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Here’s what you need to know today

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers has softened the government’s controversial $3 million super tax, following pushback from tax experts and investors. The levy will now only apply to future realised gains, the $3 million threshold will rise with inflation, and the start date has been pushed back a year to July 2026. (ABC)
  
  

• Deloitte has apologised and will discipline staff after admitting a federal government report it prepared using AI included fake citations and fabricated quotes. The $440,000, 200-page report for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations was withdrawn after a Sydney University academic uncovered the errors. (AFR)
  
  

• Google has warned that Australia’s plan to ban under-16s from social media will be “extremely difficult” to enforce. Governments and tech companies around the world are watching closely as the new law, set to take effect in December, will make Australia the first country to introduce an age-based restriction on social media use. (Reuters)
  
  

• Gold and rare earths stocks were the standout performers on Monday, with nearly all of the ASX’s 200 top gainers coming from the sector, as trade tensions between China and the US grew over the weekend. (Capital Brief).
  
  

• Shares of sports tech company Catapult went into a trading holt on Monday after it announced it has agreed to acquire German soccer analytics platform IMPECT for €78 million (AUD $139.6 million). (Business News Australia)
  
  

• US banks are set to benefit from a major rollback of capital rules as the Trump administration moves to unwind post-GFC regulations. Analysts say the changes could unlock as much as $2.6 trillion in lending capacity and may pressure other regulators to follow suit. (Financial Times)
  
  

• The Pentagon is stockpiling up to $1 billion worth of critical minerals in an effort to reduce US reliance on China for defence materials. The move is part of a wider strategy to secure metals vital for weapons, batteries and advanced manufacturing. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Meta has hired top AI researcher Andrew Tulloch from Thinking Machines Lab, a secretive start-up co-founded with former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. Tulloch previously rejected a $1.5 billion offer from Meta in August but has now joined as the company tries to catch up with rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. (AFR)
  
  

• JPMorgan Chase says retail investors have bought about $7 billion in stocks in the first week of this month, up from roughly $5 billion per week over the summer. That marks a roughly 40% increase and the fastest pace of retail buying since the 2021 meme-stock boom. (Quartz)
  
  

• Five major carmakers, including Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan, are facing trial in London over claims they used software to cheat emissions tests. The case could involve up to 1.6 million UK vehicle owners and is being described as the largest class action in British legal history. (BBC)

What the…?

A life-sized holographic police officer has been installed in central Seoul, South Korea, in a bid to deter crime.

The hologram is projected every two minutes from 19:00 to 22:00 in Jeo-dong Park, a nightlife hotspot surrounded by bars.

Police say crime rates in the area have dropped approximately 22% since the installation, prompting them to consider rolling out in other areas. (BBC)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

The worstfinancial advice we've ever heard

This is a clip from the Equity Mates Investing podcast episode titled ‘The Worst Financial Advice We've Ever Heard’ (YouTube)

Investing isn’t for you

Bryce: Let's start with the juicy stuff, the worst pieces of money, advice that we've ever received.

Alec: The worst one for me is the biggest barrier to stop people investing, which is investing isn't for you.

You don't have enough money, you don't have enough time, you don't have enough knowledge. It's too risky. Stick to property or stick to saving or whatever it is, because investing isn't for you.

I hate that so much and the fact that we're here and all the content we've done hopefully is just a very long continuous effort to disprove.

Bryce: As you said, we've proven that that is not the case.

Alec: Absolutely. What about you?

Bryce: I think cornering people early in their lives into thinking that the only way you build wealth is through the property market. Your best investment is your house.

Firstly, where you live as your primary place of residence shouldn't be thought of as an investment because you have to liquidate it to actually get a return on it. You have to sell your house.

Secondly, if the first thing you're thinking about when you're at university is I need a house to build wealth, you are going to start thinking, I need to be putting so much money into deposit and all of these sorts of things. You're not even going to be considering the fact you could be starting to build wealth in the stock Market. 

Check out the full clip now over on our YouTube Clips Page

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