Here’s what you need to know today

The Bigger Picture

• China’s birthrate hits lowest point on record. China’s population fell by 3.4 million in 2025, with the number of births down 17%. By 2035, China will have 400 million people aged over 60, shrinking the workforce and lifting pension costs. (ABC)

  
  

• IMF warns Australia faces persistent inflation. The International Monetary Fund flagged Australia faces “drawn-out persistence in above-target inflation” in its latest World Economic Outlook report. (AFR)

  
  

• Japan PM calls snap election as 40-year bond hits highest yield since 2007. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will call an election for February 8, just three months after becoming the country’s first female PM, as she looks to capitalise on strong approval ratings. Japan’s 40-year bond yield reached 4%, its highest level since 2007, amid unease over Takaichi’s proposal to cut the sales tax on food. (ABC | Bloomberg)

  
  

• Perth median house price surges above $1 million. House prices jumped 10% in the final quarter of 2025, according to Domain. Perth households are now spending around 40% of their income on a median mortgage, up from 22% in 2019. (ABC)

  
  

• Trump links Greenland demands to Nobel Peace Prize loss. In a text to Norway’s PM Jonas Gahr Støre, US President Donald Trump said that after Norway decided not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize for “having stopped 8 wars PLUS,” he no longer felt obligated “to think purely of peace.” (ABC)

Companies in the news

• Australian rocket manufacturer Gilmour Space becomes first space unicorn. The company has reached unicorn status — defined as a privately owned company valued at more than $1 billion — after raising $217 million in a Series E round, with Hostplus, the Future Fund and Funds SA participating. Gilmour Space plans to launch its second rocket in the second half of this year. (AFR)

  
  

• Origin extends life of Australia’s largest coal plant. The Eraring Power Station near Newcastle, NSW was expected to close next year, but the shutdown has now been delayed until 2029. The decision follows pressure from the Australian Energy Market Operator, which warned the renewable energy grid is not yet ready to replace the lost capacity. (ABC)

  
  

• OpenAI CFO reports annualised revenue surpassed US$20 billion in 2025. The creator of ChatGPT said revenue rose from US$6 billion in 2024 to more than US$20 billion last year. The update comes after OpenAI announced it would begin showing ads to US users to help fund the high costs of development. (Reuters)

  
  

• BHP reports record first-half iron ore production amid $4bn Canadian potash blowout. The company said it accepted lower prices on some iron ore sales as negotiations with China over a 2026 supply deal continue. BHP also disclosed that its Canadian potash project, which produces potassium-based salts, is now $4 billion over budget. (Reuters)

  
  

• European luxury stocks fall on US–EU tariff fears. LVMH fell 4.3%, Hermès dropped 3.5%, Burberry slid 2.8% and Ferrari declined 2.5% after US President Donald Trump flagged potential tariffs on the EU amid ongoing disputes over Greenland. (WSJ)

  
  

• Hub24 announces record half-year net inflows. The investment platform reported net inflows of $10.7 billion, driven by strong demand from licensees and advisers. (Capital Brief)

  
  

• Telix Pharmaceuticals receives Chinese approval. The Melbourne-based biotech received approval for a prostate imaging drug from China’s National Medical Products Administration. The news follows research published in The Lancet Oncology, which found 134,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in China in 2022, a figure forecast to grow by 6% annually. (Capital Brief)

  
  

• Carlsberg feels the pinch as Gen Z continues to avoid alcohol. The world’s third-largest beer maker reported a drop in underlying sales year on year, citing a challenging consumer environment. Declining alcohol consumption among Gen Z has been a growing issue for beer manufacturers and remains a key headwind for the industry. (Reuters | Time)

What the…?

Your favourite Spotify artist could unfortunately be AI. Soul singer Sienna Rose has surged on Spotify as of late, reaching 3 million monthly listens and three tracks in the Viral Top 50. Scrutiny followed after Rose released 45 tracks in just over two months, prompting AI-related questions. Streaming platform Deezer, who specialise in detecting AI music, told the BBC many of her songs were flagged as likely AI-generated.

Sienna Rose is not alone, Sweden recently removed a song from local charts after discovering it was AI-generated and AI-generated country artist Breaking Rust topped the Billboard country charts in late 2025. Reports estimate Rose generates about £2,000 a week in royalties, with minimal upfront costs. (BBC)

What’s got us thinking?

Investing is a lifelong journey. Here’s what you can learn today.

Why your savings rate matters

This was taken from our recent Essentials series from the Equity Mates Investing episode titled ‘Essentials: Fundamentals of Good Investing’ where Bryce and Ren break down their 7 fundamental rules for investing. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Ren: Rule #2, the amount of money you able to save really matters.

Bryce: So Ren, I love this rule and it is summed up nicely by Morgan Housel, one of our favourite authors. He's written ‘The Psychology of Money’, and he says that the biggest determinant of your future wealth is your savings rate. It's not about the salary that you earn. It's not about the investments that you're investing in. It's really about how much you can save and put it to work in the stock market.

Ren: Yep, so let's use a worked example to illustrate that point. Let's say $20 a week invested for 35 years at 13%. And a reminder that 13% a year is the average of the past 124 years of the Australian All Ordinaries Index with dividends reinvested. So $20 a week, 35 years at 13% a year is $570,000. If you bump that up to $50 a week, you have $1.4 million.

Now to get that same result continuing to invest $20 a week, you would need to go to 17% per annum, and there aren’t many investors getting that consistently. That's getting close to Warren Buffet numbers, or you would need to extend your time horizon from 35 years to 43 years. So that's 8 extra years where you're toiling away at a job or not enjoying your investments. So just bumping up your savings rate, thinking about what in your life is a want, not a need, or things that you can find a cheaper version of, and putting those small increments of extra money to work, $2, $5, $10, whatever it is, that stuff really starts to grow and compound over time.

A message from PocketSmith

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