Weekend reads — Must reads articles from the last week

There are more interesting articles, commentaries and analyst reports on the Web every week than anyone could read in a month.

Each Saturday morning I like to share some of the ones I’ve read during the week.

The weekend will be over before you know it, so enjoy some weekend reading…and please forward to your friends by clicking the social link buttons.

Turnbull pledges more scrutiny on major banks

With the election well and truly settled, it would seem that the Prime Minister is wasting no time getting a handle of the countries financial sector.

It has been reported in an article for Your Investment Property Magazine that Malcom Turnbull will be taking a firm hand with Australian banks, ensuring security for customers.

Australia’s major banks will face regular scrutiny from a parliamentary panel, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Thursday, amid growing public disquiet about the lenders’ practices.

“This is an important step, a permanent change in the regular financial calendar that will require the banks to become accountable,” Turnbull said in Sydney, as he announced that banking executives will have to appear at least once a year before a committee of lawmakers.

Weakened after last month’s election left his government with a wafer-thin majority in parliament, Turnbull is seeking to stave off demands by the main opposition Labor party for a widespread independent inquiry into the finance industry.

Banks have been attacked over mis-advice to wealth customers and were criticized by lawmakers across the political spectrum this week for failing to pass on in full the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest quarter-point interest rate reduction.

Shayne Elliott, the chief executive officer of Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., swiftly responded to Turnbull’s announcement, saying it was a “necessary initiative in the current climate.”

“I welcome the opportunity to represent ANZ’s views and to answer the tough questions that I know will be forthcoming in any parliamentary appearance,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

National Australia Bank Ltd. CEO Andrew Thorburn said in a statement he would accept the Treasurer’s invite to appear before the committee and looked “forward to the dialogue” around how the bank balanced the needs of mortgage customers, depositors and investors.

Find the full article here

Is Negative Gearing safe now? + 40 regional locations set to boom

Another great Real Estate Talk show produced by Kevin Turner. [adrotate group=”8"]

Michael Yardney tells us about the report and some of its findings, as we ask — what’s happened to the great Australian dream of everyone being able to own a home to call their own?

Simon Buckingham discusses the question — Is Negative Gearing safe now?

Melissa Gielnik tells us about a spike in parental guarantee loans.

Pete Wargent reveals some of the great lessons he has learnt along the way.

Simon Presley looks at the 40 Regional areas set to boom.

If you don’t already subscribe to this excellent weekly internet based radio show do so now by clicking here.

Job ads point to “steady improvement” in hiring

Despite an array of frightening headlines regarding unemployment, it appears things are slowly picking up.

According to this Blog by Pete Wargent, job site figures are showing a step in a more positive direction compared to a year ago.

Job ads slow recovery

ANZ’s job advertisements data series continues its long, low grind.

Seasonally adjusted job ads of 157,278 in July were lower than in June, but +6.9 per cent higher than one year ago.

Trend job advertisements increased by +0.3 per cent in the month to be +6.5 per cent higher than in July 2015.

According to ANZ the series fell sharply in early July, before rebounding, suggesting that election uncertainty likely played a role in the early part of the month.

A similar 3 per cent fall was seen in consumer confidence in early July, and these losses were also subsequently recovered after the majority election result was announced.

Overall, with the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates in August, ANZ anticipates a steady improvement in hiring conditions through the remainder of the year.

Total advertisements are tracking about 25 per cent higher than at the most recent nadir in Q3 2013, which is obviously great news.

Read the full article here

Facebook Now Has 1.7 Billion Users

What do you get when combining a young entrepreneur, a brilliant idea, and a decade worth of hard work?

1.7 Billion Users!

As reported in this article on popsci.com.au, Mark Zuckerberg added another milestone to his already long list of impressive achievements.

Facebook has the same number of users now as there were people alive just a century ago, which is a pretty impressive number of users for a dorm-room project after just a decade.

And if you’re the guy who did the project, you’d probably want to tout that.

Mark Zuckerberg posted this interesting fact (on Facebook):

Pretty impressive, especially considering that 100 years ago, computers hadn’t been invented, most of the population lived without electricity, horses and polio were still a big deal, women couldn’t vote, and no one had said the word “selfie.”

Click here for the full article

Sydney’s 10 most liveable suburbs revealed

When thinking of Sydney, the suburbs that typically come to mind are The Rocks, Darling Habour etc.

But are they the most livable?

Not according to this article on Domain.com.au, in fact the most livable suburbs in Sydney, are ones you would possibly least expect.

Growing up in Lavender Bay on the lower north shore in the 1960s, Michael Contos lived a charmed “Huckleberry Finn” life, building rafts on the water’s

edge, fishing and catching octopus off the rocks.

Fifty years on, he’s now returned to live there, believing the suburb to be the absolute pinnacle of what Sydney could possibly offer.

And now he has official confirmation: Lavender Bay has come out in the very top spot of all Sydney’s 555 suburbs in a new landmark study — Domain Liveable Sydney 2016 — authored by Tract Consultants and Deloitte Access Economics.

“It’s such a beautiful place, and you get the best views of the Harbour Bridge from Lavender Bay,” says the retired businessman and father of four. “I now go and have coffee every Saturday morning in the cafe next to the post office and bore everyone with stories of how we used to live there.

In fact, it’s only when we hit the eighth most liveable suburb that we actually cross the harbour, to Millers Point by The Rocks in the city, then to Elizabeth Bay and, at number 10, Darling Point.

Click here for the full article

Weekend Video: Military magic man Richard Jones Grand Final | Britain’s Got Talent 2016

Originally published at Property Update -.