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Here’s what you need to know today

• The world is reeling from the very public split between US President Trump and Elon Musk. What started as Elon Musk criticising the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ and Trump noting Elon was upset to lose electric vehicle tax credits, ended with Trump threatening SpaceX’s government contracts and Elon claiming Trump was incriminated in the government’s Epstein files. (SMH)
  
  

• As Elon and Trump were airing their dirty laundry, Tesla shares plummeted. The electric vehicle maker fell as much as 16% on Thursday as the two men were posting on social media. On Friday, as both men stopped posting, Tesla shares were up 4%. (Forbes)
  
  

• Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill may have implications for Australian’s Superannuation balances. The Superannuation industry believes it could cost $3.5 billion over four years in additional taxes on their US investments. Currently, Australian Superannuation funds have around $400 billion invested in the US. (AFR)
  
  

• Microsoft’s share price reached a new record high as the tech giant emerges as one of the clearer AI-winners. Over the past few months, Microsoft (valued at $3.5 trillion) has jumped Nvidia ($3.46 trillion) and Apple ($3.05 trillion) to once again be the most world’s most valuable company. (Quartz)
  
  

• Social media site Reddit has sued AI company Anthropic for allegedly using Reddit’s data to train its AI models. Reddit claim Anthropic used its data more than 100,000 times. (Quartz)
  
  

• Days after aid distribution restarted in Gaza, it was paused for 24 hours. Aid is now distributed by the American- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, who paused food distribution following deadly shootings near distribution points. (CNN)
  
  

• The latest US jobs data showed 139,000 jobs were added in May. The number was down from the 177,000 added in April but higher than the 125,000 forecast. The sign of resilience lowers the chance of a rate cut and bond yields rose as a result. However, President Trump went on Truth Social to encourage the Fed to cut, posting, “Go for a full point, Rocket Fuel!” (Reuters | Truth Social)
  
  

• The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points in 2%, its 8th cut in the past 12 months. India also cut interest rates, to 5.5%, as inflation dips to a 6-year low. Alongside them, China, South Korea and Indonesia have also cut rates in the past few weeks, reflecting a shift as policymakers’ try to maintain economic growth in face of global headwinds. (BBC | Reuters)
  
  

• One other country cutting rates - Russia. The Russian Central Bank cut interest rates by a full percentage point, to 20%. Russia’s economy has been struggling with high inflation with product shortages due to western sanctions and increased demand from the Russian war effort. (CNBC)

What the…?

Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, Hinge and dozens of other dating apps, has had a nightmare few years. Paid subscribers have fallen for 8 consecutive quarters and the share price is down 82% since 2021.

In that context, Tinder has released its most controversial paid feature to date: a height filter. Users that pay for premium subscriptions can filter on the height of potential matches.

Survey-after-survey tells us Gen Z are leaving dating apps because they’re too superficial. We’re not sure this new feature will help change that. (Quartz)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Finding great information and avoiding the noise

This is an excerpt from our conversation with Will Granger, portfolio manager of the Airlie Small Companies Fund, on Equity Mates Investing podcast (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

What are your highest-value information sources when researching companies - and what do you avoid?

Yeah, I'm probably going to give you a very boring answer, but the most easily the highest source of valuable information is a company's historical financial statements. It's a boring answer, but it's definitely true, particularly if you're coming at it from our sort of philosophy. We're again trying to buy businesses with sustainable competitive advantages that are protected from competition and can grow attractive rates on incremental capital... The best indication of whether a business has that durable competitive advantage is what's it done in the past?... Another good source of information is just looking at the competitors' financials... You can actually go and buy private company financials off ASIC if they're above a certain level of turnover... I think it's important for people to learn a bit about accounting as well... We have a big focus on management quality at Early, and one of the best signs is does your manager have skin in the game?

What behavioral processes do you use day-to-day to manage market noise and stay focused?

Yeah, it's hard because I think that's one of the skills of the job, trying to work out what is important, trying to discern between the information that matters and doesn't, seeing the wood for the trees. But we don't really have any sort of day-to-day process that solves for this. It's part of the temperament of trying to invest for long term. You just can't let it affect you. So I don't have any silver bullet to solve it. I think you've got to focus on developing an investment philosophy that can be your anchor, that indicates the things you should care and not care about.

Prefer to watch our conversation with Will? All episodes of Equity Mates Investing are available, in full, on YouTube:

Today’s sponsor is Fidelity

After a rollercoaster start to 2025, investors are asking whether the era of US exceptionalism is coming to an end.

While headlines continue to focus on the Mag Seven, the next chapter of US market leadership may be quietly forming in the middle.

Issued by FIL Responsible Entity (Australia) Limited, ABN 33 148 059 009, AFSL No. 409340. This is general information only and is not intended to be advice of any kind. Consider the PDS and TMD available at www.fidelity.com.au

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