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Here’s what you need to know today

• Overnight, Iran responded to America’s attacks on its nuclear facilities by firing missiles at the American Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. It is America’s largest military base in the Middle East, with about 10,000 troops stationed there. Qatar’s missile defence system intercepted the missiles and there have been no casualties reported so far. (NY Times)
  
  

• The NY Times report that Iran gave Qatar advanced notice of the attack, with Iranian officials saying they needed to symbolically respond to the US attack while allowing all sides an exit ramp. Those reports have not been confirmed by Qatar or the US. Oil prices fell 4% on the news, as hopes that both sides would de-escalate rose. (NY Times)
  
  

• Questions remain about the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities. Vice-President JD Vance argued the US had “substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon” but wouldn’t go as far as President Trump's claim that Iran’s nuclear program had been “totally obliterated”. (NBC News)
  
  

• Commodity markets have risen on the prospects of further conflict in the Middle-East. Oil pushed above US$80 a barrel, up 11% since Israel first launched its strikes against Iran, and a basket of 24 major commodities is up 8% in June - its best return since March 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. (AFR)
  
  

• Tesla’s Robotaxi Day is here. The electric vehicle company launched a small group of self-driving taxis in Austin, Texas. This marks the first time that Tesla cars have picked up paying riders without human drivers, a huge milestone in where Elon Musk sees Tesla’s future. (Reuters)
  
  

• There is one caveat, however, to the Tesla robotaxi launch. The company will have a ‘safety driver’ sitting in the passenger seat to ensure nothing goes wrong. This isn’t unusual - Waymo spent a decade testing with safety drivers - but it does take some of the shine off the launch. (Forbes)
  
  

• Eli Lilly’s next generation diabetes and weight-loss drug, Orforglipron, showed positive results in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Current GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro require patients to inject themselves, whereas, if approved, Orforglipron will be a once-a-day pill. (AFR)
  
  

• Australia’s highest-paid CEO, News Corp’s Robert Thomson, has agreed to a 5-year extension at the media giant. Thomson earned $42 million in 2024. His extension is good news for News Corp’s Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, who is still getting his feet under him after taking over from his dad, Rupert Murdoch, in late 2023. (AFR)
  
  

• The Reject Shop will have a new owner very soon after shareholders in the Australian discount retailer voted overwhelmingly in favour of a $259 million takeover bid by Canadian discount retailer Dollarama. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• All 32 members of NATO have reportedly agreed to a goal of spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. This is a huge escalation, when Trump was first elected in 2016 he was berating NATO partners for not spending up to their 2% of GDP target. (Reuters)

What the…?

Have you noticed songs getting shorter? You’re not going crazy, between 1990 and 2024 the average length of a song topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart has dropped 18%.

Why? Streaming services. Artists get paid if a user listens for at least 30 seconds. They don’t make any more for longer songs. So the incentive has been to hook people early and keep the song snappy or as South Korean artist Jennie puts it, “Don’t bore us, take it to the chorus.” (The Economist)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Control your ego, control your spending

This is an excerpt from our book Don’t Stress, Just Invest, winner of the Best Personal Finance and Investing Book at the 2024 Business Book Awards.

We came across this idea in Morgan Housel’s book The Psychology of Money and particularly liked the concept.

Outside the absolute essentials and everyday basics, Morgan writes that much of our spending is a reflection of our ego. The clothes we wear, the restaurants we frequent, the cars we drive, the houses we buy and the places we travel are all ways to project a certain image into the world, often to show that we have (or had) money.

So getting on top of our money doesn’t start in our bank account. It starts in our head. As Morgan writes:

When you define savings as the gap between your ego and your income you realize why many people with decent incomes save so little. It’s a daily struggle against instincts to extend your peacock feathers to their outermost limits and keep up with others doing the same.

People with enduring personal finance success—not necessarily those with high incomes—tend to have a propensity to not give a damn what others think about them.

Want to read more? Pick up your copy of Don’t Stress, Just Invest on Amazon or wherever you buy books (Amazon)

Today’s sponsor is Scouting Australia Podcast

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Join Sammy Gordon, Equity Mates’ regular property expert, as he sits down with Jimmy Ibrahim for a no-holds-barred myth-busting session on Australian property investing.

Drawing from real conversations with a new wave of first-time investors, Jimmy brings insights straight from the front lines; highlighting the common questions, concerns, and misconceptions doing the rounds today. Whether it’s advice from your parents, fear-driven media headlines, or outdated strategies pushed by so-called experts, this episode cuts through the noise and reveals what actually works in the modern market.

Tune in to this powerful episode on the Scouting Australia Podcast, available on all your favourite platforms.

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