The Equity Mates email is back for 2025!

Every weekday morning we’ll be summarising the business and finance news that matters and sharing one insight to help make you a better investor.

If you enjoy what we do, we have a request: help us by completing the Equity Mates Community Survey (Survey Link). The insights from the survey help us plan what to do next. For example, one of the findings from last year’s survey: move this email to daily and focus on news.

Help us continue improving Equity Mates in 2025 with your insights and ideas. (Survey Link)

Here’s what you need to know today

• The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has gone into effect, after Hamas released the names of the first 3 hostages that would be released. (AFR) The first phase of this truce will see 33 Israeli hostages released over a six-week period, and will hopefully be the first step towards end the 15 month conflict. (CBS)
  
  

• TikTok briefly went dark in the United States. The US Congress gave Bytedance, the Chinese owner of the social media giant, one year to sell its US operations. That deadline was reached on 19 January and, with no sale, Bytedance cut off access to US users. (ABC News)
  
  

• As quickly as TikTok shut down, it came back online after President-elect Trump confirmed he would sign an executive order giving Bytedance a 90-day extension. In a Truth Social post he also backed away from the US law demanding a full sale of US operations and instead stated, “I would like the United States to have a 50 per cent ownership position in a joint venture.” (Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  

• This week’s news will be dominated by President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The 45th President of the US will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at 12pm Monday in Washington DC (which will be at 4am Tuesday on Australia’s east coast). (NY Times)
  
  

• Meanwhile, a number of Trump’s cabinet picks continue to face Senate confirmation hearings. While Secretary of Defense pick Pete Hegseth captured headlines (Politico), perhaps the most notable for investors was Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent calling the push to extend the Trump-era tax cuts “the single most important economic issue of the day”. Expect them to be a priority in Trump’s new administration. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Australia’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly, from 3.9% to 4% in December. The economy added 56,000 jobs, more than was expected, with the unemployment rate only rising because of a higher participation rate. (Nine) Economists believe this strong jobs growth has reduced the chance of a February interest rate cut. (AFR)
  
  

• A heavyweight trial in Britain kicks off this week: Prince Harry v Rupert Murdoch. The lawsuit will focus on Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers and whether their gathering of private information on Prince Harry was ever done unlawfully. The trial is expected to take weeks, and with Prince Harry already refusing multiple settlement offers, expectations are it may unearth tactics that British tabloids would prefer stay hidden. (AFR)
  
  

• WA Labor has promised to follow the lead of their colleagues in Queensland and reduce fares for public transport. After Queensland trialled 50 cent fares across a number of transport corridors, the WA government is now considering a flat fee of $2.80. (ABC News)

What the…?

Boeing had a year from hell last year, and now we can see their regulatory and safety troubles reflected in the numbers. For all of 2024, Boeing delivered 348 aircraft. That is down almost 40% from 611 deliveries in 2023.

In the meantime, Airbus capitalised on Boeing’s troubles delivering 766 aircraft in 2024, the most since 2019. (Quartz)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

This is an excerpt from an Equity Mates Investing podcast episode titled, Expert: Tim Samway – How a growth fund manager is reacting to markets (Listen on Apple or Spotify)

Question: How do you identify companies that can be 'winner takes all' in their markets?

Tim: Finding businesses with very durable competitive advantages is key. One of the best competitive advantages we find is a very superior product where a company is spending a disproportionately larger amount than their competitors on keeping their product ahead of the rest of the market. They're reinvesting to maintain that superiority. Because of that superiority, they attract capital and intellectual capital. It enables them to stay one step ahead and gives them optionality - the ability to start other businesses. It's the Amazon effect.

Question: What risks do you watch for with these dominant tech companies?

Tim: The biggest risk for all of them is that they take their eye off the ball in their current product and spend too much time improving future products. First mover advantages and network effects are really powerful, but you can lose them if competitors leapfrog your product or service. For example, Facebook and Instagram are super powerful platforms, but a focus on the metaverse and taking the eye off the ball has allowed TikTok to steal a billion users right under their nose.

Check out the full interview with Tim wherever you listen to podcasts. Or if you’d prefer to watch this conversation, you can check it out on YouTube:

Today’s sponsor is the Financial Review

Stay ahead in 2025 with expert insights and analysis from Australia's leading business newsroom.

Subscribe during the Financial Review's New Year Sale and save on unlimited digital access to expert insight and in-depth analysis from Australia's leading business newsroom.

For a limited time, we’re offering 60% off your first 3 months of unlimited digital access with a Premium Digital subscription. *Terms apply.

Want more Equity Mates?