Three Rare Coins Sell For Nearly $900k

Three rare Australian coins have fetched almost $900,000 at auction - taking out two records in the process.

Australia's first coin, known as the 'Hannibal Head' Holey Dollar, sold for $410,000, while the first gold coin, an 1852 Adelaide pound, netted $370,000.

Both coins fetched record prices for coins of their type sold at auction, with the pound eclipsing the previous record by $240,000.

The coins went under the hammer in Melbourne on Monday night along with an 1813 Colonial Dumps coin, which had a less impressive result, selling for half the estimated price at $100,000.
Coinworks managing director Belinda Downie said it was an exciting auction result.

'It was a win-win. The vendor's happy. I saw really beautiful quality coins sell for very exciting prices, so, from a Coinworks perspective, and an industry perspective, there are no complaints,' she told AAP.

The top selling Holey Dollar is the only one of its type in private hands, with the only other known example housed in the NSW State Library.

'This one is unique for private buyers,' Ms Downie said.

'The quality of the coin is superior to most. It's got a really gorgeous history.'

The Holey Dollar was created from 40,000 Spanish coins acquired by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to alleviate Australia's coin shortage.

Governor Macquarie enlisted the services of convicted forger William Henshall to cut a hole in the centre of each dollar and later to stamp each with the words New South Wales and a five shilling value.

The rare coin gained notoriety after being found in 1881 as part of a bushranger's hoard and was later owned by the Tasmanian governor, Ms Downie said.

'Right from the onset this particular coin has always enjoyed publicity,' she said.

Aussie Banks Worth More Than Europe's Combined

FOR the first time in history the value of Australian banks are now worth more than the Eurozone. 
 
The Commonwealth Bank made a net profit of almost $7.1 billion, the biggest ever reported by an Australian bank. That boils down to a daily profit of almost $19.5 million or more than $13,000 a minute.

 ANZ  posted a $4.4 billion profit for the nine months to June, an increase of 10 per cent.

CBA chief executive Ian Narev told the Adelaide Advertiser that he is “proud and not embarrassed” by the massive profit surge. He said the results boil down to strong Australian economy and the confidence of their shareholders.

“The people who own this group. . . 60 per cent of them are Australian households directly, that's 800,000 Australian families, “Another 20 per cent of our shareholders are Australians who own them directly through their pension funds.

“So the shareholders who we are doing well for are millions and millions of Australian households,” said Mr Narev.

ANZ's Australian, New Zealand and Asian operations, chief executive Mike Smith told news.com.au the group attributes their success to effective management of ongoing funding and competitive pressures. He also said ANZ had picked up market share in deposits, mortgages and business lending

Other financial analysts have said the massive profits can be explained by the fact that unlike European and American banks, Australia have not loaded up on subprime debt, bad real estate loans or “piles of dodgy foreign debt”.

Home Owners Forced to Take Super - Australia Mortgage

HOME owners have raided their superannuation funds of a record $100 million in last-ditch bids to avoid foreclosure, new government figures have shown.

The surge in mortgage-holders seeking emergency access to their savings has alarmed housing and social welfare groups, who warn many families are still struggling to meet loan repayments despite steep cuts in the interest rate

With distressed owners receiving an average of $15,250 each, there are also concerns some super accounts could be drained of more than a third of their value. The number of households in serious financial trouble has worsened despite mortgage lending rates falling about 1 per cent in the past six months and nearly 3 per cent since their peak in mid-2008.

Figures obtained by The Sun-Herald showed 6500 home owners were given emergency access to their super last financial year to prevent an imminent foreclosure.

A Commonwealth Department of Human Services report found $99.38 million was released, up 25 per cent on 2010-11 and well above the disbursements in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
It also marks the third year in a row that the number of people applying for, and being granted access to, their nest-egg has increased.

A campaign manager for Australians for Affordable Housing, Sarah Toohey, said years of house price growth had seen debt balloon and forced households to devote an unsustainable amount of income to meeting mortgage repayments.

''It's alarming and it shows that housing affordability is about more than just interest rates,'' she said.
''The sheer size of what people have to borrow to get into the housing market now really puts household finances under strain.'

Online Orders Surge As Retailers Lag - Online Shopping Australia

The number of online orders to Australian businesses increased by almost a third during the 2010-11 financial year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics research released on Tuesday showed that local businesses received online orders worth $189 billion in the 12 months to June 30, 2011, an increase of $46 billion, or 32 per cent, on the previous corresponding period.

However, the data also showed that only 28 per cent of business said they had received orders via the internet, a mere 13 per cent increase on the previous year.

In contrast, more than half of businesses in Australia, 51 per cent, reported placing orders for goods and services on the internet in last financial year, up nine per cent in the previous year, ABS data showed.

In another troubling sign, just below 40 per cent of business reported ‘‘some form of innovative activity’’ in 2010-11, the ABS said, with 66 per cent of large businesses reporting activities to boost efficiency and lower costs. Only 30 per cent of companies with four employees or less reported the same, the ABS said.

The gap between businesses receiving orders online and those placing them highlighted the demand for changes by local industries and the constraints that many businesses in Australia work under. The slow pace of innovation in Australia has held back the nation’s overall productivity, an area of concern for the central bank and economists.

RBA forecasts of economic growth routinely factor in improvements in productivity to achieve the expansion, yet productivity in Australia has lagged in recent years.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens recently urged politicians to follow the suggestions of the productivity commission in order to boost the the efficiencies and lower the cost in the economy.

Australia’s economy, while expanding by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter, has been riven by disparities in performance between mining and non-mining states and industries.

Macquarie senior economist Brian Radican said that internet usage in Australia is lower than in the comparable economies of the US or UK.

Yet, the distances in Australia suggest that the internet usage for commerce could have a larger benefit locally.

“A deeper embrace of its use by Australian business could arguably have a bigger benefit here than it would in other regions,” he said.

Across all sectors 40 to 43 per cent of businesses had a website.
But while 97 per cent of large business had a website, only a third of small businesses reported having one.

“If firms can drive some of the costs out of businesses, they can produce more for less,” he said.
However, Mr Radican cautioned that Australia’s weaker productivity was also driven by industrial relations challenges and other factors.

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Sydney's Housing Market to Continue to Grow

Sydney is Australia's most populous city and its housing sector offers investors unique opportunities with the security that comes with investing in a large and rapidly expanding market.

Property prices in Sydney have increased 25 per cent in the last four years, during which many other housing markets around the world have stagnated or even gone backwards.

The reason that Sydney's housing prices have continued to rise is simple - more people want to live there. Famous for its landmark Harbour Bridge and Opera House, Sydney is the business and financial capital of Australia, with an ideal climate and a relaxed yet cosmopolitan lifestyle.

Sydney has nearly five million residents and its annual population growth rate of 1.6 per cent is higher than the Australian average. It is also higher than that of any major western city outside Australia, yet less than half of this increase comes from births.

Most new Sydneysiders are overseas arrivals who come to Australia to start a new or better life, seeking employment or education opportunities for themselves or their children. They have created a steady demand for around 30,000 more dwellings each year, pushing up prices and making Sydney the most expensive city in Australia to buy a house.

The median price of a Sydney house is now around A$620,000 (S$786,740) and it is rising. Landed properties can be purchased on the outskirts of Sydney for around half this amount, but they are located far from the city centre. Sydney's idyllic harbour side location brings problems, as much of the land is locked away in parks or reserves and there is less available for housing. The urban footprint has spread as far south, north and west as there is land available.

It is almost impossible for overseas arrivals to buy a home until they settle and establish themselves, which can take many years. This has led to a rise in Sydney's rents, which are higher than any other major city in Australia.

High rents and prices have changed Sydney's landscape. They have led to the abandonment of the dream of a landed home for many young Sydneysiders and led to a boom in apartment living. Over half of Sydney's dwellings are apartments or "home units" as the locals call them.

The new medium and high-rise apartment blocks contain gymnasiums, swimming pools and garden barbecue areas. The units are fitted out to attract renters, while their design lowers maintenance costs for investors. Many of the suburbs where this transformation is occurring - such as Pyrmont, Ultimo, Camperdown, Double Bay and Broadway - are located close to the central business district and in the urban centre itself.

What makes these dwellings ideal for investors is that prices for home units are still less than 70 per cent of those of similar sized houses.

The Sydney inner urban market is unique because there are fewer development projects in the pipeline than there are in other cities such as Melbourne even as the rental demand is far higher. Rents in these areas are escalating as a result and housing investors from Singapore can buy off-the-plan units with confidence, knowing that both the rental yield and the value of their investment are likely to rise in the coming years.

Ford Stand-Down of 1800 Draws Nearer

A temporary stand-down of 1800 Victorian workers at Ford is increasingly likely as state and federal governments join in a bid to resolve the crisis involving a financially troubled car parts maker.

Ford says the stand-down for an estimated one or two days from Thursday would be the worst-case scenario if the dispute involving supplier CMI Industrial drags on.

About 80 workers at CMI's Campbellfield factory have been locked out since last Friday after the landlord changed the locks in a dispute over rent payment, believed to be around $150,000.

Federal Workplace Minister Bill Shorten said he's been in talks with the Victorian government over the appointment of an administrator to CMI.

"We're looking to have confirmation of a particular company who's been appointed as voluntary administrator and I'll be in touch with them," Mr Shorten said.

Ford spokeswoman Sinead Phipps said the company hoped the situation would be resolved as soon as possible.

Ford Stand-Down of 1800 Draws Nearer

Toyota Hires Extra Security As Axe Falls On 350 Jobs

Car maker Toyota has hired extra security staff for its factory in Melbourne's south west as the company prepares to sack 350 workers.

Toyota blames the job losses at its Altona assembly plant on the downturn in production levels and the strength of the Australian dollar.

Alison Caldwell reports.

ALISON CALDWELL: Toyota foreshadowed the job cuts in January, blaming the high Australian dollar for falling export sales.

Since then it's assessed more than 3,000 employees at its Altona assembly plant, testing them on workplace behaviour and skills.

The people with the lowest ratings will be forced to leave today and tomorrow - that's around 10 per cent of the workforce or 350 employees.

Paul Defelice is the assistant state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.

PAUL DEFELICE: They'd be very anxious because there is a number of people that will be told today that they are surplus to requirement. So until the morning passes, there's going to be a lot of anxious people.

ALISON CALDWELL: This was announced by Toyota back in January. What's been going on in the discussions with the union since then?

PAUL DEFELICE: There's been a whole host of meetings, I suppose on a weekly basis, to actually look at an appropriate and fair and transparent selection criteria, and out placement services and also the quantum of the final package for people to exit on.

ALISON CALDWELL: Now they've got security guards out there today to help people leave the plant. Is that an unusual situation?

PAUL DEFELICE: It is an unusual situation because I don't think in my history this has transpired. It's always been purely voluntary so it's been a pretty sort of amicable departure between the parties. So I don't know how people are going to take it when they get told that they're no longer required so I presume that's why the security guards are there.

ALISON CALDWELL: Do you know how they're working out who's going and who's not?

PAUL DEFELICE: Look it'll be based on skills, obviously, it'll be based on a whole host of other things - probably absenteeism will be one of them. So they are the main criteria, I suppose.

ALISON CALDWELL: Absenteeism meaning people who haven't been turning up for work?

PAUL DEFELICE: Excess to their entitled quota.

ALISON CALDWELL: Is that is for the time being at least? I mean, this number was expected but…

PAUL DEFELICE: It's not anticipated for the foreseeable future there's going to be any more because there's actually been a small increase in volume, I think approximately 3,900 - three thousand nine hundred - over the next three or four months. So should be right for three or four months.

ALISON CALDWELL: A spokeswoman for Toyota says the union requested the extra security to quote "make sure everything goes smoothly".

She says Toyota believes the redundancy packages, negotiated with Fair Work Australia, are generous.

Included in the 350 job losses are 84 voluntary redundancies.
Toyota Hires Extra Security As Axe Falls On 350 Jobs

Coke to Coke Zero Blind Switch TV Advert 'Coke Zero' Cinema Taste Challenge Sending a Bad Message

The Ad - you can view it for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHZ_vhXa-8

Coke Zero Ad Plot Summary:

People watching a movie at the movies are interrupted by announcement by the refreshments kiosk worker, asking if they are enjoying the coca cola he served them, then he asks them to check there drinking vessel to discover he has in fact given them Coke Zero and Not normal Coca Cola.

Then there is a drive in the last 10 seconds "you know what to do" - start drinking coke zero is the assumption

I Believe this Advert was based on a Spanish Coke Zero Marketing Ploy both substituting Coke for Coke Zero on unsuspecting Movie-goers (luckily for them none of them has an adverse reaction to this to the sugar substitute). I feel the Australian variant is more pushy and provocative with as an ad being shorter with less explanation of the experiment and more of a social-pressure aspect to it.

What i Think About This Advert from Coca-Cola

Companies MUST NOT switch product on consumers for various reasons, i myself go out of my way to avoid drinking sugar substitutes having an especially bad reaction, its NOT ok to do this in real life, therefore it is NOT ok to do it in an advertisement.

Restaurants cannot substitute your beverage and neither can a cinema, neither can COCA-COLA. This ad is telling people its ok to server drinks that people DO NOT WANT or DID NOT ASK FOR.

This can have negative consequences on society if people emulate this Coca-Cola ploy... I don’t want to have my drink switched? Do you?

This is way to close to spiking drinks, serving someone alcohol or drugs and exploiting this, i see very close parallels and although coke zero is not illegal, there is a huge amount of of evidence that besphemol A (nutra sweet) has very negative health consequences without the benefit of sugar - the sugar rush.

Every time i see it i can’t believe it made it to air... isn’t it illegal to serve up a drink claiming its something else... this is a very objectionable subject for me and coca-cola is being disingenuous in its suggestions in this advert.. unwittingly getting movie goers to drink there product without agreeing or having any knowledge.

If someone specifically does not want coke zero how is it ok for them to film this and put it on tv (true event or not).

This is not a different flavour, its aspartame instead of sugar, i suspect if more people investigated the history and scientific research about aspartame then there opinion on this advert would change, regardless of your beliefs on the potential dangers of aspartame it should be every citizens right to know what they put in their body, no quirky socially appeasing to bypass this common sense fact as only we know what our body's can ingest safely... to some its peanuts? others alcohol.. others aspartame!

Moral this write up.. don't switch my Coke thanks very much, if i order a coke i want a coke, not a coke zero!

Australia Auto Exports at 13-Year Low as GM, Toyota Cut Jobs

The value of Australia’s automobile exports plunged to the lowest level since 1998 last year as the strength of the local currency reduced overseas demand, leading to job cuts at the local units of General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

Passenger vehicle shipments fell 26 percent from a year earlier to A$1.35 billion ($1.45 billion), the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today in its December trade report. Car exports have slumped 63.7 percent since their peak of A$3.6 billion in 2008, when they were the largest export by the country’s manufacturing industry.

The decline highlights the so-called two-speed nature of Australia’s economy as industries outside the booming mining sector suffer from a more than 60 percent rise of the local currency against the U.S. dollar in the past three years. Toyota said last month it’s cutting more than a 10th of its assembly plant workforce in Australia, while GM Holden said today its reducing the number of contractors it employs.

“Our capacity to sustain large levels of export sales has largely evaporated,” said Ian Chalmers, chief executive officer of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, a car industry lobbying group. “We’re competing in an internationally difficult space while dealing with a very high Australian dollar at the same time.”

Toyota Cuts

Australian manufacturing, accounting for about 10 percent of gross domestic product, has contracted even as booming demand for the nation’s commodities helped the economy avoid a recession after the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Toyota Australia, the country’s largest car exporter, cited the strong dollar when it said Jan. 23 that 350 people face compulsory redundancy at its main plant in Altona, a suburb of the country’s second-largest city Melbourne.

The division’s production has fallen 36 percent since 2007, it said in an e-mailed statement last month. The unit shipped 83,000 cars worth A$1.5 billion in 2010, the majority to the Middle East, the largest importer of Australian-made cars, according to Toyota’s website.

Holden, Australia’s largest producer of cars for the domestic market, blamed the high Australian dollar for the job cuts at its assembly plant in the South Australian city of Adelaide.

Growth Under Threat

“At the current exchange rate we won’t be able to realize further growth in our export programs,” GM Holden Chairman Mike Devereux said in a statement. About 100 jobs will go and the company “will not be able to do business” in Australia without government support, Devereux said in an interview today with Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today the government is determined to “keep car manufacturing here” and acknowledged the problems posed by the high Australian dollar. The so-called Aussie is likely to stay “relatively high for years to come,” Gillard said yesterday and urged businesses to adapt to it.

Driven by demand for the country’s mining and petroleum exports and top-rated government debt, the Australian dollar has been the best-performing group of 10 currency against the U.S. dollar during the past two years, rising 22.1 percent over the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While that strength helps contain inflation by making imports cheaper, it hurts exporters by making their products more expensive relative to overseas competitors. BlueScope Steel Ltd., the country’s largest steel producer, in August shuttered its export division, and Australian wine exports fell to a 10- year low in 2011.

The Australian Industry Group’s performance of manufacturing index has shown a contraction in 13 months over the past two years. A comparable survey in the U.K. has seen contractions in five months during the period, while U.S. manufacturing has grown in every month since July 2009.

Australia Auto Exports at 13-Year Low as GM, Toyota Cut Jobs

AUSTRALIAN KOALA 2012 1OZ SILVER COIN CARDED - Perth Mint Australia

One of Australia’s favourite collectable issues, the Australian Koala 1oz silver coin portrays delightful original artistry each year.

Specimen Quality 99.9% Pure Silver

Each coin is struck by The Perth Mint from 99.9% pure silver in specimen quality.

Original 2012 Koala Design

The coin’s reverse features an adult koala sleeping on the branch of a eucalyptus tree. The design also incorporates The Perth Mint’s ‘P’ mintmark.

Australian Legal Tender

Issued as legal tender under the Australian Currency Act 1965, the coin’s obverse bears the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the year-date and monetary denomination.

Illustrated Presentation Card

The coin is housed in a beautifully photographed display card.

Mint-to-Order

Like its predecessors, the 2012 Silver Koala is struck on a mint-to-order basis only. Production will close on announcement of the 2013-dated coin, enabling The Perth Mint to declare its official mintage.

• Specimen Quality 99.9% Pure Silver
• Original 2012 Koala Design
• Australian Legal Tender
• Illustrated Presentation Card
• Mint-to-Order

Technical Specifications:

Silver Content (Troy oz) 1
Monetary Denomination (AUD) 1
Fineness (% purity) 99.9
Minimum Gross Weight (g) 31.135
Maximum Diameter (mm) 40.60
Maximum Thickness (mm) 4.00

Order these from the Perth Mint

AUSTRALIAN KOALA 2012 1OZ SILVER COIN CARDED - Perth Mint Australia