📈 Australian economy beats forecast growth | Dell the latest company riding the AI wave to record revenue

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The Big Picture

• Australian economy beats forecasts, increasing chance of interest rate hike. The economy grew 0.4% in the June quarter and 2.1% over past year, beating economist forecasts. Bloomberg futures analysis now has the probability of an RBA rate rise to around 70%. A lot of the growth was seen in a surge in electric and hybrid vehicle purchases, which hit record sales levels, while broader discretionary spending was lower due to cost of living pressures. (ABC)
  
  

• Iran launches strikes on US bases after wedding party attack. Iran has launched ballistic missile and drone attacks on US targets after American forces resumed strikes on Iran. The latest escalation was triggered by reports that a US missile struck a home during a wedding celebration in Iran, killing five people and injuring 50. The renewed hostilities come after a ceasefire agreement signed in June expired. (BBC)
  
  

• Global bond yields hit multi-decade highs on back of conflict. US 30-year bonds hit 5.3%, their highest point since 2007, as renewed Middle East strikes sent oil above $95 a barrel and heightened inflation concerns. The trend is spreading globally with UK bonds reaching their highest since 2008 and French and German bonds at post-GFC highs. This comes as Australian bonds hit a 15-year high on Tuesday. (BBC | AFR)
  
  

• Mortgage borrowers increase switching amongst lenders. Around 664,000 home loan customers shifted their lender in the past financial year. An increase of 13% was driven by cost of living pressures, rising interest rates and the budget's property tax changes driving competition for a smaller pool of borrowers. Macquarie Bank has emerged as the biggest winner, growing its loan book at nearly four times the market average in the past year. (AFR)
  
  

• Tradie shortage as data centres compete with housing targets. Australia needs an additional 72,000 tradespeople by 2030, as the rapid growth of data centre construction competes directly with the government's housing target of 1.2 million homes. One Melbourne electrical business owner said the situation was "devastating", having recently lost a 12-year employee to a data centre project. (ABC)

  
  

• Japan goes all in on India as China relationship weakens. Japanese company investments in India is accelerating rapidly, with at total of US$12.5 billion announced during the Japanese Prime Minister's visit to Delhi. The push is driven by Japan's shrinking local market, rising geopolitical tensions with China and India's fast-growing consumer base, with retail brands like Uniqlo and Muji all expanding aggressively. (BBC)

Companies in the news

• Dell the latest company riding the AI wave to record revenue. Dell Technologies saw quarterly revenue surged 58% to a record US$47 billion driven by demand for AI infrastructure. The result significantly beat analyst expectations across every key metric, as shares jumped 8% in after-hours trading. Shares remain up 251% in the past year alone. (WSJ)
  
  

• GoPro acquired after years of financial struggles. Action camera company GoPro has agreed to merge with Starman Optical in a US$285 million deal that will wipe out GoPro's US$92 million in debt and leave existing shareholders with around 10% of the combined company. The deal comes just months after GoPro warned it may go out of business without new funding and revealed it was considering pivoting into defence technology. (Tech Crunch)
  
  

• Arsenal and LA Rams owner buys LA Angels. Stan Kroenke has agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Major League Baseball team the Los Angeles Angels for US$4 billion. The deal gives Kroenke ownership across every major professional sport in the US, adding to a portfolio that includes the NFL's LA Rams, NBA's Denver Nuggets, NHL's Colorado Avalanche as well as England’s Arsenal in the Premier League. (CNBC)
  
  

• Telstra outage caused by understaffing and budget failures. An independent review of Telstra's network outage in July has found a lack of funding and insufficient engineering expertise to blame for the incident. Telstra CEO Vicki Brady has rejected claims of insufficient resources, saying the failure came down to poor prioritisation rather than a lack of money, with the company having paid out nearly $1 million in claims to 30,000 affected customers. (AFR)

Legendary fund manager Bill Ackman is joining FinFest 2026. Are you?

Yes, you read that right. Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Bill Ackman will sit down with Bryce and Ren for an exclusive pre-recorded conversation to be aired at FinFest 2026.

If you want to hear Bill unpack all things markets, investing and the opportunities he’s seeing in the world, this is your chance to see it.

Who knows, Ren may even Boost Bill’s Budget while they’re at it.

Chinese crime syndicate behind gift card tampering scam

Coles and NSW Police have caught a man linked to a Chinese organised crime syndicate after he was found to be tampering with Apple gift cards at Sydney supermarkets. The man was seen replacing legitimate cards on shelves with ones that had their codes stolen so criminals could drain the funds before unsuspecting buyers could use them.

The scam has been seen across the globe and is being investigated by US Homeland Security, which found all of America's top 20 retail outlets were affected by Chinese crime networks dedicated to stealing gift card codes and returning the tampered cards to store shelves. (ABC)

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Would You Have a Baby for $76,000?

This is an excerpt from a recent article on our website exploring Singapore's new baby bonus and why ageing populations matter for economies.

Last week Singapore announced it will pay families $76,000 per child, spread across payments until the child turns 17. It sounds generous until you realise it covers roughly a quarter of the actual cost of raising a child.

Singapore's fertility rate fell to a record low of 0.87 children per woman in 2025. The rate for a population to replace itself over time is a generally considered around 2.1. Singapore’s rate is less than half that replacement level and ranks among the lowest in the world. More than 1 in 5 Singaporeans are now aged 65 or older. The government has described the demographic challenge as existential. Australia is not far behind as well. Our fertility rate was 1.48 in 2024 and has been below replacement level since 1976.

But why are governments so worried about an ageing and shrinking population?

In 1975, there were 7.3 working-age Australians for every person aged 65 or older. Today that figure is 3.7. Treasury projects it could fall to 2.7 by mid-century. Fewer workers means less income tax collected, more spent on healthcare and pensions, and slower economic growth unless productivity fills the gap.

Japan shows what happens when governments run out of working-age people. Almost 30% of Japan's population is now aged 65 or older, the highest in the OECD. Between 1990 and 2022, Japan's real GDP grew at just 0.8% per year annualised, the second lowest in the G7, while its working-age population was shrinking.

Financial incentives can move the needle in the short term. Australia's Baby Bonus had a small but measurable impact on fertility when it was introduced in 2004. But it did not reverse the longer-term decline. Neither is Singapore's $76,000 likely to on its own.

The bigger forces pushing people towards having fewer children are proving much harder for governments to influence than a cheque at the hospital.

• Apple has a new captain steering the ship, Star casino’s future remains uncertain and Super September is back. Plenty to chat about on today’s Equity Mates Investing episode. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

• & Jess chats with Amy on our latest How I Got Started. Amy went from living pay cheque to pay cheque to now where she’s got a seriously impressive investment portfolio and a disciplined personal finance approach to match. Check it out on the latest Get Started Investing episode. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)