Here’s what you need to know today

• Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway reported its Q2 results. The highlights? It sold half its stake in Apple and now has $277 billion in cash. Why did Buffett sell Apple? What will he do with a quarter-trillion dollars? Plenty of people are speculating, but he hasn’t said anything and no-one truly knows.
  
  

• Another tough day on the Aussie share market. Friday saw the share market fall 2.1% and Monday followed down another 3.6%. This is now the worst 2-day stretch since 2022.
  
  

• Think about that stat: worst 2-day stretch since 2022. That means two years ago we saw a worse 2-day stretch. We bet you can’t remember that now. Don’t let this panic knock you off course. Morgan Housel found that the US market crashes 10% on average every 11 months. These falls are a feature of stock market investing, not something to panic over.
  
  

• Reports are that the Australian government is about to crack down on gambling advertising. The sporting codes, betting companies and media giants have all been summoned to private meetings with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. For context, betting companies spend more than $300 million advertising in Australia each year.
  
  

• In response to this gambling crackdown, the AFR are reporting that Channel 7 and Channel 9 will be asking for $40m in fee relief from the government to help fill the hole that losing gambling ads will create in their broadcasts of the AFL and NRL respectively.
  
  

• Australia has joined the US, UK, Canada and a number of European countries and told its citizens to leave Lebanon as conflict in the region escalates. The Wall Street Journal have separately reported that Iran told Arab diplomats it didn’t care if their response to recent assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr triggered a war.

What the…?

Let this be your reminder to use your gift cards. As part of their quarterly earnings, Starbucks reported their customers have $1.8 billion in unused gift cards. That’s up 9% from last year. And here’s the thing, a good chunk of that $1.8 billion won’t be used.

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

"ASX Crash"? What I'm doing next

Scott Phillips, Chief Investment Officer of Motley Fool Australia and previous Equity Mates guest, published this article last night after a tough two days for the Aussie stock market.

His message is simple: ignore the sensationalised headlines, ignore the panic on social media and ignore the feeling that you have to do something. The market falling 5.6% isn’t unusual. It’s not a problem. The fact the past 2-days were the worst in two years, means two years ago there was a worse 2-day fall. No-one remembers it today.

Then Scott turns to what he’s doing, which is simply: buying more. Being opportunistic when the market falls and offers you a better price.

There’s no doubt this is a scary moment. And the market could definitely fall further from here. But remind yourself of the power of long-term investing and stay the course. Your future self will thank you.

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