Fast Five | 23 Sep 2024

Published Sep 22, 2024, 6:45 PM

Monday 23 September 2024

The top five business stories in five minutes, with Sean Aylmer and Michael Thompson.

  1. PM pushes Biden on subsidies

  2. Home sales fall

  3. Yoghurt industry surges

  4. Swiss watchmakers warn of slump

  5. Dead celebrity business booms

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It's Monday, the twenty third of September twenty twenty four. Welcome to the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed, where we give you the top five business stories you need to know in just five minutes. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning Adam Lang.

Good morning, Michael, Adam.

Five stories, five minutes.

Let's go.

Story number one. Australia's critical mineral exporters are closer to winning US subsidies following Quad Leaders talks on the weekend, as allies step up coordinated efforts to counter China's dominance of a sector that is crucial for the green energy transition.

Yes Michael.

Prime Minister Anthony Alberzi pressed US President Joe Biden on the need to classify Australia's critical minerals as American maid to win favorable treatment during their talks on the sidelines of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Delaware. Mister Biden hosted Mister Albanzi and the leaders of India and Japan at his home and former high school in Wilmington yesterday. Following the discussions, the leaders stepped up the tough language on China's increasing aggression in the South China Sea and efforts to disrupt other countries' development of fishing and other resources. And that's according to report in the Australian Financial Review, Mister Biden was caught on a hot microphone telling other CORD leaders that China's President Xijingping was testing the Western allies.

So Joe Biden will end his presidency in four months. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kashita is also stepping down, So that's two of the four Quad leaders. What can Australia get out of the obvious war relations between Joe Biden and Anthony Albanesi before the former goes.

Hopefully, Michael, It's favored treatment for Australia's mining companies. Australia and the United States have been in talks about allowing our minerals companies to get American subsidized loans if, for example, they send minerals to US electric vehicle manufacturers for batteries and other components, such as exports from Japan and South Korea. Effectively, Australian critical minerals companies would be treated as Americans under the massive spending in the Inflation Reduction Act. That would be a boon for local companies, though it isn't clear what a Donald Trump administration would think about such an arrangement al right.

Moving on to story number two. Now is a very big week for auctions, with two thousand, seven hundred properties going under the hammer, and the four inclearance rates supports the argument that it is in fact becoming a buyer's market, Michael.

It was the biggest weekend for auctions since Easter. The nationwide preliminary clearance rate of sixty eight point two percent is the second lowest this year, and that's after the weekend in June ninth, that's the King's Birthday long weekend in some states. Melbourne hosted the largest volume of auctions, with one thy two hundred and seventy four homes going under the hammer. The clearance rate came in at sixty eight point three percent. Nine hundred and ninety five auctions were held in Sydney and seventy point three percent was successful. Adelaide recorded the most auctions across the smaller capitals, with two hundred and six homes taking a market and a preliminary clearance rate of seventy four point six percent. Brisbane came in at fifty six point eight percent and the ACT forty eight point six percent. And all that data is according to core Logic.

Story number three Yogurt Adam Yogurt stories on fear and greed. Yogat is on a tear at the moment, sales booming, particularly tubs with added protein or reduced sugar. How about this. Yogurt has been growing far more quickly than other dairy products, with consumers now spending one point nine two billion dollars annually on the category.

That is a lot of yogurt. Yeah.

Michael Bieger, which is the biggest producer of yogurt with brands including Farmers Union, Dairy Farmers and Yoplay, said industry wide yogat sales grew eleven percent last year and that easily outstrips fresh milk, where sales industry wide rows two percent to two point one five billion, So yogurt is catching up on milk. Yogurt can be nutrient rich, and supermarkets of long sole varieties marketed as probiotic, which maintains the so called good bacteria in the body. Research now suggests that regularly eating yogurt reduces the risk of type two diabetes. Dietitians have also begun to recommend high protein yogurt for muscle gain. That's according to report in the Austrain and Financial Review. Coles said customers are buying larger types of yogat as family budgets are squeezed as well as single serves. The boom has been helpful to the ASX listed BIGA. Its share price is up nearly ninety percent over the last year.

Have you ever said yogat more times in your life than in the last forty five seconds. It's at at about twenty six.

Times yoga yogat. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.

I'm actually starting to get a yogat craving now thanks to that.

Story.

Number Four's a slight kind of change from yogurt to Swiss watchmakers. They are warning of a worsening outlook for the industry as the cost of living crunch hits buyers, though demand does remain strong at the very top end.

I find this fascinating, Michael.

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, exports rose last month due to demand for expensive watches made of precious metals. However, it said that the prospects for the industry are still negative, as is the outlook for the rest of the year. Demand for mid and entry level priced watches has fallen sharply, while more costly time pieces had fared. What is an expensive watch The Swiss put it at three thousand francs or about five two hundred Australian dollars. Most of the slowdown reflects demand from China and Hong Kong, while purchases from Japan and to a lesser extent, the US and Singapore remained solid.

Last one story number five, The dead celebrity industry is growing adaman becoming more and more lucrative thanks to artificial intelligence, of course, with the estates of pop stars to actors earning millions of dollars Michael.

Despite Michael Jackson being about five hundred million in debt at the time of his death, his estate has amassed a fortune of two billion dollars according to People, thanks to projects such as a jukebox musical and even posthumous albums featuring work made while he was still alive. The estates of James Dean, Judy Garland, Lawrence Olivier and Burt Reynolds have all signed with AI Voice cloning group eleven Labs. As part of the company's Iconic Voices project. The actors now narrate books, articles and other text material, and according to Bloomberg, Judy Garland can now read you. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Albert Einstein and mathematician Alan Churing are set to deliver master classes next year via eleven Labs. However, perhaps the biggest test of AI will arrive early next spring when Elvis Evolution premieres at Excel London. The King of rock and Roll will perform for the first time in more than forty five years.

All right, there we go, the top five business stories in five minutes.

Thank you Adam, Thank you Michael.

It is Monday, the twenty third of September twenty twenty four. Remember to hit follow on the podcast and if five minutes isn't enough, you can find our longer daily show called Fear and Greed whereever you listen to. Podcasts are Michael Thompson. And that was the fast five business news by Fear and Greed. Have a great day.

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