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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 eighteenth of February twenty twenty six. Michael

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Speaker 1: Thompson and every afternoon, we've got the five stories that

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Speaker 1: happened today that you need to know about. Let's go

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Speaker 1: a story number one. The SMPA SEX two hundred climbed

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Speaker 1: zero point five percent today, closing above the nine thousand

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Speaker 1: point market nine thousand and seven points. Ten of the

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Speaker 1: eleven sectors on the BOSS gained ground today. Materials was

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Speaker 1: the only one showing red. Technology was actually the best performer,

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Speaker 1: led by Technology one. It sawed more than eight percent

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Speaker 1: today after increasing full year guidance, helped by AI product upgrades.

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Speaker 1: NAB was the best of the banks by far. It

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Speaker 1: rose four percent today at share price briefly hit a

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Speaker 1: new record after the bank reported cash earnings well ahead

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Speaker 1: of expectations. That was largely due to growth in home

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Speaker 1: lending and business banking. The rest of the banks were mixed.

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Speaker 1: Blue Scope Steel rose two point six percent day after

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Speaker 1: the Stokes Families, SGH and US listed Steel Dynamics increased

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Speaker 1: their takeover offer and a quick mention of the key

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Speaker 1: piece of economics news out today, real wages have fallen

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Speaker 1: for the first time since September twenty twenty three. ABS

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Speaker 1: data released today shows nominal wages rose three point four

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Speaker 1: percent in the year to December. That is in line

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Speaker 1: with forecasts, but critically it is less than inflation, and

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Speaker 1: that means a decline in real wages. Onto story number two.

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Speaker 1: Now and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has issued a

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Speaker 1: partial apology after suggesting there are no quote good Muslims,

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Speaker 1: but stopped short of fully retracting her comments. Speaking on

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Speaker 1: Sky News about the possible return of Islamic state families

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Speaker 1: to Australia, Hanson said she had quote no time for

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Speaker 1: radical Islam and questioned how anyone could say there are

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Speaker 1: good Muslims. The remarks drew criticism from basically across the

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Speaker 1: political spectrum, including from National Senator Matt Canavan, who called

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Speaker 1: them divisive and UnAustralian. Hansen today spoke to the ABC

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Speaker 1: and she said she did not believe there were no

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Speaker 1: good Muslims. There is one quote that stands out. She said,

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Speaker 1: one woman stood for me. She was a Muslim, but

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Speaker 1: not a practicing Muslim. She apologized to anyone offended who

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Speaker 1: rejects Sharia law or extremism. But she did double down

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Speaker 1: on calls for tougher migration vetting and claimed some suburbs

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Speaker 1: are unwelcoming to Westerners. Story number three, This one's going

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Speaker 1: to hurt the household budget. Private health insurance premiums are

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Speaker 1: set to jump by the biggest increase since twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: increasing by an average four point four one percent from

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Speaker 1: April one. Health Minister Mark Butler, who has to approve

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Speaker 1: the increases, says the rise reflects higher hospital and medical costs,

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Speaker 1: which increased five percent over the past year. More than

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Speaker 1: fifteen million Australians will be affected by this. Medibank will

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Speaker 1: lift premiums five point one percent and ib V five

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Speaker 1: point four to seven percent, Booper four point eight percent.

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Speaker 1: The opposition says families can't afford another hit, while insurers

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Speaker 1: are arguing that higher claims for complex treatments are driving

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Speaker 1: costs up. Nib and Medibank's share price both climbed more

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Speaker 1: than five percent today on that news. Story Number four.

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Speaker 1: Earning season is in full swing. Oil and gas giant

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Speaker 1: Santos will cut ten percent of jobs and as placed

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Speaker 1: as oil and gas business in Australia under review after

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Speaker 1: reporting a thirty five percent drop in full year profit

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Speaker 1: that is largely on the back of weak oil and

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Speaker 1: gas prices. A couple of property companies to mention. Developer

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Speaker 1: Mervac announce a twelve percent rise in profit and up

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Speaker 1: to its dividend at share price jump six percent, while

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Speaker 1: Dexus jump seven percent, mostly because of a share buyback

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Speaker 1: rather than its small rise in profit, and internet provider

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Speaker 1: super Loop announced increases in customers, in revenue, in earnings,

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Speaker 1: it upgraded guidance as well as just good news all round, really,

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Speaker 1: and was rewarded with an eighteen percent jump in share

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Speaker 1: price today. Finally, story number five, The Reverend Jesse Jackson,

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Speaker 1: the US civil rights leader and former presidential candidate, has

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Speaker 1: died aged eighty four. Jackson was a protege of Martin

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Speaker 1: Luther King Junior before becoming one of Australia's most prominent

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Speaker 1: civil rights figures himself. After King's assassination in nineteen sixty eight,

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Speaker 1: he founded major social justice movements, campaigning for voting rights, jobs, education,

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Speaker 1: and racial equality. Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice.

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Speaker 1: That was in nineteen eighty four and then again in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight. He won multiple primaries and helped pave

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Speaker 1: the way for future minority candidates. He had been living

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Speaker 1: with a neurological disorder in recent years, and he died

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Speaker 1: at home in Chicago, surrounded by family. And that's it

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Speaker 1: for the Afternoon Report for Wednesday, the eighteenth of February.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you're following the podcast, and please head along

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Speaker 1: to Fear and Greed dot com DoD au to sign

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Speaker 1: up for our free daily newstit. There is a link

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Speaker 1: in state show notes as well. I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy

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Speaker 1: it your evening.