Afternoon Report | US govt shuts down

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. Gold soars, lithium dumped

2. Rio flags early power station closure

3. Watchdog cracks down on Kyle & Jackie O

4. McDonald’s site sets record

5. US government shuts down

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Wednesday, the first of October twenty twenty five are
Michael Thompson and every afternoon we've got the five stories
that happened today that you need to know about. Let's
go with story number one. The S and p ASX
two hundred closed flat today, just three points lower, or
zero point zero four percent to eight hundred and forty

(00:23):
six points. But that relatively benign result doesn't tell the
full story because behind the scenes there's been plenty happening.
Australia's second largest company, BHP, fell two point five percent
today over reports China has banned purchases of the miners
Iron all are out of the Pilbra as part of
a price negotiation tactic. The other big miners, fortes Que

(00:44):
and Rio Tinto both actually climbed today. Gold set yet
another record uncertainty over a US government shutdown, sending investors
looking for safe haven assets once again. I'll have more
on the shutdown in a minute, but the local gold
miners rose as a result. Companies had a pretty ordinary
day after reports to major mind in China could be

(01:04):
getting closer to restarting Liontown Resources lost ten point seven percent.
PLS formerly Pilbrim Minerals it was down six point four percent.
Mineral Resources and Igo both closed about four percent lower
for the day. A few other things worth mentioning a
big deal announced with Eagers Automotive buying a majority stake
in a Canadian dealership business. We'll have more on that

(01:26):
one tomorrow morning. And Drone Shield, the drone defense tech
company that's really having a moment right now, had yet
another Moment's another great day, up another twenty three percent today.
It's now up fifty percent for the week, and it's
only Wednesday. Under story number two now. And mining giant
Rio Tinto says Queensland's largest coal fired power station could

(01:48):
shut six years ahead of schedule, with the Gladston Power
Station potentially closing by March twenty twenty nine. The company
has formally notified the market operator that the plant may
retire as existing supply arrangements expire, including its deal with
the Boyn Aluminium Smelter, which is the station's biggest customer.

(02:09):
The thing is that the smelter has already secured renewable
energy and large scale battery storage to power the smelter
beyond twenty twenty nine, which will mean essentially that the
coulfired power station just would not be needed to the
same extent. No final decision on this has been made,
but the move has already been welcomed by energy analysts
and by climate groups. Story number three. The Media watchdog

(02:31):
has warned it may take enforcement action against the radio
network behind the Kyle and Jackie o Show after repeated
breaches of decency standards. The Australian Communications Media Authority has
found seven new breaches, including segments with vulgar and sexually
explicit content, plus failures to handle audience complaints within the

(02:52):
required time. This is the twelfth breach finding against the program,
whose hosts signed a ten year deal reportedly work two
hundred million dollars last year. The show is consistently at
or near the top of the ratings in Sydney, but
has really failed to build an audience in Melbourne since
it started networking to the city last year. This latest

(03:13):
finding by AKMA may not help that battle onto Story
number four. Now and a McDonald's outlet in Melbourne Southeast
has sold for four point seven million dollars, with investors
accepting a record low yield of just two point seven
eight percent. This is a really interesting story because the
Hampton Park store drew thirty three registered bidders nearly eight

(03:35):
hundred inquiries before being sold under the hammer to an
offshore buyer. There's a twenty year lease to McDonald's in
place that'll take it through until twenty forty three. The
assets expected to generate about one hundred and thirty one
thousand dollars in annual rental income with fixed yearly increases,
and property analysts say the result reflects the intense demand
for set and forget investments backed by global brands, with

(03:59):
the Financial Review reporting that the McDonald's freehold sites are
among the most tightly held in the market. Finally, story
number five I mentioned this earlier. The US government has
shut down after Congress failed to agree on funding before
the deadline. About seven hundred and fifty thousand federal workers
are expected to be furloughed, while government services ranging from

(04:21):
air travel safety checks through to unemployment data releases that
will all be disrupted. President Donald Trump threatened mass firings
of Democrats in the federal workforce and blamed the deadlock
on healthcare subsidies demanded by Democrats. It is the third
shutdown under his presidency, though the first since his return
to office this year. The last shutdown that he had

(04:45):
in twenty nineteen lasted thirty five days and cost the
economy three billion US dollars. This time, though, the president
has threatened retribution, saying he'll do and I quote, things
that are irreversible, things that are bad. That's it for
the Afternoon Report for Wednesday, the first of October twenty
twenty five. Make sure you hit follow on the podcast,
and we'll be back tomorrow morning with the Thursday edition

(05:06):
of Fear and Greed a Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening