Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Oil jumps above US$112 after Qatar gas facility hit. One of the world’s largest LNG plants, Ras Laffan in Qatar, was severely damaged by Iranian missile strikes yesterday. The attack comes as retaliation after Iran’s South Pars gas field was hit by Israeli strikes. US President Donald Trump has since threatened to destroy Iranian gas fields if attacks on Qatar continue. (AFR | ABC)
  
  

• Albanese launches fuel taskforce as 500m+ litres released. Anthony Albanese has convened National Cabinet and established a Fuel Supply Taskforce to manage distribution across Australia. He urged Australians to stop hoarding petrol, as the Federal Energy Minister announced 519 million litres of petrol and diesel would be directed to regional areas. (AFR | ABC)
  
  

• Australian energy prices tipped to fall as renewables grow. In what will come as a relief to households and small businesses, the Australian Energy Regulator expects the maximum annual price retailers can charge consumers to fall by 1.3%–10.1% next year. The shift comes as renewable energy plays a larger role across the National Energy Market, putting downward pressure on prices. (ABC)
  
  

• Unemployment rises to 4.3% as ASX falls. Australia’s unemployment rate has climbed to 4.3%, with full-time employment dropping by 30,000 in February despite more people entering the workforce. The ASX 200 ended 1.lower, with materials and tech the hardest hit sectors as energy prices surged again. (AFR)
  
  

• US Fed holds rates steady amid uncertainty. US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced rates will remain on hold at 3.5%–3.75%, saying it is “too soon” to assess the economic impact of the Iran conflict. However, he flagged inflation is likely to rise due to higher oil prices. (BBC)
  
  

• Finland named world’s happiest country again as Australia slips. Finland has topped the UN-backed World Happiness Report for the ninth year in a row, with Iceland and Denmark rounding out the top three. Australia slipped to 15th, down from 11th last year. It’s also the second year running that no Anglosphere country has cracked the top 10. (The Economist)

Companies in the news

• Apple still taking a cut from AI boom. Apple may be lagging OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in AI development, but it’s still profiting from their success. Through App Store fees, AI companies pay 30% in year one and 15% thereafter, with generative AI apps expected to generate nearly US$900m for Apple in 2025. (WSJ)
  
  

• Sony and Pop Mart team up for Labubu movie. The US$40bn Labubu plush toy franchise is heading to the big screen. Pop Mart is expanding beyond toys after entering the theme park game in Beijing last year, now adding film to the mix. The movie will be directed by Paul King, known for Wonka and Paddington. We’re hoping the extremely rare Equity Mates Labubu will get a feature in the film! (BBC)
  
  

• DiDi raises prices to offset fuel costs. Rideshare app DiDi, known for its low prices, will increase fares due to rising fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict. Customers will pay an extra 5c per kilometre, which will be passed directly to drivers. (The Guardian)
  
  

• Micron sales surge on AI-driven chip demand. Memory chip maker Micron has reported revenue nearly tripling in its latest quarterly results, driven by strong demand from companies like Nvidia. Company share price is up 46% year to date and up 352% in the past year. (CNBC)
  
  

• New Disney CEO replaces Bob Iger. Josh D’Amaro will take over as CEO of Disney, replacing Bob Iger after his second stint in the role. D’Amaro previously led Disney’s Experiences division, overseeing theme parks, cruises and resorts. He now faces the challenge of turning around the century-old company, with shares down around 40% since 2021. (CNBC)

What the…?

Switzerland makes ‘cash is king’ a constitutional right. Switzerland has voted in a national referendum to safeguard physical cash, making it a constitutional right. The Swiss National Bank to maintain a sufficient supply of physical cash and coins at all times. Cash usage has been dropping fast in Switzerland, more than 7 in 10 payments were made in cash back in 2017, but that’s fallen to just 3 in 10 by 2024.

The amendment passed with 73% of voters backing the move, as concerns grow around an increasingly cashless world. Supporters argue that cash remains a crucial backup by offering privacy, and a reliable fallback during cyber outages or power failures. (Politico)

A message from Centuria

Don't chase property trends, Pursue value

At Centuria, we stay ahead of the curve by proactively scanning the market to spot opportunities others may miss. With a disciplined investment process, deep market knowledge and a clear focus on starting with the end in mind, Centuria offers investors a distinct edge: one built on expertise, insight and agility.

Centuria’s property expertise spans a broad range of traditional and alternative property sectors including office, industrial, retail, healthcare, agriculture, data centres and real estate debt.

Today’s Insight

Ask an Adviser - Debt Recycling

Dylan Partiger-Green from Bold Wealth unpacks who he believes are the ideal candidates to consider debt recycling.

Who is the ideal candidate for debt recycling?

Dylan: To start debt recycling, generally doesn't make sense until you've got about $150,000 of either cash in the bank, existing investments or equity available in the home.

You can then start, even if you've only recently bought a house, to use that other money that's sitting in investments or otherwise to facilitate that initial lump sum. But if you don't have heaps of equity in the house, it does create additional challenges when you're trying to split your loans or get additional equity out. So it is better if you're a little bit further into the property journey. It's also better from this risk point of view. So if you're not leveraging to the hilt with that principal place of residence debt, you're going to be more comfortable in doing this with volatility. So that's the initial size.

You also need to have surplus capacity to save. We're not changing how much money you need to pay on your mortgage every month. You're just changing where that mortgage is leveraged against, or what asset it's being used for. But in an ideal world, your repayments should stay the same or very, very close to staying the same depending on your bank/broker relationship and how they've structured that. It's just the fact that you're able to then claim a portion of that against the income that you're earning on those investments. So there's not an ideal thing. Obviously, again, if your income is higher, your tax rate's higher, so the incentive to do these things is greater, but 30% off your mortgage on us tax basis is still good.

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Today in Equity Mates