1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Fast Five Business 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: News by Fear and Greed. I'm Michael Thompson and Hello 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: Sean Ailmer, Hello Michael Shawn. On weekdays, it's all about 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: the Fast five, the top five business stories in five minutes. 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:16,799 Speaker 1: On the weekend, we still keep it to five minutes, 6 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: but we are going to pick out the biggest business 7 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: story of the week, the most remarkable business story, a 8 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: sleeper story, one that's flying under the radar a little bit, 9 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: our favorite story as well. We've got a lot to 10 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: cover and only five minutes to do it. Can I 11 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: get started with the biggest story of the week? 12 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 2: Sure? 13 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: Well, Look, I think it was an interest rate and 14 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: the fact that it's looking perhaps increasingly likely that we 15 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: may see an interest rate hike when the Reserve Bank 16 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: Board meets in August. It is all about inflation. The 17 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: monthly inflation number for May came out this week, the 18 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: annual number jumping up to four percent from three point 19 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: six percent. Higher prices for electricity, rents, fruit and vegetables, 20 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: holidays all contributing, and suddenly markets were pricing in a 21 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: better than one in three chance of an August rate 22 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: in and Sawan there's plenty of experts out there saying 23 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: that we may actually be seeing interest rate rises and 24 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: it could be happening as soon as August. And it's 25 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,119 Speaker 1: a very blunt instrument, an increase in interest rates. It's 26 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: going to hurt some people a lot more than others, 27 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: particularly younger people, families, those with mortgages and the rest. 28 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: So it's not particularly fair and it will hurt, but 29 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: there it may be a risk worth taking in order 30 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: to get inflation back under control. It may not actually happen. 31 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: It may be a bit of an overreaction by markets 32 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: this week. They are still what two and three chants 33 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: that it won't happen. But anyway, the trend is your friends, 34 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: as they say in Economic Sean, inflation is not heading 35 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: the way we need it to. It could be the 36 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 1: biggest story of the week. Oh probably he's the biggest 37 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:38,479 Speaker 1: story of the week. 38 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 2: Mine's are related and it is all about markets, of course. 39 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 2: Thirtieth of June tomorrow Sunday. So the market closed yesterday 40 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 2: for the financial year, cracking year. At the end of 41 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 2: the day, superannuation funds, growth funds, the market itself up 42 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 2: eight nine ten percent. Some of the best stocks of 43 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 2: the technology stocks Altim, Megaport that's the last financial year. 44 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 2: Even Goodman Group property company, but does lots in data 45 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 2: centers that did really well. Next best with the financials 46 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 2: Comwealth Bank, National Australia Bank both did very well. Also, 47 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: we had consumer discretionary stocks JB, Highfi, Premier Investments, they 48 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 2: did well. The flip side poorly performing sectors for the 49 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 2: financial year energy stocks, think woodside, materials, think the big miners. 50 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 2: That's all on commodities, the price of commodities, and consumer 51 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 2: staples think big supermarkets. All in all, a pretty good 52 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 2: year for superinnuation funds and the market. 53 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, sure was. Look, let's get onto the most remarkable story, Sean, 54 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: and I think I have a bit of a nomination 55 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: for this one. I think the most remarkable story this 56 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: week was all about Julian Assange. And this is not 57 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 1: kind of getting into kind of whether it's a hero 58 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: or not. There's a lot of commentary about that, about 59 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: the fact that he released through wiki legs hundreds of 60 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: thousands of classified US military documents exposing wrongdoing by the military, 61 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: but it also put people in danger because their names 62 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: hadn't been redacted. What I did think was remarkable was 63 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: how quickly what was a very long drawn out legal 64 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: saga came to an end. At the beginning any of 65 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: the week, Julian Nossanane was in the UK's high security 66 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,959 Speaker 1: Belmarsh Prison. He spent almost five years there fighting extradition 67 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 1: to the US. Prior to that, he had been in 68 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: the Ecuadorian embassy for seven years, So the sug has 69 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: been going on for at least twelve years now. Then 70 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: all of a sudden it was done. It was over 71 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: a lot of lobbying behind the scenes, a deal done 72 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: with the US. Julian Nossannge walks out of Bellmarsh onto 73 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: a private jet, flies to a tiny island in the 74 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: Western pacifica US territory, pleads guilty to one single criminal count, 75 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: then back on the jet for a flight all the 76 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: way home to Australia, escorted by none other than Australia's 77 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: ambassador to the US, our former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. 78 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: And then he's back in Australia and he calls the 79 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: current Prime Minister, Anthony Albernezi to thank him for saving 80 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: his life. Everything about this story is remarkable. How long 81 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: it took to get to this point how quickly then 82 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: it all wrapped up and the fact that this has 83 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: got politics all the way through at sean. 84 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, amazing story that one. 85 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: All right, moving on then to the sleeper story of 86 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: the week. What did you find for us? 87 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 2: Well is thee that big tech got its come up? 88 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 2: And probably not, but still things are happening. This week, 89 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 2: European Union regulators charged Microsoft with breaking any trust rules 90 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 2: by bundling its Teams video conferencing and collaboration software with 91 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 2: a suite of other productivity tools. Regulators said Microsoft's packaging 92 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 2: of Teams with stuff like word Excel, PowerPoint Outlook amounted 93 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 2: to an legal abuse of market dominance that rival companies 94 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 2: placed like zerom ands like just can't compete against. 95 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: Then. 96 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 2: Earlier in the week, regulators accused Apple of imposing unfair 97 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: restrictions on developers of applications for its app store, in 98 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 2: violation of new EU competition rules. Apple's the first company 99 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 2: to be charged with violating what's known as the Digital 100 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 2: Markets Act, a law that passed back in twenty twenty two. Amazon, Google, Meta, 101 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 2: TikTok X. They're all facing investigations related to their business 102 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 2: practices and services. This week, those two big lawsuits against 103 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 2: Apple and against Microsoft put the spotlight on the tech platforms. 104 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 2: Every other jurisdiction, including Australia, is watching very closely. It 105 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 2: is truly a sleeper story and one we're going to 106 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 2: hear a lot more about. 107 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: Okay, last one favorite story of the week, Sean, just 108 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: a quick one for me, the aviation. Of course, it's 109 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: going to be a plane story, wasn't it, But in 110 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: particular it's about Rex Airlines, the humble domestic airline. I 111 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: reckon it deserves a bit of a pad on the back. 112 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 1: This week they were the only Australian airline to rise 113 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: in the prestigious Skytracks World Airline Awards, higher than Virgin, 114 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: higher than Jetstar. Both of those went backwards, so too 115 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: did Quantus. It slipped from seventeenth to twenty fourth, and 116 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: for eleven years it ranks consistently within or very close 117 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: to the top ten. Clearly a lot of work to 118 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: do to kind of turn Quantus around. But good on Rex. 119 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: I mean it rose to number fifty. It's still got 120 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: a long long way to go, but I just think 121 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,559 Speaker 1: it's really kind of grown up now, kind of taking 122 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: on Quantus, taking on Virgin in terms of flying the 123 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: Golden Triangle, not just the regional and rural routes. Good 124 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: on your reck, Good on you. 125 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 2: I agree, I'm with you on that. My favorite story, 126 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 2: very quickly is the fact that Michael Johnson, one of 127 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 2: the greatest athletes of all time, the US track star 128 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 2: and two hundred and four hundred meters and held royal 129 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 2: records in both those events, has established what's known as 130 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 2: the Grand Slam Track. It's going to be four major events, 131 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 2: one Los Angeles, one somewhere else in the US, two outside. 132 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 2: The whole idea is to give track and field athletes 133 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 2: more money. In fact, if you win one of these events, 134 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 2: you could win one hundred thousand dollars. It's going to 135 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 2: be forty eight Olympic stars competing against forty eight challengers. 136 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 2: All kicks off hopefully later this year after the Olympics, 137 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 2: which of course were in coming weeks. I think the 138 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 2: fact that Michael Johnson, one of the greatest athletes of 139 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 2: all time, is trying to put money back to athletes 140 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: is a wonderful thing. 141 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a great story. That one there we go 142 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,359 Speaker 1: five minutes and pretty much everything you need to know 143 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: in the world of business. 144 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Sean, Thank you, Michael. 145 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: We'll be back on Monday morning with the top five 146 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: business stories in five minutes. Don't forget to hit follow 147 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: and join us online on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook and 148 00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: x oh Michael Thompson and this in the past five 149 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: business sneeze by fear and Greed.