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

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Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the seventeenth of December. Are Michael Thompson and

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Speaker 1: every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today

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Speaker 1: that you need to know about. Story number one. The

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Speaker 1: S and p ASX two hundred closed slightly lower today,

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Speaker 1: down zero point two percent to eighty five hundred and

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Speaker 1: eighty five points. Ten of the eleven sectors were lower,

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Speaker 1: led by the energy stocks after the price of oil

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Speaker 1: dropped nearly three percent overnight to its lowest level in

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Speaker 1: almost five years. That came after renewed hopes of a

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Speaker 1: deal in Ukraine that could see restrictions then eased on

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Speaker 1: Russian oil exports. Local oil and gas giant Woodside was

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Speaker 1: down two point four percent today. The optimism around Ukraine

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Speaker 1: also impacted defense stocks like Drone Shield, which we've talked

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Speaker 1: about every day this week. It was off more than

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Speaker 1: twelve percent today. Shipbuilder Ostel was down eleven and a

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Speaker 1: half percent. Elsewhere on the Boss Treasury, wine Estates tumbled

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Speaker 1: more more than nine percent after a profit downgrade. The

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Speaker 1: maker of penfolds has plenty of problems right now. We'll

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Speaker 1: have more on that one tomorrow morning. Grain Corp was

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Speaker 1: also sold off after warning of a weaker than expected

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Speaker 1: harvest on the East Coast, and also after it sold

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Speaker 1: a Canadian asset at a loss. A little bit of

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Speaker 1: good news, though the miners had a reasonable day, with

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Speaker 1: the gold price climbing and lithium miners also jumping after

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Speaker 1: predictions of higher lithium prices next year understory number two

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Speaker 1: and the first funerals for the fifteen victims of the

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Speaker 1: Bondai terror attack being held, with Rabbi Eli Schlanger farewell

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Speaker 1: this morning at a service in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. New

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Speaker 1: South Wales. Premier Chris Min's Federal Opposition leader Susan Lee,

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Speaker 1: former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and the Israeli ambassador to

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Speaker 1: Australia were all at the funeral, where the rabbi was

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Speaker 1: remembered as a loving friend and mentor and a father

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Speaker 1: of five whose children were forever his number one. A

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Speaker 1: second funeral for the other rabbi killed in the attack

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Speaker 1: is being held this afternoon. Meanwhile, police are expected to

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Speaker 1: question and charge twenty four year old Navid Akrom, who's

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Speaker 1: the surviving gunman, after he woke from a coma last night.

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Speaker 1: He's expected to face a range of charges related to terrorism,

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Speaker 1: including acts in preparation for a terrorism Act and undertaking

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Speaker 1: an act of terrorism. Story number three. Star Entertainment has

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Speaker 1: undergone another abrupt leadership change, with Bruce Mathieson Junior stepping

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Speaker 1: down as executive chairman just one day after taking on

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Speaker 1: the role. Matheson from the billionaire pub owning family which

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Speaker 1: is now Star's second largest shareholder, will instead become chief executive.

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Speaker 1: The board will now be led by Bally's Corporation chairman

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Speaker 1: Sue Kim, who takes on the role of Star Chairman.

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Speaker 1: It's even more turbulence for the group, which was close

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Speaker 1: to entering administration in March before the US gaming giant

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Speaker 1: Bally's proposed a three hundred million dollar rescue deal. That

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Speaker 1: deal was finalized last month. Yesterday I told you that

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Speaker 1: former CEO Steve McCann resigned after less than two years

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Speaker 1: in the job. Two board members have left as well.

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Speaker 1: Bally's says though that it is confident Stars best days

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Speaker 1: are still ahead. Story number four. We have talked a

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Speaker 1: lot lately about federal politicians and their travel bills. How

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Speaker 1: about this one out of Victoria, where taxpayers are footing

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Speaker 1: a bill of nearly two hundred and thirty three thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars for Premier. Just into Alan's seven day trip to

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Speaker 1: China earlier this year. The travel report shows flights alone

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Speaker 1: cost around one hundred and seventy four thousand dollars, with

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Speaker 1: accommodation and other expenses lifting the total to that two

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Speaker 1: hundred and thirty two thousand, six hundred and thirty dollar

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Speaker 1: mark for Allen, one parliamentary secretary and six staff. The

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Speaker 1: figures don't include costs for four labor backbenchers who also traveled,

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Speaker 1: meaning the final bill is certainly going to be higher

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Speaker 1: than that. The September visit was Allen's first to China

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Speaker 1: as premier and included stops in Beijing, Shanghai, and chang Do,

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Speaker 1: where she launched Victoria's five year China strategy and promoted trade, education,

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Speaker 1: and tourism links. The trip does follow ongoing political sensitivity

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Speaker 1: around Victoria's China engagement after former Premier Daniel Andrews was

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Speaker 1: criticized for attending a Beijing military parade earlier in the year,

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Speaker 1: and finally, Story number five White House Chief of Staff

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Speaker 1: Susie Wilds has put the Trump administration into damage control

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Speaker 1: mode after giving a series of unusually frank interviews to

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Speaker 1: Vanity Fair. Wiles, who is the first woman to hold

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Speaker 1: the role, said President Donald Trump is using his position

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Speaker 1: to settle scores with opponents and wants regime change in Venezuela.

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Speaker 1: She also described Vice President J. D. Vance as a

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Speaker 1: conspiracy theorist. She labeled Budget Chief Russell Vought as a

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Speaker 1: right wing zealot, and called Elon Musk an odd, odd duck.

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Speaker 1: She revealed deep internal disagreements over Trump's trade tariffs, saying

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Speaker 1: that the rollout involved quote a lot of thinking out

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Speaker 1: loud and caused more pain than expected. Wiles has since

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Speaker 1: described the profile as a hit piece, but she didn't

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Speaker 1: dispute its contents and has provided further context to her comments,

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Speaker 1: and the White House has rallied behind her, praising her

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Speaker 1: loyalty and her leadership. That's it for the Afternoon Report

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Speaker 1: for Wednesday, the seventeenth of December. Make sure you're following

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Speaker 1: the podcast and head along to Fear and Greed dot

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Speaker 1: com dot at you to sign up for our free

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Speaker 1: daily newsletter. I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your inf