Here’s what you need to know today

• The Victorian branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) has been shut down after widespread reports of connections to organised crime. 
  
  

• Investigations into the attempted assassination of former President Trump continue. The FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks and the weapon as an AR-15. 
  
  

• ANZ’s CEO Shayne Elliott has argued that Australian banks should be allowed to take more risk in their loans to property developers and first home buyers. This doesn’t seem like a step towards solving housing affordability, just another measure to push prices further up.
  
  

• Alphabet (aka Google) may be on track for its largest acquisition ever. It is looking to acquire cyber-security company Wiz for $23 billion. Google has some of the best acquisitions in history (YouTube, Android and DoubleClick chief amongst them) but recently hasn’t seen as many home-run successes.
  
  

• Tesla shares dropped 10% after Elon Musk pushed back his promised reveal of the Tesla Robotaxi from August until October. Tesla investors shouldn’t be surprised, Elon has a long history of unrealistic timelines.
  
  

• Two big meetings to watch this week: in China, the Communist Party’s ‘Third Plenum’ will see leadership set economic goals for as far out as 2035. In the US, the Republican Party’s convention will officially nominate Donald Trump as the nominee and we will learn who will be his Vice-Presidential running mate. 

What the…?

Turns out Singapore may be the most forward-thinking country when it comes to our diets. The city-state was the first to allow the sale of lab-grown meat in 2023. Now, it has approved 16 insects to eat as food. Insects that were reclassified as safe for human consumption include crickets, grubs, moth larvae and one species of honeybee.

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Question: Given the apparent shift in rhetoric around interest rates, how should investors interpret these signals when making investment decisions?

We put this question to Roger Montgomery, CIO of Montgomery Investment Management.

It's essential to recognize that rhetoric around interest rates can be highly volatile and often misleading as a basis for long-term investing.

For instance, we started the year with the expectation of multiple interest rate cuts by the Fed and RBA, but recent communications suggest fewer cuts. Despite these changing signals, what's crucial is to focus on the broader economic themes rather than reacting to short-term noise.

Investors should adopt a disciplined approach to buying quality businesses at attractive prices. When the market is disappointed by less-than-expected rate cuts and stocks sell off, that's often an excellent buying opportunity.

Over the long term, it's not the number of rate cuts that drives investment value but the underlying strength and growth potential of the businesses you invest in. Hence, being patient and disciplined, and taking advantage of market volatility, can be more rewarding than trying to time the market based on interest rate forecasts.

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