📈 Supreme Court protects Fed but expands Trump's power | ACCC sues Amazon over Prime ads

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The Big Picture

• Supreme Court protects the Fed but expands Trump's power. The US Supreme Court has blocked President Trump's attempt to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, affirming the central bank's independence. This came as it also cleared the way for Trump to remove other independent regulators. The rulings mark a major expansion of presidential authority over independent agencies, with the Fed carved out as a notable exception. (NYT | BBC)
  
  

• Iran denies Trump's claim of a Doha meeting. President Trump claims Iran has requested a meeting in Qatar today following last week's exchange of strikes, but Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied any planned meeting with the US. Tehran says it will instead send an expert delegation to Doha to follow up on the release of frozen Iranian funds. (Al Jazeera)
  
  

• Consumer confidence hits highest level since March. Consumer confidence has climbed to its highest level since early March according to ANZ-Roy Morgan data. ANZ economist Madeline Dunk attributed the rise to falling unemployment and easing petrol prices, which have lifted households' 12-month financial outlook to its best level since February. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Almost half of Australian businesses report rising costs from fuel prices. New ABS data shows 46% of Australian businesses reported higher operating expenses over the past four weeks, with fuel-exposed sectors hit hardest. Between 49% and 72% of businesses in agriculture, manufacturing, accommodation, food services and transport reported rising costs, reflecting the squeeze from elevated fuel prices. (Capital Brief)

Companies in the news

• ACCC sues Amazon over Prime ad rollout. The ACCC is suing Amazon over claims it used unfair contract terms to introduce ads to Prime Video in July 2024, forcing more than a million Australian subscribers to pay an extra $2.99 a month to remain ad-free. The regulator alleges Amazon relied on terms allowing unilateral changes to subscriber contracts between November 2023 and August 2025. (ABC)
  
  

• Magnificent Seven stocks shed US$2.3 trillion in past month. The Magnificent Seven tech companies: Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Tesla, have collectively shed more than $2.3 trillion in value this month, falling 10% in their worst month in over a year. Investors are said to be rotating away from companies spending heavily on AI infrastructure toward the chipmakers benefiting from that spending. (FT)
  
  

• Comcast spins off NBCUniversal and Sky. Comcast will spin off NBCUniversal and Sky, into a new publicly traded company. Co-CEO Brian Roberts said the split reflects the fact that Comcast's technology and media businesses now face distinct competitive pressures. Shares jumped as much as 17% on the news before settling to close the day up around 4.5%. (CNBC)
  
  

• Supermicro's Taiwan office searched over chip smuggling. Taiwanese authorities raided the American company Supermicro's Taiwan office on Monday as part of an investigation into the alleged smuggling of Nvidia AI chips to China. The news sent shares in the server maker down around 8%. (FT)
  
  

• Rocket Lab buys satellite company to take on SpaceX. Rocket Lab will acquire satellite communications provider Iridium Communications for US$8bn. The deal intends to position Rocket Lab to be able to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink network. Rocket Lab shares still jumped nearly 16% on the news, while Iridium shares soared 25%. (CNBC)
  
  

• Collins Foods to extend KFC opening hours after European push stalls. Collins Foods will launch a breakfast menu for KFC and extend opening hours to midnight across its Australian KFC stores after its European expansion struggled to gain traction. Net profit fell below almost 20% of market expectations for the fast food operator as it reported it’s FY26 results. (AFR)

EY grads fired for accessing Anthony Albanese’s bank details

Two EY graduates on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia have been fired after allegedly accessing confidential banking details belonging to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and at least one senior EY partner. The Australian Federal Police charged two men in May with viewing restricted personal banking data belonging to a federal parliamentarian, with only one of those charged a former EY graduate employee. (ABC)

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What is the single biggest mistake first home buyers make before they even start looking?

We posed this question to Jack Elliott, National First Home Buyer Specialist at Alcove and this was his view.

Jack: The biggest mistake I see is first home buyers spending months trying to figure out their financial situation on their own before they talk to a broker. They're Googling calculators, guessing what they can borrow, and stressing about whether they're even ready. In doing that, they're burning mental energy on something that's our job as brokers to help guide them through. The moment a buyer comes in and we look at their income, deposit, available pathways, and upfront costs together, things click into place really quickly. Most of the time, people can buy sooner than they thought or they find out there's a clear gap to close and we build a plan around that.

Once the finance piece is sorted, they can put all their energy where it actually matters which is the property decision. That's the part that requires their full attention. Choosing the right location, the right type of property, thinking about where they'll be in five to ten years. That's where first home buyers should be spending their mental energy, not trying to reverse engineer their borrowing power from an online calculator. Start the conversation six to twelve months before you think you want to buy, this way we can make a really strong plan together.

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

• Today on Basis Points Ally is joined by Milford’s Regan van Berlo. The pair chat about building portfolios for retirement. Regan believes retirement fundamentally changes the maths of investing, and today, they chat about how advisers can build better portfolios for their older clients. (Spotify | Apple | YouTube)