Here’s what you need to know today

• The Australian share market fell sharply in the morning, down 0.7%. But don’t panic, the reason was a number of large companies, including Fortescue and Macquarie Group, went ex-dividend (the date you must hold shares to get paid the upcoming dividend).
  
  

• Representatives for more than 20 countries, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi, arrived in China for a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. Top of the agenda: closer economic ties between these countries to offset American trade policies. (Al Jazeera)
  
  

• Meanwhile in the US, President Donald Trump announced plans to increase tariffs on steel, aluminium, copper and other industries in the coming months. Industries seen as likely to face tariffs are semiconductors, heavy trucks and commercial aircraft. (WSJ)
  
  

• The price of gold shot up and neared all-time highs after President Trump posted, “Prices are ‘WAY DOWN’ in the USA, with virtually no inflation.” Posts like this are seen as a way to pressure the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which has investors fleeing to gold as an inflation-hedge. Gold reached US$3,477 an ounce, just below its US$3,500 all-time high. (AFR)

  
  

• Property listing platform Domain’s new American owners have been clear they’re preparing to make life uncomfortable for REA Group. The new owner, CoStar Group, accused REA Group of “shaking down” Australians while announcing plans to build 3D visual mapping, cut website load times and minimise price rises in an attempt to take market share from the owner of RealEstate.com.au (SMH)
  
  

• Speaking of Australian housing, total dwelling approvals fell 8.2% in July according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This puts Australia further behind its target to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029. (ABS)
  
  

• Popular Australian small cap RPMGlobal was up 23% after it announced an exclusivity period with American heavy machinery giant Caterpillar, to discuss a $5 per share acquisition offer. (AFR)

What the…?

Luxury car collectors are known for splashing out on rare models, but this one set a new standard.

A one-off Ferrari Daytona SP3 “Tailor Made” sold for $26m at RM Sotheby’s Monterey Car Week, ten times its original price, making it the most expensive Ferrari ever auctioned.

Built as car “599+1” after the original 599-unit production run, the hypercar features a two-tone Giallo Modena and carbon-fiber livery with a mid-mounted 6.5-litre V12.

The unnamed buyer’s winning bid will go entirely to the Ferrari Foundation, which supports global education initiatives. (SMH)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Forget the pitch, follow the numbers

This is an excerpt from a recent Equity Mates Investing episode with Andrew Page. (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

What is your investment criteria when researching small caps?

I like to keep it simple and start with one key question: what is the value proposition here? What are you actually doing for your customers?

It sounds obvious, but if a company isn’t delivering genuine value, customers won’t stick around. So I want to see what they do that no one else can do, or at least not as well. The clearest way to test that is through the numbers: customer retention, churn, and sales traction. The numbers don’t lie.

Management teams will always tell you their company is the best thing since sliced bread. But if they aren’t gaining market share or growing sales, something is off. We can worry about the balance sheet and the rest later, but if the top line isn’t moving in the right direction, at best it’s a case of not yet.

Want to check out the full episode? All Equity Mates Investing episodes are now released on their own YouTube channel:

A message from Ausbil

From 8 September 2025, the Ausbil Active Dividend Income strategy will be made available as an active ETF,  giving investors and advisers dual access to its Active Dividend Income strategy.

ASX: DIVI, an actively managed ETF, holds between 25 and 50 listed companies, which Ausbil believes support consistent franking credits for investors that grow with inflation over time. It provides regular monthly income drawn from dividends of Australian companies, whilst aiming to protect investors’ capital against inflation.

Disclaimer: Offer is subject to disclaimer on registration page. Ausbil Investment Management Limited ABN 26 076 316 743 AFSL 229722.

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