1
00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,920
Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, the second of July twenty twenty five. Welcome

2
00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,399
Speaker 1: to the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed,

3
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,440
Speaker 1: where we give you the top five business stories you

4
00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:13,880
Speaker 1: need to know in it's five minutes. I'm Michael Thompson

5
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,640
Speaker 1: and good morning Adam Lane.

6
00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:16,880
Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Michael.

7
00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,079
Speaker 1: Adam. Five big stories to race through in five minutes.

8
00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:22,639
Speaker 1: Let's go with story number one. Home prices across the

9
00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,320
Speaker 1: country rose by seven point one percent last financial year.

10
00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: That is above the long term average, although the overall

11
00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,680
Speaker 1: figure disguises the reality of very hot cities and one

12
00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 1: particularly cold city, as well as the outperformance of regional Australia.

13
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,320
Speaker 1: According to Cotality, the best performing markets last financial year

14
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,920
Speaker 1: were in order, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin. The only

15
00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,440
Speaker 1: city to go backwards was Melbourne, while Sidney, Hobart and

16
00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,840
Speaker 1: Canberra eked out small gains for the year. The good news,

17
00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,640
Speaker 1: Adam is that for the month of June, prices across

18
00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,440
Speaker 1: the board were higher, meaning five months of gains and

19
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 1: the market looks to be on the app.

20
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 2: Yes, Michael, it was a good year for homeowners. Coatalities

21
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,640
Speaker 2: Research director Tim Lawless says falling interest rates have been

22
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,959
Speaker 2: a clear catalyst behind the renewed momentum, but he warns

23
00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,640
Speaker 2: that the pace of growth of house prices remains mild

24
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,480
Speaker 2: compared to mid twenty twenty three. Also, the current housing

25
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,120
Speaker 2: rebound is occurring against a backdrop of relatively low home sales.

26
00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,200
Speaker 2: Housing turnover through the first half of the calendar year

27
00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,200
Speaker 2: is tracking below the average over the last decade. If

28
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,480
Speaker 2: you look at the capital cities versus the regions, residential

29
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,360
Speaker 2: prices in the country climbed to more than ten percent

30
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,160
Speaker 2: last financial year, while the capital cities were up six

31
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,120
Speaker 2: point one percent. Now, most of us own homes for

32
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,160
Speaker 2: many years, and in the long run, the best performing

33
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,119
Speaker 2: cities over ten years have been Brisbane and Adelaide, as

34
00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,200
Speaker 2: well as regional New South Wales and regional Queensland, where

35
00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 2: prices have nearly doubled. In contrast, Darwin and the Northern

36
00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,000
Speaker 2: Territory are flat or lower over the decade.

37
00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,760
Speaker 1: Okay, moving on to story number two now and ahead

38
00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,120
Speaker 1: of next week's return to camp growth for the new government,

39
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,960
Speaker 1: the changes to taxation of high superbalances are getting plenty

40
00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:08,320
Speaker 1: of attention. Earlier in the week we had compulsory super

41
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,440
Speaker 1: architect and former Prime Minister Paul Keating taking a swipe

42
00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,959
Speaker 1: at the policy, which he argues will introduce bracket creep

43
00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:20,560
Speaker 1: into the super system. And now ACTU Secretary Sally McManus

44
00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,640
Speaker 1: says the three million dollar threshold above which the government's

45
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 1: new superannuation earnings tax will apply needs to be indexed,

46
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,520
Speaker 1: but that there's no urgency to do that.

47
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,120
Speaker 2: Yes, Michael, And when the ACTU is asking the Government

48
00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,760
Speaker 2: for a change to the policy, you suspect the policy

49
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,120
Speaker 2: is going to have to change. The two big issues

50
00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,440
Speaker 2: are in the legislation are the taxing of unrealized gains

51
00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,960
Speaker 2: and the potential for bracket creep. Yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony

52
00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,920
Speaker 2: Alberanezi described his plan to increase earnings tax on superbalances

53
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,800
Speaker 2: above three million as very modest changes. We'll see if

54
00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:54,960
Speaker 2: anything has to change.

55
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,480
Speaker 1: Indeed, storing number three coal Wealth Bank enters the new

56
00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,600
Speaker 1: financial year as e easily Australia's largest company now twelve

57
00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,720
Speaker 1: months ago, both Commonwealth Bank and BHP we're about the

58
00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:11,480
Speaker 1: same size today Comonwealth Bank's about seventy percent bigger than

59
00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,919
Speaker 1: BHP and worth more than three hundred billion dollars. It's

60
00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,640
Speaker 1: waiting in the ASX two hundred has gone from nine

61
00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:20,400
Speaker 1: percent to almost twelve percent.

62
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,200
Speaker 2: These are staggering numbers, Michael, and it might not be

63
00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,639
Speaker 2: the best performing stock on the MOSS in share price terms,

64
00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,120
Speaker 2: but if you take into account the number of shareholders,

65
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,959
Speaker 2: and that's more than eight hundred thousand, of whom half

66
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,680
Speaker 2: are retail investors, then it must be the most favored stock.

67
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,080
Speaker 2: It has been an incredible year for the bank, which

68
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,720
Speaker 2: is almost as big as the other three banks combined.

69
00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,360
Speaker 2: In the last financial year, Commonwealth Bank returned eight billion

70
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,800
Speaker 2: dollars in buybacks and dividends. The average retail shareholder got

71
00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,680
Speaker 2: back three thousand, six hundred and eighteen dollars. Seventy six

72
00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,920
Speaker 2: percent of shareholders are Australian and it has outperformed its

73
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,960
Speaker 2: peers in total shareholder returns over the one, five and

74
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,360
Speaker 2: ten years. Now, none of this means it'll do it

75
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,200
Speaker 2: again this year, but it is a great success story.

76
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 1: Indeed, story number four, Adam, some good news. Coffee prices

77
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,680
Speaker 1: that surged to hit record high as earlier this year. Well,

78
00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:16,400
Speaker 1: I've come off a bit now. The good news is

79
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,119
Speaker 1: that the spike has faded and prices are now down

80
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,960
Speaker 1: more than twenty five percent since the February peak. A

81
00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 1: couple of things going on here. Weather conditions in Brazil,

82
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,480
Speaker 1: which is the world's biggest producer, are favorable, and its

83
00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,039
Speaker 1: harvest over the rest of this year is expected to

84
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,640
Speaker 1: be pretty big. Also, the geopolitical tension weighs on demand.

85
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,080
Speaker 1: Believe it or not, Yes, Michael, this is good news

86
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,640
Speaker 1: for coffee drinkers. Prices are traded on the Intercontinental Exchange

87
00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,360
Speaker 1: and measured in US dollars per pound. At US three

88
00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,360
Speaker 1: dollars thirty five per pound, on average, coffee prices are

89
00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:50,839
Speaker 1: close to their twenty twenty five lows. You mentioned Brazil,

90
00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,120
Speaker 1: which is the world's biggest producer of Arabica beans. The

91
00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 1: other big producer is Vietnam, where it's robust up beans

92
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,960
Speaker 1: and growing conditions are much better. I think late Brazil

93
00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,160
Speaker 1: versus nes Cafe Vietnam the upshot of this soonor Barista

94
00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,960
Speaker 1: can't blame coffee prices for an increase in the cost

95
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,080
Speaker 1: of your favorite late last one story number five. The

96
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,480
Speaker 1: rift between Donald Trump and Elon Musk continues to deteriorate,

97
00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 1: with the US President now calling on the Department of

98
00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:25,440
Speaker 1: Government Efficiency DOGE agency to scrutinize the billions in government

99
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,919
Speaker 1: subsidies that are flowing to Elon Musk's companies in a

100
00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,560
Speaker 1: truth social post, of course, it would be on truth social.

101
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:36,320
Speaker 1: Trump slammed Musk's support for an electric vehicle mandate and

102
00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,800
Speaker 1: claimed that without taxpayer support, Tesla and SpaceX would collapse.

103
00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,520
Speaker 1: He even suggested that Musk might have to quote head

104
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:43,880
Speaker 1: back home to South Africa.

105
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,640
Speaker 2: Here, Michael, this relationship continues to be volatile. Trump added,

106
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,440
Speaker 2: no more rocket launches, satellites or electric car production, and

107
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,320
Speaker 2: our country would save a fortune. Musk responded on X,

108
00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,640
Speaker 2: calling for all subsidies to be scrapped. The fallout appears

109
00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:03,120
Speaker 2: to stem from Musk's criticism of Trump's sweeping tax and

110
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:07,920
Speaker 2: spending bill, which is previously labeled a disgusting abomination that

111
00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:09,920
Speaker 2: would destroy millions of jobs.

112
00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,440
Speaker 1: All right, there we go, the top five business stories

113
00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,840
Speaker 1: in five minutes. Thank you very much, Adam, Thank you, Michael.

114
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,200
Speaker 1: It is Wednesday, the second of July twenty twenty five.

115
00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,599
Speaker 1: Remember to hit follow on the podcast. If five minutes

116
00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,960
Speaker 1: isn't enough, you can find our longer daily show called

117
00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,920
Speaker 1: Fear and Greed wherever you listen to podcasts and Our

118
00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,560
Speaker 1: sister podcast comes out every Wednesday. That is how do

119
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,960
Speaker 1: they afford that. You can find it in its own playlist.

120
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,400
Speaker 1: It is all about personal finance and making your money

121
00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:35,960
Speaker 1: work a little harder for you. I'll put a link

122
00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,120
Speaker 1: in the show notes as well. I'm arthle Thompson. And

123
00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,360
Speaker 1: that was the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed.

124
00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,000
Speaker 1: Have a great day.