Here’s what you need to know today

• US and Russian officials met for more than 4-and-a-half hours in Saudi Arabia, reaching an agreement to further negotiate the end of the war in Ukraine, restore diplomatic ties and explore economic cooperation. This includes a reported push by President Trump to restore Russia to the G8. (The Guardian | Reuters)
  
  

• After the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no-one was being sidelined and any solution must work for Ukraine and Europe. This wasn’t the view of Ukrainian President Zelensky who said no decision should be made “behind the backs” of Ukraine. (Reuters)
  
  

• Adding more pressure to Ukraine, President Trump then said he wants Ukraine to hold elections before its government can be involved in peace negotiations. Zelensky was elected in 2019 to a 5-year term but Ukraine has been under martial law since Russia invaded in 2022 and has not been able to hold elections. (AFR)
  
  

• Ukraine wasn’t the only country Trump was putting pressure on. The US President announced tariffs on all countries that use a value-added tax system (like Australia’s GST) and also on country’s that have “non-monetary trade barriers” which US trade representatives have suggested include policies like Australia’s biosecurity restrictions and pharmaceutical benefits scheme rules. It is not clear when these tariffs would be applied. (Twitter | The Conversation)
  
  

• NAB disappointed investors with its quarterly update and shares fell 8%. This follows disappointing results from Westpac and Adelaide & Bendigo bank as well. This is in contrast to Commonwealth Bank, who reported a strong set of results, suggesting our biggest bank may be our strongest at the moment. (AFR)
  
  

• Goodman Group has raised $4 billion to continue building more data centres. The ASX-listed property developer unveiled its full data centre strategy with plans to build these critical pieces of AI infrastructure in major cities including LA, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo and Madrid. (AFR)
  
  

• Mineral Resources reported a tough set of half-year results, headlined by a 9% drop in revenue, a $807 million loss and axing its interim dividend. The mining services giant has been struggling to overcome the controversy surrounding its founder’s, Chris Ellison, alleged tax evasion. (AFR)
  
  

• It’s not just Mineral Resources cutting its dividend. Santos also announced a 41% cut to its interim dividend after profit fell 14% on the back of lower oil and gas prices. These resources companies join BHP in cutting their interim dividends this week. (AFR)
  
  

• Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, released their latest chatbot Grok-3, which the company claims outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek’s V3 and Anthropic’s Claude across math, science and coding benchmarks. xAI also introduced DeepSearch, a reasoning-based chatbot that articulates its thought process and offers research, brainstorming and data analysis functions. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Meanwhile, it has emerged that some of the recently-fired staff from the US Government’s Food and Drug Administration were reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink brain implants. These abrupt firings have been coming across US government departments, led by the DOGE Office that Elon Musk heads up. (Reuters)
  
  

• Brazil has joined OPEC+, the broader group of the cartel of oil-producing nations. Brazil has ramped up oil production in recent years, and is now the world’s seventh-largest producer of oil. (AP News)

What the…?

If you feel US politics in the Trump-era has become a little less serious, let this be your Exhibit A. Earl “Buddy” Carter, a 10 year Congressman from Georgia, has introduced the ‘Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025’ that would force the U.S. Government’s Geographic Names and Information System to update the name of Greenland in official U.S. Government documentation and systems to Red, White and Blueland.

Carter’s bill is intended to support President Trump’s push for America to take over Greenland. But we’re not sure the U.S. Government updating their systems will have much of an effect on Denmark’s leaders. (Forbes)

Enjoy this email? We’d love you to forward it to someone else who may enjoy it.

Forwarded this email? You can sign up here. 

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

The biggest mistakes one adviser sees

This question came from Chuluu:

What is the biggest money mistake you see people making when they first come to you for advice?

We put this question to Dylan Pargiter-Green, financial adviser at Bold Wealth:

The biggest money mistake is not doing anything at all. When clients come to see us, its often because they’ve recently experienced or are about to experience a catalyst or change; Inheritance, pending retirement, separation or a recent gift are all common examples.

We find that when clients are uncertain of their financial position or they experience change, there is decision paralysis that sets in and they often are unable to take stock of their new position and so do nothing. This is also commonly associated with some level of fear or uncertainty around finance and investment. Clients will then often hold their funds, being unsure about what they should do, missing out on market exposure over this time.

There are many examples of smaller mistakes as well, some include:

• Trying to run your own individual stock portfolio with a small investment balance - you are very unlikely to beat the market or the professionals.

• Being overly conservative with investments despite a long investment time horizon

• Holding assets in the wrong structure and paying more tax than necessary

• Being under insured - your income is your largest asset throughout your life!

• Not spending enough throughout their working lives and in retirement through fear of running out.

Interested in speaking to a financial adviser? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll match you with one of our hand-picked financial advisers.

Today’s sponsor is Qualitas

In the current market environment, where should you – as an astute investor turn?

Many investors are now realising what institutional investors have known for years – real estate private credit has the potential to provide attractive through-the-cycle returns.

Unlike direct property ownership, real estate private credit loan values do not fluctuate like property values, meaning investors can reap the benefits of the property market without the risks of property ownership. The stability of the loan value creates a predictable cash flow through regular interest payments from the borrower – which provides income to investors through monthly distributions*.

Access smart investments made simple with ASX:QRI.

Want more Equity Mates?