1
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,480
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report

2
00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,520
Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the seventeenth of December. Are Michael Thompson and

3
00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,119
Speaker 1: every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today

4
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,440
Speaker 1: that you need to know about. Story number one. The

5
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,680
Speaker 1: S and p ASX two hundred closed slightly lower today,

6
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 1: down zero point two percent to eighty five hundred and

7
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,840
Speaker 1: eighty five points. Ten of the eleven sectors were lower,

8
00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,840
Speaker 1: led by the energy stocks after the price of oil

9
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,120
Speaker 1: dropped nearly three percent overnight to its lowest level in

10
00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,879
Speaker 1: almost five years. That came after renewed hopes of a

11
00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,479
Speaker 1: deal in Ukraine that could see restrictions then eased on

12
00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:41,640
Speaker 1: Russian oil exports. Local oil and gas giant Woodside was

13
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,879
Speaker 1: down two point four percent today. The optimism around Ukraine

14
00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,360
Speaker 1: also impacted defense stocks like Drone Shield, which we've talked

15
00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,320
Speaker 1: about every day this week. It was off more than

16
00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,600
Speaker 1: twelve percent today. Shipbuilder Ostel was down eleven and a

17
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,480
Speaker 1: half percent. Elsewhere on the Boss Treasury, wine Estates tumbled

18
00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,640
Speaker 1: more than nine nine percent after a profit downgrade. The

19
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,319
Speaker 1: maker of penfolds has plenty of problems right now. We'll

20
00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,160
Speaker 1: have more on that one tomorrow morning. Grain Corp was

21
00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,560
Speaker 1: also sold off after warning of a weaker than expected

22
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,000
Speaker 1: harvest on the East Coast, and also after it sold

23
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,880
Speaker 1: a Canadian asset at a loss. A little bit of

24
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,120
Speaker 1: good news, though the miners had a reasonable day, with

25
00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,600
Speaker 1: the gold price climbing and lithium miners also jumping after

26
00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,839
Speaker 1: predictions of higher lithium prices next year under story number

27
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,840
Speaker 1: two and the first funerals for the fifteen victims of

28
00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:36,000
Speaker 1: the Bondai terror attack being held, with Rabbi Eli Schlanger

29
00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,119
Speaker 1: farewell this morning at a service in Sydney's Eastern suburbs.

30
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,119
Speaker 1: New South Wales. Premier Chris Min's Federal Opposition leader Susan Lee,

31
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,600
Speaker 1: former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and the Israeli ambassador to

32
00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,920
Speaker 1: Australia were all at the funeral, where the Rabbi was

33
00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,080
Speaker 1: remembered as a loving friend and mentor and a father

34
00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,160
Speaker 1: of five whose children were forever his number one. A

35
00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:00,920
Speaker 1: second funeral for the other rabbit I killed in the

36
00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,160
Speaker 1: attack is being held this afternoon. Meanwhile, police are expected

37
00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,920
Speaker 1: to question and charge twenty four year old Navid Akram,

38
00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,240
Speaker 1: who's the surviving gunman, after he woke from a coma

39
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,919
Speaker 1: last night. He's expected to face a range of charges

40
00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,600
Speaker 1: related to terrorism, including acts in preparation for a terrorism

41
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,800
Speaker 1: Act and undertaking an act of terrorism. Story number three.

42
00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,880
Speaker 1: Star Entertainment has undergone another abrupt leadership change, with Bruce

43
00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,560
Speaker 1: Matheson Junior stepping down as executive chairman just one day

44
00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,200
Speaker 1: after taking on the role. Matheson, from the billionaire pub

45
00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,119
Speaker 1: owning family which is now Star's second largest shareholder, will

46
00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,120
Speaker 1: instead become chief executive. The board will now be led

47
00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,600
Speaker 1: by Bally's Corporation chairman Sue Kim, who takes on the

48
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,519
Speaker 1: role of Star Chairman. It's even more turbulence for the group,

49
00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,600
Speaker 1: which was close to entering administration in March before the

50
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,560
Speaker 1: US gaming giant Bally's proposed a three hundred million dollar

51
00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:59,480
Speaker 1: rescue deal. That deal was finalized last month. Yesterday I

52
00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,160
Speaker 1: told you that former CEO Steve McCann resigned after less

53
00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:05,320
Speaker 1: than two years in the job. Two board members have

54
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,040
Speaker 1: left as well. Bally's says though that it is confident

55
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,920
Speaker 1: Stars best days are still ahead. Story number four. We

56
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,440
Speaker 1: have talked a lot lately about federal politicians and their

57
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,880
Speaker 1: travel bills. How about this one out of Victoria, where

58
00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,840
Speaker 1: taxpayers are footing a bill of nearly two hundred and

59
00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,600
Speaker 1: thirty three thousand dollars for Premier. Just into Alan's seven

60
00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,880
Speaker 1: day trip to China earlier this year, a travel report

61
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,959
Speaker 1: shows flights alone cost around one hundred and seventy four

62
00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,960
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, with accommodation and other expenses lifting the total

63
00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 1: to that two hundred and thirty two thousand, six hundred

64
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,600
Speaker 1: and thirty dollar mark for Allen, one parliamentary secretary and

65
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,880
Speaker 1: six staff. The figures don't include costs for four labor

66
00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,520
Speaker 1: backbenchers who also traveled, meaning the final bill is certainly

67
00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,800
Speaker 1: going to be higher than that. The September visit was

68
00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:59,200
Speaker 1: Allen's first to China as premier and included stops in Beijing, Shanghai,

69
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,119
Speaker 1: and Changdu, where she launched Victoria's five year China strategy

70
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,560
Speaker 1: and promoted trade, education, and tourism links. The trip does

71
00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,000
Speaker 1: follow ongoing political sensitivity around Victoria's China engagement after former

72
00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:16,000
Speaker 1: Premier Daniel Andrews was criticized for attending a Beijing military

73
00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,280
Speaker 1: parade earlier in the year, and finally, Story number five

74
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,200
Speaker 1: White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has put the

75
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,200
Speaker 1: Trump administration into damage control mode after giving a series

76
00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,840
Speaker 1: of unusually frank interviews to Vanity Fair. Wiles, who is

77
00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,640
Speaker 1: the first woman to hold the role, said President Donald

78
00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,880
Speaker 1: Trump is using his position to settle scores with opponents

79
00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:42,640
Speaker 1: and wants regime change in Venezuela. She also described Vice

80
00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,039
Speaker 1: President J. D. Vance as a conspiracy theorist. She labeled

81
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:52,000
Speaker 1: Budget Chief Russell Vought as a right wing zealot, and

82
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,720
Speaker 1: called Elon Musk an odd, odd duck. She revealed deep

83
00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,240
Speaker 1: internal disagreements over Trump's trade tariffs, saying that the roll

84
00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,000
Speaker 1: out involved quote a lot of thinking out loud and

85
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,680
Speaker 1: caused more pain than expected. Wiles has since described the

86
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,560
Speaker 1: profile as a hit piece, but she didn't dispute its

87
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,720
Speaker 1: contents and has provided further context to her comments, and

88
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,800
Speaker 1: the White House has rallied behind her, praising her loyalty

89
00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,960
Speaker 1: and her leadership. That's it for the Afternoon Report for Wednesday,

90
00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,960
Speaker 1: the seventeenth of December. Make sure you're following the podcast

91
00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,760
Speaker 1: and head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot

92
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:26,760
Speaker 1: A you to sign up for our free daily newsletter.

93
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,880
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your even