Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Bond sell-off spreads to global sharemarkets. The sell-off in government bonds intensified yesterday, dragging down stock markets across the US, Europe and Asia, as the 30-year US Treasury yield peaked at 5.19%, its highest level in nearly 19 years. Inflation concerns are driving the moves, compounded by Trump threatening Iran with "another big hit" less than a day after calling off an attack, keeping the prospect of renewed hostilities and sustained oil supply disruptions firmly on the table. (CNBC | SMH)
  
  

• Gen Z mortgage demand surges 20%. Mortgage enquiries for 18 to 25-year-olds surged 22.8% in the first quarter of 2026, the strongest increase of any age group. In the latest Equifax report, this has largely been attributed to the government's First Home Buyer 5% Deposit Scheme in October 2025. (ABC)
  
  

• Putin and Xi meet in Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Beijing this week to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, with Putin declaring the relationship between Russia and China had reached an "unprecedentedly high level." China remains Russia's biggest oil buyer and key ally despite ongoing Western sanctions against Moscow. (BBC)
  
  

• UK to use Russian oil again as supply woes continue. The UK government has eased restrictions on Russian oil and jet fuel, amid growing fuel supply concerns following the Strait of Hormuz blockade. The government insists overall sanctions have tightened but that "extra flexibilities" were needed, a similar move by the US which drew widespread criticism. (BBC)
  
  

• Trump & sons granted tax audit immunity forever. The US Department of Justice has agreed to permanently bar the IRS from pursuing any existing tax audits against Donald Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organisation. The deal was struck as part of a settlement of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the tax authority. (FT)
  
  

• WA's idle nickel plants are going for gold. Surging gold prices are resurrecting Western Australia's nickel industry, with hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to refit three idle plants to produce gold bars instead. (ABC)

Companies in the news

• Google launches smart glasses 2.0. More than ten years after the Google Glass failure, Google has announced a new pair of AI-powered smart glasses, featuring a small camera and speakers in the frames to allow its Gemini AI to interact with the wearer. Google Glass launched in 2013 but was pulled just two years later following a backlash over its price tag and privacy concerns. (BBC)
  
  

• China confirms 200 Boeing jet order. China has confirmed it will purchase 200 Boeing jets following last week's Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, with the US agreeing to provide supply guarantees for aircraft engine parts and components. The two sides are also working toward extending their October tariffs truce and seeking tariff cuts on $30 billion or more of goods each. (BBC)
  

• 48,000 Samsung employees to strike. Samsung Electronics faces its worst ever strike as workers threaten to walk off production lines for 18 days over a dispute about bonus payouts. The union is demanding Samsung abolish its 50% salary cap on bonuses and allocate 15% of annual operating profit to a worker bonus pool. (Reuters)
  
  

• Webjet shares hit record low on war travel slump. Webjet shares plunged nearly 15% after the online travel agent warned that bookings have fallen significantly since the outbreak of the Middle East war. The company flagged future earnings are expected to fall further as flight sales decline and Virgin Australia cuts its commissions. (AFR)
  
  

• Catapult comes back to life. Catapult Sports shares jumped 18% after the wearable devices company delivered a stronger than expected full-year result. The company has struggled recently with the sector wide SaaSpocalypse sell-off hammering the share price. (Capital Brief)
  

What the…?

Shakira wins five-year tax battle and receives €55 million. A Spanish high court has cleared pop star Shakira of tax fraud and ordered the government to return €55m in unlawful penalties plus €5 million in interest. The court ruled that tax authorities failed to prove she spent enough time in Spain in 2011 to be classified as a tax resident.

The court found she had only been in the country for 163 days, short of the 183-day threshold required under Spanish law. Prosecutors had been seeking an eight-year jail sentence and a €23.8 million fine. (AFR)

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Today’s Insight

Where does AI beat humans, and where does it fall short?

We asked Arms Rosenberg from Minotaur Capital, exactly this question on a recent episode of Equity Mates Investing. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Where AI wins is speed and information processing. It does not sleep. It can work through earnings transcripts, filings, and news flow around the clock in a way no human team can match. For the grunt work of investing research, it is genuinely useful.

But how you use it matters. Arms’ point is that most people prompt AI too bluntly. Asking "what's your view on Tesla?" is a weak question. Asking "what would need to happen for Tesla to fall 50%?" is a much better one. And using multiple models to challenge each other's conclusions is better still.

Where humans still have the edge is judgement, particularly the kind that cannot be captured in a transcript. Arms described attending a conference in Boston where a CEO was openly hostile and combative during his presentation. The words on the page read fine. But the tone, the body language, the way he answered questions, it was a clear warning sign. The stock subsequently fell 40%.

No AI model was in that room.

Ren pushed back fairly though, as CEOs become CEOs partly because they are good salespeople, and humans are just as capable of being charmed into a bad investment. Which is actually Arms’ broader point.

The real edge, she argues, is neither pure AI nor pure human judgement. It is using each to stress-test the other's blind spots.

Today in Equity Mates