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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report

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Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the eighteenth of February twenty twenty six. Ah

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Speaker 1: Michael Thompson and every afternoon, we've got the five stories

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Speaker 1: that happened today that you need to know about. Let's

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Speaker 1: go a story number one. The SMPA SEX two hundred

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Speaker 1: climbed zero point five percent today, closing above the nine

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Speaker 1: thousand point market nine thousand and seven points. Ten of

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Speaker 1: the eleven sectors on the BOSS gained ground today. Materials

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Speaker 1: was the only one showing red. Technology was actually the

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Speaker 1: best performer, led by Technology one. It sawed more than

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Speaker 1: eight percent today after increasing full year guidance, helped by

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Speaker 1: AI product upgrades. NAB was the best of the banks

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Speaker 1: by far. It rose four percent today at share price

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Speaker 1: briefly hit a new record after the bank reported cash

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Speaker 1: earnings well ahead of expectations. That was largely due to

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Speaker 1: growth in home lending and business banking. The rest of

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Speaker 1: the banks were mixed. Blue Scope Steel rose two point

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Speaker 1: six percent today after the Stokes Families, SGH and US

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Speaker 1: listed Steel Dynamics increase their takeover offer and a quick

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Speaker 1: mention of the key piece of economics news out today

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Speaker 1: real wages have fallen for the first time since September

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. ABS data released today shows nominal wages

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Speaker 1: rose three point four percent in the year to December.

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Speaker 1: That is in line with forecasts, but critically it is

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Speaker 1: less than inflation, and that means a decline in real wages.

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Speaker 1: Onto story number two. Now and One Nation leader Pauline

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Speaker 1: Hanson has issued a partial apology after suggesting there are

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Speaker 1: no quote good Muslims, but stopped short of fully retracting

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Speaker 1: her comments. Speaking on Sky News about the possible return

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Speaker 1: of Islamic state families to Australia, Hanson said she had

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Speaker 1: quote no time for radical Islam and questioned how anyone

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Speaker 1: could say there are good Muslims. The remarks drew criticism

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Speaker 1: from basically across the political spectrum, including from National Senator

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Speaker 1: Matt Canavan, who called them divisive and UnAustralian. Hanson today

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Speaker 1: spoke to the ABC and she said she did not

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Speaker 1: believe there were no good Muslims. There is one quote

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Speaker 1: that stands out. She said, one woman stood for me.

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Speaker 1: She was a Muslim, but not a practicing Muslim. She

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Speaker 1: apologized to anyone offended who rejects sharia law or extremism.

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Speaker 1: But she did double down on calls for tougher migration

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Speaker 1: vetting and claimed some suburbs are unwelcoming to Westerners. Story

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Speaker 1: number three, This one's going to hurt the household budget.

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Speaker 1: Private health insurance premiums are set to jump by the

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Speaker 1: biggest increase since twenty seventeen, increasing by an average four

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Speaker 1: point four one percent from April one. Health Minister Mark Butler,

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Speaker 1: who has to approve the increases, says the rise reflects

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Speaker 1: higher hospital and medical costs, which increased five percent over

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Speaker 1: the past year. More than fifteen million Australians will be

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Speaker 1: affected by this. Medibank will lift premiums five point one percent,

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Speaker 1: NIB five point four to seven percent, Booper four point

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Speaker 1: eight percent. The opposition says families can't afford another hit,

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Speaker 1: while insurers are arguing that higher claims for complex treatments

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Speaker 1: are driving costs up. NIB and Medibank's share price both

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Speaker 1: climbed more than five percent today on that news. Story

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Speaker 1: Number four. Earning season is in full swing. Oil and

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Speaker 1: gas giant Santos will cut ten percent of jobs and

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Speaker 1: as placed its oil and gas business in Australia under

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Speaker 1: review after reporting a thirty five percent drop in full

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Speaker 1: year profit that is largely on the back of weak

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Speaker 1: oil and gas prices. A couple of property companies to mention,

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Speaker 1: developer Mervac announce a twelve percent rise in profit and

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Speaker 1: up to its dividend at share price jumped six percent,

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Speaker 1: while Dexus jump seven percent, mostly because of a share

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Speaker 1: buyback rather than its small rise in profit, and internet

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Speaker 1: provider super Loop announced increases in customers, in revenue, in earnings,

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Speaker 1: it upgraded guidance as well as just good news y

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Speaker 1: all round really, and was rewarded with an eighteen percent

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Speaker 1: jump in share price today. Finally, story number five, The

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Speaker 1: Reverend Jesse Jackson, the US civil rights leader and former

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Speaker 1: presidential candidate, has died aged eighty four. Jackson was a

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Speaker 1: protege of Martin Luther King Junior before becoming one of

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Speaker 1: Australia's most prominent civil rights figures himself. After King's assassination

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Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight, he founded major social justice movements

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Speaker 1: campaigning for voting rights, jobs, education, and racial equality. Jackson

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Speaker 1: ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice. That was in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four and then again in nineteen eighty eight.

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Speaker 1: He won multiple primaries and helped pave the way for

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Speaker 1: future minority candidates. He had been living with a neurological

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Speaker 1: disorder in recent years, and he died at home in Chicago,

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Speaker 1: surrounded by family. And that's it for the Afternoon Report

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Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the eighteenth of February. Make sure you're following

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Speaker 1: the podcast, and please head along to Fear and Greed

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Speaker 1: dot com DoD au to sign up for our free

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Speaker 1: daily news edit. There is a think in today's show

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Speaker 1: notes as well, Am Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening.