Here’s what you need to know today

The Bigger Picture

• Australian unemployment falls unexpectedly. Around 65,200 jobs were added in December, well above the 27,000 expected. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, prompting some economists to tip a potential rate hike at the RBA’s next meeting on 3 February. (ABC)

  
  

• World’s largest nuclear plant restarts, 15 years after Fukushima. Tokyo Electric Power Company has restarted the plant for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, which displaced around 164,000 residents. Public opinion remains divided, with 60% of residents opposing the restart. (ABC)

  
  

• Trump drops EU tariff threats. US President Donald Trump has walked back plans to impose new tariffs on the EU following disputes over Greenland. Trump said meetings with NATO members were “very productive” and that a framework for a future deal had been agreed. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% on the news. (FT)

  
  

• South Korean stocks surge on AI chip boom. The KOSPI, which tracks South Korea’s 200 largest companies, is up nearly 20% this month. Chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have been major beneficiaries of surging AI-driven chip demand. (FT)

  
  

• Tennis stars call in the bankers over media rights overhaul. The Professional Tennis Players Association, founded by Novak Djokovic, has approached investment banks and financial advisers for help reshaping media rights, events and Grand Slams. The group argues that despite being the world’s third-most popular sport, tennis ranks just 11th commercially. (AFR)

Companies in the news

• Kraft Heinz shares hit seven-year low on Berkshire news. Shares fell after Berkshire Hathaway flagged it may sell its US$7.7bn stake in Kraft Heinz. Berkshire played a key role in the Kraft–Heinz merger in 2015, but the company has since taken a US$3bn write-down in 2019 and a further US$3.76bn write-down in 2025. (Reuters)
  

• Snap settles in court over social media addiction lawsuit. The parent company of Snapchat has settled for an undisclosed amount ahead of a court case in Los Angeles. The plaintiff, a 19-year-old woman, claims the platform’s algorithm left her addicted and harmed her mental health. She is also suing Meta, ByteDance and Alphabet, which have yet to settle. The case is set to begin in early February. (BBC)

  
  

• Pantoro Gold shares dive after FY26 production downgrade. A timely reminder that rising gold prices don’t guarantee higher gold miner share prices. Pantoro Gold shares closed down 11% after the company said “minor slips” at its open-pit mine in Western Australia forced a cut to production guidance. (Capital Brief)

  
  

• Intel shares jump 12% ahead of earnings. Intel shares surged on optimism around strong sales of its latest server chips, as companies ramp up spending on AI infrastructure. Shares in the company are up over 140% in the past year on the back of demand for its chips. (CNBC)
  

• Fortescue posts record iron ore output as shares slip. Twiggy Forrest’s mining giant shipped 100.2 million tonnes in the six months to December 31st, following Rio Tinto’s record shipment announcement earlier in the week. However, analysts are tipping iron ore prices to ease in coming years amid weaker demand forecasts. Fortescue shares closed down 5%. (AFR)

  
  

• Gen Z fuels Burberry’s China rebound. Burberry reported a 6% lift in China sales, driven by younger consumers. The growth comes after the company rolled out a turnaround strategy in late 2024 amid slowing luxury demand in the region. (Yahoo Finance)

  
  

• Netwealth funds under administration hit $125.6bn. Netwealth reported record FUA inflows of $8.4bn, beating its own record set just one quarter earlier. The company said most of the growth came from its managed accounts business. (Capital Brief)

What the…?

Trump planning to make a splash on the Goldy. While much of the world has its eyes on Donald Trump’s bid for Greenland, he could soon be setting up camp much closer to home. Trump’s property development company, the Trump Organisation, is reportedly in advanced discussions to build an 89-storey tower on the Gold Coast. The Australian Financial Review reports that a deal between the landowner and the Trump Organisation “could be finalised in a matter of weeks”.

Trump flagged back in 2008 that he was considering a luxury tower in Australia. Whilst plenty has changed since then, the Trump Organisation has continued to grow steadily with hotel developments across Scotland, Vietnam and the UAE. Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said it would be a “great outcome” for the region if the plans go ahead. (AFR)

What’s got us thinking?

Investing is a lifelong journey. Here’s what you can learn today.

Different types of investing: Momentum

Bryce and Ren break down the different types of investing in a recent Get Started Investing episode titled ‘The Basic of Investing’. This is the fourth episode apart of our revamped ‘12 Steps to Get Started Investing’ series. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Ren: For momentum investing, this is looking for momentum in the share price and how the share price is moving. It's a little bit more short term and tactical. Really importantly, the distinction between growth and momentum is growth looks at the underlying business. How's EquityMates Cafe going? How is it growing? Is it expanding to more locations? Is it selling more brownies?.

Whereas momentum doesn't look so much at the underlying business, but it looks at the share price and it says, what's going on with the share price? are there more and more buyers coming into the market? Are people getting excited about it? And they look at things like charts. They look at the volume of buyers and sellers. They look at the share price itself and they're less concerned with how many brownies is EquityMates Cafe selling, and they're more concerned with how many people are trying to buy shares in EquityMates Cafe.

Bryce: Yeah. And there are a number of tools and platforms online that allow you to find that information, but again, it's really understanding if it is the right investment approach for you.

Ren: One example from 2025, a really notable momentum investment was Drone Shield. Now, this is a counter drone technology company and it absolutely ripped. It was up 950% between January and October. Investors almost 10 times their money, and the business wasn't changing that quickly. The business didn't 10 times their revenue in nine and a half months, but momentum was crazy. More and more people were piling into the stock. There were so many more buyers than sellers, and so momentum traders tried to ride that momentum. The important thing to remember, if you're thinking about momentum is that momentum turns.

Bryce: Big time and it can turn hard because from October to the end of the year, it lost about two thirds of its value down about 66%. The underlying company didn't change that much in the positive and it didn't change that much in the negative. Companies change slowly, but share prices can move quickly, and that's what momentum traders are looking at.

A message from PocketSmith

With PocketSmith, you get one place to see your day-to-day spending, savings and investing side by side. Link your accounts (including multi-currency), let transactions auto-categorise, then set budgets and regular investing contributions that match how you actually live. PocketSmith’s calendar and forecasting show how each pay cycle looks in advance, while net worth tracking keeps the bigger picture in focus.

Right now, PocketSmith is offering 50% off the first 2 months of a Foundation Plan. To try PocketSmith for yourself and claim this deal, head to pocketsmith.com/equitymates

Want more Equity Mates?