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• The US and Australia announced a critical minerals framework worth up to $8.5 billion, with both governments providing at least $1 billion in financing within six months. Trump also gave a strong endorsement to AUKUS, saying the submarine deal was going "full steam ahead" and guaranteeing Australia would get the boats. (SMH)

  
  

• AustralianSuper is taking £500 million ($1.1 billion) to Britain. The country's biggest superannuation fund just launched a UK housing platform with plans to become one of the top five rental operators within five years. First purchase? Student accommodation in Bristol. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Apple hit an all-time-high, touching (almost) $4 trillion, making it the world's second most valuable company after Nvidia. Turns out people really want the iPhone 17 - it outsold its predecessor by 14% in the first 10 days. Earnings for apple drop October 30. (Reuters)
  
  

• Amazon's cloud had a very bad start to the week. AWS went down for several hours, taking WhatsApp, Zoom, Roblox, Ring doorbells and banking apps with it. The culprit was a dodgy technical update in Virginia. 30% of the internet runs on AWS, so when it sneezes, we all catch a cold. (Al Jazeera)
  
  

• Gold refuses to calm down. After Friday's dip, it bounced back above $4,380 an ounce earlier this week - up 65% this year. TD Securities blamed "extreme FOMO" among investors. CPM Group reckons $4,500 is next. (Mining.com)

  
  

• Remember Bonza, the budget airline that went bust in Australia? The FBI just charged its backer 777 Partners' bosses with a $500 million fraud. Allegedly a "house of cards" built on "fabricated lies." Each charge carries 20 years. (ABC News)
  
  

• Hub24 shares jumped 8.3% after revealing funds under administration hit $146.5 billion, up 30% year-on-year. The wealth platform is now sixth largest in Australia. (Capital Brief)

  
  

• Global companies have flagged more than $35 billion in costs from US tariffs heading into Q3 earnings, with Toyota's $9.5 billion forecast the biggest single hit. However, many companies are lowering their initial forecasts as new trade deals reduce exposure to Trump's levies. (Reuters)

What the…?

At 27, Shayne Coplan has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

After dropping out of NYU Coplan founded Polymarket, a platform where people bet on real-world events, from elections to sports outcomes. 

Built from his bathroom during lockdown, Polymarket faced years of regulatory pushback and even an FBI raid.

Now, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange has said it will invest up to $2 billion, valuing Coplan’s his pandemic project into an $8 billion business. (SMH)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

Index, ETFS, Mutual Funds, LIC

This is an excerpt from the Get Started Investing episode titled: “Pardon the Jargon: Index vs ETF vs Mutual Funds vs LIC”. (Apple | Spotify | YouTube) 

Understanding what you invest in vs how you invest in it

Bryce: What you invest in is referring to the underlying investment; is it an index, is it a thematic, is it an active or is it an alternative strategy? How you invest in it is then the mechanism by which you do that. So some jargon that you'll hear, you've got Exchange Traded Funds is a mechanism. You've got mutual funds or you've got listed investment companies. So those are the mechanisms. 

Ren: What you invest in is the strategy and then how you invest in it is the wrapper that goes around that strategy. And in theory, you could mix and match any of those examples that you just gave. Why it's a clarifying question is that's where people often get tripped up in understanding that a term like index ETF actually is answering two questions, not just one.

Bryce: So let's start with the first jargon, which is index funds. Firstly, an index which is the underlying part of the index fund is a measurement tool. It's not the investment itself. A stock market index tracks a basket of stocks to show how the overall market is moving. That is the index.

Ren: The index allows you to track changes in price over time. And when it comes to the stock market, that's how we measure changes in the overall market. And so we say the ASX 200 takes 200 companies in Australia and tracks them over time.

A message from Australian Property Scout

How Long Do I Need to Rentvest Before I Buy My Primary Residence?

Join Sammy Gordon, Equity Mates’ go-to property expert, to unpack one of the biggest questions in property strategy, and the answer might surprise you. They break down the numbers, mindset, and myths behind rentvesting, revealing why buying your own home too soon could actually hold you back.

From building passive income to shifting long-term goals, this episode dives deep into what it really takes to win financially in today’s market. Perfect for anyone torn between rentvesting and homeownership - tune in for the real talk and the roadmap.

Listen now - available on all your favourite platforms.

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