I figure it must have been my lack of enthusiasm in not marking...

I figure it must have been my lack of enthusiasm in not marking its rise above $1.70 that slowed the momementum on MCP. So watch it rocket now!

The following from The Australian provides encouragement for MCP. Also, read an article that Japanese investors are shifting focus to Australian consumer businesses. Anyway, $1.90 here we come!


CONSUMER confidence hit a 19-month high in July after the Rudd government's cash handouts and a surprising resilience in the jobs market lifted spirits.

"Stunning result": Westpac's Bill Evans said the consumer sentiment index had risen 23 per cent in June and July, marking the biggest two-month increase on record. Picture: Bloomberg
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 9.3 per cent to 109.4 - the first time since December 2007 that optimists have decisively outnumbered pessimists.

Separate data showed housing finance approvals rose a surprising 2.2 per cent, seasonally adjusted, in May from April. Economists had expected a rise of 1.5 per cent.

Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the consumer sentiment index had risen 23.2 per cent in June and July, marking the biggest two-month increase on record.

“The second largest two-month increase was 18.8 per cent in March 1992, when households were finally convinced that the Australian economy was coming out of recession,” said Mr Evans.

“This is unquestionably a stunning result. My personal view had been that, given last month we saw the second largest increase in the index since we started measuring in 1974, any rise in July would have been a great result.”

Relief that Australia had dodged a recession also boosted sentiment.

But Mr Evans warned that consumer confidence was likely to take a hit once the jobless rate started to rise quickly and government handouts dried up.

The federal government’s $12.7 billion in cash handouts to low and medium-income earners in March and May resulted in an “instant boost to retail sales and supported this surge in confidence”, he said.

The unexpected resilience of the labour market also played a role, Mr Evans said.

“Households whose exposure to the sharemarket had been limited had expected that the major impact of the global financial crisis on their welfare would have been through the jobs market,” he said.

“However, over the last two months the unemployment rate has remained steady.”

In a breakdown of the housing data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the value of investment housing loans in May rose 2.4 per cent from April.

The number of finance approvals to build houses rose a seasonally adjusted 8.0 per cent in May from April and the number of approvals to buy newly built houses rose 2.9 per cent. The number of approvals for the purchase of established houses increased 1.5 per cent.