Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Economic pressures push Aussies back to pandemic shopping habits. Canned foods are flying off the shelf, with one food company seeing demand increase by 20% this month. Higher interest rates, soaring costs of living, and fears of supply interruptions have Australians stocking up on cheap, long-life foods, reminiscent of pre-pandemic shopping, as 73% of Australians feel money is not going as far as it was last year. (Guardian | News)
  
  

• Bessent’s big backfire. After waging trade wars against almost every country on earth, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is now warning nations that China is dominating global trade. China’s trade surplus, calculated as exports minus imports, has grown well over $1 trillion dollars, largely due to nations pivoting away from doing business with the US. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• China locks in foreign firms with new regulations. To counter US efforts to pull trade away from China (see previous story), China has enacted laws to punish foreign companies for moving supply chains out of the country. This is the latest in Chinese economic protectionism, following rare-earth export controls, retaliatory tariffs, and non-tariff measures in the past year. (NYT)
  
  

• IMF forecasts up to 6% global inflation and weak GDP growth. The IMF slashed its 2026 global growth forecast from 3.4% to 3.1% and expects inflation to surge up to around 6%, blaming the ongoing energy crisis. If the war drags on, the IMF's worst-case scenario puts global GDP growth at just 2%, territory not seen since the GFC and COVID. (Capital Brief | ABC)
  
  

• Trump takes aim at banks supporting Iranian finances. The US administration sent letters to banks in Oman, the UAE, Hong Kong and China that are allegedly allowing Iranian funds used for illicit activities to be funneled through them, with potential sanctions to follow. (Fox)
  

Companies in the news

• Amazon challenges Starlink with $16bn acquisition. The deal will see Amazon acquire Globalstar, a US telecommunications firm focused on low-orbit satellites providing internet connectivity like SpaceX’s Starlink, which dominates the satellite internet market and is a core driver of SpaceX’s massive valuation. Amazon will offer Globalstar shareholders either US$90 or 0.32 Amazon shares per share of Globalstar. (Capital Brief | NYT)
  
  

• Hancock Prospecting to pay billions after court case loss. A Western Australian judge has handed down a decision in favour of Wright Prospecting, forcing Hancock to pay billions of dollars of royalties from a valuable iron ore asset. It was a battle of the billionaires, with Wright’s Angela Bennet getting the win over Hancock’s Gina Rinehart. (AFR) 
  
  

• Thoma Bravo pivot marks sign of the software times. The $250 billion software-focused investment firm is closing its growth equity business, which invested in smaller software firms that have been heavily disrupted by AI. Thoma Bravo is pivoting to focus on larger firms facing less AI disruption. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Yancoal shares drop 3% following $2.5bn mine acquisition. The Aussie coal giant will acquire 80% of Kestrel, the sixth largest coking coal mine in Australia. It’s a massive purchase, worth over a quarter of Yancoal’s $9.6 billion market cap. This clearly spooked some investors, as the stock dropped nearly 3% on the news. (AFR)
  
  

• JPMorgan CEO issues warning amid big US bank profits. Market volatility helped boost the banks’ revenues in the first quarter, with JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo bringing in $39 billion, a 17% increase from last year. However, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that geopolitics, energy prices, and more would hurt the bank’s financials in coming periods. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Virgin shares rally 8% on oil hedging wins and price rises. The airline heavily hedged against rising jet fuel prices and is only facing up to $40 million in extra fuel costs, a stark contrast to Qantas’s $800 million. Virgin will also increase ticket prices, allowing it to maintain its earnings guidance for the year, satisfying investors and driving the stock up almost 8%. (AFR | ABC)
  
  

What the…?

A charity art raffle just produced a 1,000,000% return on investment. A man turned €100 into over €1 million when his charity raffle ticket was pulled, making him the newest owner of an original Pablo Picasso painting titled “Tête de Femme.” 

The fundraiser, called “1 Picasso for 100 Euros”, is supported by Picasso’s family and raises funds for Alzheimer’s research. The raffle raised roughly €11 million, making this an all-around feel-good story. (BBC)

A message from Vanta

Vanta automates your compliance process and brings compliance, risk, and customer trust together on one AI-powered platform.

Whether you’re prepping for your ISO 27001 or SOC 2, or running an enterprise GRC program, Vanta keeps you secure - and keeps your deals moving. Companies like Dovetail, Ramp and Writer spend 82% less time on audits with Vanta. That’s not just faster compliance - it’s more time for growth. Watch the on-demand demo to see how it works. 

Today’s Insight

Don’t obsess over the rearview mirror

We asked financial adviser Matt Ingram from Northhaven about starting your investing journey, even if you feel a little bit late to the party.

What’s your advice for someone who feels they’ve started too late?

Matt: Well, tomorrow is even later so you better start now! Seriously though, almost everyone feels this at some point. I saved a decent stack of cash through my early 20s. Could I have invested more of it and potentially ended up further ahead? Probably. But that also allowed me to buy my first house, It’s easy to zoom in on what you didn’t do and ignore what you did do. That’s not a helpful way to measure progress. You made decisions based on what you knew, what you earned, and what felt right at the time. Spending too much time thinking about a “missed start” is a bit like driving while staring in the rearview mirror. You can glance back to learn from it, but if you keep looking there, you’re going to struggle to move forward. If you’re 35, you might still have 30 years of investing ahead of you. If you’re 45, maybe it’s 20 years. If you’re 55… you get the idea. That’s not that short. Compounding still works. Celebrate what you’ve already accomplished. Then turn your attention to what comes next. The only starting point that matters now is the one in front of you.

Worried that you’ve started too late? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers to help make sure you’re on track.

Today in Equity Mates