📈 Oil spikes as Iran fires ballistic missiles at Israel | "Chat is dead": OpenAI's big pivot

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The Big Picture

• Iran fires ballistic missiles into Israel, spiking oil prices. For the first time since the April ceasefire, Iran and Israel exchanged large-scale strikes after 10 Iranian ballistic missiles were intercepted over Israel. Oil prices shot up 3% on the news. Trump reportedly pushed for resumed peace talks, but voices on both sides claimed peace is off the table for now. (NYT | BBC)
  
  

• Tech selloff continues in Asian markets. While US markets slept and the ASX had the day off, Korean and Japanese markets carried on the tech rout from Friday’s selloff. Korea’s KOSPI plunged 8%, leading to a trading stoppage, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 4%. (FT)
  
  

• Scams rob Aussies of $248m in first quarter. New data from the National Anti-Scam Centre shows nearly 61,000 reported scams made off with over $248 million in the first three months of 2026. Fake websites, ads, apps and social media accounted for around half of all losses. (NASC)
  
  

• Aussie dollar slides nearly 2% as US rate hike looks more likely. The Australian dollar is still up over 5% since the start of the year due to RBA rate hikes, which make the dollar more attractive. However, high US inflation and strong jobs reports make US rate hikes more likely, eroding the Australian dollar’s advantage. (CNBC)
  
  

• Dairy prices to rise as high energy costs impact farmers. The prices of oil and urea, a key fertiliser ingredient, have both risen 40% since the Iran conflict began. This has trickled down to dairy farmers, who will pass along increased costs to processors, supermarkets, and eventually consumers. Exact estimates haven’t arrived, but one farmer claimed their costs had risen 20%. (AFR)

Companies in the news

• “Chat is dead”: OpenAI plans pivot to profitability. The AI company will overhaul ChatGPT into a so-called ‘super app’ incorporating coding tools and AI agents in pursuit of greater revenue. One senior OpenAI employee declared “Chat is dead”. With Anthropic recently passing OpenAI in revenue and valuation and filing for IPO, there is significant pressure for OpenAI to finally turn a profit. (FT)
  
  

• Union battles Inpex over LNG workers’ wages. Hundreds of Offshore Alliance workers at the Japanese gas giant’s facilities in northern Australia are on strike over alleged negotiation interference by Inpex executives, leading to eight-hour stoppages and causing supply disruptions at a time where gas supply is critical. (AFR)
  
  

• ASIC investigates KPMG as audit scandal snowballs. The scandal has rocked the consulting giant, who is accused of using confidential data to win work and having deeply flawed whistleblower procedures. The Australian financial regulator is wading in, investigating two key personnel and eight contracts ASIC has with KPMG. (ABC) 

  
  

• Dexus cuts executives in wake of negative court ruling. The real estate investment firm also fired its adviser JPMorgan and is reviewing its $7.3 billion infrastructure business after it is being forced to sell its stake in Melbourne Airport. The legal decision came after the Supreme Court ruled Dexus shared confidential information in trying to sell one of its holdings. (AFR)
  
  

• Critics cry foul as Sportsbet parent launches rewards club. Sportsdream, a subsidiary of Sportsbet owner Flutter Entertainment, offers entries into raffles for money, cars, holidays and more for $19 per month. Despite selling gambling-like chance-based rewards, rewards clubs are regulated much more lightly than gambling, drawing criticism from anti-gambling advocates. (ABC) 

The beautiful boozy game

In spite of soaring ticket and transit costs, World Cup fans are expected to still have an appetite for a pint or two. Or maybe a few more. Football fans are expected to add an additional one billion pints worth of demand for beer during the World Cup.

The tournament has been expanded from 64 to 104 matches this year, making it the largest ever. Beer sellers stand to benefit from fortuitous match timing — popular teams from Europe and the Americas have most of their matches between 5pm and 11pm local time, placing the greatest number of fans into peak beer hours. (FT)

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Better late than never

Financial adviser Matt Ingram from Northhaven had some words for the late-starters that are feeling a bit discouraged.

What’s your advice for someone who feels they’ve started too late?

Well, tomorrow is even later so you better start now! Seriously though, almost everyone feels this at some point. I saved a decent stack of cash through my early 20s. Could I have invested more of it and potentially ended up further ahead? Probably. But that also allowed me to buy my first house.

It’s easy to zoom in on what you didn’t do and ignore what you did do. That’s not a helpful way to measure progress. You made decisions based on what you knew, what you earned, and what felt right at the time. Spending too much time thinking about a “missed start” is a bit like driving while staring in the rear-view mirror. You can glance back to learn from it, but if you keep looking there, you’re going to struggle to move forward.

If you’re 35, you might still have 30 years of investing ahead of you. If you’re 45, maybe it’s 20 years. If you’re 55… you get the idea. That’s not that short. Compounding still works. Celebrate what you’ve already accomplished. Then turn your attention to what comes next. The only starting point that matters now is the one in front of you.

Want to work with an adviser like Matt to get started? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked advisers to help you get started.

• Equity Mates Investing: Eucalyptus is one of Australia’s latest billion-dollar start ups. We caught up with founder Tim Doyle on today’s episode. Catch the episode wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on YouTube. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

• Get Started Investing: Jess is moving on from her core and starting to build her portfolio’s satellite. On today’s episode, she’s learning how to pick stocks with an expert. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)