Despite a 48-year low in joblessness and navigating the pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s party is in a dogfight. Homebuyer and dam-building policies smell fishy, and a lack of climate leadership hurts too. As times get tougher, whoever wins will have to be bolder.
The social media company’s directors did not conduct an auction to seek rival offers to Elon Musk’s $44 bln bid, and some have overlapping interests. That leaves them open to accusations of conflicts of interest. Whether the deal goes ahead or not, the board looks exposed.
Denmark’s Vestas and rival Siemens Gamesa have failed to turn booming demand for wind farms into higher earnings. Increased prices to offset soaring raw material costs will take several years to kick in. But now wind power is cheaper than fossil fuels, price pressures are easing.
Placing money alongside the world’s richest man should be an easy pitch. But tech heavyweights backing his $44 bln Twitter bid with $7 bln still leave a hole, and checks from smaller investors suggest he was scraping the barrel. It indicates skepticism about Musk’s latest idea.
Boss Shayne Elliott is downplaying the benefits of central bank action at his $770 bln lender and ditching cost targets because of inflation. It’s a sober message compared to peers like HSBC counting on hikes for a boost. Erring on the side of caution is a better approach.