📈 Millennials prefer One Nation over Labor | Nvidia enters PC chip market to rival Apple

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The Big Picture

• Millennials now prefer One Nation over Labor in new poll. A new AFR/RedBridge poll has found Labor's budget is failing to resonate with its target demographic. Millennials now favour One Nation over Labor at 30% compared to 28% in primary vote intentions. According to the poll, Gen Z appears largely disengaged, with just 6% saying they noticed "a great deal" about the budget and 47% saying they had not noticed "very much." One Nation's primary vote remains at just 10% among Gen Z voters. (ABC)
  
  

• Australia's housing market stalls in May. National home values were stagnant in May as Sydney and Melbourne led a broader slowdown, falling 0.9% and 0.8% respectively, with Canberra also slipping 0.2%. Sales activity is weakening too, with national home sales tracking 2.2% lower than a year ago and 4.1% below the five-year average. (ABC)
  
  

• US and Iran exchange fresh air strikes. The US struck Iranian radar and drone command sites over the weekend while Iran's Revolutionary Guard retaliated by hitting a US air base in an undisclosed location, underscoring how fragile the truce between Washington and Tehran remains. (BBC)
  
  

• US military quietly escorting ships through Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command has helped around 70 commercial ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz over the past three weeks, with most vessels turning off their transponders to avoid detection. The operation is ongoing despite stalled peace negotiations with Iran, as Washington tries to keep global energy supplies moving through the vital waterway. (NYT)
  
  

• AI trade powers S&P 500 to one of its best two-month runs ever. Memory chip companies drove the S&P 500 up 16% across April and May, a two-month surge matched only four other times since 1950. This comes as the growing frenzy over memory chips and AI sent technology shares soaring in a rally some are comparing to the dot-com boom. History offers encouragement: the index was higher six months later each time, by a median of 17%. (WSJ)

Companies in the news

• Nvidia enters the PC chip market to take on Apple and Intel. Nvidia will launch a PC ‘superchip’ this year, entering the consumer PC market for the first time. CEO Jensen Huang described it as "the most efficient PC chip ever built". Dell, Asus and HP will use the chip, putting Nvidia in direct competition with Apple, Qualcomm, Intel and AMD. (FT)
  
  

• Greg Abel's first big deal post Warren: a $6.8 billion housing bet. Berkshire Hathaway has acquired homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion in one of Greg Abel's first major moves as CEO since taking over from Warren Buffett. Experts say the investment signals a bet on a recovery in US housing demand despite elevated mortgage rates. (CNBC)
  
  

• SoftBank overtakes Toyota as Japan's biggest company. SoftBank has dethroned Toyota as Japan's largest company for the first time in more than 20 years, driven by surging investor appetite for AI stocks. The tech giant has large exposure to OpenAI and recently announced a €75 billion investment to build Europe's biggest AI facility. (FT)
  
  

• Foxtel bids to cut Nine out of NRL broadcast rights. Foxtel is looking to acquire the NRL's entire broadcast rights package and cut out Nine Entertainment, though anti-siphoning laws mean it must partner with a free-to-air network to keep some games off the paywall. (AFR)
  
  

• DroneShield shares plunge after shareholders revolt on pay. DroneShield fell nearly 9% after more than half of shareholders voted against its remuneration report, triggered by anger over poor corporate governance that allowed the former CEO, chairman and director to offload $70 million in stock. (AFR)
  
  

• Pro Medicus rallies 10% as new contracts reduce AI threat. Pro Medicus shares surged after securing two long term multi-million dollar deals in the US. Analysts have said the long-term nature of both contracts weakens the narrative that AI competitors will erode demand for the medical imaging company. (AFR)

Victor Wembanyama rookie card sells for $5.1 million

The NBA defensive player of the year's rookie card has become the fourth-highest publicly known price ever paid for an NBA card as the golden era of trading cards continues. The card sits behind only a LeBron James rookie card at $5.2 million, a Steph Curry rookie card at $5.9 million and a signed Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan duo card at $12.9 million. Rookie NBA cards are considered the most valuable in the sport, as a player will only ever have one rookie season, creating a finite supply.

The broader trading card market continues to soar, with Logan Paul setting a world record in February after selling a 1998 Pikachu Pokémon card for $16.5 million, having paid $5.3 million for it in 2021. (Yahoo | Hoops Hype)

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Active Managers vs Index ETFs: Ren’s Dilemma

Ren came to the Monthly Portfolio Update - May on Equity Mates Investing with an investing dilemma, and it is one that a lot of investors face once they start building wealth. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

After withdrawing money from their mortgage offset to invest through a financial adviser, Ren and his wife Alice found themselves staring at an investment menu full of active managers with strong track records and started questioning everything he thought he knew.

On one hand, the data is overwhelming. S&P Global's SPIVA scorecard consistently shows that active managers struggle to beat the index. Their scorecard goes further, showing that even the managers who do beat the index very rarely keep doing it. On the other hand, Ren is watching two large cap global managers, Monroe Global Growth and Loftus Peak, consistently outperform. It is hard to ignore that when the evidence is sitting right in front of you.

Bryce's view is that active managers can make sense, but only in the right context. Using them for large cap global exposure, where the index is hardest to beat, is where the case falls apart. Where active management arguably earns its place is in small caps, private equity, and genuinely differentiated strategies that do not simply replicate what a broad index already gives you.

Bryce had a blunt summary: the rational thing is to go majority with the index.

Ren has not fully committed either way yet. But his own instinct keeps pulling him back to the same conclusion: investing is supposed to be boring, and making it complicated is mostly just stressful.

• Equity Mates Investing: We chat with Charlie Viola from Viola Private Wealth in our latest Ask An Adviser episode. We unpack all things Budget, Structures, Property investing and how Viola Private Wealth is investing right now. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

• Get Started Investing: Jess is joined by Gemma Mitchell from the Australian Finance Podcast who’s going to help her look at what other investments she should consider in her core portfolio. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)