Today’s News

The Big Picture

• Older Aussies lead spending surge. Household spending rose 2.9% in March, with data from millions of Comm Bank customers showing older Australians drove much of the increase. Over-65s lifted spending by 14.2% over the year, outpacing all other age groups. The rise came as transport costs jumped 22.9% amid higher fuel prices, while Australians aged 18-24 were the only group not to increase their spending. (ABC)

  
  

• Government steps in to secure diesel supply. Anthony Albanese has used new emergency powers to underwrite the purchase of 100 million litres of diesel, aiming to bolster fuel security. Under the scheme, petrol companies still buy the fuel, but the government absorbs the financial risk. Albanese confirmed the move funded two shipments, totalling 570,000 barrels, sourced from Brunei and South Korea. (ABC)
  
  

• Australian unemployment steady… but storm clouds ahead. Australia’s unemployment rate held at 4.3% in March, with strong gains in full-time jobs offset by a drop in part-time work. The data suggests the labour market remains resilient for now. Economists warn the figures pre-date the economic impact of the Middle East conflict, meaning it could be the calm before the storm. (ABC)
  
  

• Australia ramps up defence spending. Defence Minister Richard Marles says the Iran conflict has reshaped the strategic landscape, as the government commits an extra $53bn to military spending over the next decade. The plan will lift defence spending from 2.8% to 3% of GDP by 2033. The increase still falls short of US calls for allies to spend up to 3.5% of GDP. (AP News)

  
  

• NSW nurses win major pay rise. Nurses and midwives in NSW have secured significant pay increases, with registered nurses and midwives set for a 16% rise, enrolled nurses 18%, and assistants in nursing up 28% over three years. The Industrial Relations Commission found their work had been significantly undervalued, with gender likely a factor. The ruling also highlighted the cost, with every 1% pay increase adding around $74.5m a year to the NSW state budget. (ABC)

  
  

• US indexes hit record highs. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to close at 7,022, its first time above 7,000, while the Nasdaq also surged 1.6% to a record 24,016. Strong earnings from the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley helped fuel the rally. (The Guardian)

Companies in the news

• Viva Energy refinery fire sparks supply fears. A blaze at Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery, one of just two remaining in Australia, has heightened concerns over fuel supply at a time when energy security is already front of mind. The site produces around 50% of Victoria’s fuel and 10% nationally. Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt said the damage would increase reliance on imports, while Energy Minister Chris Bowen warned it was “not a positive development.” (AFR)
  
  

• Live Nation ruled an illegal monopoly. A US jury has found the Ticketmaster owner illegally operated as a monopoly within the live events market and overcharged fans, following a seven-week trial in New York. The company may now be forced to sell parts of its business or even split from Ticketmaster. The company hosted 55,000 concerts last year with 159 million attendees. (BBC)
  

• Uber goes all-in on robotaxis. The rideshare giant is committing more than $10bn to self-driving vehicles, taking stakes in developers and buying fleets to stay ahead of disruption. The move marks a big shift away from its asset-light gig economy model. Uber is set to invest over $2.5bn in equity and spend more than $7.5bn on robotaxi fleets. (FT)
  
  

• ASX Group hit with credit downgrade. S&P Global Ratings has cut its rating on ASX Group, citing shortcomings in governance and risk management. The move follows ASIC’s final inquiry, which flagged the need for significant investment to fix ongoing operational issues. (S&P Global)
  
  

• Saudi fund rethinks LIV Golf bet. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has poured around $5bn into LIV Golf, is reportedly considering scaling back support as part of a broader spending rethink. The move could put the future of the loss-making league in doubt. LIV Golf has struggled financially since launch, with its UK arm losing nearly $500m in 2024 and profitability still 5-10 years away. (FT)

What the…?

From wool sneakers to AI servers. Once valued at $5.9bn, the former sneaker manufacturer Allbirds has announced it will pivot from shoes to artificial intelligence. The former Silicon Valley favourite, known for its Merino wool sneakers, struggled to turn a profit after its 2021 IPO and saw its share price collapse from over $500 to just $2.50.

Now rebranding as NewBird AI, the company has secured $50m to invest in GPUs and AI infrastructure, in a move that has sent its shares surging back to $17, up 582%. (AFR)

A message from Vanta

Vanta automates your compliance process and brings compliance, risk, and customer trust together on one AI-powered platform.

Whether you’re prepping for your ISO 27001 or SOC 2, or running an enterprise GRC program, Vanta keeps you secure - and keeps your deals moving. Companies like Dovetail, Ramp and Writer spend 82% less time on audits with Vanta. That’s not just faster compliance - it’s more time for growth. Watch the on-demand demo to see how it works. 

Today’s Insight

Luke Larative’s advice to a 22-year-old investor

On a recent episode of Equity Mates Investing community member Lachie gets his portfolio pimped by Luke Laretive (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)

Luke: Infratil, I don't know whether there's a lot of growth left in the stock now, at 1.5x price to book in terms of outperformance potential. In terms of how the business is going, they just had another independent valuation come through, another $350m of value added to that business. They’ve got heaps of contracts and heaps of capacity to grow. So you could do a lot worse. It's a really good business. Is it cheap? No. But in terms of a medium term hold business, you could do a lot worse. In fact, I'd say it's a pretty good one.

Ren: Before we get onto the other stocks, Lachie, I'd love to ask you, why is Infratil such a big part of your portfolio?

Lachie: My first investment was Infratil and, at the time I pretty much put all of my savings at the end of high school into it and had that actually in my dad's name because I didn't have my own accounts set up yet. And since then, I've just slowly been adding to it through the number of equity raises they did. They did a few, uh, share offers through about 2022 to 2024 and I participated in a lot of those. That's been growing. And then actually since starting listening to you guys, I have realised that that's terrible, you know, a weighting with that 35% in one company.

Luke: I disagree with this. When you've got a good business like that and you actually own it and you're young, if you're gonna own a concentrated portfolio, do it when you're 22. As you guys know, I never bought diversified ETFs personally. I used to own a portfolio of, five stocks. Even how we invest now, I don't go and buy the market. I still buy a concentrated portfolio. I think that the very safe and very boring thing to do is to do what the guys recommend, which is very logical, it makes a lot of sense, but I don't think it's the way that you make the most money. So if you can be good at picking stocks, you should do that. But the problem is, is most people just aren't very good at it. Infratil, on the other hand, is a good stock.

Today in Equity Mates