Sometimes you hear people saying they don’t listen to the news because it’s always bad news.

It can feel like that. In the space of a week we get warnings from bankers about mortgage rates going up, stories about power prices about to increase by 60 percent and the Aussie dollar gaining parity with the US dollar, which is bad for our export industries.

Some of these stories feel overwhelming when we consume them from the headlines. And that’s especially the case with business journalism. Headlines give us all the emotion of the story while missing the complexity. And that triggers fear, which brings bad decisions and inaction.

I suggest separating business stories into the ones that affect your household and business directly, and those that don’t. Having found the stories that affect you, find a way to act upon them.

How do you sort the business headlines when they’re all presented as being important? Start by determining if they’re stories you can do anything about.
For instance, when the Aussie dollar rises in value against the US greenback, exporters suffer (because their goods become more expensive in foreign markets) and importers benefit because the strong Aussie dollar buys more than it did before.

But business owners can’t do anything about the Aussie dollar – it’s value is decided by banks and their traders. All a business owner can do is take advantage of cheap imports or weather the downturn in export profits.

But other stories are pertinent to small business owners and can be acted upon.

You may have no control over power prices which are tipped to rise by 60 percent. But your business can use a broker to ensure you’re with the right power company and on the cheapest deal. You can also use the power company’s experts to monitor your usage.

In other words, you can use a story about power prices to take action. With something like power, your usage is just as important as the price.
It’s the same with mortgages. Most Australian business owners have their enterprise linked in some way to their family home and mortgage, and so warnings from bankers about mortgage rates should be heeded.

Just as with electrical power, there are brokers and comparison sites for mortgages and reading the ‘rates rising’ headlines should be a call to action
There are always better products and lower rates. And by monitoring interest rates, you can adjust other parts of your expenses to keep the mortgage in proportion.

Every case will be different, but the point remains: don’t let the news make you feel like a victim. The news is a tool – use it to make changes that help your household and business.

Mark Bouris is the Excutive Chairman of Yellow Brick Road. Email Mark with any questions on mark.neos@ybr.com.au or visit www.ybr.com.au