Here’s what you need to know today

• The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate steady at 4.35%. This was largely expected despite Australian inflation at 3.8% for the past 12 months. RBA Governor Michele Bullock quashed any hope of an interest rate cut, ruling out a rate cut in the next six month. We’re outliers, but we still think the next move could be up (that last sentence is certainly opinion, not news).
  
  

• After two tough days, the Aussie share market held up okay on Tuesday. From the open on Friday to the close on Monday, the share market was down 5.6%. However, on Tuesday the ASX 200 was up 0.4%.
  
  

• We may not be out of the woods yet. It was as if investors collectively took a breath to see what happens next in the US. On Monday, the US market fell 3%. Another fall later this week will likely see Australia’s market follow.
  
  

• Japan’s stock market rebounded. After falling 12% on Monday, it rebounded 10% on Tuesday. It appears many global traders needed to get out of the Yen as it strengthened on Monday. Once those trades were unwound the market was able to settle.
  
  

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink has implanted its second patient with a brain chip. The company hopes to implant chips in another 8 people this year. The company’s first patient, 29-year-old quadriplegic Noland Arbaugh, continues to be able to control a computer with his brain chip that was inserted in January.
  
  

• Australian mining services company Mineral Resources announced 100 job cuts as it shuts some iron ore mines and shelves plans to boost lithium production. This follows Albemarle’s decision last week to cut 300 jobs and BHP’s decision in July to suspend its Nickel West operations. Between lithium and nickel’s collapse this year, Western Australia’s mining industry is feeling it with more than 6,300 jobs already lost.
  
  

• A US court handed down a ruling calling Google a monopolist on search and advertising markets. Google currently has 90% of the online search market. There will now be a second trial to determine any potential remedies, although as the AFR writes, it will be hard to unscramble this egg.
  
  

• Nvidia’s share price fell 6% after reports of a design flaw in its next generation Blackwell AI chips. It is expected to lead to a 3 month delay in deliveries.

What the…?

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway announced that it was sitting on $277 billion in cash at the end of the quarter. Most of those funds are invested in treasury bills while Buffett searches for his next investment.

Turns out, with Buffett’s investment in this short-term US government debt, Berkshire Hathaway now owns more treasury bills than the US Federal Reserve.

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

A Few Thoughts On the Selloff

This week, we’re going to use this section of our email to share articles reminding us what to do in moments like this. Today’s article comes from Michael Batnick.

The fact of the matter is that a 5-10% drawdown is absolutely normal for stock markets. There is no need to panic. So much of this fear is driven by the response from a media which thrives on fearful clicks.

Stay the course. Stick to your investing plan. And if you have spare cash buy more. Sure, it could get worse before it gets better. But markets have been through this before and will again. We’ll all be okay.

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