Today’s News

The Big Picture

• French, Japanese ships mark first Western nations crossing Hormuz. A French container ship and Japanese oil tanker were among the 53 ships that successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz last week, up from 36 the week prior. Iran says it is negotiating safe passages with countries it considers allies and continuing to deny US ships. (FT)
  
  

• NSW councils demand state pause data centre building spree. Penrith, Ryde, and others are demanding the state set rules to guarantee that power and water usage by data centres will not harm local communities and new housing. Lane Cove Council recommended a “user pays” model wherein tech firms would fund new water and power infrastructure, similar to what is happening in the US. (AFR)
  
  

• Commonwealth Bank CEO joins in calls for gas tax. The proposed gas tax, popularised by Independent Senator David Pocock and the Greens, recently gained a foothold in the Liberal party and now has a major private sector supporter in Matt Comyn, CEO of CommBank. Comyn believes Australia ought to profit more from its vast gas reserves and stated the tax would be popular. (AFR)
  
  

• Trump seeks $2.1 trillion for defence while cutting federal programs. The president’s plan would reduce spending on non-defence programs by 10%, targeting Medicare, education, child care, and other programs deemed “woke” by the administration. The $2.1 trillion towards defence is intended to “secure peace through strength”, according to the budget. (AFR | NYT)
  
  

• US beats expectations with 178,000 jobs added in March. This comes after the US lost 133,000 jobs in February. The unexpected turnaround was driven by 76,000 new jobs in the healthcare sector, which has carried US job growth this year. The world’s largest economy has suffered a turbulent labour market in 2026, so the gain comes as a welcome surprise. (FT)

Companies in the news

• Layoffs, letdowns and lawsuits mark Meta’s rough month. The tech giant is cutting another 200 jobs, bringing the total to over 2,400 jobs in 2026. These come as Meta ends its unpopular Metaverse platform, which ate up roughly $115 billion of investment over its life. Meta also had a rough month in court, losing two lawsuits which will see the company pay over $550 million in damages. The stock is down 13% in the past month. (Fox | Guardian | Deseret | NYP)
  
  

• Barrenjoey’s big dividend disrupts Magellan merger. The Australian investment bank will pay up to $45 million to shareholders ahead of its merger with ASX-listed fund manager Magellan. The dividend, which is more than double last year’s dividend, was announced after-hours on Thursday and done without releasing details of its accounts, an opaque move that has drawn criticism from shareholders. (AFR)
  
  

• Tesla sales fall despite fuel crisis EV surge. The company posted one of its worst quarters in years, delivering 358,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026. Tesla’s Chinese competitor, BYD, has a three-month waitlist for its top models amid fuel crisis-driven demand for EVs, but poor US demand and an aging vehicle lineup have reduced demand for Tesla’s EVs. (AFR)
  
  

• OpenAI acquires tech podcast TBPN. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has appeared several times on Technology Brothers Programming Network, a tech-focused daily podcast with fintech sponsorships from the likes of Ramp, Plaid, and Google’s Gemini. The 11-person company is reportedly Altman’s favourite podcast and was purchased for “low hundreds of millions of dollars”. (FT)
  
  

• US private credit redemption requests hit record $2.6 trillion. Blue Owl is the latest of the struggling private credit giants to limit redemptions, with their tech-focused fund seeing withdrawal requests worth 41% of the fund. This comes after the Wall Street Journal discovered Blue Owl, Blackstone, Ares, and Apollo had significantly understated their exposure to tech, which is heavily impacted by AI. (AFR | WSJ)

What the…?

Valuable Pokémon cards are attracting criminal attention. With the value of the Pokémon market increasing by 145% in the past year alone, it was only a matter of time until unscrupulous actors got involved.

Unlike the fictional cartel Team Rocket in the Pokémon universe, these criminals have found some success, with collectible shops across the US, Canada, and the UK being hit for over $500,000 worth of stolen cards. One collector even had his house broken into, with the thieves passing over his laptop and gaming consoles in favour of his most valuable Pokémon cards.

The thieves haven’t all gotten away with it though. One man was arrested last month for 75 thefts of Pokémon cards and faces up to 90 years in prison for felony retail theft, dealing stolen property and money laundering. (CNN)

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Today’s Insight

Di-worse-ification

We posed several community questions to financial adviser Matt Ingram from Northhaven, including one about the limits of diversification.

Is there such a thing as being too diversified?

Matt: When investors talk about diversification, it’s usually framed as a strategy that is used to reduce risk by having a sufficient number of holdings across various asset classes. However, too much diversification can become counterproductive, a concept often referred to as “diworsification.” While in most cases it’s better to be over-diversified than under-diversified, spreading a portfolio too thin can come with downsides.

Each additional holding brings costs, such as brokerage and potentially ongoing fees, which can quietly erode returns over time. Also, very small positions often don’t move the needle. They may contribute little to overall performance, yet they typically cost just as much to buy as a larger holding that could have a meaningful impact.

One exception is the use of exchange traded funds (ETFs). With a single trade, you can gain exposure to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of securities, making diversification far more cost-effective. But for investors who prefer picking individual stocks, the sweet spot is generally much narrower.

While there’s no precise number, holding somewhere in the range of 20 to 40 stocks is often enough to achieve sensible diversification without diluting returns or adding unnecessary complexity. As with most things in investing, diversification is about balance. Enough to manage risk, but not so much that it works against you.

Want to work out your portfolio’s diversification with an adviser? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers to help you get started.

Today in Equity Mates