Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Gas industry spending over $5 million in ads against gas tax. The chair of the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) campaign was questioned by Senator David Pocock in an ongoing Senate inquiry, admitting that Shell and ‘six or seven’ other AEP members had contributed close to $1 million each to fund an advertising campaign against the proposed 25% gas tax. (Guardian)
  
  

• 160,000 Australians to be cut from NDIS in pivot to aged care. Health Minister Mark Butler announced the cuts will take place by 2030, saving roughly $15 billion. The cuts will target ‘honeypots’ exploited by fraudsters, with Butler saying the scheme is becoming an ‘ATM for crooks’. The cuts will help fund increased spending on aged care, including new cost-free services. (Guardian | Capital Brief)
  
  

• Trump extends ceasefire in latest TACO. After threatening further attacks on Iran, Trump extended the ceasefire, claiming Iran requested more time for peace talks. Iran claims they did no such thing, with one Iranian MP claiming the unrequested extension is a ploy to buy time to prepare a surprise invasion. (AFR | ABC)
  
  

• Labor secures additional 200m litres of diesel. PM Albanese announced four additional diesel shipments were secured for Australia via BP and Viva Energy. The shipment is in addition to expected shipments and totals over two days of national consumption, which is roughly 90 million litres per day. (ABC | Switzer)
  
  

• Ukraine restarts oil flows via Russian pipeline. Ukraine will continue to supply oil to Hungary and Slovakia after a months-long dispute, with the two Putin-friendly nations claiming Ukraine was intentionally delaying repairs due to their political alignments. This will allow Ukraine to receive a €90 billion EU loan which Hungary and Slovakia had been vetoing due to the dispute. (FT)

Companies in the news

• Cochlear stock drops 40% amid broad ASX slump. The hearing implant firm reduced its annual profit forecast from $460 million to $330 million due to conflict in the Middle East. Investors’ fear spread to CSL (down 5%) and ResMed (down 2%). Healthcare was joined by financials, including Macquarie (down 4%), CommBank (down 2%), and ANZ (down 2%). The ASX was down 1% in total. (AFR)
  
  

• BHP lands China deal after stand-off. One ASX bright spot was the world’s largest miner, with BHP announcing it closed negotiations with China after a months-long stand-off. Australian iron ore prices held up well in March, strengthening BHP’s position. The stock rose 1% on the news. (AFR)
  
  

• SpaceX bulks up AI capabilities with $60bn Cursor acquisition. After a Musk-to-Musk merger brought xAI into SpaceX, the space tech giant will acquire AI coding firm Cursor for $60 billion. xAI burnt through $6.4 billion in 2025, and SpaceX is looking to improve its AI capabilities with the new acquisition. (FT)
  
  

• SpaceX demands priority access over Aussie telcos. Telstra and TPG Telecom are raising monopoly concerns after SpaceX threatened to withhold Starlink services from Australia if it does not receive priority access to wireless airspace. The Aussie telcos are requesting a competitive process, which would drive costs down and prevent SpaceX from receiving preferential treatment. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Airlines cut flights and earnings forecasts as fuel crisis deepens. United Airlines has reduced earnings per share forecasts from $14 to $11 as fuel-related costs eat into its margin. Lufthansa cancelled 20,000 flights, echoing Qantas’s cancellations announced last week. (FT | FT)
  
  

• Revolut targets $200bn valuation for IPO. After its November 2025 funding round valued the British fintech at $75 billion, Revolut is aiming for a $200 billion IPO, which the company states would not happen before 2028. The firm received a UK banking licence last month, bolstering its value proposition. (FT)

What the…?

In today’s business landscape, executives need to be leaders, innovators, and… influencers? Meet Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, whose investing prowess is matched only by his content creation abilities, highlighted by his popular business updates delivered while out for a run.

While Gray is not yet a CEO, Fortune Magazine states that CEOs are becoming increasingly media-friendly as younger, social media-loving demographics make up more of the business world. Gray’s running videos have become must-watch LinkedIn material for his over 300,000 followers, leading the way for a new generation of social media-native executives. (Fortune)

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Today’s Insight

One investment for the next decade

Financial adviser Dylan Partiger-Green from Bold Wealth kept it simple when asked about a long-term investment for retail investors.

What’s your one investment for the next 10 years?

Pretty simple one here – a high growth, low cost index model, with an asset allocation overlay. I’m a big believer in asset allocation driving the majority of returns, rather than individual stock selection for the average investor. Where the majority of people will be absolutely fine with a default high growth index fund or ETF (for easy access) an additional layer of asset allocation often doesn’t cost significantly more, but can prove to be the difference in moments of extreme volatility.

Also, the specific underlying assets within the asset class can be altered to seek returns from assets you might otherwise not be exposed to. Good examples are recent investments in gold, filling a defensive portion classed as a cash-alternative in many of our client portfolios. This is something unlikely to be a significant holding in an index fund that has set asset allocation guidelines. There’s an excellent paper on long term investing performance and asset allocation: “Most importantly, being invested within your risk profile/growth profile and understanding the time horizon that you’re investing for should largely dictate the types of investments you choose to be in for 10 years.”

Want to work with an adviser like Dylan to pick out investments to last a decade? 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