1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:09,799 Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the eighteenth of March twenty twenty six. Oh, 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Michael Thompson, and every afternoon, we've got the five stories 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: that happened today that you need to know about. Let's 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: go with story number one. The SMPA sex two hundred 6 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: rows zero point three percent today to eighty six hundred 7 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: and forty one points. Ten of the eleven sectors were 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: higher today. Technology and real estate stocks led the gains. 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: Data Center Group next DC was up three point six percent. 10 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: Zero rose two point three percent. Goodman Group added two 11 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: point one percent. That was really as these rate sensitive 12 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: sectors rebounded somewhat after yesterday's interest rate hike. Energy stocks 13 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: were mixed as oil prices eased slightly but remained above 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: one hundred US dollars a barrel. Santos rose nearly one percent. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: Woodside edged higher after confirming its new chief executive would 16 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,279 Speaker 1: be Liz Liz Westcott, who has been acting in that 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: role for the last few months. Now it is going 18 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: to be permanent. Uriels also finished higher, with BHP up 19 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: zero point seven percent. James Hardy was up three and 20 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: a half percent. The banks were a bit mixed following 21 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: the rate hike yesterday. The biggest increase though today on 22 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: the ASEX two hundred came from Drone Shield. It is 23 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: a somewhat volatile stock. It has moved around a lot 24 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: in the last six months twelve months, but today it 25 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: jumped more than ten percent to be the biggest gainer 26 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: on the local boss Onto story number two and US 27 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 1: President Donald Trump has abandoned efforts to recruit allies, including Australia, 28 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: to support the war with Iran, instead criticizing countries that 29 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: have refused to participate. On social media, he wrote, because 30 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: of the fact that we have had such military success, 31 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: we no longer need or desire the NATO country's assistance. 32 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: We never did likewise Japan, Australia or South Korea. He 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: added that NATO allies had made a foolish mistake by 34 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: staying out of the conflict, and even suggested the US 35 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: should reconsider its involvement in NATO. The war continues to escalate, 36 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: with Israel claiming that it has killed senior Iranian official 37 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: Ali Larajani and Trump threatening further strikes on key infrastructure, 38 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: particularly oil infrastructure in the region. Story number three Radio 39 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: host Kyle Sandalans says he will challenge the termination of 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: his contract with ARN, setting up a potential legal battle 41 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: over his multimillion dollar deal. This morning, ARN confirmed the 42 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: Kyle and JACKIEO Show will no longer be broadcast after 43 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: officially issuing a termination notice following a fourteen day suspension period. 44 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: Sandalans released a very fiery statement rejecting the decision, saying 45 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: he had complied with all requests and accusing the company 46 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: of using the situation to exit the contract. And it 47 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: was a sizeable contract, a two hundred million dollar deal 48 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: across ten years for Kyle and JACKIEO. They were just 49 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: over a year into the agreement when the show basically 50 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: disintegrated following an on air confrontation between the two hosts. 51 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: Legal experts say the case could now hinge on whether 52 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: Sandaland's conduct rather breached the terms of his agreement or 53 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,399 Speaker 1: was instead consistent with the controversial style that ARN had 54 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: hired him for and has been broadcasting for for much 55 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: of the last twenty five years. Story number four. Electric 56 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: vehicle adoption in Australia is accelerating, but remains heavily concentrated 57 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: among higher income households. In major cities. New analysis shows 58 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: that EV ownership is significantly higher in metropolitan areas, with 59 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: uptake around four times greater than in rural regions. The 60 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: data suggests the policies such as the fringe Benefits tax 61 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: exemption has had limited impact in broadening adoption beyond wealthier households. However, 62 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: analysts expect the growth of the second hand EV market 63 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: to gradually expand access to more Australians over time. And finally, 64 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: story number five, how about this one? Warner Brothers chief 65 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: executive David Zaslav could receive a payout worth more than 66 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: seven one hundred million US dollars following the company's takeover 67 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: by Paramount. The package includes hundreds of millions of dollars 68 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: in shares, cash payments, and benefits tied to the deal, 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: making it one of the largest executive payouts in Hollywood. 70 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: The takeover, valued at about thirty one US dollars a share, 71 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: marks a major turnaround for Warner Brothers Discovery after a 72 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: pretty difficult period following its twenty twenty one merger, and 73 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: comes after Netflix walked away from mispid for the studio, 74 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: leaving Paramounts in the box seat. The size of the 75 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: payout for the Warner Brothers boss, though, is likely to 76 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: fuel a bit of criticism, particularly as the combined company 77 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: prepares for likely significant cost cuts and potential job losses. 78 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: And that's it for the afternoon Report for Wednesday, the 79 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: eighteenth of March. Make sure you're following the podcast, and 80 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: please head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot 81 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: au to sign up for our free daily newsletter. I'm 82 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening.