There is a string of positives now stating Australia is tracking positively, starting with the international credit agency Standard & Poors which retains our economy’s AAA rating, The world’s top ten bankers (G.10) are now saying that while the slowdown for this year is inevitable, 2010 will see ‘significant pick-up and should be the year of recovery.’ The excellent barometer of new home loan approvals for owner/occupiers is tracking well with current one percent increase over the same period last year.

Consumer sentiment continues to increase with the Melbourne Institute stats showing a recent lift of over 7 percent. This is being shown by the way big retailers like Harvey Norman and Woolworths continue to enjoy sales growth.

The view of the national Retail Traders Association is that business is reasonable right now and a strong recovery will be here by the third quarter.