Tim Treadgold

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.

It's not often that 6,000 investors are in total agreement, but in the case of the collapsed Forge Group there’s no doubt that all of the company’s shareholders will recognise that the failure had one cause – management incompetence.

Only a courageous investor would bet against the buying power of the self-managed super funds, which one recent investment note said ‘hunted in packs’.

Mining Indaba conference highlights infrastructure and transport concerns as Barnett seeks to solidify relationships with African companies.

Colin Barnett will be hoping his encouragement of Africa’s mining sector doesn’t come back to bite him.

After five years in the financial sin bin there is a flicker of hope on the horizon for Western Australia’s magnetite iron ore processing industry, with Gindalbie Metals and Sino Iron in line for a revenue boost emanating from an unlikely source – China’s polluted environment.

There’s still plenty of upside to the state’s resources sector as WA shifts focus to meet customers’ needs.

If nothing else, Bill Beament has just cemented for himself a place in Australian business history by placing one of the biggest bets ever on the future price of gold – and possibly on the future value of the Australian dollar.

The market reaction to a small dip in the iron ore price last week suggests a degree of uncertainty among investors.

Could house prices rise by another 10 per cent this year? Surprisingly the answer is ‘perhaps’, and that’s not coming from a real estate agent trying to make a quick sale.

If the GST rules are not changed, WA risks perpetuating its status as a cash cow propping up inefficient east coast manufacturers and retailers.

It’s called a supply-side surprise and unless the sometimes erratic government of Indonesia changes its mind by Monday, WA’s beleaguered nickel-mining industry could receive a welcome boost.

The passing of Nelson Mandela will have significant consequences for South Africa.

It is said that in space no-one can hear you scream. Amusingly, in a dark sort of way, the same can be said of the stock exchange during a crash because it’s unlikely that anyone heard a peep from the 54 (yes, 54) companies that disappeared from the Australian market over the past six months.

A sovereign risk no longer, Australia is fast rocketing up the charts of attractive destinations for investor funds.

Is the world about to become a better place? That’s not a philosophical question, it’s simply an observation that economic conditions might be better than we realise, as shown by recent developments in China, the US and the UK.

Those who predicted the death of traditional media may have cast their votes too early.