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Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, the twentieth of May twenty twenty five. Welcome

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Speaker 1: to the Fast five Business News by Fear and Greed,

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Speaker 1: where we give you the top five business stories you

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Speaker 1: need to know when just five minutes. I'm Michael Thompson

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Speaker 1: and good morning Sean Aylmer.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Michael, Sean.

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Speaker 1: Five stories in just five minutes. We better get cracking

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Speaker 1: the story number one. Several of Australia's biggest companies, including

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Speaker 1: Commonwealth Bank, wes Farmers, Telstra Colds, are trading near new

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Speaker 1: records or multi year highs as investors really look beyond

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Speaker 1: global turmoil and inflation to find winners in the market.

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Speaker 2: Commonwealth Bank share price continues to defy gravity, even on

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Speaker 2: a down day for the market. Yesterday, Combak was higher,

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Speaker 2: finishing up more than a dollar to one hundred and

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Speaker 2: seventy dollars and seventy nine cents to share. Its previous

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Speaker 2: closing high was one hundred and sixty nine dollars seventy

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Speaker 2: four cents. Doing incredibly well. QBE is another fire, hitting

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Speaker 2: its highest level since early twenty ten, as a lack

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Speaker 2: of natural disasters over the past twelve months and higher

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Speaker 2: premium income pushes the insurer insurer's earnings. Australia's biggest conglomerate,

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Speaker 2: West Farmers, is sitting around a record high, with the

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Speaker 2: Buddings in office works retailing businesses spurring on the group.

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Speaker 2: The other major conglomerate on the AX, Soul Pats, is

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Speaker 2: also training around a record high. Coal's group has well

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Speaker 2: and truly outperformed competitor Woolies. Its share price is around

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Speaker 2: a record and Telstra the most widely held stock in

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Speaker 2: the country one point three million shareholders. It's at its

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Speaker 2: highest level in eight years. In its case, it's about

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Speaker 2: its mobile business driving earnings. Other companies to be doing

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Speaker 2: that around those record high levels palette maker, Brambles car dealership,

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Speaker 2: Eager Automotive and software group Technology One.

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Speaker 1: Is there a theme here, Sean, all these stocks who've

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Speaker 1: named so many of them, there is there's something in common?

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Speaker 1: Is it about? I don't know, interest rates?

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Speaker 2: Not really in tough times. Companies like Cohl's and Telstra

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Speaker 2: seem to do well. In sort of less tough times,

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Speaker 2: good times, Companies like West Farmers and QB do well.

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Speaker 2: There's no common theme at least in terms of interest

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Speaker 2: rates and economic outlook. Perhaps a common factor is that

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Speaker 2: the companies have relatively settled management. They've also got relatively

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Speaker 2: settled strategies. Very eclectic mix, but I suggest a well

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Speaker 2: run business that does well in all market conditions.

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Speaker 1: Story number two now shown the Reserve Bank heads into

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Speaker 1: its second day of meetings and this afternoon has tip

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Speaker 1: to announce a reduction in the cash rate from four

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Speaker 1: point one percent to three point eighty five percent, which

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Speaker 1: in turn would push down mortgage and deposit rates by

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Speaker 1: about the same amount. Is it a certainty that this

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Speaker 1: is going to happen.

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Speaker 2: Today, Well, it's not a certainty. Financial markets have priced

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Speaker 2: it in twenty five bases point cut and two more

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Speaker 2: this year, but it's not a certainty. The reason it

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Speaker 2: wouldn't the employment mark is still really strong eighty nine

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Speaker 2: thousand new jobs last month. That gives the Reserve Bank

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Speaker 2: some latitude to hold off. Also, the underlying inflation rate

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Speaker 2: isn't yet at the midpoint of the target range. It'll

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Speaker 2: be two and a half percent. It's heading that way,

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Speaker 2: but it ain't there yet. We find out at two

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Speaker 2: thirty pm today.

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Speaker 1: Story number three, with the Prime Minister overseas for the

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Speaker 1: inauguration of the Pope and the re election just over

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Speaker 1: two weeks old. Now, there isn't much heat in the

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Speaker 1: political debate right now. Really the only issue under the spotlight,

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Speaker 1: the one that's getting all the attention, is the government's

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Speaker 1: plans to increase tax on large superannuation balances.

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Speaker 2: Under the proposal, which were shelved until after the election,

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Speaker 2: superannuation balances over three million dollars will be taxed at

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Speaker 2: thirty percent rather than the concessionary super tax rate of

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Speaker 2: fifteen percent. It's forecast we had two point three billion

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Speaker 2: dollars to the budget each year. They're about eighty thousand

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Speaker 2: people that will be caught up in it, not indexed

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Speaker 2: in the futures. Just say more people will be caught

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Speaker 2: up over time. Critics say the rule could trigger the

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Speaker 2: early retirement of highly skilled workers, cause people to stop

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Speaker 2: saving for retirement, and undercut the government's efforts to improve productivity.

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Speaker 1: Story number four Sean Telstra, You mentioned them before. They're

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Speaker 1: also facing allegations that the telco misled customers by inflating

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Speaker 1: claims of how far its network reaches across the country.

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Speaker 2: Rival telco Votaphone claims that Telstra dramatically overstated its reach

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Speaker 2: by as much as forty percent for more than a decade. Votophone,

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Speaker 2: along with parent coming TPG telecom says Telstra advertised its

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Speaker 2: coverage based on a signal strength that customers could only

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Speaker 2: get if they used a special external antenna and a

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Speaker 2: powered repeater that is usually installed in a vehicle or building.

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Speaker 2: Votophone reckons that network coverage claims should be based on

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Speaker 2: signal strength a mobile phone would usually get without any

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Speaker 2: extra devices. TPGs reported Telstra to the Consumer watchdog called

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Speaker 2: for a regulatory investigation and threatened legal action to stop

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Speaker 2: the practice and potentially force the compensation payment. The Competition

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Speaker 2: watchdog said it's considering the claims, that won't confirm whether

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Speaker 2: there's an investigation or not.

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Speaker 1: Last one story number five Global leaders, including Prime Minister

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Speaker 1: Anthony Alberezi, have offered their sympathies to former US President

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Speaker 1: Joe Biden, who has been diagnosed with an aggressive form

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Speaker 1: of prostate cancer.

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Speaker 2: Two year old was told last week that the cancer

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Speaker 2: cells which originated in his prostate have spread to his bones.

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Speaker 2: Donald Trump on Truth Social said, and I quote Malania,

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Speaker 2: and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent

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Speaker 2: medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to

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Speaker 2: Jill in the family, and we wish Joe a fast

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Speaker 2: and successful recovery. And Prostate cancer is one of the

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Speaker 2: most common types of cancer among men, especially older men.

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Speaker 2: It usually grows slowly and initially remains confined to the

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Speaker 2: prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm. However,

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Speaker 2: some types of prostate cancer can be aggressive and spread

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Speaker 2: quickly to other parts of the body.

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Speaker 1: Okay, there we go, the top five business stories in

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Speaker 1: five minutes. Thank you Sean, Thank you Michael. It is Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: the twentieth of May twenty twenty five. Remember hit follow

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Speaker 1: on the podcast, and if five minutes isn't enough, you

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Speaker 1: can find our longer daily show called Fear and Greed

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Speaker 1: whereever you listen to podcasts. I'm Michael Thompson and that

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Speaker 1: was the fast five business news by Fear and Greed.

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Speaker 1: Have a great day.