Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Fuel prices skew March inflation data. Australian inflation came in at 4.6% annually in March, the highest since September 2023, after fuel prices surged 32.8% in a single month. But the Reserve Bank's preferred measure, trimmed mean inflation, held steady at 3.3%. The ABS points out that big price moves in a single category are exactly why the trimmed mean exists. (ABC)
  
  

• UAE quits OPEC in major blow to oil cartel. The United Arab Emirates has exited OPEC after 60 years, dealing a significant hit to the group and its leader Saudi Arabia. As the cartel’s third-largest producer, the UAE’s departure could weaken OPEC’s ability to influence global oil prices. (The Guardian)
  
  

• Private hospitals accuse insurers of dirty tactics. A former Bupa executive says major health insurers are using near-bullying tactics in price negotiations as private hospitals close nationwide. Industry body Private Healthcare Australia pushed back, saying there are actually more hospitals now than a decade ago. The ACCC has been called on to step in with a mandatory code of conduct for insurers. (ABC)
  
  

• UK royals continue US visit. King Charles III and Queen Camilla continued their four-day visit to the US with a state banquet, White House flyover and an address to Congress. The trip, timed ahead of America’s 250th independence anniversary, is aimed at reinforcing the long-standing relationship between the two nations. (BBC)
  
  

• Trump approval rating hits new low. The US President’s approval rating has slipped to 34%, the lowest of his current term, as Americans grow frustrated with rising living costs and the war with Iran. That’s down from a 47% approval rating when he took office in January 2025, highlighting a steady decline in public support. (Reuters)

Companies in the news

• Elon v Altman court battle rages on. As the courtroom battle continues, Elon Musk has told a jury that OpenAI “stole a charity” by shifting from a non-profit to a for-profit giant. He claims he was misled into contributing around $38m under the belief the organisation would remain focused on benefiting humanity. Musk argues the pivot has unjustly enriched its leaders and is seeking to claw back both control and his investment. (FT)
  
  

• Aldi Australia squeezed as supermarket price war heats up. The discount grocery stores profits have fallen nearly 20%, its first decline in years, as Woolworths and Coles ramp up pricing competition. Despite steady growth since entering Australia in 2001, Aldi still holds just 11% market share, well behind Coles and Woolworths, which together control about 73%. (AFR)
  
  

• G8 Education shuts 10% of centres. The ASX-listed childcare operator will close 40 underperforming sites as enrolments fall. It blamed cost-of-living pressures and lingering fallout from last year’s child abuse allegations. (ABC)
  
  

• Spotify sinks while Coca-Cola soars in US earnings season. The music streamer’s shares fell more than 13% despite beating earnings, as weak guidance spooked investors. In contrast, Coca-Cola delivered strong results, with demand boosted by a 13% jump in sales in Coke Zero. Shares were up 5% on the news (CNBC | CNBC)
  
  

• Disney probed as Trump–Kimmel feud escalates. US regulators are investigating Disney’s ABC stations over potential breaches linked to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. The move follows backlash from the Trump administration over a joke about Melania Trump made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting. (FT)
  
  

• BYD profits halve as China EV price war bites. The world’s largest electric carmaker reported quarterly profit fell at its fastest pace since 2020, as fierce competition at home hit margins. While overseas demand is growing, BYD has been forced to cut prices and invest in ultra-fast charging tech to stay competitive, squeezing profitability. (Reuters)

What the…?

Hot tip… or hot air? Trader investigated after airport temp spike. French authorities are investigating possible tampering at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport after a mysterious temperature spike helped a Polymarket trader turn US$119 into over US$21,000. The bet hinged on Paris exceeding 19°C on a specific day, which it did for a very short period before returning to normal levels.

French meteorologists from Météo-France say the jump wasn’t natural, and the trader has since deleted their account. To top it off, footage has surfaced of a man holding a hairdryer up to the airport’s temperature sensor. (Footage of man with hairdryer | NPR)

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Today’s Insight

ETF Capital Gains for Kids

On a recent episode of Equity Mates Investing financial advisor Matt Ingram joined Bryce as they answered some community questions in the latest instalment of Ask An Advisor (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Matt (Community Member): Hi guys, Matt here. I enjoyed your recent show on investing for kids and I had a question about the threshold with regards to kids' income. I think you addressed the question of yield and dividends. I'm wondering about capital gains that occur inside ETFs, the figure that you can see in the annual reporting from ETF companies. Is that something that is worth being aware of when you're choosing ETFs to invest for kids? If you had any thoughts on that or how you might find information about that before investing, that'd be really handy. Thank you.

Matt (Financial Advisor): First of all, Matt, good on you for getting started so early in your kid's life. Look, this is where it can really turn into a bit of analysis paralysis when you start looking at such fine details.

He's onto something here in that when an ETF rebalances, sometimes that's quarterly or whatever the frequency, they might have to realise capital gains. Because an ETF is essentially a managed trust structure, those capital gains flow through to the investors. Now to get all the information you would need to make an informed decision on this, you have to go into something called a AMMA statement.

Unless you're an accountant, you're not really going to understand all the entries into that. It gets very technical. I think at the end of the day, there are products out there that are engineered to be tax efficient from this perspective. So something like DHHF, where you're just getting that all in one or GHHF, appropriate for kids, easy all in one, the product provider has this in mind and they're trying to be as efficient as possible with it. I think there's bigger fish to fry in terms of how you set up the account, whose name it's in, whose tax file number, those have big long-term tax implications. This is such a minor detail that just go with it and try not to worry too much about it.

Today in Equity Mates