1
00:00:03,650 --> 00:00:07,560
Michael Thompson: It's  Thursday,  the  30th  of  September  2021.  Welcome  to  Fear 

2
00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,820
Michael Thompson: and  Greed,  the  business  podcast  that  sets  you  up  for 

3
00:00:09,820 --> 00:00:13,280
Michael Thompson: a  successful  day  on  Michael  Thompson,  and  good  morning,  Sean  Aylmer.

4
00:00:13,550 --> 00:00:14,480
Sean Aylmer: Good  morning,  Michael.

5
00:00:14,740 --> 00:00:18,110
Michael Thompson: The local share market tumbles as global fears about inflation

6
00:00:18,110 --> 00:00:21,610
Michael Thompson: spook equities. That's our main story today. But also this morning,

7
00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:25,770
Michael Thompson: regulators call time on the booming housing market, the COVID news in New

8
00:00:25,770 --> 00:00:29,570
Michael Thompson: South Wales gets better but worse in Victoria, and we

9
00:00:29,570 --> 00:00:33,100
Michael Thompson: explained how the pandemic has lowered the death rate. Then,

10
00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:36,220
Michael Thompson: stay listening for Sean's chat to Doug McNamee from JOLT,

11
00:00:36,270 --> 00:00:39,610
Michael Thompson: a group rolling out a network of electric vehicle charging

12
00:00:39,610 --> 00:00:44,610
Michael Thompson: stations with the help of a $100 million investment. But first, Sean,

13
00:00:44,670 --> 00:00:50,540
Michael Thompson: what a day in equity markets. The S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.1% yesterday,

14
00:00:50,830 --> 00:00:55,580
Michael Thompson: following its  1.5% drop on Tuesday. That's tens of billions

15
00:00:55,580 --> 00:00:58,500
Michael Thompson: of dollars in value lost. What's happening?

16
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:04,310
Sean Aylmer: In short, Michael, traders are worried, very worried, about inflation.

17
00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:08,190
Sean Aylmer: Now this story is as much global as it is local.

18
00:01:08,690 --> 00:01:12,720
Sean Aylmer: Investors fear that inflation pressures will prove to be more

19
00:01:12,730 --> 00:01:16,230
Sean Aylmer: than transitory and central banks around the world will start

20
00:01:16,230 --> 00:01:19,610
Sean Aylmer: tightening monetary policy. We've actually seen a bit of that already.

21
00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,510
Sean Aylmer: They're worried that this will happen as economic growth stalls.

22
00:01:23,810 --> 00:01:27,330
Sean Aylmer: The COVID pandemic, rising energy prices, oil and gas and

23
00:01:27,330 --> 00:01:30,069
Sean Aylmer: coal prices, are through the roof at the moment. And

24
00:01:30,150 --> 00:01:34,080
Sean Aylmer: supply chain and transport problems are all adding to concerns

25
00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,590
Sean Aylmer: that price rises are here to stay, but the economy

26
00:01:37,590 --> 00:01:40,860
Sean Aylmer: is hitting speed humps. Now, much of the world's manufacturing

27
00:01:40,900 --> 00:01:44,280
Sean Aylmer: is in China and Southeast Asia. It's also the region

28
00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,050
Sean Aylmer: hit hardest by COVID at the moment. So, companies just

29
00:01:48,050 --> 00:01:52,210
Sean Aylmer: can't get goods out. German group Adidas, for example, makes 40%

30
00:01:52,410 --> 00:01:55,800
Sean Aylmer: of its apparel in Vietnam, and it's struggling to access

31
00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:00,020
Sean Aylmer: its products. The pictures of fuel shortages across the United Kingdom,

32
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,490
Sean Aylmer: where petrol's at an eight year high, and rolling power

33
00:02:03,490 --> 00:02:07,260
Sean Aylmer: outages in China are adding to all these fears. This

34
00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:10,640
Sean Aylmer: hit Wall Street and European markets really hard on Tuesday night,

35
00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:13,010
Sean Aylmer: and our market jumped on board yesterday.

36
00:02:13,710 --> 00:02:16,500
Michael Thompson: So,  in  looking  at  local  stocks,  who  was  hit  hardest?

37
00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:20,060
Sean Aylmer: Well, it was pretty widespread though the technology and healthcare

38
00:02:20,060 --> 00:02:23,110
Sean Aylmer: stocks did worst. The ones that did best were the

39
00:02:23,110 --> 00:02:28,070
Sean Aylmer: stable companies, utilities and what investors call consumer staples like

40
00:02:28,070 --> 00:02:31,160
Sean Aylmer: Woolworths and Coles. These are the companies that don't actually

41
00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,680
Sean Aylmer: change too much when the times are good or times

42
00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,620
Sean Aylmer: are bad. Now among the top 20 stocks yesterday, Afterpay

43
00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:39,330
Sean Aylmer: was the worst performer, it fell more than 4%, while

44
00:02:39,330 --> 00:02:45,430
Sean Aylmer: CSL dropped 2.6%. It really has struggled to find friends recently, CSL.

45
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,669
Sean Aylmer: Coles was up a touch while Woolworth was flat. That

46
00:02:48,669 --> 00:02:52,709
Sean Aylmer: reflects that consumer staple idea. ANZ, National Australian Bank, and

47
00:02:52,710 --> 00:02:55,510
Sean Aylmer: Westpac all did better than the market average, and that's

48
00:02:55,510 --> 00:02:59,160
Sean Aylmer: because they're considered fairly safe. Along the same lines, the

49
00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,820
Sean Aylmer: gold companies, which have had no friends recently, did really

50
00:03:02,820 --> 00:03:03,580
Sean Aylmer: well yesterday.

51
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,480
Michael Thompson: So  the  big  question  then  Sean  is,  where  to  now?

52
00:03:07,870 --> 00:03:11,000
Sean Aylmer: The lead from Wall Street last night was better, with

53
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,169
Sean Aylmer: all major indices up 0.5% or more. That's compared to very

54
00:03:14,169 --> 00:03:17,250
Sean Aylmer: big losses the previous night, and futures trading suggests the

55
00:03:17,250 --> 00:03:20,660
Sean Aylmer: market will be up around 0.4% today. Now the better

56
00:03:20,660 --> 00:03:24,989
Sean Aylmer: performance came after the heads of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European

57
00:03:24,990 --> 00:03:27,740
Sean Aylmer: Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England,

58
00:03:27,790 --> 00:03:30,160
Sean Aylmer: that's quite a quartet that one, were all in a

59
00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,110
Sean Aylmer: virtual summit and said they believed the current bout of

60
00:03:33,110 --> 00:03:36,810
Sean Aylmer: inflation was mostly transitory, associated with the reopening of the

61
00:03:36,810 --> 00:03:37,990
Sean Aylmer: economies post-COVID.

62
00:03:38,510 --> 00:03:41,480
Michael Thompson: All  right,  outside  equities.  How  have  markets  performed  over  the 

63
00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:42,400
Michael Thompson: past  24  hours  then?

64
00:03:42,910 --> 00:03:45,070
Sean Aylmer: It's been a tough run for the Aussie dollar at least.

65
00:03:45,270 --> 00:03:47,950
Sean Aylmer: It's fallen back below 72 U. S. cents. With the

66
00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:51,300
Sean Aylmer: odds rising that the US will start tapering bond purchases

67
00:03:51,300 --> 00:03:54,380
Sean Aylmer: next year, investors are buying the greenback. In fact, the

68
00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:56,900
Sean Aylmer: US dollar is at its highest level in more than

69
00:03:56,900 --> 00:04:00,360
Sean Aylmer: a year. Brent Crude prices also dropped overnight having reached

70
00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:02,970
Sean Aylmer: more than US$80 dollars a barrel yesterday.

71
00:04:03,250 --> 00:04:04,840
Michael Thompson: We'll  be  back  in  a  moment  with  the  rest  of 

72
00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:06,130
Michael Thompson: the  day  is  business  news.


73
00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,400
Michael Thompson: Sean,  we've  spoken  a  lot  about  the  housing  market  and 

74
00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,020
Michael Thompson: the  extraordinary  growth  in  house  prices.  Financial  regulators  have  finally 

75
00:04:19,020 --> 00:04:22,230
Michael Thompson: lost  patience  it  seems,  confirming  that  they're  worried  about  risks 

76
00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,480
Michael Thompson: in  the  mortgage  market  and  will  release  lending  restriction  options 

77
00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,610
Michael Thompson: in  the  next  couple  of  months.  What's  this  all  about?

78
00:04:28,430 --> 00:04:32,520
Sean Aylmer: Well, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Reserve Bank of Australia,

79
00:04:32,670 --> 00:04:36,470
Sean Aylmer: the Australian Securities Investments Commission, and Treasury, four of the

80
00:04:36,470 --> 00:04:40,000
Sean Aylmer: most powerful policy- making bodies in the country, are part

81
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,619
Sean Aylmer: of what they call the council of financial regulators, and

82
00:04:42,620 --> 00:04:45,130
Sean Aylmer: they want to take the heat out of the housing market.

83
00:04:45,589 --> 00:04:48,890
Sean Aylmer: Prices have been crazy, up about 18% nationally over the

84
00:04:48,890 --> 00:04:51,760
Sean Aylmer: past year, and higher in some places such as Sydney.

85
00:04:51,950 --> 00:04:54,260
Sean Aylmer: That's all on the back of low interest rates and

86
00:04:54,260 --> 00:04:56,950
Sean Aylmer: an economy that has gotten through the COVID crisis not

87
00:04:56,950 --> 00:05:01,179
Sean Aylmer: quite unscathed, but still in pretty fine fettle. What the

88
00:05:01,180 --> 00:05:04,460
Sean Aylmer: regulators are worried about is that growth in credit is

89
00:05:04,460 --> 00:05:08,589
Sean Aylmer: far outpacing growth in income. And that adds risks for

90
00:05:08,589 --> 00:05:10,950
Sean Aylmer: the economy in the medium term, because of course, at

91
00:05:10,950 --> 00:05:13,370
Sean Aylmer: some point in the future, people have to pay back

92
00:05:13,370 --> 00:05:15,279
Sean Aylmer: these massive mortgages they're taking out.

93
00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,300
Michael Thompson: So  then  what  will  the  council  of  financial  regulators  do?

94
00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:22,910
Sean Aylmer: Primarily, they're worried about lending standards, and we've heard that

95
00:05:22,910 --> 00:05:25,669
Sean Aylmer: for quite a few months now. What they could do

96
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,279
Sean Aylmer: is lift the amount a person needs as a minimum

97
00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,250
Sean Aylmer: deposit before getting a mortgage, or they could cap the

98
00:05:31,250 --> 00:05:34,650
Sean Aylmer: amount of debt someone can take on relative to their income,

99
00:05:34,940 --> 00:05:37,489
Sean Aylmer: or they could make the repayment test tougher, something that

100
00:05:37,490 --> 00:05:38,900
Sean Aylmer: Commonwealth Bank has already done.

101
00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:42,110
Michael Thompson: And  what  would  that  then  mean  for  house  prices?  If 

102
00:05:42,110 --> 00:05:44,100
Michael Thompson: the  goal  is  to  try  and  slow  things  down  a 

103
00:05:44,100 --> 00:05:46,010
Michael Thompson: bit,  would  that  achieve  what  they're  trying  to  do?

104
00:05:46,339 --> 00:05:49,589
Sean Aylmer: It will. I think everyone expects the pace of the

105
00:05:49,589 --> 00:05:52,339
Sean Aylmer: growth of house prices will slow anyway, you can't just

106
00:05:52,339 --> 00:05:56,179
Sean Aylmer: keep going on at 20%. House prices are unlikely to

107
00:05:56,180 --> 00:05:59,630
Sean Aylmer: fall and whatever the council does, it's unlikely that house

108
00:05:59,630 --> 00:06:03,020
Sean Aylmer: prices will go backwards. None of this is totally unexpected.

109
00:06:03,230 --> 00:06:05,650
Sean Aylmer: And to be honest, it's actually pretty sensible policy to

110
00:06:05,940 --> 00:06:08,919
Sean Aylmer: stave off problems in the future. You just can't continually

111
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,110
Sean Aylmer: have house prices doing what they've done in the last

112
00:06:11,110 --> 00:06:13,099
Sean Aylmer: 12 months and no one get hurt by it.

113
00:06:13,430 --> 00:06:16,460
Michael Thompson: All  right.  Now,  Sean,  there's  plenty  of  COVID  news  around 

114
00:06:16,460 --> 00:06:18,229
Michael Thompson: the  place  as  New  South  Wales  and  the  ACT,  and 

115
00:06:19,140 --> 00:06:21,790
Michael Thompson: to  a  lesser  extent  Victoria,  start  looking  towards  the  easing 

116
00:06:21,790 --> 00:06:25,210
Michael Thompson: of  restrictions  and  ultimately  then  the  end  of  lockdowns.  The 

117
00:06:25,210 --> 00:06:28,890
Michael Thompson: national  vax  rate  hit  53%  yesterday,  while  the  one  jab 

118
00:06:28,890 --> 00:06:32,140
Michael Thompson: rate  is  edging  towards  78%.  Pretty  good  news  there,  but 

119
00:06:32,140 --> 00:06:34,740
Michael Thompson: what's  the  latest  on  the  COVID  front  in  Victoria?

120
00:06:35,029 --> 00:06:37,810
Sean Aylmer: Well,  Victoria  is  definitely  the  hot  spot  at  the  moment. 

121
00:06:37,850 --> 00:06:42,799
Sean Aylmer: The  state  recorded  950  new  infections  yesterday and seven  deaths,  and  announced 

122
00:06:42,850 --> 00:06:45,799
Sean Aylmer: a  snap  lockdown  in  the  Latrobe  Valley  area.  The  big 

123
00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,060
Sean Aylmer: news  out  of  that  state  is  that  Victoria's  workplace  safety 

124
00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:53,130
Sean Aylmer: watchdog  has  laid  charges  against  the  state's  health  department  for 

125
00:06:53,130 --> 00:06:56,150
Sean Aylmer: breaching  the  occupational  health  and  safety  act.  Now,  this  is 

126
00:06:56,150 --> 00:06:59,960
Sean Aylmer: in  relation  to  last  year's  botched  hotel  quarantine  program  in 

127
00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:02,529
Sean Aylmer: Melbourne.  That's  the  one  that  triggered  a  long  lockdown  for 

128
00:07:02,529 --> 00:07:03,650
Sean Aylmer: the  state  last  year.

129
00:07:04,010 --> 00:07:06,169
Michael Thompson: And  for  the  third  day  in  a  row,  the  case 

130
00:07:06,170 --> 00:07:09,080
Michael Thompson: numbers  in  New  South  Wales  were  lower  than  those  in  Victoria.

131
00:07:09,310 --> 00:07:13,840
Sean Aylmer: That's right. New South Wales reported 863 cases yesterday, though

132
00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,740
Sean Aylmer: it also reported 15 deaths. That's one of the worst days for

133
00:07:16,740 --> 00:07:20,690
Sean Aylmer: fatalities throughout the whole COVID crisis. Much of the debate

134
00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:23,440
Sean Aylmer: in New South Wales yesterday was around how policing of

135
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,770
Sean Aylmer: vaccinations would take place when things open up, with Premier

136
00:07:26,770 --> 00:07:30,600
Sean Aylmer: Gladys Berejiklian warning, that people who flagrantly break the rules,

137
00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,460
Sean Aylmer: whatever that means, will be penalised. Miss Berejiklian also said

138
00:07:34,460 --> 00:07:37,770
Sean Aylmer: while there's plenty of chatter about Victoria and New South Wales

139
00:07:37,970 --> 00:07:41,390
Sean Aylmer: reopening the border between the two states, those conversations would

140
00:07:41,390 --> 00:07:43,880
Sean Aylmer: have to wait. She said the government's looking at bringing

141
00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,210
Sean Aylmer: forward the return to school from October 25, particularly given

142
00:07:48,340 --> 00:07:51,730
Sean Aylmer: return to work pretty much occurs two weeks earlier. That's

143
00:07:51,730 --> 00:07:54,510
Sean Aylmer: when a 70% vaccination rate is expected to be hit.

144
00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,710
Sean Aylmer: And today's also the day that health workers in New

145
00:07:57,710 --> 00:08:01,320
Sean Aylmer: South Wales must be double jabbed. If not, they no

146
00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,610
Sean Aylmer: longer have a job. The states passed 86% on the

147
00:08:04,610 --> 00:08:09,280
Sean Aylmer: first jab basis and 62% of the people are fully inoculated. Just quickly, Michael,

148
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,140
Sean Aylmer: there were also 22 cases in the ACT, and one

149
00:08:12,140 --> 00:08:16,000
Sean Aylmer: case in Queensland with restrictions in that state being expanded

150
00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:17,160
Sean Aylmer: to the Gold Coast region.

151
00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,350
Michael Thompson: Now, Sean, we love takeovers here on Fear and Greed

152
00:08:20,660 --> 00:08:24,210
Michael Thompson: simply because there's just so many of them lately. And

153
00:08:24,210 --> 00:08:28,520
Michael Thompson: another one, a consortium led by us group TPG Capital

154
00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,670
Michael Thompson: has made a $1.4 billion cash takeover offer for salary packaging

155
00:08:32,670 --> 00:08:35,670
Michael Thompson: and leasing company Smartgroup Corporation. What's happening there?

156
00:08:36,050 --> 00:08:38,630
Sean Aylmer: Well, as you say, another day, another takeover offer. The

157
00:08:38,630 --> 00:08:42,240
Sean Aylmer: consortium includes two private equity groups, in fact, TPG being

158
00:08:42,250 --> 00:08:45,830
Sean Aylmer: one and the other is a group called Potentia. The third member,

159
00:08:45,830 --> 00:08:49,280
Sean Aylmer: you guessed it, is a Superfund, Aware Super. The consortium

160
00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,809
Sean Aylmer: offered a 32% premium to its closing price on Tuesday.

161
00:08:53,190 --> 00:08:55,980
Sean Aylmer: Now that sent its share price up 17% yesterday, but it's

162
00:08:55,980 --> 00:08:59,270
Sean Aylmer: still trading well below what the offer price is, so

163
00:08:59,270 --> 00:09:02,589
Sean Aylmer: it suggests there's a way to go. Smartgroup's been battered

164
00:09:02,590 --> 00:09:05,530
Sean Aylmer: by COVID. Basically, it does lots of leasing, such as

165
00:09:05,530 --> 00:09:08,010
Sean Aylmer: novated leasing of cars. In fact, that's a big part

166
00:09:08,010 --> 00:09:10,809
Sean Aylmer: of its business, and that's really struggled over the past

167
00:09:10,820 --> 00:09:13,780
Sean Aylmer: 18 months. As a result, its share price has fallen.

168
00:09:13,780 --> 00:09:16,940
Sean Aylmer: Now it jumped yesterday, but it's still trading 25% below

169
00:09:16,940 --> 00:09:19,040
Sean Aylmer: its peak in September 2019.

170
00:09:19,290 --> 00:09:20,500
Michael Thompson: And  I  mentioned  this  one  at  the  top  of  the 

171
00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:23,730
Michael Thompson: show,  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  yesterday  said  that  there  were 

172
00:09:23,730 --> 00:09:26,959
Michael Thompson: falls  in  the  top  five  leading  causes  of  death  in 

173
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,120
Michael Thompson: Australia  last  year,  I  suppose  it's  the  silver  lining  of 

174
00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:31,130
Michael Thompson: the  COVID  pandemic.

175
00:09:31,420 --> 00:09:34,140
Sean Aylmer: That's right, and we need a silver lining. The top

176
00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:36,540
Sean Aylmer: cause of death in Australia for a number of years

177
00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:39,290
Sean Aylmer: has been heart disease. But last year, the number of

178
00:09:39,290 --> 00:09:43,500
Sean Aylmer: deaths from heart disease was lower than in 2019. And

179
00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:46,099
Sean Aylmer: that's the first time the annual number of fatalities has

180
00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:50,480
Sean Aylmer: fallen since 2009. The next biggest cause of death is dementia,

181
00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:55,650
Sean Aylmer: including Alzheimer's, then strokes, lung cancer, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

182
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,860
Sean Aylmer: All of those fell too. The biggest drop was in

183
00:09:58,860 --> 00:10:03,730
Sean Aylmer: respiratory diseases where fatalities were down a massive 24%. Now,

184
00:10:03,809 --> 00:10:06,840
Sean Aylmer: the Bureau of Statistics figures show that COVID-19 was the

185
00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:11,760
Sean Aylmer: 38th ranked cause of death in 2020. Basically, all the

186
00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,750
Sean Aylmer: public health measures around COVID have suppressed the spread of

187
00:10:15,750 --> 00:10:19,240
Sean Aylmer: many other infectious diseases. For example, there were just 55

188
00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,620
Sean Aylmer: deaths from the flu last year compared to more than

189
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,210
Sean Aylmer: 1000 in 2019.

190
00:10:24,730 --> 00:10:28,410
Michael Thompson: And  interestingly,  there  were  also  decreases  in  deaths  from  preventable 

191
00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:32,470
Michael Thompson: causes,  such  as  suicide,  drug  overdose,  and  motor  vehicle  accidents.

192
00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,020
Sean Aylmer: That's right. The one area where death did increase was

193
00:10:36,020 --> 00:10:43,250
Sean Aylmer: around alcohol-induced fatalities, which accords with retailers reporting higher alcohol sales. Overall,

194
00:10:43,250 --> 00:10:51,360
Sean Aylmer: there were 161,300 deaths last year, compared to 169,301 in the year before.

195
00:10:56,010 --> 00:10:58,610
Michael Thompson: Sean,  what's  making  headlines  in  today's  news  media?

196
00:10:58,850 --> 00:11:01,800
Sean Aylmer: There's one worth mentioning, Michael. The Australian Financial Review is

197
00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,210
Sean Aylmer: reporting that soaring prices for gas and coal will drive

198
00:11:05,210 --> 00:11:10,309
Sean Aylmer: Australian resource exports to a record  $349 billion, as major

199
00:11:10,309 --> 00:11:14,210
Sean Aylmer: economies like China and Europe battle the energy supply crisis.

200
00:11:14,270 --> 00:11:16,870
Sean Aylmer: The forecast comes from the Department of Industry.

201
00:11:17,130 --> 00:11:19,110
Michael Thompson: Running through some of the other stories around in the

202
00:11:19,110 --> 00:11:24,059
Michael Thompson: last 24 hours. The ASX fronted investors, virtually. Much of

203
00:11:24,059 --> 00:11:27,030
Michael Thompson: the shareholder angst was around last November's outage, which shut

204
00:11:27,030 --> 00:11:30,130
Michael Thompson: down the exchange for a day. Chair Damian Roche said

205
00:11:30,210 --> 00:11:33,230
Michael Thompson: clearly there were issues, but changes had been put in place,

206
00:11:33,230 --> 00:11:36,940
Michael Thompson: and director's responsible for the outage, including CEO Dominic Stevens,

207
00:11:36,940 --> 00:11:39,511
Michael Thompson: had their pay reduced as a result last year.

208
00:11:39,511 --> 00:11:43,080
Sean Aylmer: Last week, I discussed Solly Lew, the boss of Premier Investments,

209
00:11:43,130 --> 00:11:47,020
Sean Aylmer: which owns Smiggle, Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, and Portmans, among others.

210
00:11:47,470 --> 00:11:50,260
Sean Aylmer: He was calling for a COVID check at the entry

211
00:11:50,260 --> 00:11:53,250
Sean Aylmer: to malls to save the shopkeepers doing it. Well, the

212
00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:57,250
Sean Aylmer: Shopping Centre Council of Australia has flatly rejected the idea,

213
00:11:57,580 --> 00:12:00,560
Sean Aylmer: saying it's totally unworkable pointing out that many of the

214
00:12:00,570 --> 00:12:03,860
Sean Aylmer: stores in a shopping centre, chemists, for example, are actually

215
00:12:03,860 --> 00:12:04,870
Sean Aylmer: essential services.

216
00:12:06,070 --> 00:12:09,830
Michael Thompson: The Competition Regulator has warned against airports upping charges when

217
00:12:09,830 --> 00:12:13,730
Michael Thompson: people start travelling again. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

218
00:12:13,730 --> 00:12:17,080
Michael Thompson: warned that the airports shouldn't increase aeronautical fees in an

219
00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:19,660
Michael Thompson: effort to recoup profits lost during COVID.

220
00:12:20,929 --> 00:12:26,070
Sean Aylmer: Was  the  car  parking  costs  included  in  that,  Michael?  I 

221
00:12:26,070 --> 00:12:26,540
Sean Aylmer: hope  so.

222
00:12:26,710 --> 00:12:27,240
Michael Thompson: Surely.

223
00:12:27,450 --> 00:12:28,250
Sean Aylmer: Highway  robbery.

224
00:12:28,630 --> 00:12:29,790
Michael Thompson: It  absolutely  is,  isn't  it?

225
00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,550
Sean Aylmer: Commonwealth  Bank  and ANZ  are  in  hot  water  in  New  Zealand 

226
00:12:33,550 --> 00:12:38,800
Sean Aylmer: after  their  respective  subsidiaries  allegedly  breached  consumer  protection  laws  and 

227
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,630
Sean Aylmer: didn't  properly  refund  more  than  150,000  customers.  The  class  action 

228
00:12:43,630 --> 00:12:47,120
Sean Aylmer: alleges  the  banks  fail  to  refund  home  and  personal  loan 

229
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,370
Sean Aylmer: customers  interest  and  fees,  that  they  weren't  entitled  to,  because 

230
00:12:51,370 --> 00:12:52,830
Sean Aylmer: of  breaches  of  their  disclosure.

231
00:12:53,330 --> 00:12:55,790
Michael Thompson: Now, Sean put this one in the diary. Commissioner Ray

232
00:12:55,790 --> 00:12:58,699
Michael Thompson: Finkelstein is due to report his findings from the Royal

233
00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:02,069
Michael Thompson: Commission into Crown Resorts in Victoria in the next two weeks.

234
00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,939
Michael Thompson: Ahead of that, the group has appointed Red Bubble chair

235
00:13:04,940 --> 00:13:08,650
Michael Thompson: and former partner at law firm MinterEllison, Anne Ward, to

236
00:13:08,650 --> 00:13:11,439
Michael Thompson: the board. Her skills may well be needed.

237
00:13:11,770 --> 00:13:15,430
Sean Aylmer: I suspect they will. Finally, a number of senior officials

238
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,370
Sean Aylmer: of the CFMEU are in isolation after the union's headquarters

239
00:13:19,610 --> 00:13:23,210
Sean Aylmer: was declared a tier one exposure site. The union blame

240
00:13:23,210 --> 00:13:27,460
Sean Aylmer: the outbreak on the violent anti-vaccination protest last week. Secretary

241
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,630
Sean Aylmer: of the CFMEU, John Setka, is one of those now

242
00:13:30,690 --> 00:13:31,530
Sean Aylmer: in isolation.

243
00:13:31,830 --> 00:13:34,310
Michael Thompson: All  right,  Sean,  what's  the  key  overseas  news  this  morning?

244
00:13:34,650 --> 00:13:37,820
Sean Aylmer: The Liberal Democratic Party in Japan has elected a new leader,

245
00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:42,310
Sean Aylmer: Fumio Kishida, following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga

246
00:13:42,570 --> 00:13:45,260
Sean Aylmer: on the back of the surging cases of COVID. Mr.

247
00:13:45,260 --> 00:13:47,280
Sean Aylmer: Suga was only in the top job for a year. A

248
00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:50,429
Sean Aylmer: national election in Japan is due next month. While the

249
00:13:50,429 --> 00:13:54,380
Sean Aylmer: Japanese market was down more than 2% yesterday. Since Mr. Suga's

250
00:13:54,380 --> 00:13:57,580
Sean Aylmer: announcement that he was stepping down, it's been easily the

251
00:13:57,580 --> 00:14:01,520
Sean Aylmer: best performer among major economies. Also, two of the big

252
00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:06,319
Sean Aylmer: Canadian gold miners, Kirkland Lake and Agnico Eagle will merge

253
00:14:06,380 --> 00:14:10,770
Sean Aylmer: creating a US$24 billion U. S. giant in the country, which

254
00:14:10,770 --> 00:14:14,819
Sean Aylmer: will compete hard with Australia's big gold producers. Kirkland Lake

255
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,900
Sean Aylmer: owns Fosterville Goldmine near Bendigo in Victoria, now its future

256
00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:21,540
Sean Aylmer: is up in the air. New Zealand recorded a spike

257
00:14:21,540 --> 00:14:25,850
Sean Aylmer: in COVID cases yesterday, 45, up from just eight on Tuesday.

258
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:30,070
Sean Aylmer: All the cases were in Auckland. And finally, The Ramones

259
00:14:30,070 --> 00:14:32,230
Sean Aylmer: were a punk band in the mid to late seventies,

260
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,270
Sean Aylmer: arguably the most influential punk band out of the U. S..

261
00:14:35,630 --> 00:14:38,790
Sean Aylmer: Not everyone's cup of tea, but the guitar played by

262
00:14:38,790 --> 00:14:42,070
Sean Aylmer: Johnny Ramone on all the bands 15 albums and nearly

263
00:14:42,100 --> 00:14:48,730
Sean Aylmer: 2000 live performances sold over the weekend for $1.2 million. Johnny

264
00:14:48,730 --> 00:14:52,070
Sean Aylmer: died in 2004, indeed, all four original members of the

265
00:14:52,070 --> 00:14:53,381
Sean Aylmer: Ramones have passed on.

266
00:14:54,450 --> 00:14:57,620
Michael Thompson: $1.2 million for a guitar. Would you pay that for

267
00:14:57,690 --> 00:14:58,900
Michael Thompson: the Ramones guitar?

268
00:14:59,150 --> 00:15:02,050
Sean Aylmer: Well, not when it's been used so often. 2000 live performances,

269
00:15:02,050 --> 00:15:02,920
Sean Aylmer: 15 albums. Incredible.

270
00:15:03,730 --> 00:15:06,730
Michael Thompson: Yeah, it's pretty extraordinary. If it was Barry Gibb's guitar

271
00:15:06,810 --> 00:15:07,750
Michael Thompson: on the other hand.

272
00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:07,851
Sean Aylmer: Oh,  yeah. Absolutely.

273
00:15:07,851 --> 00:15:12,290
Michael Thompson: They can just  take  everything  I  own,  and  the  kids  too.  All 

274
00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:14,940
Michael Thompson: right,  up  next  is  the  daily  interview.  And  today  you're 

275
00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:18,250
Michael Thompson: talking  to  Doug  McNamee,  the  CEO  of  JOLT  charge.

276
00:15:18,470 --> 00:15:21,330
Sean Aylmer: That's right, Michael. JOLT has just received a  $100 million

277
00:15:21,550 --> 00:15:24,400
Sean Aylmer: investment from BlackRock to roll out these charging stations in

278
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,840
Sean Aylmer: Sydney and Adelaide to begin with. It's a really interesting story,

279
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:28,810
Sean Aylmer: and well worth a listen.

280
00:15:29,070 --> 00:15:31,080
Michael Thompson: Yeah, absolutely. That's up next in the Fear and Greed

281
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,650
Michael Thompson: playlist on your podcast platform, or at fearandgreed.com.au. Thank you very much, Sean.

282
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:36,430
Sean Aylmer: Thank  you,  Michael.

283
00:15:36,900 --> 00:15:40,370
Michael Thompson: It's Thursday, the 30th of September 2021. Make sure you

284
00:15:40,370 --> 00:15:43,110
Michael Thompson: follow Fear and Greed on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, and

285
00:15:43,110 --> 00:15:46,950
Michael Thompson: you can always find more info at fearandgreed.com.au. And while you're there,

286
00:15:46,950 --> 00:15:49,880
Michael Thompson: of course, sign up for our new newsletter and get

287
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,570
Michael Thompson: the latest news in your inbox first thing every morning,

288
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,130
Michael Thompson: I'm Michael Thompson, and that was Fear and Greed. Have

289
00:15:55,130 --> 00:15:55,620
Michael Thompson: a great day.