Australian Financial Review

Question 1

hefty

Answer 1

large and heavy. He realised that refinancing would trigger a hefty increase in repayments.

Question 2

looming (adj)

Answer 2

(of an event regarded as threatening) seem about to happen. Thousands of home owners face a looming financial crunch.

Question 3

lax (adj)

Answer 3

not sufficiently strict, severe, or careful. Who blames lax lending standards for looming squeeze on home buyers.

Question 4

hail (v)

Answer 4

call out to (someone) to attract attention. praise (someone or something) enthusiastically. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hailed the result. “what a great job number today.”

Question 5

perilously (adv)

Answer 5

In a way that is full of danger or risk. Wall street’s abrupt turnaround on Tuesday provides a timely demonstration of just how quickly air pockets can open up in market trading at perilously high valuations.

Question 6

retaliation (n)

Answer 6

counter-attack. China could be threatening financial retaliation if Washington continues to block Chinese acquisitions, or if the Trump administration decides to impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

Question 7

ramp up (v)

Answer 7

increase. This means that US government will be ramping up its bond issuance, at a time when US Federal Reserve is shedding US$US600 billion of bonds from its balance sheet each year.

Question 8

circumspect (adj)

Answer 8

wary and unwilling to take risks. Others, however, are likely to be far less circumspect.

Question 9

antagonise (v)

Answer 9

cause (someone) to become hostile. Already top European and Japanese officials have run the risk of antagonising the Trump administration by voicing their displeasure.

Question 10

hobble (v)

Answer 10

walk in an awkward way (v). The problem is that no country wants to be hobbled an overvalued exchange rate

Question 11

sue (v)

Answer 11

Institute legal proceedings against (a person or institution). Leading Australian accounting firm BDO is being sued over an allegedly “misleading and deceptive” IER.

Question 12

writ (n)

Answer 12

a form of written command in the name of a court.

Kosbah lodged the writ against BDO, claiming erroneous valuation statements.

Question 13

scrutiny (n)

Answer 13

critical observation or examination. ASIC last year announced it would be increasing scrutiny of independent expert reports.

Question 14

lucrative (adj)

Answer 14

producing a great deal of profit. Perth, meanwhile, is home to many small-cap mining companies, making it a lucrative place for accounting companies such as BDO to provide IER to boards.

Question 15

slate (v).

Answer 15

schedule. The prevailing market for zinc is in the better shape than it has been in over a a decade and the time is now for Ironbank to position itself to obtain the funding needed to put the Citroen project into construction in 2018 with mining slated for 2019.

Question 16

outwardly (v). to be off the chart (adj)

Answer 16

externally. He may not appear to be outwardly panicking but if you measured his bio-hormonal stress levels, it would be off the charts.

Question 17

renowned (adj)

Answer 17

famous. That’s how renowned trader Chris Cole described the state of financial markets in a private gathering of traders in Sydney recently.

Question 18

gauge (n)

Answer 18

measure. The key indicator of volatility is the VIX Index, known as fear gauge.

Question 19

live off (on) (phrasal verb) starve (v)

Answer 19

depend on as a source of income. suffer or die from hunger. Adjusting for risk, last year was the best year ever to be a share market investor, but if you live off the market’s moves you are being starved.

Question 20

ironically (adv)

Answer 20

in an ironic (sarcastic) manner. “How very noble”, Oliver said ironically. But ironically they have collectively been losing out to day traders.

Question 21

proliferation (n)

Answer 21

rapid increase in the number or amount of something. The proliferation of ETFs tied to the VIX has allowed the likes of Seth Golden, to make millions.

Question 22

punter (n)

Answer 22

A person who gambles or makes a risky investment. These products were created to allow punters to hedge against market shock.

Question 23

inconceivable (adj)

Answer 23

unbelievable. By thier maths, a not-inconceivable 50 percent spike in the VIX would force these funds to buy VIX contracts more.

Question 24

hoover up (v). pile into (v)

Answer 24

suck into a vacuum cleaner. get into a place or something such as a car. Credit Suisse analysts believe we have entered a period of structurally lower volatility as central banks hoover up risky assets, investors pile into risky assets.

Question 25

set off (v)

Answer 25

begin a journey, embark. But the question is what will set off the panic?

Question 26

dwelling (n)

Answer 26

a house of residence. In Sydney there is actually an estimated 1.5 million unused bedrooms spread across 900,000 dwellings.

Question 27

up (v)

Answer 27

do something unexpectedly. Treasurer Scott Morrison upped the ante on personal tax cuts this year saying "people will see personal income tax cuts before big companies will see company tax cuts".

Question 28

assertions (n)

Answer 28

a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief. The IMF report directly contradicts Labor's assertions the United States' cut to company tax would have no impact on the rate of global economic growth

Question 29

seize (v)

Answer 29

take (an opportunity) eagerly and decisively. Mr. Morrison seized on moves by the IMF to revise up its forecast for world economic growth in 2018 and 2019.

Question 30

crack down (v)

Answer 30

to take severe or stern measure. He promised there would be no loss of public services as a result of income tax cuts, which he said would come as the government continues to crack down on corporate tax avoidance and diverted profits moves

Question 31

ratchet up (v)

Answer 31

to increase something over a period of time. That's the view of analysts at Morgan Stanley that ratcheted up their IOOF earnings estimates on Thursday.

Question 32

rectify (v)

Answer 32

put right. correct. The fund's underexposure to resources has been rectified in recent months, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto added.

Question 33

perverse (adj)

Answer 33

contrary to the accepted or expected standard (v). Perhaps it's the exceptionally heavy snowfall, or a somewhat perverse reaction to the euphoric mood of global business leaders, but some of the world's most astute market observers have adopted a decidedly cautious tone in their utterances at the WEF in Davos.

Question 34

jolt (n, v)

Answer 34

an abrupt rough or violent movement. Everything is pretty good, with a big jolt of stimulation coming from the changes in tax laws.

Question 35

inundate (v)

Answer 35

flood. overwhelm (someone) with things or period to be dealt with. I think banks have a lot of cash, corporations have a lot of cash- so we're going to be inundated with cash

Question 36

deploy (v)

Answer 36

bring into effective action. This rush by people to deploy their cash, he said, was classic "late cycle behaviour".

Question 37

contrived (adj)

Answer 37

created or arranged in a way that seems artificial and unrealistic. People look back and try to find something- the Smooth-Hawley tariff negotiation, something like that- but it sounds contrived.

Question 38

stave off (v)

Answer 38

to stop something bad from happening. Women are having less but not little enough to stave off the damage salt cant do.

Question 39

curb (v)

Answer 39

restrain or keep in check. Making an accurate national assessment is essential to curb the problem.

Question 40

excrete (v)

Answer 40

(of a living organism or cell) separate and expel as waste. Salt would be fatal if your kidneys did not excrete it as fast as you eat it.

Question 41

vinegar (n)

Answer 41

a sour-tasting liquid containing acetic acid. While lemon juice, vinegar, herbs, spices and nutritional yeast are all well known substitutes for salt, a good start is to eat more fresh food.

Question 42

intrepid (adj)

Answer 42

fearless or adventurous. It is no accident that small and intrepid miners are doing well.

Question 43

standout (n. adj)

Answer 43

a person or thing of exceptional quality or ability. exceptionally good. Oklo resources, a gold miner, was another standout.

Question 44

dire (adj) (inf)

Answer 44

of a very poor quality. The resource market's been pretty dire until about mid-2015.

Question 45

hollow (sth) out

Answer 45

to make an empty space inside something. When you have a five, six year bear market, it tends to hollow out the industry a little bit.

Question 46

torch (v) (inf)

Answer 46

ignite. set fire to. The bear market in commodities has torched many other specialist strategies.

Question 47

wary (adj)

Answer 47

feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems. Oil prices slid for a second day, driven by ongoing evidence of rising US crude output, while way investors sold off stocks, bonds and commodities.

Question 48

tumble (v)

Answer 48

fall suddenly, clumsily. US stocks fell for a second straight day with the DJIA tumbling more than 400 points at one point.

Question 49

ward off (v)

Answer 49

to ward off a danger or illness means to prevent it from affecting you or harming you. With oil's negative correlation to the US dollar reaching its strongest in a month, even continued signs of robust demand for crude were not enough to ward off profit taking following last week's rise to three-year highs.

Question 50

notch up (v)

Answer 50

score or achieve (something). The US S&P 500 index has notched up a gain of 6.7 per cent so far this year.

Question 51

shied away (v)

Answer 51

to avoid someone, or to be unwilling to do something, because you are nervous, afraid, or not confident. Investors started selling bonds on fears that a sharply lower US dollar would reignite inflation and trigger a collapse in the bond market as foreign investors shied away from buying US financial assets.

Question 52

eerie (adj)

Answer 52

strange and frightening. In an eerie parallel, Mr Mnuchin last week sent the greenback tumbling to its lowest level in three years.

Question 53

pare (v)

Answer 53

reduce (something) in size. The US dollar pared its losses against major currencies after US President Donald Trump told CNBC that "ultimately I wanted to see a stronger dollar".

Question 54

spur (n, v)

Answer 54

a thing that prompts or encourages someone, an incentive. Analysts say that the Trump administration's tax overhaul package should spur the repatriation of some of the trillions of dollars of profits that US companies have parked offshore.

Question 55

whittle (v)

Answer 55

reduce something in size, amount, or extent by gradual series of steps. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve is expected to follow through with its plans for three US rate hikes this year, and has already started whittling down the size of its balance sheet.

Question 56

lofty (adj)

Answer 56

sky-high. At the same time, higher yields on low-risk bonds could cause investors to question their enthusiasm for a share market that is trading at extremely lofty levels.

Question 57

concede (v)

Answer 57

admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it. Many of these same voters conceded there was no viable alternative to replace Abe within the LDP or among the opposition.

Question 58

viable (adj)

Answer 58

capable of working successfully, feasible. There was no viable alternative to replace Abe.

Question 59

compelling (adj)

Answer 59

evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way. enthralling. What Abe lacks is a compelling narrative and not just on the economy, says Koo.

Question 60

reflation (n)

Answer 60

the act of stimulating the economy by increasing the money supply or by reducing taxes. The 3R's - reflation, re-leveraging and re-convergence - reinforce our bullish overweight commodity outlook.

Question 61

curtailment (n)

Answer 61

the action or fact of reducing or restricting something. Strong demand growth against limited supply growth due to OPEC and Chinese supply curtailments created a significant reflation in commodity prices last year.

Question 62

concerted )adj)

Answer 62

coordinated. The concerted selloff that landed on stocks and bonds this week may be a taste of what's to come for financial markets.

Question 63

reel (v)

Answer 63

lose one's balance and stagger or lurch violently. Consider Tuesday, when a rise in Treasury yields sent stocks reeling while oil and the US dollar also fell. Investor had nowhere to hide.

Question 64

spill over (v)

Answer 64

(of a bad situation or strong emotion) reach a point at which it can no longer be controlled or contained. A pull-back in one for idiosyncratic reasons would likely spill over to the others.

Question 65

rule out (v)

Answer 65

to make impossible, prevent. Although it is not part of his core thesis, he says such a move cannot be ruled out.

Question 66

complacency (n)

Answer 66

a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction, self-admiration. I do think complacency was a serious risk, but there are a lot fewer complacent people than there were a month ago.

Question 67

fret (v)

Answer 67

be constantly or visibly anxious. what arguably investors have failed to recognise as they fret about market stability.

Question 68

lesser (adj)

Answer 68

lower in rank or quality. Mr Temple says this is also the key to understanding why populism remains a risk to the US and to a lesser degree to Europe, over the next 10 years.

Question 69

dissipate (v)

Answer 69

(with reference to a feeling or emotion) disappear or cause to disappear. If wealth continues to increase, maybe the populist instinct dissipate.

Question 70

virtuous (adj)

Answer 70

having or showing high moral standards, high-minded. Which drives housing prices higher, which then deeds into the middle class balance sheet and you get a virtuous positive cycle.

Question 71

whammy (n)

Answer 71

an event with a powerful and unpleasant effect. Borrowers with hundreds of billions of dollars in low cost interest-only loans could be facing a "double whammy" as reset of their loans coincides with expected with expected interest rate rises.

Question 72

necessities (n)

Answer 72

something necessary or indispensable: food and shelter. It believes those potentially facing "some financial stress"- defined as where an individual worries about their finances or cannot afford "necessities".

Question 73

crimp (v)

Answer 73

compress (something) into small folds or ridges. He warns a relatively small rise in interest rates by households would crimp spending and squeeze many household budgets.

Question 74

analogous (adj)

Answer 74

comparable in certain respects. It could mean a very large increase in repayments, which is analogous to higher hike in interest rates.

Question 75

precipice (n)

Answer 75

a very steep rock face or cliff. Ms Hickie dismisses suggestion interest-only loans are "nearing a precipice".

Question 76

calamitous (adj)

Answer 76

involving calamity, catastrophic or disastrous. Which means they could tigger a calamitous plunge in housing market prices.

Question 77

arrears (n)

Answer 77

money that is owed and should have been paid earlier. The proportion of securitised mortgages in arrears as at December 2017 was 1.2 per cent.

Question 78

modulate (v)

Answer 78

exert a modifying or controlling influence on. regulate. The warning from one of the country's largest banks comes even as the RBA modulates its rhetoric on property risks.

Question 79

comfort (n)

Answer 79

the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress. ANZ believes the RBA's comfort with how risks in the housing market are evolving "may be misplaced".

Question 80

punitive (adj)

Answer 80

(of a tax or other charge) extremely high. This looks very unlikely with a cash rate of 1.5 per cent, unless APRA adopts a punitive set of new lending restrictions.

Question 81

wane (v)

Answer 81

(of a state or feeling) decrease in vigour or extent. The chances of tighter monetary policy taking the heat out of housing markets are waning.

Question 82

abate (v)

Answer 82

(of something unpleasant or severe) become less intense or widespread. NAB pointed to the "depressing trend" of weak wages growth, which showed no immediate signs of abating.

Question 83

Vow (n & v)

Answer 83

a solemn promise. solemnly promises to do a specified thing.

Question 84

Nimble (adj)

Answer 84

quick and light in movement or action. agile. Instead more creative and nimble providers like HPS Investment Partners have stepped up the plate.

Question 85

prevalent (adj)

Answer 85

widespread in a particular area at a particular time. these provide much higher gearing levels compared to more traditional banks and are now very prevalent in deals.

Question 86

scrutiny (n)

Answer 86

critical observation or examination. Credit conditions have tightened, banks are under more scrutiny (evidenced this year with the royal commission).

Question 87

name after (v)

Answer 87

Give someone or something the name of another person or place. They named the baby after his grandfather.

Question 88

receptive ear

Answer 88

There are already signs his pitch has landed on receptive ears.

Question 89

assert (v)

Answer 89

Maintain. State a fact or belief confidently and forcefully. Both developments strengthen Canberra and Tokyo's economic and defences ties at the time when China is asserting its role in the region and America engagement in Asia under the Trump administration is less certain.

Question 90

Reciprocal (adj) | Streamline (v)

Answer 90

Mutual. Bearing or blinding of each of the two parties equally. Make efficient and effective by employing faster and simpler working methods. Japan and Australia first started negotiating a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) - which will streamline administrative and legal procedures for Australian and Japanese forces moving in and out of either countries with equipment of military exercise - in 2014.

Question 91

pact (n)

Answer 91

A formal agreements between individuals and parties. This is important for Japan because it would the first visiting force agreement that Tokyo has singed outside of its arrangement with the US and could be the template for similar pacts with other such as Britain.

Question 92

``` Drag on (v) Lapse (v) ```

Answer 92

to continue for longer than you want or think expire. Become invalid However, negotiations over the RAA have dragged on and previous deadlines have lapsed without agreement.

Question 93

Drill (n)

Answer 93

training. instruction or training in military exercise. The drill was originally planned for this September but was called off after a strong earthquake struck Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and will now be held next year.

Question 94

Underscore (v)

Answer 94

Underline. The agreement between Japan and Australia underscores very important partnership.

Question 95

Setback (n) | Derail (v)

Answer 95

problem, issue obstruct (a process) by diverting it from its intended course. However, this setback has not derailed the strengthening of defence and diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Question 96

Along with | Trilateral (adj)

Answer 96

In company with or at the same time as Two countries, along with the US, are expected to make some infrastructure announcements as a part of their Trilateral Strategic Dialogue.

Question 97

Spearhead (v) | Resurrection (n)

Answer 97

lead (an attack or movement) revival. the revitalisation or revival of something Australia and Japan this year spearheaded the resurrection of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership after Trump withdraw US support for the multilateral trade deal.

Question 98

revive (v) | Quadrilateral (adj)

Answer 98

restore to life or consciousness Canberra supported Tokyo's effort to revive the Quad (Quadrilateral) agreement.

Question 99

Echo (v) | Condolence (n)

Answer 99

An expression of sympathy The visit echoes his trip to the US naval base at Pearl Harbour with former US president in 2016, where he offered "sincere and everlasting condolences".

Question 100

Overrun (n)

Answer 100

Move or extend over or beyond It was originally expected to start production at the end of 2016, but has suffered several construction delays and cost overruns.