1
00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:07,000
Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, the fifth of November twenty twenty five. Welcome

2
00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,400
Speaker 1: to the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed,

3
00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:11,200
Speaker 1: where we give you the top five business stories you

4
00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 1: need to know and just five minutes. I'm Michael Thompson

5
00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:14,760
Speaker 1: and good morning Sean Ailema.

6
00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,120
Speaker 2: Good morning Michael, Sean.

7
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,800
Speaker 1: Five stories to race through and just five minutes. It's

8
00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,680
Speaker 1: been a massive twenty four hours for news story number one.

9
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,760
Speaker 1: The Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold as

10
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,880
Speaker 1: expected and said that while inflation has picked up more

11
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,159
Speaker 1: than expected, many of the factors were temporary for the

12
00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,840
Speaker 1: time being. However, interest rates are about where.

13
00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,360
Speaker 2: They should be yes, The Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bullock said,

14
00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,560
Speaker 2: the cash righter is in the right spot at the moment,

15
00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,080
Speaker 2: and the Central Bank can shift depending on what happens

16
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 2: in the future. No talk yesterday of cutting rates, no

17
00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,800
Speaker 2: talk yesterday of lifting rates, just keeping them on hold.

18
00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:48,960
Speaker 2: On inflation, the Central Bank has up to its forecast

19
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,600
Speaker 2: for price rises. It thinks it will be around that

20
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 2: three percent next year before heading to around two point

21
00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,560
Speaker 2: seven percent at the end of twenty twenty six. Bullock

22
00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,320
Speaker 2: said inflation at that three percent mark justice an good

23
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,800
Speaker 2: enough though she's still confident that inflation is coming down.

24
00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,640
Speaker 2: Housing market continues to strengthen, labor market tight, though there

25
00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,280
Speaker 2: is some easing going on there. In fact, the Reserve

26
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,200
Speaker 2: Bank doesn't seem too worried about the labor market. Up

27
00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,560
Speaker 2: until now, we've always assumed that monetary policy is restrictive,

28
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,200
Speaker 2: as in interest rates are detracting from economic growth. Reserve

29
00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,400
Speaker 2: Bank questioned that yesterday Izzi dolla didn't move much from

30
00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,160
Speaker 2: sixty five and a quarter US sense after the announcement.

31
00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,840
Speaker 2: Bond yields didn't do much, so it's pretty much as expected.

32
00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,039
Speaker 1: So the rate cuts are over sean or can we

33
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 1: hold out hope? What do we take from this?

34
00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,640
Speaker 2: You're an optimist, right, So think about the fact that

35
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank, when making forecasts, reflected what financial markets

36
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:43,520
Speaker 2: say and worked in one more rate cuts. So that's

37
00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:48,120
Speaker 2: what market economists reckon that, as Bullock said, forecasts are

38
00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,640
Speaker 2: very uncertain. She said that previously the bank had misjudged

39
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,560
Speaker 2: supply and demand in the economy. That's why in faces

40
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:56,960
Speaker 2: a little higher than expected. Reading between the lines and

41
00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,040
Speaker 2: what market economists so they're paid to do. The consensus

42
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:02,680
Speaker 2: is one more rate cut next year.

43
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,720
Speaker 1: All right on to story number two. Now, the corporate

44
00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,960
Speaker 1: regulator ASSEK has released a benchmark report into private and

45
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,240
Speaker 1: public markets, things like private credit and equities, and the

46
00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,320
Speaker 1: bottom line is that both are good if done well,

47
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,639
Speaker 1: but at least in the case of private credit, there

48
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,320
Speaker 1: is a fair bit of work to do to get

49
00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:21,120
Speaker 1: to that point.

50
00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, ASSEK says, while private credits growing quickly, it

51
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,680
Speaker 2: is still immature and hasn't been tested under a stress scenario.

52
00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 2: It says the sector lacks consistent, well established practices, especially

53
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,480
Speaker 2: around governance, fees, net interest margins, valuations, conflicts of interest, liquidity,

54
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,000
Speaker 2: credit management. For very long missed this in a real ACIK.

55
00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,560
Speaker 2: Some of the failings raise questions of compliance with the

56
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,680
Speaker 2: Financial Services Law and accid guidance, including the obligation to

57
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:51,240
Speaker 2: provide financial services efficiently, honestly and fairly. Quite the whack

58
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:52,960
Speaker 2: from the private from the regulator.

59
00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, seems that, okay. Story number three. The federal government

60
00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,840
Speaker 1: will force electricity suppliers to offer three fe hours of

61
00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,440
Speaker 1: free power in the middle of the day when demand

62
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,840
Speaker 1: is low and solar generation is at its peak.

63
00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,240
Speaker 2: Three hours of power. I like it. The scheme dubbed

64
00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,200
Speaker 2: Solar Share incentivizes households to shift their energy usage into

65
00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,720
Speaker 2: the free three hour period, but they must have access

66
00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:17,320
Speaker 2: to a smart meter to do it. It's going to

67
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,680
Speaker 2: be rolled out in New South Wales, Southeast Queensland and

68
00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,079
Speaker 2: South Australia from July next year. Energy mister Chris bow

69
00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,040
Speaker 2: And said, basically, good for the planet, good for your pocket.

70
00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,640
Speaker 2: Though energy companies aren't quite as happy Michael. They're complaining

71
00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:29,800
Speaker 2: about a lack of consultation.

72
00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:34,080
Speaker 1: Okay. Story number four. Microsoft has signed a fourteen point

73
00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,480
Speaker 1: eight billion dollar deal to purchase AI cloud capacity from Iron,

74
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: becoming the Australian company's largest customer.

75
00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,560
Speaker 2: So most of us have probably never heard of Iron.

76
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,480
Speaker 2: A couple of brothers, Will and Daniel Roberts working at Macquariebank.

77
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,320
Speaker 2: They figured they'd go and create an energy company, Iris Energy.

78
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,400
Speaker 2: They wanted to take advantage of the bitcoin mining boom.

79
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,480
Speaker 2: That didn't really work, so they switched to AI services.

80
00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,480
Speaker 2: They're now worth a mozza. Iron is listed on Nasdaq

81
00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,080
Speaker 2: share shut up twenty five percent yesterday. The five year

82
00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:07,280
Speaker 2: agreement will provide Microsoft access to Nvidia's advanced chips. Basically,

83
00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,520
Speaker 2: Microsoft get access to the chips via Iron. It demonstrates

84
00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,400
Speaker 2: the AI industry's hunger for computing power to run applications

85
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,159
Speaker 2: such as Chat, GPT. Partnering with Iron allows Microsoft to

86
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,599
Speaker 2: expand computing capacity without building new data centers or securing

87
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 2: additional power, which are two of the big hurdles stelling

88
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,720
Speaker 2: its ability to meet the demand for AI.

89
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,880
Speaker 1: Last one story number five, The Maldives Sean has banned

90
00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,560
Speaker 1: anyone born on or after the first of January two

91
00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,840
Speaker 1: thousand and seven from smoking tobacco, becoming the only country

92
00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,479
Speaker 1: in the world to enforce a nationwide generational tobacco prohibition.

93
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,760
Speaker 2: The Maldives are already on the bucket list. They've just

94
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,240
Speaker 2: moved up the bucket list after It's pretty tempting, right yeah.

95
00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,000
Speaker 2: The archipelago's health ministry said it would be illegal for

96
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,200
Speaker 2: younger generations to use, buy, or sell tobacco within the country.

97
00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,440
Speaker 2: It follows a general vaping band last year, with the

98
00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,200
Speaker 2: country working towards a general of tobacco free citizens. The

99
00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,600
Speaker 2: Maldives Health Ministry reckons that just in line with the

100
00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:10,000
Speaker 2: World Health Organization rules, tourists coming to the Maldives Islands

101
00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,760
Speaker 2: will also have to follow the law. So if you're

102
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,800
Speaker 2: going to take a holiday over there. Just check what

103
00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:17,440
Speaker 2: you can and can't take in your baggage.

104
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 1: Leave the smokes at home. There we go, the top

105
00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,080
Speaker 1: five business stories in five minutes. Thank you Sean, Thank

106
00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,799
Speaker 1: you Michael. It is Wednesday, the fifth of November twenty

107
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,520
Speaker 1: twenty five. Remember to hit follow on the podcast and

108
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:29,600
Speaker 1: five minutes isn't enough. You're going to find our longer

109
00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,839
Speaker 1: daily show called Fear and Greed wherever you listen to podcasts.

110
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Thompson and that was the fast five business

111
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,720
Speaker 1: news by Fear and Greed. Had a great day,