Fear and Greed Afternoon Report | 16 Jul 2025

This is the Fear and Greed Afternoon Report - everything you need to know about what happened in the markets, economy and world of business today, in just a few minutes.

1. Banks sold off

2. Cash flow problems

3. Rare earths win

4. Tassie poll

5. Pharma tariffs

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Wednesday, the sixteenth of July twenty twenty five. I'm
sure in al month every afternoon we've got the five
stories that happened today that you need to know about,
straight number one, the good news and the local chair
market yesterday didn't last long, with the SMPASX two hundred
today having its worst one day loss since May on
the back of inflation fears in the US. The SMPASX

(00:27):
two hundred closed down zero point eight percent to eight thousand,
five hundred and sixty two points, with the financials struggling
most that includes the big banks. National Australia Bank was
off three percent, Westpac was down one point six percent.
Come Off Bank was off more than one percent. The
minus started lower, but by the closed BHP, Rio and
fortesqu Metals had all outperformed the market. The tech stocks
were the best or among the best, including Promedicus Zero

(00:50):
and Ria Group. Goldiger Neumont felt six percent after it
sold its stakes in two North American Minds and its
CFO resigned. The drop on the ASX today followed up
a nine percent fall on Wall Street overnight for the
dualisted company Evolution Mining, also a gold company, fell two
percent even though it reported significantly higher cash generation during
the last six months, and then Lee dropped two percent

(01:12):
after it announced plans to develop a two and a
half billion dollar luxury luxury residential tower in Sydney. Sorry
Number two. The Council of Financial Regulators wants new powers
for the federal government or regulator to step in and
regulate cash in the economy if the last remaining cash
transport service, armor Guard, collapses. The big users of cash

(01:34):
been working with Reserve Bank and others to ensure cash
continues to be transported around the country. The problem is
that the use of cash has diminished to the point
whereby transporting it is uneconomic. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank,
ain Zed, Coles, Woollies, Bunnings and Australia Posts agreed to
inject twenty five million dollars to keep armor Guard operating

(01:54):
until the end of the year. The CFR is now
proposing an overhaul of how cash is managed distributed to
give regulators similar powers over cash distribution services as they
have over the bank's superfunds and insurers. Stro At number three,
Local rare earths miners outperformed today after Apple did a
five hundred million US dollar deal with the only US

(02:16):
rare earth's minor, MP Materials to purchase magnets from the company.
Now rare earth magnets are used in iPhones. Rare earths,
which are actually seventeen different chemical elements, aren't very rare.
In fact, they're pretty common, but they're very difficult to process.
China produces more than half of all rare earths, but
the US wants to find its own sources. Last week,
the Pentagon invested in MP Materials. That's the same company

(02:39):
that Apple's done to deal with MP. Share price is
almost doubled in the past week. So what does this
mean for the local rare earth's players like I Luka
Resources and Linus. Rare earths investors love them, hoping that
the US players will look to Australia for rare earth chemicals.
MP can't provide everything a Luca and Linus to share.
Prices are up nearly twenty five percent in the last week.

(03:00):
Sorry number four. In state politics, Tasmanians go to the
polls this weekend, with Labour leader Dean Winter up against
the premier Jeremy Rockcliffe and a hung parliament seems the
most likely outcome. Poll suggests the Liberals will win but
be short of a majority. Today, the two faced off
in a televised debate hosted on Sky News. Rockcliffe and
Winter clashed over healthcare, the state's debt, and the controversial

(03:23):
efforts to build a new AFL stadium at Macquarie Point. Meanwhile,
in New South Wales's independent MP and former Leader of
Federal Labor Mark Latham is under fire over allegations of
threatening and coercive behavior from his former partner, allegations he denies.
Natalie Matthews made the allegations in an application for an
apprehended violence order against Latham. Latham has dismissed them as

(03:44):
preposterous and will contest them in court. Sorry Number five.
US President Donald Trump says he'll impose the tariff on
pharmaceuticals by the end of the month before ramping it
up over a year or so. Said the tariff will
below to begin with to give the pharmaceutical companies time
to relocate to the US, and I quote, there are
two ways you do it. You make money or you
have them move here so they don't have to pay

(04:06):
the tariff. Those are the two ways the pharmaceutical companies
are moving back to America where they should be. Trump
also said he had reached a deal with Indonesia where
that country will face a nineteen percent tariff, and also
deal with Vietnam, which will pay a twenty percent tariff,
well down from the initial forty six percent tariff outlined.
That's it for the Afternoon Report for Wednesday, the sixteenth

(04:27):
of July twenty twenty five. Make sure you hit follow
on the podcast. We will be back tomorrow morning with
Thursday edition of the Past five Business Years by Fear
and Greed. I'm Sean a Elma. Enjoy your evening.