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Here’s what you need to know today

• The US market has made up all of its Liberation Day losses and then some. The S&P 500 is up 4% since Trump’s announcement on 2 April and year-to-date the index is now up 0.4%.
  
  

• The story is similar in Australia. Since Liberation Day, the ASX 200 is up 5.5% and for the year so far the index is up 1%.
  
  

• As equity markets tick up, gold has been ticking down. The safe haven asset is down 8% since 6 May and fell below US$3,200 for the first time since 11 April. (Reuters)
  
  

• Australia’s latest employment numbers showed the economy added 89,000 jobs in March but unemployment held steady at 4.1% as the participation rate neared a record-high at 67.1%. These numbers smashed expectations of 22,500 jobs being added. A sign the economy is holding up okay. (AFR)
  
  

• Larissa Waters has been chosen as the leader of the Greens. The Senator from Queensland replaced Adam Bandt who lost his seat at the recent Australian federal election. (ABC News)
  
  

• US President Trump’s trip through the Middle East continues to see big deals announced. Qatar Airlines announced it would be buying up to 210 Boeing planes in a $96 billion deal (CNBC) and Saudi Aramco signed 34 deals collectively worth $90 billion with American companies. (US News)
  
  

• Alphabet-owned robotaxi service Waymo just recalled 1,200 self-driving cars due to a software issue. The good news? None of the cars currently on the road were affected. (Quartz)
  
  

• Australian accounting platform Xero reported revenue grew 23% and profit up 30% in a strong earnings report. The one disappointment was growth in North America where subscriber numbers went backwards. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• Australia’s largest insurer, Insurance Australia Group, has acquired The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) for $1.35 billion. The move comes six months after a similar deal with Royal Automobile Club of Queensland and comes after success owning the NRMA insurance brand in NSW and RACV in Victoria. (AFR)
  
  

• Online trading platform EToro has a huge IPO in the US. The Israel-based firm saw shares jump 42% in its first session as a public company, giving it a market value of almost US$6 billion. (AFR)

What the…?

Walmart-owned Sam’s Club has announced it is removing all checkouts from their stores. The retail giant is removing self-checkouts and traditional checkout lanes from its 600-plus stores and will be moving all customers to its Scan & Go app.

Customers will scan items using their phone as they shop and then will be able to pay through the app and walk out. The company first launched the Scan & Go app in 2016 but taking away other checkout options is a huge move. Given the rest of the world’s retailers often look to Walmart, if it is successful expect to see this tried by more retailers around the world. (Quartz)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

Queenie Tan’s ETF portfolio

This is an excerpt of our Get Started Investing episode with Queenie Tan. (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

Ren: So Queenie, this series is all about asking about how people are investing today. You've got property, stocks, crypto. You've given us a bit of an outline of the portfolio, but I'd love to just get a bit more specific when it comes to the stock market investing and ETFs.

What are some of the ETFs you're buying or some of the stocks you're looking at?

Queenie: I have a few ETFs that I do love. I feel like there's no right or wrong way to do it, but these are the ETFs that I really love and that I've decided to dollar cost average into our portfolio.

The first one is VETH, which is the Vanguard Ethically Conscious Australian Shares ETF. The reason why I love this one is because there are so many things that I'm passionate about, one of them being climate change and future generations. And I think having a daughter makes me realise I want this world to be good for her in the future. So I think it's important wherever I can to try and invest in things that would be good for our future.

I know, of course, there is greenwashing, there are sometimes problems with ethical ETFs as well, but at least I'm trying to do my part and I know it's not perfect.

Then the other one is VESG, Vanguard Ethically Conscious International Shares ETF. I feel like just with those two ETFs, they're pretty well diversified, - Australia and International - and of course I also do have a bit of Bitcoin in my portfolio. Other things like gold, property, those sorts of things as well.

Prefer to watch our conversation with Queenie? All Get Started Investing episodes are available to watch on the Get Started Investing YouTube:

Today’s sponsor is PIMCO

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