Here’s what you need to know today

• The war of words between US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky continues to escalate. Trump claimed Zelensky “talked the United States… into a war that couldn’t be won, that never had to start.” Zelensky replied that Trump was living in Russian “disinformation space” and reminded the President that his country was invaded by Russia, not the other way around. (ABC News)
  
  

• President Trump was also in the news as he announced his administration would be snubbing the G20 meeting in South Africa later this week. This follows an executive order on 7 February that stopped aid to South Africa and a focus on the stories of white South African refugees. Where the US steps back, China sees opportunity, with China pledging more support for South Africa. (AP News)
  
  

• The Australian and South Australian governments have together put forward a $2.4 billion package to save the struggling Whyalla steelworks. The facility is currently owned by embattled British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta. It is strategically important as one of two steelworks in Australia, producing 75% of Australia’s structural steel. (9 News)
  
  

• Fortescue joined its major Australian iron ore peers, BHP and Rio Tinto, in cutting its dividend. Despite iron ore shipments rising 3% year-on-year, revenue was down 20% and profit down 53% as lower iron ore prices hit the whole industry. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• WiseTech Global entered a trading halt and told the market it would be updating on board discussions “related to matters of governance”. The logistics technology company has been plagued by accusations about the behaviour of founder Richard White. (AFR)
  
  

• Microsoft has unveiled a chip, Majorana 1, that it claims will allow it to build quantum computers within years, not decades. For those who want the technicals, this is from The Economist: The chip is powered by a topological superconductor, a material which Microsoft says can control Majorana fermions, a subatomic particle that computer scientists have long theorised about, but have struggled to prove exist. (The Economist)
  
  

• Apple have unveiled a new iPhone, the iPhone 16e, a cheaper model that still comes with the same A18 chip that is in the iPhone 16, features a full-screen OLED display, and includes Apple Intelligence capabilities. The cheaper model comes after Apple missed iPhone sales expectations in the latest quarter. (Quartz)
  
  

• Australia’s federal opposition is calling for safeguards around British streamer DAZN’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Foxtel. Saudi Arabia has invested $1.58 billion into DAZN and Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has urged caution, citing national security concerns over foreign investment in critical infrastructure. We’re big fans of Kayo, but not sure it counts as critical infrastructure. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Maker of electric and hydrogen trucks, Nikola, filed for bankruptcy. The company was valued at $30 billion in mid-2020 but has collapsed as its founder Trevor Milton was convicted of fraud in 2023. (The Guardian)

What the…?

You’ve heard of lab-grown meat, but have you heard of lab-grown chocolate? Nearly two-thirds of cocoa beans are grown in West Africa, and as a heatwave hit the region in 2023, the world became aware of how sensitive the chocolate supply-chain had become.

Food tech companies have responded and are looking to develop lab-grown or cell-cultured chocolate where the cacao is grown in a petri dish rather than a cacao tree. (KCRW)

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Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Doesn’t the stock market crash?

This is an excerpt from our book Get Started Investing. (Pick it up on Amazon or wherever you buy books)

We’ve all heard the stories of market crashes—1929 Great Depression, 2008 Global Financial Crisis—there have been certain events when the markets have fallen and investors have lost money. Far less reported is the fact that the market has always recovered from these falls.

The reason the market recovers is that the companies that survive the downturn continue to get more productive, more innovative and more valuable over time. Individual companies will go bankrupt; technology will disrupt industries—but overall the market as a whole continues marching upwards.

Between 1900 and 2018, the Australian stock market had 23 years where it went down and 96 years where it went up: 81% of the years were good years.

It’s not just that the stock market recovers from these crashes. Throughout history, time and time again, the stock market recovers from its fall and then keeps growing.

One of our favourite examples of this is the US stock market during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. If you had invested in 2007, right before the market started falling:

• by February 2009 you would have lost half of your money and be feeling pretty ready to give up on investing

• by 2013, you would have been back to even (that would have been a long six years!)

• by 2019, you would have doubled your money.

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