News Headlines at ALWAYSHOTNEWS.com

05/17/2008		Verizon joins undersea cable network
VERIZON Business has joined a consortium of 16 companies to build an optical cable system connecting Europe, the Middle East and India

05/17/2008		Google young guns all grown up
IT`S official: the guys who founded Google have grown up

05/17/2008		Banks hostile to eBay`s PayPal move
EBAY Australia is confident a revamp of its payment arrangements will be approved by the ACCC in a matter of weeks

05/17/2008		Mariah to marry husband again
MARIAH Carey has given a tell-all interview to Ellen DeGeneres about her secret wedding with hubby Nick Cannon, who she plans to marry again every year

05/17/2008		Australian music gigs mobile
AUSTRALIAN music has been given another boost with BigPond`s Monday Night Live signing on for a second series

05/17/2008		Madonna`s sweet success continues
MADONNA has arguably been reigning as the Queen of Pop for the last two decades but, with her new album Hard Candy she has taken an undeniable risk

05/17/2008		Amy `will die without me`
AMY Winehouse`s incarcerated husband Blake Fielder-Civil has told friends he`s worried his troubled wife will die without him by her side

05/17/2008		T-Pain leads BET Award nominees
T-PAIN led the nominees for the eighth annual BET Awards, an event celebrating the leading lights in African-American music, film and sport

05/17/2008		Feud with Nollsy is over
AFTER admitting his jibe about Shannon Noll`s late father was "the biggest regret of my career", Wil Anderson finally got to kiss and make up

05/17/2008		Coldplay go mobile for fourth album
IN a brave move, Coldplay have gone down the mobile path to release their latest album and it`s a sign of the times

05/17/2008		Today`s new dawn
THE Today show is closing the ratings gap with Sunrise and hopes to be on top again in the not too distant future

05/17/2008		Cleo bachelor finds his mate
CLEO Bachelor of the Year Jason Dundas has relinquished his single status after hooking up with Sydney model April Rose Pengilly

05/17/2008		Tim glad gay news received so well
TIM Campbell has praised the way the media and fans reacted to his coming out and his relationship with Anthony Callea

05/17/2008		Shane to dance with the stars?
CHANNEL 7 is understood to have said "thank God you`re here" to comedian Shane Bourne after shuffling Daryl Somers out of the coveted hosting role on Dancing with the Stars

05/17/2008		McManus rejected for US talk show gig
ROVE McManus has been overlooked for a US television hosting job that would have been the biggest break of his career

05/17/2008		Nine takes Wheel for a spin
THE Nine Network`s reinvention of Wheel Of Fortune is set to turn the iconic program into a glitzy, discotheque-like production, says new host Tim Campbell

05/17/2008		TV brat pack attacks teen
AN aspiring model broke down in tears on television after bullying attacks from rivals on Australia`s Next Top Model

05/17/2008		`Living hell` of models` house
LIVING with Australia`s Next Top Model`s accused bullies was a "slice of hell", the reality show`s latest evictee says

05/17/2008		A queer eye for Oz manhood
EVEN though he teaches women to look good naked, TV host Carson Kressley loves the look of Aussie men, especially if they`re in the buff

05/17/2008		Clint, Indy lead Cannes line-up
THE Cannes film festival rolls out the red carpet tomorrow, with Dirty Harry and Indiana Jones leading this year`s line-up

Today`s Top Picks

YouTube rape mum`s horror

YOUTUBE footage of a mother being gang-raped in front of her children has sparked calls for the video sharing website to be moderated.

Have Your Say

Latest Comments:

Comment 32you are right about the fact that our banks are able to do what they want as a result of deregulation of banking. This was done by Keating so he could blame the banks for his mismanaging the economy. As far as somelender is prepared to lend you 150% when bank refused, I have a news for you, THAT LENDER IS A BANK. It does not matter what name is on the contract, the bank or its subsidiary is behind it.
Posted by: Martin of York 10:09am today

People!We are a country that enjoys credit a little too much, with such a large amount of money being placed in credit cards and HP accounts the RBA will continue to increase interest rates giving the Commercial Banks an excuse to increase theirs as part of the cover up to hide their loses and exposure that they have put themselves in with teh US sub-prime issue... in large part we have only ourselves to blame!
Posted by: Anthony of Gold Coast 10:08am today

Maybe what we need to do is to open the doors of the RBA to the public thus allowing them to borrow at a much lower rate which in turn will allow many working Australians to keep the roof over their heads so to speak. To stop everyone moving to the RBA it could be limited to only offer a mortgage for the house you live in. It's a win win, the hard working tax payer gets a roof over their heads and the RBA still makes a good profit.
Posted by: Sol Rosenberg of Qld 10:08am today

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Fears banks will lift rates by more than official rise
PM Kevin Rudd warns he`s talking to ACCC
Big Bang coming from banks

ALL eyes are on Australia`s banks, with predictions they will lift home loan rates by more than yesterday`s official increase.

The big banks are again considered likely to lift variable home-loan rates by more than yesterday`s 25 basis point increase in official interest rates.

Ahead of yesterday`s hike in the Reserve Bank`s (RBA) cash rate to 7.25 per cent, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned banks not to lift variable home-lending rates - now around 8.95 per cent - by more than the anticipated 25 basis points.

Sharing the profits

Asked what he would do if that occurred, Mr Rudd said the Government was discussing what other measures were possible with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

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McCrann analysis: Will there be another rate rise?

"Banks experiencing record profitability should be very, very mindful of their corporate and community standing before leaning on people who borrow from those banks any further," he said.

So far this year, the big banks have added a further 15 to 20 basis points to RBA increases to rebuild their margins. Fixed home-loan rates have also been rising.

However, as the Big Four put their rates under review yesterday, a senior banker said the industry was between a rock and a hard place, absorbing an annualised $1.4 billion earnings hit from higher funding costs while facing a political backlash if some of that cost was passed on to borrowers.

The banker said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd`s threat to unleash the competition watchdog to examine anti-competitive conduct had complicated the response to the 12th consecutive rate rise since 2002.

"If you push a new government too hard, you could end up in the same basket as the petrol companies, with the ACCC looking at every pricing move," the banker said.

Mortgage rates near 10 per cent

Rates ABN AMRO analyst Jarrod Martin predicted that the banks, "if they were true to their word, would pass on the 25-basis-point RBA increase, as well as an extra 10 to 15 basis points", which would push standard variable home loan rates close to 10 per cent.

"The funding market has deteriorated since they last went outside RBA increases, but they could play a bit of a waiting game to see where the market settles," he said.

None of the banks would publicly canvass the likelihood of adding a margin to the RBA adjustment.

An ANZ spokesman said a decision was likely later in the week. "It`s inevitable there`ll be some flow-on to mortgage and other lending rates, and we have the added consideration of the ongoing pressures in wholesale markets which have raised funding costs further," he said.

Westpac and Commonwealth Bank rates are under review.

NAB CEO John Stewart said last week that further unilateral rate rises could not be ruled out.

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