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Here’s what you need to know today

• Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest company by market capitalisation, posted a record full-year net profit after tax of $10.25 billion. Earnings rose 4% from last year, supported by growth in lending volumes and steady net interest margins, though second-half profit was flat compared with the first. Despite the headline numbers, the market was not overly impressed with the results and outlook. CBA’s share price fell 5.4% on Wednesday. (AFR)
  
  

• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Tuesday, after data showed annual inflation for July came in at 2.7%, broadly matching expectations and fueling bets on a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. (Reuters)
  
  

• AI startup Perplexity has made an unsolicited $34.5 billion bid to buy Google’s Chrome browser. The offer comes amid a major U.S. antitrust case, where in August last year a federal judge ruled Google’s search business is a monopoly. Remedies, expected to be decided later in 2025, include potentially forcing Google to sell Chrome, though any divestiture would likely face years of appeals. (Forbes)
  
  

• The Reserve Bank of Australia didn’t just cut rate’s on Tuesday, they also slashed their forecasts for economic growth and downgraded the outlook for productivity. In its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the RBA cut its long-term assumption for productivity growth to 0.7%, from 1%. That might not sound like much, but over time it could mean slower wage growth, weaker GDP, and more pressure on public finances. (Reuters)
  
  

• Just days after the White House confirmed that Nvidia and AMD would give 15% of their China revenues to the U.S. government, reversing an effective ban on Nvidia’s H20 AI chip sales, Beijing has moved to curb them. Chinese state media claimed the H20 poses security risks, and authorities have reportedly told major tech firms to suspend or avoid purchases over data security concerns. (CNBC)
  
  

• Sam Altman is reportedly planning a rival to Elon Musk’s Neuralink. The new company, called Merge Labs, aims to merge humans and machines together through AI and is raising funds at a $850 million valuation, with much of the capital expected from Altman’s OpenAI’s ventures team. (Quartz)
  
  

• The Australian Council of Trade Unions has proposed shorter working hours, including a four-day work week, for next week’s productivity roundtable, linking the idea to the rise of artificial intelligence. The union argues that workers should share in productivity gains and technological advances by moving towards a four-day week where possible, while allowing sector-specific alternatives where it is not.(AFR)
  
  

• Rolls-Royce's plan to power artificial intelligence with its nuclear reactors could make it the UK's most valuable company, according to CEO Tufan Erginbilgic. The engineering firm has recently signed deals to provide small modular reactors (SMRs) to the UK and Czech governments to power AI-driven data centres. Erginbiligic was quoted saying “There is no private company in the world with the nuclear capability we have.” Rolls-Royce shares have risen more than 120% in the past year and over 1,100% in the past five years. (BBC)
  
  

• Terraform co-founder Do Kwon has pleaded guilty in a U.S. fraud case over the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022. The South Korean national admitted, at a New York hearing on Tuesday, that he misrepresented the pricing algorithm meant to keep TerraUSD stable, and now faces the prospect of prison time. (The Guardian)

  
  

• Aldi is expanding its presence in Australia’s home delivery market. Following a successful trial in Canberra, the retailer is partnering with DoorDash in South Australia, with plans to take the service nationwide. (9 News)

What the…?

Uber passengers in Australia could be paying up to three times the cost of their trip because of drivers manipulating the system.

Multiple Uber drivers told triple j Hack that it's an “old trick,” especially common near airports and stadiums, where groups of drivers coordinate to temporarily disappear from the app, triggering surge pricing.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson responded that the company had community guidelines which set out what behaviour isn't appropriate and “fraudulent activities” would result in drivers losing access to the Uber apps. (ABC News)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Taking investing risk in your 30’s

Community Question: I’m 32 years old. How much risk should I take in my investments at this stage in my life?

We put this question to Luke Laretive, CEO & Investment Adviser at Seneca Financial Solutions

Generally, a lot more that a 55-, 65- or 75-year-old, essentially because you’ve got more time to recover from any period of negative returns.

That said, your risk profile is personal - a 25-year-old single parent with a new business probably doesn’t have the same ability to tolerate capital loss or portfolio drawdown as a 25-year-old trust fund beneficiary. It’s all relative.

Just because you’re young and can tolerate the volatility that’s expected with a ‘high growth’ or ‘growth’-style asset allocation, doesn’t mean you’re gambling your hard-earned savings on individual shares (or worse). It means younger people can potentially allocate a higher proportion of your investable capital to growth assets, like diversified share portfolios made up of companies from Australia and around the world. Most high growth options (which while not exclusively for young people, are typically used by younger people) have 80-90% of their asset allocation in domestic and international shares (or other growth assets).

Whether you choose an index-following ETF (which gives you access to all the listed companies in a particular geographic area) or employ fund managers to select shares on your behalf, it’s largely up to you. Whatever you do, just make sure its accurately measured, benchmarked, and properly accounted for each year.

Interested in speaking to a financial adviser? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers.

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