Latest from Banking and finance

Crushing 4% rental yield gap largest in 15 years – but many investors undeterred

'Rents are nowhere near enough to cover the mortgage for a typical debt-backed purchase.'

Easing of lending rules to make it quicker, but not necessarily easier to get loans

ANZ assures it will continue being a responsible lender.

ANZ reverses house price forecast, expects 1% fall

Three aspects of house prices and interest rates have been revised in new research.

Sharesies trader investigated after claiming kitchen renovation anguish made him flip shares

Normally his trades were modest - but a few big deals caught unwanted attention.

Heineken blames weather after beer sales disappoint

Financial Times: World’s second-largest brewer pushed into net loss.

US consumers show signs of flagging, companies and analysts warn

Financial Times: Hints a crucial driver of economic growth may have peaked.

Trump vows to sack SEC boss and end ‘persecution’ of crypto industry

Candidate says he would ensure rules were written by people 'who love cryptocurrencies'.

Younger Chinese fume at call to raise retirement age

Financial Times: Party meeting sparks online row as experts warn about ageing population.

Tesla misses profit estimates as Elon Musk delays ‘robotaxi’ launch

Financial Times: Shares fall despite CEO’s claim about ‘autonomous fleet’.

Alphabet revenue jumps, shows no sign of AI denting search business

Financial Times: Cloud growth is hot as companies race to build large language models.

Opinion: Immigration is both essential and impossible – Martin Wolf

Financial Times: High-income countries may have to abandon today’s binary migration view.

Can the solar industry keep the lights on?

Financial Times: Global supply glut of panels hurts producers, helps installations.

$250m in savings if tap-and-go fees regulated, says watchdog

The regulator says $1 billion a year is spent on PayWave, online credit card fees.

Do you really get a bargain on a mortgagee sale?

More than 20,000 home loans were 'past due' but how many are actually for sale?

Westpac touts potential of shared home ownership schemes, but will it actually take on more risk?

Community housing providers accuse banks of being too risk averse.

Joe Biden resignation: ‘Trump Trade’ bets and market volatility expected

Stiff tariff talk, speculation about Trump 2.0 influence market moves.