Here’s what you need to know today

• NAB has announced it will be cutting 410 jobs, one day after ANZ announced it was cutting 3,500 jobs. The cuts will primarily be across its technology and enterprise operations division. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Another major Australian bank, Macquarie, is trialling AI workers in their finance and HR teams. The trial would see AI employees set up as digital avatars with their own names and faces, with teams of these digital workers managed by a human supervisor. (AFR)
  
  

• The share market cast its judgement on Apple’s latest product launch. The verdict: meh. Apple’s share price fell 1.5% after it unveiled the iPhone 17 (which includes a thinner Air model and the “most scratch-resistant at the atomic level”), and updates to the AirPods (which can now translate in real time) and the Apple Watch (which will soon have a blood pressure monitor). (CNBC)
  
  

• While Apple fell, the overall US share market rose with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time high. This came one day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq index hit an all-time high. Despite plenty of noise, the US share market keeps grinding higher.
  
  

• Oracle reported a quarterly results and the stock was up 28% after hours. Revenue was up 12%, but investors got excited by the company’s order backlog growing 359% with four multi-billion dollar agreements signed in the quarter. That share price jump added $75 billion to Larry Ellison’s net worth in one afternoon. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• 6 people died after Israel attempted to assassinate Hamas leaders in Qatar. The attack happened at a meeting to discuss an American ceasefire proposal and reports are the Hamas leaders are still alive. The attack showed a growing divide between the US and Israel, with the White House issuing a statement saying the attack “does not advance Israel or American goals”, and that “such a thing will not happen again.” (BBC)
  
  

• France has its 5th Prime Minister in 2 years. Sébastien Lecornu was appointed to the role by President Emmanuel Macron after the former Prime Minister François Bayrou lost a no-confidence vote over his plans to get French government debt under control. (NY Times)
  
  

• America’s Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its job estimate for the 12 months to March down by 911,000 jobs. The big revision downwards comes weeks after President Trump fired the head of the BLS and adds pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates when it meets next week. (NBC)
  
  

• A Russian strike in eastern Ukraine targeted a crowd of elderly people collecting their pensions, killing at least 24 and injuring 19 more. Ukraine’s postal service has said it will rethink how it will redistribute pensions to front-line regions. (BBC)
  
  

• Meanwhile, Poland reported that it shot down Russian drones that had repeatedly violated its airspace. Poland closed 4 of its airports as a precaution. This Russia provocation is particularly concerning given Poland is a member of NATO, and NATO is built on the principle of collective self-defence. (ABC News)

What the…?

Self-driving cars will change the world. But as the technology starts to roll out in some corners of the world, it is clear consumers aren’t full on board. A recent survey found that nearly half of respondents believe that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology should be illegal.

Perhaps more worrying for Tesla, the vast majority of the 8,000 electric vehicle consumers surveyed said that the FSD technology made them less likely to buy a Tesla with only 4% saying it made them “much more likely” to buy a vehicle.

Many of the respondents were concerned about the safety of the FSD systems. We’ll be fascinated to watch these results change over time as more autonomous vehicles hit the road. (Quartz)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

You can’t out-earn bad money habits

Community Question: What’s one thing you wish you could teach every young Australian about money?

We put this question to Matt Ingram, financial adviser & partner at Northhaven Financial Management

What you spend is more important than what you earn. In other words, it comes down to how much you can save. The person earning $100,000 per year and saving/investing $40,000 will be far better off over the long-term than the person earning $300,000 per year but only saving/investing $20,000.

A few reasons why I think this lesson is so important for young people:

• You can’t out-earn bad spending habits. No matter how much your income grows, if your spending grows just as fast (or faster), you’ll always feel like you’re chasing your tail.

• It’s not about being stingy, it’s about making sure you always have a buffer in your cash flow to save or invest.

• Spending more than you earn leads to debt. That’s when things become a real problem. Credit cards and buy-now-pay-later schemes can make it easy to spend money you don’t have.

Put simply…

• If you are earning more than you are spending, you likely have savings, investments, and plenty of options.

• If you are spending more than you are earning, you likely have debt and stress.

While careful and detailed budgeting is some people’s cup of tea, most people couldn’t be bothered. So instead, automate your saving and investing to make sure it’s one of the first things to happen when you get paid, then you know that whatever is leftover can be spent. That way you will never spend more than you earn.

Think its time to speak to a financial adviser? Fill out the form on the Equity Mates website and we’ll match you with an adviser that suits your needs.

A message from Fidelity

Where should investors be looking for the next wave of global growth?

As large caps hover near historical valuation highs, and with a few stocks dominating its index, many investors are seeking signals for the next wave of growth and new avenues for diversification. With global small-and-mid-caps gaining renewed momentum, could now be the time to broaden your portfolio?

The Fidelity Global Future Leaders Active ETF offers investors an easy way to access tomorrow’s global growth, backed by Fidelity’s research-powered investing, and experienced investment experts dedicated to investing in global small to mid-cap companies.

Discover tomorrow’s global leaders, today.

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