Here’s what you need to know today

The Bigger Picture

• Gold hits record high as Silver’s record run continues. Gold surged to a record US$5,000 a troy ounce for the first time ever, while silver jumped 14% and was on track for its strongest session since 1985 before giving back some gains. This comes as ongoing geopolitical tensions push investors towards traditional safe-haven assets. (ABC)

  
  

• US exits Paris Agreement, again. The United States has officially withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, mirroring its exit during Donald Trump’s first term, after Joe Biden rejoined the deal in 2021. Despite the US decision, growth in global emissions is slowing as investment in clean energy now outpaces fossil fuels by two-to-one. (The Economist)
  

• Natural gas prices have spiked on US cold snap. Natural gas futures have doubled in a week, reaching their highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Nearly 10% of production was knocked offline by extreme weather, tightening supply just as demand surged amid freezing temperatures. (WSJ)

  
   

• US to lift tariffs on South Korea to 25%. President Trump accused South Korea of failing to meet commitments under an October trade agreement, which included a US$350bn investment pledge focused largely on shipbuilding. As a result he plans to raise tariffs on selected South Korean imports, including cars, lumber and pharmaceuticals, to as high as 25%. (BBC)
  

Companies in the news

• BHP retakes Australia’s top spot. After 18 months, the mining giant has reclaimed its position as Australia’s most valuable listed company, overtaking Commonwealth Bank. BHP is up 26% in the past year on the back of rising commodity prices, while CBA is down 21% since June. (AFR)

  
  

• Nvidia invests US$2bn in AI cloud firm CoreWeave. The investment is intended to align the companies’ engineering teams as they build out AI data centres. The deal continues the trend of big AI players investing in each other to fuel the sector’s rapid expansion. (AFR)
  
  

• Gucci owner sells €1.5bn Puma stake to China’s Anta Sports. The Pinault family, which controls Kering (Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga), has sold its 29% stake in Puma to Anta Sports. The sale comes as Puma restructures amid intensifying competition from newer rivals like On and Hoka. (FT)

  
  

• Zijin Mining to buy Allied Gold for US$4bn. China’s Zijin Mining has agreed to acquire Canadian miner Allied Gold for US$4bn. Allied shares are up around 250% over the past year as gold prices surge globally, while the deal further expands China’s mining footprint in Africa, with nearly half of Allied’s production coming from Mali in West Africa. (FT)

  
  

• DroneShield revenue surges, but shares slide. DroneShield nearly quadrupled revenue last year, from $58m to $217m. But in a reminder that the sharemarket is forward-looking, shares fell 5% as the company reported the sales pipeline shrunk from $2.55bn in October to $2.1bn. (AFR)
  
  

• Nike cuts 775 US jobs as turnaround drags on. Nike is cutting 775 roles (about 1% of its workforce) mostly across distribution centres. The layoffs come as the company presses ahead with its turnaround, after shares fell more than 62% from their mid-2021 peak. (WSJ)

What the…?

And the gold medal for cars manufactured per capita goes to… Slovakia Despite having a population of just 5.4 million, the country produces almost 1 million cars a year, giving it the highest per-capita car production in the world.

Kia, Volkswagen, Stellantis (formerly Peugeot-Citroën, Fiat and Chrysler), and Jaguar Land Rover all operate factories in the country. Volvo is also set to open an electric vehicle factory in Slovakia in 2027.

So… why Slovakia? Labour costs. Average monthly wages at Kia’s Slovak factory sit around €2,400, well below the EU average of €3,417, but still comfortably above Slovakia’s national average of €1,403. (BBC)

What’s got us thinking?

Investing is a lifelong journey. Here’s what you can learn today.

Two mining companies with 10x potential

This was taken from our chat with Luke Laretive where we dive into commodity cycles and big-cap miners. Find the episode titled ‘Why 2026 is the Year of Resources - Luke Laretive’ in the Equity Mates Investing links here (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Luke: So we've talked about it a bit recently. Stellar Resources SRZ is the code for it. It is a small tin project in Tasmania.

Bryce: Pretty sure this was one you actually spoke about last year.

Luke: Yeah, I've spoken about it a few times probably last year. So if you like the way we talk about Antipa, this is like small Antipa in Tin pretty much. It's got a big neighbour with a bunch of infrastructure and a big mine who could do well to acquire their very nearby asset that remains undeveloped. So we're going to head down to Tasmania at some stage this year and go to the site visit and check it all out. But in the interim it's been a pretty good trade for us so far and I think could be one of the best performing stocks in our portfolio this year. Tin prices are ripping.

Alec: Yeah, so that's Stellar resources and then you have a second one with 10 bag potential.

Luke: Yeah, VBX Limited, an IPO from last year, a Bauxite mine up in WA or near the NT. We're very bullish on Bauxite as a commodity. There's not many ways to play it on the ASX. We think this is a pretty good project. Still working through development. Probably needs to raise cash at some point in the near future, but they're back above IPO price after being in the doldrums last year. We think it's a pretty good stock. Well managed. We've been there since sort of the IPO and yeah, we'll probably participate in the placement even and when they do do one.

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