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- š Confusion reigns in Strait of Hormuz | KPMG's audit scandal grows
š Confusion reigns in Strait of Hormuz | KPMG's audit scandal grows
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The Big Picture
Confusion reigns over Strait of Hormuz. On Friday, Iran cancelled scheduled peace talks due to Israelās continued attacks on Lebanon. Then, on Saturday, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire and talks were back on. Then, on Sunday, more strikes on Lebanon had Iran announcing it had closed the Strait of Hormuz. The US refuted that claim, stating ships are continuing to flow. Clarity is required for trade to fully resume and we are far from clarity at the moment. (ABC)
Fuel Excise relief extended until end of July. The Australian government has extended its three-month cut to the fuel excise into a fourth month. The original cut of 32 cents per litre until the end 30 June will be reduced, with a cut of 16 cents per litre continuing until the end of July. (AFR)
Keir Starmer urged to step down as UK Prime Minister. The calls came after Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election and was elected to Parliament. Burnham is now expected to challenge Starmer for Labour leadership. However, Starmer rejected the calls, saying he wouldnāt walk away. (BBC)
Reform UK handily beats Conservative Party. In the Makerfield by-election Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate, won 55% of the vote beating Rob Kenyon from Reform UK, who picked up 35%. While it wasnāt enough to win, Nigel Farageās party handily beat the Conservative Party candidate, Michael Winstanley, that won just 2% of the vote. (BBC)
Ukraine launches its largest attack against Moscow. Almost 200 drones hit the Russian capital, hitting a major oil refinery on the outskirts of the city and grounding flights at 4 airports. This was Ukraineās largest attack on Moscow so far and demonstrates its growing ability to strike deep inside Russia. (CNBC)
Britain debuts missiles that have no US components. As Europe decouples from the US, the British government has unveiled 3 long-range missiles built without any US parts. These missiles are intended for use in Ukraine, where the US has been reluctant to supply Kyiv with long-range missiles for fear of Russian escalation. (FT)
Companies in the news
KPMG audit scandal keeps growing. A Parliamentary hearing has found more ethics violations, including leaking Optusā confidential information to a team bidding on work from Telstra, and the surveillance of a whistleblower. ASICās chair called it an āegregious breach of trustā (The Guardian)
SpaceX prepares to raise more money. Fresh off raising $85 billion in the largest IPO ever, Elon Muskās space company is preparing to raise another $20 billion through a bond sale. The proceeds would be used to refinance a $20 billion bridging loan SpaceX took out when it acquired Muskās AI startup xAI. (AFR)
Intel and Apple to make semiconductors in the US. Intelās stock rose 10% after the deal was announced by President Trump. Since the US government took a stake in Intel it has pushed companies like Nvidia, xAI and Apple to make deals with it, and shares are up more than 535% in the past 12 months. (NY Times)
BHP announces more cost increases at Canadian potash project. The $22 billion Jansen project in remote Saskatchewan has seen another $2 billion cost increase, taking the total to $6.7 billion more than originally forecast. The project is expected to start production in 2027 and BHP expects it to be one of the worldās largest potash operations, producing 8.5 million tonnes annually. (AFR)
Indiaās could have its largest IPO ever. Indiaās largest stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange, filed for IPO. Exact pricing isnāt yet known, but analysts expect it to be Indiaās largest ever. (Reuters)
MA Financial to shutter private credit fund. The Australian asset manager is closing the $80 million MA Credit Opportunities Fund, with the AFR reporting the fund is struggling after 20% of the fundās assets were invested in a set of luxury apartments in Sydneyās east that are currently not selling. (AFR)
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Lululemonās drum blunder
Lululemon is no stranger to headaches in the public relations department, but the most recent blunder warranted an apology to 1.4 billion people. After hosting a yoga event on Chinaās Great Wall, eagle-eyed critics identified that the large drum at the centre of the event was in fact a Japanese drum.
The company issued an apology to the general public and blamed ālimitations in our professional knowledgeā for the blunder. Lululemonās Chinese revenue grew 29% last year, but tensions between China and Japan have Chinese consumers unhappy with the cultural mix-up. (FT)
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$1,000 vs. $1,000,000
Financial adviser Peter Nevill from Viola Private Wealth told us how financial advice would differ depending on the money a client is coming in with.
Ren: Someone's just started their investing journey. What do you do with $1,000?
Peter: Ultimately, just get it out and get it invested. This is an initial amount of capital, we're expecting this is not going to be the last money you're tipping in or exposing to investments. You've got the ability to continue adding to it over time.
Bryce: Let's turn to a million dollars, how does the approach change?
Peter: This is where becoming a wholesale investor is an opportunity that starts to open up a much broader range of investment opportunities. The toolkit that we've got is far broader, including the ability to access different asset classes and strategies.
But also we've built a substantial amount of capital. We want to protect that capital. We don't want to just continue running pure equity market exposure. Diversity is always a core tenant and it's about building out those other asset classes that won't respond to market forces in the same way.
Want to work with an adviser like Peter to get started with any amount of money? Fill out the form on our website and weāll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers to help you get started.
