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

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Speaker 1: for Friday, the twenty ninth of August twenty twenty five

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

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Speaker 1: stories that happened today that you need to know about.

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Speaker 1: Let's go with Story number one is all about markets.

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Speaker 1: The S and p ASX two hundred closed down just

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Speaker 1: ever so slightly lower today, just zero point one percent

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Speaker 1: down to nine hundred and seventy three points, But for

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Speaker 1: the week it was actually the other way, zero point

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Speaker 1: one percent up, meaning that is four weeks in a

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Speaker 1: row of gains and a two point six percent increase

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Speaker 1: for the month, which isn't bad considering August has seen

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Speaker 1: one of the most volatile reporting seasons in a very

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Speaker 1: long time. It was a tough day for the banks.

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Speaker 1: Comwealth Bank and Westpac were both down a touch over

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Speaker 1: one percent. Real estate the sector was down as well.

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Speaker 1: Harvey Norman reported results well above expectations and investors loved it.

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Speaker 1: The share price climbed than ten percent. The story there

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Speaker 1: isn't just about strong sales in store, but it's also

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Speaker 1: about the overseas expansion of Harvey Norman going well and

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Speaker 1: the value of its property portfolio is booming too. Shipbuilder

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Speaker 1: Ostel was another big mover. It was up almost fifteen

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Speaker 1: percent today on a strong outlook plenty of ships being

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Speaker 1: ordered a strategic agreement with the federal government. The best

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Speaker 1: performing sector though, was Technology Next DC climbed seventeen percent

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Speaker 1: today on strong guidance, particularly because of forecast demand for

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Speaker 1: data centers. Onto story number two now and Virgin Australia

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Speaker 1: has posted a strong first set of results. This is

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Speaker 1: their first one since rejoining the ASX, with profit up

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Speaker 1: twenty eight percent to six hundred and sixty four million

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Speaker 1: dollars on the back of higher revenues and tight cost control.

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Speaker 1: But the good news does come with a little bit

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Speaker 1: of controversy. Virgin is going to cancel ninety three million

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Speaker 1: dollars in unused pandemic flight credits this year. That is

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Speaker 1: move that Quantus attempted and then abandoned back in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three after a customer backlash. Chief executive Dave Emerson

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Speaker 1: also says that new aircraft are going to lift domestic

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Speaker 1: capacity by four percent over the next six months, though

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Speaker 1: there are delays to new aircraft coming from Boeing and

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Speaker 1: that's really stopping their long haul plans. Shares dipped one

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Speaker 1: percent today but are still up for the week, and

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Speaker 1: also well up on the price when the company first

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Speaker 1: hit the Bass a couple of months ago. Story number three.

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Speaker 1: What do you make of this one? Former Labor Premiers

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Speaker 1: Bob Carr and Daniel Andrews will be in Beijing next

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Speaker 1: week for a massive military parade in Tianaman Square marking

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Speaker 1: eighty years since the end of China's war with Japan.

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Speaker 1: China says the two Australians are going to be honored

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Speaker 1: guests at the ceremony on September three, which will also

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Speaker 1: feature Chinese President Jijinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and North

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Speaker 1: Korean dictator Kim Jong un. Bob Karr has told the

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Speaker 1: Australian newspaper that he is attending to highlight China and

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Speaker 1: Australia's shared military history in World War II, saying Chinese

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Speaker 1: resistance helped defend Australia from Japanese attack. He has emphasized

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Speaker 1: that he is paying his own way and plans to

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Speaker 1: focus on the bilateral relationship. The Department of Foreign Affairs

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Speaker 1: and Trade apparently was not consulted on their attendants. Story

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Speaker 1: number four, Australia Post boss Paul Graham has defended the

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Speaker 1: decision not to suspend parcels to the US earlier than

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Speaker 1: this week, after thousands of small businesses and exporters were

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Speaker 1: caught out by that decision. The crackdown follows Donald Trump's

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Speaker 1: July thirty executive order ending a rule that allowed goods

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Speaker 1: under eight hundred dollars to enter the US duty free. Now,

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Speaker 1: Paul Graham today said that Australia Post was this is

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Speaker 1: a quote between a rock and a hard place, because

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Speaker 1: the White House had twice flagged and then reversed the change.

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Speaker 1: He says if Australia Post had moved earlier than this

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Speaker 1: week and then the Trump administration changed again, the postal

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Speaker 1: service would have been accused of crying wolf. Meanwhile, Australia

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Speaker 1: Post has reported a modest prophet for FY twenty five

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Speaker 1: based on record revenue from parcels and a busy Christmas,

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Speaker 1: but there was a two hundred and thirty million dollar

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Speaker 1: loss in the letters division. And finally, story number five,

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Speaker 1: the White House has sacked Susan Monerez, who is the

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Speaker 1: director of the CDC, the Center for disease Control after

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Speaker 1: she refused to resign under pressure from the Trump administration

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Speaker 1: to change vaccine policy. The Washington Post reports that Health

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Speaker 1: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior, who is a long time

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Speaker 1: vaccine critic, is accused by doctor Monerez's lawyers of weaponizing

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Speaker 1: public health and putting millions at risk. Her abrupt dismissal,

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Speaker 1: just weeks after her position was approved by the Senate

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Speaker 1: She's only been there for a few weeks, has triggered

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Speaker 1: a wave of resignations from top CDC officials. It is,

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Speaker 1: it appears, the latest flashpoint between Kennedy and federal scientists

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Speaker 1: and mid growing fears that the administration is starting to

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Speaker 1: undermine public health institutions. That's it for the afternoon Report

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Speaker 1: for Friday, the twenty ninth of August twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you hit follow on the podcast and headlong

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Speaker 1: the weekend edition of the Fast five Business News by

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Speaker 1: Fear and Greed. I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening,