Here’s what you need to know today

• Nine Entertainment was the biggest loser on the Australian stock market yesterday, with shares falling 36%. The reason for the fall? Nine went ex-dividend for a special 49 cent dividend being paid to investors after the sale of the Domain property listing portal. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna launched on the New York Stock Exchange and saw shares jump as much as 43%. The successful IPO was reportedly 20-times oversubscribed and comes just weeks after design platform Figma’s similarly successful IPO. For companies thinking about going public, the IPO window appears open (*cough* Canva) (Capital Brief)
  
  

• OpenAI executives are coming down under. It isn’t clear which executives will be visiting Australia, but it has been confirmed they will be meeting Treasurer Jim Chalmers and visiting multiple cities as the AI startup (if we can call a US$500 billion company a startup) plans an expanded presence in Australia. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Quantum computing leader, PsiQuantum, has more than doubled in value to US$7 billion after completing a capital raise that included Nvidia, BlackRock and the Qatar Investment Authority. The Australian government and Queensland government have previously invested in PsiQuantum on the condition it would build its headquarters in Brisbane. (AFR)
  
  

• In the same week that ANZ cut 4,500 jobs and NAB cut 410 jobs, and a week after Bank of Queensland cut 200 jobs, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is the latest bank to announce layoffs. It plans to cut 158 jobs, the majority from its technology team. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Novo Nordisk, maker of blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic, has announced it will cut 9,000 jobs. This represents 11% of the company’s global workforce. (The Guardian)
  
  

• Larry Ellison added $101 billion to his bank account before lunch. The 81-year old Oracle cofounder saw shares rise as much as 44% in the morning after a quarterly report highlighted its growing cloud business as a big AI winner. The rise saw Ellison jump Elon Musk and become the wealthiest person on earth. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• In response to Russian drones invading its airspace, Poland has invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty, requiring joint consultation between the allies when a member’s teritorial sovereignty is threatened. This is a step before Article 5, that requires allies to collectively defend any member that is attacked. (NY Times)
  
  

• NATO members have previously expressed concern that the US under President Trump would not honour Article 5. However, in response to Russia’s incurrsion into Polish airspace, the US ambassador to NATO said the US "will defend every inch of NATO territory," and Trump posted, “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” (CNN)
  
  

• French protestors took to the streets as part of the ‘Block Everything’ protests. 300 people were arrested by French police as demonstrators demanded President Emmanuel Macron call fresh elections. (ABC News)
  
  

• Days after Israel attacked the Hamas delegation in Qatar, Israel also attacked Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, killing 35 people. Reports were contested - Israel reported it struck military targets, the Houthis reported the attack were on civilian targets. (ABC News)

What the…?

The UK Government plans to ban energy drinks for people under the age of 16. Up to one-third of UK children consume energy drinks at least once per week, with some of the more popular energy drinks containing more caffeine that two cups of coffee.

The ban would include all energy drinks, from the more established brands like Red Bull and Mother, to the newer brands that are seen to target younger consumers such as Prime. (BBC)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

3 quick questions with Nick Griffin

Nick Griffin is the Chief Investment Officer at Munro Partners. Here is an excerpt from a recent conversation on Equity Mates Investing (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

What key lessons did you learn over your investing journey?

The first thing we worked out was ‘go global’. The second thing was just focus on structural change, where the big winners come from... And then the third thing that we definitely worked out was there's only a few of these, so just be concentrated and try and just converge on these big winners... And so basically the entire process was built out of those three covenants, and that's the process we've been running now for nearly 20 years and it works very well for us.

How do you manage mistakes and risk?

96% of all companies that list don't create any value at all. 4% of companies that list create the entire value of the US equity market over the last 90 years... Most good fund managers have a batting average of roughly 50%... You are going to make mistakes. What you have to do is find a way of processing that mistake and removing it from your list and then focusing on the good ones.

What conventional wisdom in the industry do you think is wrong?

The stock market is not the economy. It's not but everyone tries to connect them... Think about it this way: The average return on the S&P 500 over a long period of time is 8%. The average GDP in the United States over a long period of time is 3%.

The difference is those companies that are growing above GDP because of these big structural changes that they're leveraged to. Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Apple, and all the next ones to come. You're not buying the economy, you're buying a warrant on human innovation.

Want to hear our full conversation with Nick? Listen on your preferred podcast app or watch it on the Equity Mates YouTube channel:

A message from Fidelity

Where should investors be looking for the next wave of global growth?

As large caps hover near historical valuation highs, and with a few stocks dominating its index, many investors are seeking signals for the next wave of growth and new avenues for diversification. With global small-and-mid-caps gaining renewed momentum, could now be the time to broaden your portfolio?

The Fidelity Global Future Leaders Active ETF offers investors an easy way to access tomorrow’s global growth, backed by Fidelity’s research-powered investing, and experienced investment experts dedicated to investing in global small to mid-cap companies.

Discover tomorrow’s global leaders, today.

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