Lockdowns, riots & earthquakes – no longer the world’s most liveable city!

Just when you thought you’d seen and heard it all through this pandemic, throw an earthquake in the mix!
 
We all felt the earth shake around 9:15am this morning and looked around wondering what on earth could possibly go wrong next?!
 
It was a big one too, by Australian standards – 5.3 on the Richter, epicentre 10km below the surface around Mansfield. Perhaps the earth is angry that all the Melbourne supporters are missing from the snowfields this year?!
 
Lockdowns, riots, and earthquakes – we should be a certainty to take out the World’s Most Liveable City title again any moment!
 
Jokes aside, fortunately the damage was minimal and we all quickly got back to our lockdown lives, including the many thousands of tradies now consigned to their homes, like the rest of us.
 
The events we’ve seen unfold in Melbourne over the past few days with a mob purporting to be disgruntled tradies running riot have been appalling. And the sooner these clowns get used to the idea that to be included in society from now on, they’re going to need to get vaxxed (like the rest of us), the happier their lives will be.
 
This week I’m fortunate to be filling in for Brooke Corte hosting Money News on 9 Radio stations across Australia. Last night we were overwhelmed with calls, texts and emails from actual tradies who are now out of work and wanting to know, ‘where to from here?’

On last night’s show I interviewed Chief Economist of the Housing Industry Association, Tim Readon, about why this industry lockdown is one size fits all, where is the financial support, and how does it look on the other side. You can listen to the chat .
 
In other news, on Monday our market had its worst day since February, falling 2%. Investors remain on the edge of their seats as they await tomorrow’s update from the Fed as well as details around if/how the Chinese government will respond to the Evergrande crisis. Again, if you’re feeling uneasy, now is a great time to revisit your attitude towards markets and risk.