Mining vs Retail: Australia's Two-Speed Economy

On Market Watch today, Ben LeBrun, Market Analyst and Commentator at Options Express in Sydney discusses: -- A sizable 4.6% drop in construction work for the last quarter, reversing an 11.7 percent rise in the September quarter. Ben says it was seasonal factors were in play in the Dec quearter, with the holidays.  -- It may have a a slightly negative knock-on effect into GDP numbers next week -- However, there is still a massive pipeline of investment in the mining space to come within the next 5 years, especially with LNG projects -- Also retail sales in Aus rose 0.3% in January, following a 0.1% drop in December. Although within expectations, it's not neccesarily a sign that the retail sector strengthening.  -- Online shopping doing better the bricks-and-mortar retailers.  -- His thoughts on US Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke catious address to Congress, that mentioned no hint of a third round of quantitative easing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.