likely aimed at the media group's political influence than its investment potential.
How ASIC went astray in the faulty Compass case
Michael West As shareholders and creditors in the collapsed Compass Resources were kept wallowing in an information vacuum last year, the company had, for some months, two auditors.
Compass reporting a case of poor direction
Michael West As shareholders and creditors in the collapsed Compass Resources were kept wallowing in an information vacuum last year the company had, for some months, two auditors.
The regulator's broken compass
Michael West Compass Resources poses some awkward questions about the degree of oversight of the corporate regulator, ASIC.
Big risks, questionable profits
Michael West The highlands of Papua New Guinea are the most expensive place in the world to drill for oil, onshore that is.
Free and open information? The gag is on us
Michael West ''The keyword here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings.
No joy in a prophecy realised
Michael West It would be churlish and cowardly of your humble essayist, having lampooned the market's soothsayers last week for their droll predictions, to shy away from a forthright stab at the impossible...
Financial advice moves in-house at leading banks
Michael West As the first generation of financial planners retire and sell their businesses, after a long career of upfront fees and trailing commissions, the big banks are there to buy them out.
Threat to arm's-length advice
Michael West CBA move threatens independent financial advice for its 350,000 clients.
Another crack in a rotten system
Michael West It's the season for gongs, those cheesy "best and worst of the year that was" wrap-ups. Worse even than gongs, a rash of the dreary "what the year ahead holds" stories is upon us.
Hidden pay condemned
Michael West The Australian Council of Super Investors has condemned payment of hidden dividends on unvested shares.
