Tim Treadgold

If stock market and property prices are to be believed, the international financial world is back to where it was seven years ago, which either means good times have returned or we are exactly where we were just before the 2008 GFC.

It’s hard to not admire Frank Lowy, either as founder and major shareholder of the Westfield retail property group or for the $6 billion personal fortune he has amassed after arriving in Australia as an impoverished European migrant in 1952.

The switch from ‘demand-pull’ to ‘supply squeeze’ in the global resources market may provide opportunities for WA miners.

No business sets out to deliberately make life hard for clients, especially if the client base includes some of Australia’s richest people, which is why a recent technology change at the blueblood stockbroking firm JB Were is an example of how not to change a system.

‘A man before his time’ isn’t a description many would associate with the prime minister, but the federal budget may put him in that category.

Western Australia’s nickel miners are celebrating a classic supply-side surprise, which has driven the price of their metal sharply higher; but the same Indonesian government ban on the export of unprocessed nickel ore could soon do the same way for another WA specialty – bauxite.

Deutsche Bank’s latest analysis of Boral has rekindled debate over a potential move on the Buckeridge Group.

The $1.4 billion joint bid by Baosteel and Aurizon for control of Perth-based Aquila Resources marks a new wave of Chinese investment interest in WA’s iron ore.

Just as Western Australia’s nickel miners pop champagne corks to celebrate the remarkable 40 per cent rise in the nickel price over the past five months, signs have started to emerge that the party might soon be over

Increasingly generous staff share issues in the US threaten the rights of existing shareholders.

If prices for iron ore, coal, oil and gold are falling, which they are, how long before the Australian dollar follows?

Oakajee is being rejuvenated not so much as a mining project but more as an infrastructure play.

Masked by the delay in plans to merge Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining to create a $33 billion global gold mining giant is another sign that Western Australia’s resources industry is losing its international investment appeal.

UBS has dug up hot numbers on the WA iron ore project that could propel the billionaire to world’s richest person.

Finally, after decades of dithering and empty promises there is hope the ambitious Oakajee port and rail plan in the Mid West will move beyond the drawing board, not that there will be a ground-breaking ceremony for a few more years.

Managing community relations is proving a major challenge for oil and gas companies, and there’s a lot of goodwill to claw back.

It's easy to understand why South Africa’s Woolworths is currently being seen as a winner with its $2.15 billion takeover offer for David Jones, but it’s also interesting to wonder whether Woolworths will be seen as a winner next year.

Uncertainty over the price of oil makes Seven Group Holdings’ purchase of Nexus Energy a classic case of what business risk is all about.

It’s amazing what an improvement a new owner can bring to a business, which is why the proposed break-up of Australia’s biggest company, BHP Billiton, is excellent news for Western Australia, particularly the Goldfields and South West.

Having secured funding for her Roy Hill mine, Gina Rinehart’s fortunes will soon rely on something she can’t control – the iron ore price.

Dollar up, gold down. It wasn’t supposed to be like that, especially in a week when Australian miners have been trying to convince international investors at a conference in Hong Kong that it’s time to take a fresh look a country that was in danger of pricing itself out of the market.

European shopping centres are evolving to include more leisure and lifestyle pursuits in an attempt to provide an experience the internet can’t.

High debt levels and rising interest rates are an unpleasant combination, but everyone with an interest in the retail, property and share markets would be wise to see that one factor has arrived and the other one is on its way, potentially producing a pincer-squeeze on spending and growth.

Whether it’s a blip on the radar or a turning of the commodities price cycle, things are looking better for nickel.

Never has the KISS management principle (keep it simple, stupid) been better demonstrated than in the dreadful condition of Western Australia’s mineral processing sector, where crisis is piling on crisis.

The production phase of the resources boom is likely to put upward pressure on the dollar and therefore the manufacturing sector.

Wars produce winners as well as losers, and while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not classified as a hot war, yet, there are signs emerging that one of the winners will be a long way from the action – Australia.

The state’s rising demand for fuels and lubricants has prompted a deal between Shell and Dutch-owned but Swiss-based Vitol.

There's no point in an Australian government trying to save a business regarded as a national icon if Australians have stopped buying the services of that business.

The cost-cutting phase of the current resources cycle has been a ‘success’, and an upswing could be just around the bend.

Western Australia has reclaimed its position at centre stage in the money world, not because it is sucking in development capital but more so because it has become a global cash cow.

The cost of doing business in Australia means the country has become an investment no-go zone for international companies.