Brokers go all in on Rio, tipping 20pc annual share price jump
Some of the biggest investment banks are telling their clients that the miner is their top pick, especially as it increasingly diversifies away from iron ore.
Extend supermarket code to Amazon and Costco: Woolies
Labor welcomed interim recommendations from Craig Emerson’s review for making the existing voluntary code mandatory, with stiff penalties of up to $5.2 billion for the largest chains.
ASX inches higher; iron ore rebounds, APM sinks 30pc
Shares close higher. APM slumps 25 per cent poorer outlook. Qantas rallies 6 per cent and kicks off $448 million share buyback. Life360 says its “ahead of market expectations”.
Investors sceptical RBA will cut rates at all in 2024
Equities have shrugged off dialled back rate cut expectations, with the US not expected to pull the trigger until September and the RBA priced for December if at all this year.
- Updated
- Aviation
Qantas shakes up frequent flyer business but will take earnings hit
The overhaul of the airline’s loyalty division is part of a plan to reset the relationships with travellers. Some investors worry that it will affect margins,
- Opinion
- China relations
Japan’s pivot away from peace reflects new world order
Japan’s tensions with China, North Korea and Russia have accelerated its move away from pacifism and into the fold of AUKUS and other regional alliances, writes Michael Smith.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Ansell shows how to create new interest in an old story
Cheap stock never goes out of fashion. The key for a company is to issue it only occasionally, and make the most of when it does.
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MONDAY MEDIA
Up in the air: Seven’s new boss braces for impact
Jeff Howard watched ex-Seven producer Taylor Auerbach give evidence on Friday while flying back from Adelaide, two weeks before he takes over Seven’s top job.
Seven’s cost cuts claim the US ‘job’ of former Sunrise boss
The focus has firmly been on the network’s Spotlight program (and its incredible expense bill). But it seems savings are being made elsewhere.
Short selling media company long odds for Australia
Defamation claims, insider trading rules and regulatory pressure make the model likely unviable in Australia, says Bronte Capital’s John Hempton.
Nine and Foxtel in battle for Tabcorp’s Sky Racing channels
Tabcorp has held discussions with both News Corp-owned Foxtel and Nine Entertainment about putting its Sky Racing on either Kayo or Stan.
- Analysis
- Lehrmann trial
Judge delivers withering review of Auerbach cameo
Justice Michael Lee didn’t see any “noble” intent on the part or the former Spotlight producer.
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Companies
- Updated
- Soft commodities
Bureau of Meteorology’s botched weather call crushes Elders earnings
Shares in the agribusiness major slumped some 24 per cent after it said it would miss forecasts. Farmers culled their herds ahead of a heatwave that never came.
Ansell strikes ‘attractive’ $974m Kimberly-Clark deal
The maker of medical gloves is raising up to $465 million in capital to expand into scientific laboratories and safety eyewear with the Kimtech and KleenGuard brands.
Proxy group at odds with itself over Woodside’s Richard Goyder
The sustainability arm of Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending against the re-election of the company’s chairman – contradicting its main analyst.
GoCatch hatched its own plans to get Uber driver details, court told
Ned Moorfield, the co-founder of failed start-up GoCatch, has been grilled under cross-examination during the second week of a damages case against Uber.
Insufficient evidence to charge Nuix boss with insider trading: ASIC
The regulator has closed its probe into chief executive Jonathan Rubinsztein, whose share purchase coincided with a US company’s approach about an asset sale.
Beach shares dive as Waitsia gas project costs blow out to $1.3b
The troubled West Australian development was to open last year. It is now not expected to begin production until 2025, the Stokes-backed company said.
Chinese miners in $2.5b payday from Australian lithium holdings
Despite softer prices, and restrictions on ownership of critical minerals, some of the original backers of local developments are now seeing windfall returns.
Companies in the News
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Markets
Trump’s Fed chairman option opposes rate cuts this year
Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to become Federal Reserve chairman if Donald Trump is elected. He says inflation remains sticky and isn’t being measured properly.
- Opinion
- Hedge funds
Short selling is no easy way to make money
Short sellers are an ever-present and divisive part of the market. But the path activist investors have chosen to make money is riddled with complexities, writes Jonathan Shapiro.
From Aware Super to Blackwattle, how Tim Riordan is making money
The former equities boss says strategic alignment is key when looking at stocks to buy, and is expecting more M&A, having already picked one of the year’s top takeover targets.
BlackRock dominates in Australia as billions flood into crypto ETFs
Brokers say the iShares product operated by BlackRock is the most popular among local investors, with inflows continuing despite volatile prices.
How markets were looking before the ASX opening bell
Futures indicated the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was poised to rise 0.5 per cent at the start of trade on Monday. Traders cut their expectations of an RBA cut in September.
Opinion
Political brawls sweep the supermarket aisles
Supermarkets are once again an appealing target for politicians wanting to demonstrate their good intentions on helping consumers with cost-of-living pressures.
Columnist
No hard data to back more costly supermarket regulation
The review represents a welcome move to contain any potential regulatory overreaction while also playing along with Labor’s political diversion to blame the two big supermarkets during the inflation outbreak.
Editorial
Japan’s pivot away from peace reflects new world order
Japan’s tensions with China, North Korea and Russia have accelerated its move away from pacifism and into the fold of AUKUS and other regional alliances.
North Asia correspondent
Senior US diplomat lets the AUKUS cat out of the bag
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell has spelt out publicly the expectations Washington has of Australia to fight alongside it in the Taiwan straits.
International editor
Australia should demand accountability for deaths of Zomi and Galit
Consistency calls for Iran and Qatar to be held to account for the first Australian to be tragically killed in the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
Contributor
Government needs to remove the barriers to business dynamism
Industrial relations and overbearing regulators are making life harder for Australian businesses, but it doesn’t need to be that way.
Member for Wentworth
Politics
ASIC’s ex-chief accountant slams its big four audit reprieve
Doug Niven says ASIC’s move to slash audit quality oversight could be viewed as caving in to firms angry about negative publicity.
Welfare boost unlikely as government strives for surplus
The government has all but ruled out further welfare increases, before receiving a pre-budget report from its advisory committee.
Labor’s supermarket sweep won’t lower prices: Dutton
Peter Dutton casts doubt on Labor’s claims a mandatory code would put downward pressure on prices; seven Melbourne parks are being investigated over asbestos concerns. Here’s how the day unfolded.
Albanese leaves door open to cutting support for Israel
The government has appointed former defence chief Mark Binskin to scrutinise Israel’s investigation into the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
- Updated
- AUKUS
Japan poised to be part of AUKUS security pact
Japan could soon join the AUKUS military technology sharing pact alongside Australia, the US and UK, in major boost to regional alliances that will provoke a furious response from China.
SPONSORED
World
How Russia’s cheap, old bombs are changing the Ukraine war
Moscow is retrofitting “very scary, very lethal” Soviet-era weapons and launching them from beyond the reach of Ukraine’s air-defence systems.
![Volodymyr Zelensky: “If they keep hitting [Ukraine] every day the way they have for the last month, we might run out of missiles, and the partners know it.”](http://web.archive.org./web/20240408073057/https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.1989%2C$multiply_4%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_38/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_140%2Cq_88%2Cf_auto/47c6984581e7b720df719ae79575ad7a8a0b213a)
Zelensky warns of dwindling air defence missiles
Kyiv is grappling with a slowdown in military assistance from the West and in particular from the United States.
- Analysis
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
How many ‘mistakes’ are Israeli forces making in Gaza?
Rights groups and aid workers say last week’s fatal strike on aid workers was hardly an anomaly.
Trump seeks to outdo Biden fundraiser with glittering Palm Beach affair
The event, hosted by billionaire John Paulson, follows a concerted push by the Trump campaign to tackle a long-standing financial disparity with the president.
- Analysis
- US election
The uneasy truce between Donald Trump and Fox News
Every media outlet in the world is grappling with how to cover Donald Trump, as his pronouncements become more stuffed with false claims. But the dilemma is most vexing for Fox News.
Property
Loans for new homes fall 2.1pc as mortgage demand picks up
While confidence among home buyers is growing, demand for loans for new home building is going the other way.
Showdown in the bar as ‘insane’ auction for luxury $4.8m home drags on
In a sellers’ market, the buyer of a newly built waterfront property had to meet a price the selling developer wanted – but she made him work for it.
Sydney’s median house price to hit $2m, Perth $1m by 2027
Sustained housing shortage and strong demand from surging population would kickstart the next growth spurt, according to Oxford Economics.
Auction clearances bounce in fresh worry for RBA
Auction results show there’s little holding the market back. That will be on the RBA’s mind as it considers whether and when to move on rate cuts.
Why one segment of the housing market is about to get even hotter
Uncertainty over the timing of the rate cut is driving more homeowners to downsize to reduce debt, which is adding competitive pressure to this segment of the housing market, according to experts.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Financial planning
Wall Street workers don’t understand how to prepare for retirement
Higher interest rates mean people need less money to retire, so if anything, finance industry employees should have revised their estimates down, not up.
Small caps are ripe for a comeback. Here’s how to pick winners
The life-changing capital gains on offer make the small-cap sector attractive to investors, but success stories are rare among the thousands of companies that bite the dust.
The questions real estate agents avoid (but buyers must ask)
Be aware of the many hidden costs associated with buying a new home.
Technology
- Exclusive
- Funding
Sydney start-up Honey Insurance lands blockbuster $108m US investment
After 305 meetings Honey has closed a huge series A funding round, but it had to head offshore to find the right investors.
Aussie MMA start-up quietly lists in the US after $9.9m raise
Manly-based Alta Group, which runs a mixed-martial-arts training platform, has debuted on the New York Stock Exchange after raising $US6.5 million.
How tech giants cut corners to harvest data for AI
The race to lead AI has become a desperate hunt for the digital data needed to advance the technology. To obtain it, tech companies including OpenAI, Google and Meta have cut corners, ignored corporate policies and debated bending the law.
Work & Careers
Graduate jobs market comes off the boil
Australia’s graduate job market has been red-hot, but there are early signs that the number of roles has started to wane.
‘A mishmash’: backpackers not equal under visa rules
Different regulations can apply to countries even from the same continent when it comes to language requirements.
Life & Luxury
- Opinion
- Digital Life
Change your doorbell, change your life
Amazon’s latest battery-operated Ring doorbell has a new feature that can change the way you think about doorbells.
- Analysis
- Science
Eclipse that ended a war and opened door to forecasting
In contrast to today, solar eclipses were feared as portents of calamity in ancient times. Then, superstition gave way to rational prediction.
Trout, lobster, tuna, nothing: A typical catch for this winemaker
Matt Fowles spends his spare time at Cape Bridgewater in Victoria, fishing for his family. “I only ever take what I need, and I use it all.”
How this power couple spend their weekends in Positano
From boat rides to ‘miraculous’ little restaurants and handmade sandals, follow in this pair’s footsteps.
Want to finish more books? Five super readers share their tips
Some read up to 365 tomes a year, but others say it’s not all about quantity over quality.
