Friday 29 November 2024
A frantic last day of the year for federal parliament with the government successfully pushing through legislation affecting housing and migration, through to social media bans and changes to the Reserve Bank.
And more, including:
Business investment stays weak as interest rates bite
The world’s first 24-hour equities trading exchange is given the go-ahead
Plus the local share market hits another record high and takeover deals in the home building and insurance sectors
Plus don’t miss the new episode of The Property Pendulum, brought to you by Domain and Fear & Greed. This week’s episode: the hottest trends in homes right now. Get it from APPLE, SPOTIFY, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
On Fear and Greed. This morning a frantic last day of the year for Federal Parliament, with the government successfully pushing through legislation affecting housing and migration, through to social media bands and changes to the Reserve Bank. Business investment stays weak as interest rates bite, and the world's first twenty four hour equities trading exchange is given the go ahead. Plus the local share market hits another record high, and takeover deals in the home building and insurance sectors. Welcome to Fear and Greed. Daily business news for people who make their own decisions. It is Thursday, the twenty ninth of November twenty twenty four. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning Sean Aylmer.
Good morning, Michael, Sean.
The main story this morning, nothing like a deadline to get things done. The Federal government yesterday secured the support of the Greens and Independence in the Senate to pass twenty seven pieces of legislation, including reforms to the housing sector and to the Reserve Bank.
I'd call that a pretty busy final day of parliament for the year, would you agree, Michael.
Look, you know what it shows me, Sean. It shows just how effective people can be and Parliament can potentially be. Maybe we don't need to reduce the sitting sessions down to just hey, one week, you got to get it all done.
Plenty of horse training yesterday to get the Greens and Independent Senators David Pocock and Jackie Lamby on side. Some of the changes that passed thanks to the support of the Greens and the Independence included a second board for the Reserve Bank to deal with monetary policy. That's in addition to a governance board. Now that's all part of a recommendation from an inquiry into the Reserve Bank, which don't think that was going to get through anyway, did yesterday the Future Made in Australia legislation that's about twenty three billion dollars over the next decade to help the transition to net zero. Also the build to rent housing build. There are also negotiations between the Government and opposition to get some other bills passed. So these are things that the Greens and the Independence will it's so fast. On the obvious one, there is the social media ban. The Opposition joined with the Government on that one. There were also a number of changes to migration laws.
Obviously plenty got through Sean. But what didn't make it through, I reckon it's almost this as interesting, so.
True, So the extra tax on earnings from super accounts with three million dollars in them, that one didn't get through. There are also these a bunch of electoral reforms around donations to political parties, limiting individual donations, that type of thing that one didn't get through either.
You mentioned horse trading. I presume the Greens extracted some concessions, he would say, before doing deals, various plural deals with the government. What do they get out of this.
About half a billion dollars in promises, It's not bad good negotiating, including improvements to energy efficiency in fifty thousand social housing properties around the country. There will be retrofitting of public and community that should lower power bills for tenants. In fact, Adam Band, the leaders of the Greens, reckons about fifty thousand people will save about eighteen hundred dollars a year. But to your point at the beginning, what it really shows is how much politics is about posturing and when it comes down to it, deals do get done, and they can get done. And it's not just the government with the crossbenches and the Greens. It's also the government with the opposition. The money for the Greens yesterday, now that came in exchange for a whole In fact, there was a whole clump of twenty seven bills and Adam Band negotiated with the government. So we'll do these twenty seven bills because we're q comfortable with them if you can give us that half a billion dollars. They've done that. The Greens can argue they've looked after who they want to look after, so too can the government.
Very busy day, certainly, as canber is a fascinating place now, Sean. Turning to local markets, these share markets hit another record yesterday you had another record. How many is that now? With healthcare stocks doing well.
Just keeps going, doesn't it. There's in PASX two hundred touched a new high of eighty four hundred and sixty six point seven points before closing half percent higher on the day to four hundred and forty four points. Cs L, ResMed and Promedicus which I'll tell you about it in a moment. They all did very well, so to the banks and insurers. Under Performers included West Farmers, Telstra and Transurban and some of the gold stocks. That was a bit of surprise because of the leading from Wall Street. It just wasn't so strong. After INFAC data from the US came in stronger than expected for the second success of month. Now, don't look at me on getting a side about this next bit, because I ended up going down a rabbit hole when I was looking at international markets, because I have a night with Thanksgiving Thanksgiving holiday, and that's all about, you know, football games, eating a lot of food. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I think of that one and I actually thought, what's it about? What do they thinks? I mean, Thanksgiving kind of sounds religious? So looked at up and that's what it was. So it's a fourth Thursday November. Farmers traditionally thank God for their autumn harvest. Gets more interesting apparently it actually its origins are back in the UK and in the US. It goes back to about sixteen twenty one when a harvest feast was held between a native tribe and English colonists on that day. What I didn't know go on. Norfolk Island, which is Australian, is one of the few places outside the USA to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Really so they actually celebrated on the twenty seventh on Wednesday. Why well, American whaling ships stopped there regularly in the late eighteen hundreds and started the tradition, and it's just kept going.
Oh there you go. Goodness me. We are not even halfway through the show yet, and I've already learned something.
Nothing to do with business economics, politics, a lot to do with Thanksgiving and Norfolkland.
Norfolk Island. Indeed, now immediately after the show, Sigamon, I've got heapsmore coming up before this, but afterwards, we've got an interview coming up today with Darren Hopkins and Brendan Paine, who are cyber partners at mcgrad Nickel Advisory.
That's right. The interview is all about cybercrime and ransomware and all that sort of stuff. What is absolutely amazing, it blew me away, is the average size of ransomware payments and how many people are paying them, and then we talk about why they're paying them and the thoughts on new regulations. It is a fascinating chat. It's about cyber but it's kind of bigger than that. It's how business leaders think about challenges they come up against. In this case cybercrime. The bad news, of course, is that it's getting worse, not better.
Yeah, the fact that this is a seven figure payout, the payment that they are making to their cyber criminals, it is worth a listen just for that, because these numbers are staggering and a little bit frightening. Still to come, Sean, We've got the last on Star Entertainment, the story that just keeps on giving. Why the HBLEC is taking Webjet to court and an extraordinary act of sabotage. We'll get to that later. We'll be back in a moment with the rest of the day's business news. Shawn. Business investment continues to be relatively weak, but there were some signs of improvement during the September quarter.
This is very important. We need business to invest in buildings and structures and equipment. Then you end up with more employment, produce more goods and services. It's how the economy ticks over. Private capital expenditure rose by just over one percent during the September quarter. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Over the last year, building in structure investment has actually fallen. The plant and equipment is up three point four percent it's been a week point in the economy. Broadly, we've seen a pullback in mining investment and to a lesser extent, wholesale and retail trade, but a pickup intion media and telcoms that would capture all the technology AI investing, that type of thing future plans. So one thing about this ABS series it asks businesses what they think will have in the future. Still looking a bit soft unfortunately.
Now I mentioned Star Entertainment before. The boss of Star, Steve McCann, said yesterday that the casino is experiencing negative monthly cash flows and has asked for patients to turn the business around.
Yes, patients from shareholders, patients from lenders. Certain the shareholders had to be patient yesterday because they had the annual general meeting. We're not for nearly three hours. That's pretty long, isn't it. It's really long. I mean the first three motions I think took two hours, and the mood not happy.
Well, when you think about it, if there was any company where there's a fair bit of discussion and a fair bit of probably a few views to be voiced, it's going to be at the Star Entertainment AGM.
Right, Yeah, yeah, not Happy not Happy. Yesterday, the company said it had made a pre tax loss of twenty four million dollars for the first four months of this financial year. It said revenue was down significantly and the cost of transformation and external advice had risen its exploring asset sales. It's trying to raise one hundred and fifty million dollars in capital from external sources. If it can do that, it gets access to a second trunch of a two hundred million dollar loan. If you look at what Star is facing and Steve mccannon, he used to run len Lease, now running Star, he's got a bit on EA plate. So the company's already been fined fifteen million dollars by the new South Wales Independent Casino Commission for compliance breaches. It's awaiting an OSTRAK fine for breaches of counter terrorism and anti money laundering laws that's likely to be in the tens of millions of dollars. It needs to refinance one point six billion dollars in debt for its Queen's at Wharf precinct in Brisbane at the end of next year. OUCH and the it's still trying to raise it one hundred and fifty million dollars in capital to get access to the two hundred million dollars. I'm exhausted. Share price down six percent yesterday, it's about one third of its peak in late July.
Now, IAG will buy the insurance business of the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland for eight hundred and fifty five million dollars to add to its NRMA brand in New South Wales, and it's RACV in Victoria.
Got the East coast locked up at IRIG has the twenty five year deal to sell home and car and ch insurance policies means they get access to one point seven million members. RCQ, like NROMA and RCV, provides roayside assistance and sells insurance to drivers. IAG writes about sixteen billion dollars of premium per annum, and it's got a bunch of other brands like CGU, WFI and Role In Australia. I'm going to spell that for you capital R, CAPITOLO, capital el, capital L, little I, capital n apostrophe.
Come right to the marketing meeting where they're discussing what letters do you want capitalize here, Let's just pick one at random and make that lower case that'll confuse people.
Let's make it the eye.
Yeah.
Share price jumped four percent yesterday.
Another deal yesterday, Seawan was American real estate giant Proprium Capital Partners bidding three hundred and seventy four million dollars to buy AV Jennings.
The price is nearly double AV jennings trading price. It's share price jump nearly nearly ninety percent yesterday. No surprises ever since COVID even before that. Really, AV Jennings has struggled a bit. Twenty years ago it was trading close to twenty bucks a share. Today it's sixty two cents share. The offer is for sixty seven sense to share. The difference between that the five cents that suggests that there are a few regulatory hurdles still to overcome. If successful, AV Jennings will become part of AVID Property, which is owned by the Proprium Capital Group. Proprium Capitals actually a peer group. Avid focuses on residential market in Australia. AV Jennings has been building homes in Australia for more than ninety years nineteen thirty two, so it's at ninety two years, though nowadays it's majority shareholder is a Singaporean based investor. Simon Chiong.
Promedicus you mentioned this one in passing earlier sean A share price hit a record high yesterday after the imaging group signed a ten year, three hundred and thirty million dollars deal with a large not for profit healthcare system in the US.
I reckon. This is my early nomination for company of the year, at least among the large caps. Pro Medicus basically brought technology to radiology. That's not quite right, but it's got this product called Visage seven. It's a clinical desktop application that radiologists use to view and hands and manipulate images from any device to make a diagnostic. So break that down, break marketing, speak down X rays stuff like that. They hate the X rays and the app allows them to be seen on phones, on laptops and manipulated. Really amazing technology. It's up one hundred and fifty percent this year. It's now I'm including nine percent yesterday. It's now the twenty second largest company on the AX, easily the best performing top one hundred stock. I reckon. Outside the investment community, most people would never have heard of Promedicus. I remember about eighteen months ago someone explaining to me Promedicus was the next big thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said, well it was an iron the deal, Yeah, the deal yesterday.
That's sure. That, Sean is why we always say this is not an investing podcast. Absolutely, you need to get your own professional advice before you make investment decisions. Listening to Sean.
Alma over there, Yeah, yeah, the deal yesterday puts it into ninety three hospitals across twenty six states in the US, but it puts it into the hands of about one hundred and twenty seven thousand people like physicians, clinicians, those types of people. So it suddenly becomes this software that everyone's using. It's quite an incredible stock.
Yeah, it's a great story. Independent Senator Lydia Thorpe Sean disrupted the Federal Senate for the second day running yesterday, yelling in the chamber, having been suspended on Wednesday.
After speaking with Indigenous leaders outside Parliament House, she went into the press gallery, which sits above the house above the Senate, and yelled to the members below, free, Free Palestine. She also yelled from outside the chamber on the ground floor that caused the doors to be shut. Earlier, she accused Labour and the Coalition of Racism and trying to block her private member's bill about genocide.
The A Triple C is taking online travel agency Webjet to court, alleging that it advertised flights without highlighting compulsory charges and then requested additional payment after confirmed bookings.
The HBC claims that that leads for what you've just described there, Michael, I'm trying to get my head around what you described. I think that's right. The HBC is claiming that that is deceptive and misleading conduct. Over five years, webgit promoted da on its app, social media sites and website that excluded compulsory fees ranging from about thirty four dollars ninety to fifty four dollars ninety, not about thirty four dollars ninety exactly thirty four dollars ninety to fifty four dollars ninety. Michael Genet Katz good Leeb said a statement about the lowest price must be a true minimum price, not a price subject to further fees and charges. Yesterday, Webjet said it had fully cooperated with the atriable ce before the legal action and productively undertaken a number of steps to improve its disclosure of pricing end fees.
Turn into international news. Now, a twenty four hour stock exchange has been approved by US regulators, allowing round the clock trading on Wall Street, which is a first, isn't it for any major equity market startup?
Twenty four exchange was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and will initially launch in regular hours and expand to include around the clock trading from Sunday night through to Thursday night. While treasuries and other may your currency stuff like that are traded almost continuously on weekdays, stocks haven't because of tight rules designed to protect investments investors and because of the complexities and time needed to settle trades. Now, in recent years, round the clock trading has been given a boost by the rise of retail investors who are keen to trade stocks outside working hours. According to the FT, some brokers already execute customer out of our stock orders in what they call dark pools, so members trade amongst themselves. A regulated overnight exchange will mean a big, big change because it actually lights the pool. It's a lit market where the trades and prices become the official record. Hasn't happened on a major exchange before game hit Wall Street, and I'd almost guarantee that over time it'll hit the AX.
Finally, Sean I mentioned this one. This is extraordinary, this last story. A Chinese ship is suspected of severing two critical Internet cables in the Baltic Sea and an act of sabotage that may have been orchestrated by Russia. We are just talking NonStop about these undersea cables at the moment.
These are loving them things. Investigators believe that the Ye paying three at Chinese registered bulk carrier deliberately severed the two key cables last week by dragging its anchor along the Baltic Sea bed for more than one hundred and sixty kilometers, according to the Telegraph of London. The investigation is now focused on whether the captain of the two hundred and twenty five meter long ship was directed to carry out these suspected sabotage by Moscow. A senior European investigator told the Wall Street Journal, I quote it's extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables along the way. Quote. The incident has caused concern among Western nations that Russia is engaging in what the White House describes as hybrid warfare. Kremlin denies that, but it's a story that is quite amazing. As we discussed yesterday, to think about these undersea cables. This is the life by the internet, this is life love communication. So if she said for those you're in big trouble, I'll.
Tell you what. I have just a hunch right that these cables are going to come up on the weekend edition of Fear and Greed, where you and I are pretty battle over who has the best stories of the week, and it will be a battle just between us to see who can get to that one first because we both love it. Yeah, I agree indeed, So tune into that one. It's on tomorrow. Before that, though, you've got two things to do. You've got to listen next to Darren Hopkins and Brendan Paine, cyber partners at mcgrah nickel Advisory, all about ransomware. It is essential listening for anybody in business. And keep an eye on your playlist as well at midday because I've got a new episode of Ask Fear and Greed coming out. It's our bonus episode where we answer listener questions. Today's question comes from one of our younger listeners. Yeah, but it is a great question and we will answer it. Well. We'll do our best to answer it at midday, so stick around for that one as well.
Thank you very much, Sewan, Thank you, Michael.
It is Friday, the twenty ninth of November twenty twenty four. Make sure you're following the podcast and please join us online on LinkedIn, Instagram, x TikTok and Facebook. I'm Michael Thompson and that was Fear and Greed. Have a great day.