December 17, 2025 • 5 mins
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.
-
Oil price near 5yr low
-
First funeral held for Bondi victim
-
Star Entertainment’s new boss
-
Jacinta Allan’s China trip cost $233k
-
White House Chief of Staff’s frank interview
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Wednesday, the seventeenth of December. Are Michael Thompson and
every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today
that you need to know about. Story number one. The
S and p ASX two hundred closed slightly lower today,
down zero point two percent to eighty five hundred and
eighty five points. Ten of the eleven sectors were lower,
(00:23):
led by the energy stocks after the price of oil
dropped nearly three percent overnight to its lowest level in
almost five years. That came after renewed hopes of a
deal in Ukraine that could see restrictions then eased on
Russian oil exports. Local oil and gas giant Woodside was
down two point four percent today. The optimism around Ukraine
(00:46):
also impacted defense stocks like Drone Shield, which we've talked
about every day this week. It was off more than
twelve percent today. Shipbuilder Ostel was down eleven and a
half percent. Elsewhere on the Boss Treasury, wine Estates tumbled
more than nine nine percent after a profit downgrade. The
maker of penfolds has plenty of problems right now. We'll
(01:06):
have more on that one tomorrow morning. Grain Corp was
also sold off after warning of a weaker than expected
harvest on the East Coast, and also after it sold
a Canadian asset at a loss. A little bit of
good news, though the miners had a reasonable day, with
the gold price climbing and lithium miners also jumping after
predictions of higher lithium prices next year under story number
(01:28):
two and the first funerals for the fifteen victims of
the Bondai terror attack being held, with Rabbi Eli Schlanger
farewell this morning at a service in Sydney's Eastern suburbs.
New South Wales. Premier Chris Min's Federal Opposition leader Susan Lee,
former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and the Israeli ambassador to
Australia were all at the funeral, where the Rabbi was
(01:50):
remembered as a loving friend and mentor and a father
of five whose children were forever his number one. A
second funeral for the other rabbit I killed in the
attack is being held this afternoon. Meanwhile, police are expected
to question and charge twenty four year old Navid Akram,
who's the surviving gunman, after he woke from a coma
(02:12):
last night. He's expected to face a range of charges
related to terrorism, including acts in preparation for a terrorism
Act and undertaking an act of terrorism. Story number three.
Star Entertainment has undergone another abrupt leadership change, with Bruce
Matheson Junior stepping down as executive chairman just one day
(02:32):
after taking on the role. Matheson, from the billionaire pub
owning family which is now Star's second largest shareholder, will
instead become chief executive. The board will now be led
by Bally's Corporation chairman Sue Kim, who takes on the
role of Star Chairman. It's even more turbulence for the group,
which was close to entering administration in March before the
US gaming giant Bally's proposed a three hundred million dollar
(02:55):
rescue deal. That deal was finalized last month. Yesterday I
told you that former CEO Steve McCann resigned after less
than two years in the job. Two board members have
left as well. Bally's says though that it is confident
Stars best days are still ahead. Story number four. We
have talked a lot lately about federal politicians and their
(03:16):
travel bills. How about this one out of Victoria, where
taxpayers are footing a bill of nearly two hundred and
thirty three thousand dollars for Premier. Just into Alan's seven
day trip to China earlier this year, a travel report
shows flights alone cost around one hundred and seventy four
thousand dollars, with accommodation and other expenses lifting the total
(03:37):
to that two hundred and thirty two thousand, six hundred
and thirty dollar mark for Allen, one parliamentary secretary and
six staff. The figures don't include costs for four labor
backbenchers who also traveled, meaning the final bill is certainly
going to be higher than that. The September visit was
Allen's first to China as premier and included stops in Beijing, Shanghai,
(03:59):
and Changdu, where she launched Victoria's five year China strategy
and promoted trade, education, and tourism links. The trip does
follow ongoing political sensitivity around Victoria's China engagement after former
Premier Daniel Andrews was criticized for attending a Beijing military
parade earlier in the year, and finally, Story number five
(04:19):
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has put the
Trump administration into damage control mode after giving a series
of unusually frank interviews to Vanity Fair. Wiles, who is
the first woman to hold the role, said President Donald
Trump is using his position to settle scores with opponents
and wants regime change in Venezuela. She also described Vice
(04:42):
President J. D. Vance as a conspiracy theorist. She labeled
Budget Chief Russell Vought as a right wing zealot, and
called Elon Musk an odd, odd duck. She revealed deep
internal disagreements over Trump's trade tariffs, saying that the roll
out involved quote a lot of thinking out loud and
(05:03):
caused more pain than expected. Wiles has since described the
profile as a hit piece, but she didn't dispute its
contents and has provided further context to her comments, and
the White House has rallied behind her, praising her loyalty
and her leadership. That's it for the Afternoon Report for Wednesday,
the seventeenth of December. Make sure you're following the podcast
and head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot
(05:24):
A you to sign up for our free daily newsletter.
I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your even
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Wednesday, the seventeenth of December. Are Michael Thompson and
every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today
that you need to know about. Story number one. The
S and p ASX two hundred closed slightly lower today,
down zero point two percent to eighty five hundred and
eighty five points. Ten of the eleven sectors were lower,
(00:23):
led by the energy stocks after the price of oil
dropped nearly three percent overnight to its lowest level in
almost five years. That came after renewed hopes of a
deal in Ukraine that could see restrictions then eased on
Russian oil exports. Local oil and gas giant Woodside was
down two point four percent today. The optimism around Ukraine
(00:46):
also impacted defense stocks like Drone Shield, which we've talked
about every day this week. It was off more than
twelve percent today. Shipbuilder Ostel was down eleven and a
half percent. Elsewhere on the Boss Treasury, wine Estates tumbled
more than nine nine percent after a profit downgrade. The
maker of penfolds has plenty of problems right now. We'll
(01:06):
have more on that one tomorrow morning. Grain Corp was
also sold off after warning of a weaker than expected
harvest on the East Coast, and also after it sold
a Canadian asset at a loss. A little bit of
good news, though the miners had a reasonable day, with
the gold price climbing and lithium miners also jumping after
predictions of higher lithium prices next year under story number
(01:28):
two and the first funerals for the fifteen victims of
the Bondai terror attack being held, with Rabbi Eli Schlanger
farewell this morning at a service in Sydney's Eastern suburbs.
New South Wales. Premier Chris Min's Federal Opposition leader Susan Lee,
former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and the Israeli ambassador to
Australia were all at the funeral, where the Rabbi was
(01:50):
remembered as a loving friend and mentor and a father
of five whose children were forever his number one. A
second funeral for the other rabbit I killed in the
attack is being held this afternoon. Meanwhile, police are expected
to question and charge twenty four year old Navid Akram,
who's the surviving gunman, after he woke from a coma
(02:12):
last night. He's expected to face a range of charges
related to terrorism, including acts in preparation for a terrorism
Act and undertaking an act of terrorism. Story number three.
Star Entertainment has undergone another abrupt leadership change, with Bruce
Matheson Junior stepping down as executive chairman just one day
(02:32):
after taking on the role. Matheson, from the billionaire pub
owning family which is now Star's second largest shareholder, will
instead become chief executive. The board will now be led
by Bally's Corporation chairman Sue Kim, who takes on the
role of Star Chairman. It's even more turbulence for the group,
which was close to entering administration in March before the
US gaming giant Bally's proposed a three hundred million dollar
(02:55):
rescue deal. That deal was finalized last month. Yesterday I
told you that former CEO Steve McCann resigned after less
than two years in the job. Two board members have
left as well. Bally's says though that it is confident
Stars best days are still ahead. Story number four. We
have talked a lot lately about federal politicians and their
(03:16):
travel bills. How about this one out of Victoria, where
taxpayers are footing a bill of nearly two hundred and
thirty three thousand dollars for Premier. Just into Alan's seven
day trip to China earlier this year, a travel report
shows flights alone cost around one hundred and seventy four
thousand dollars, with accommodation and other expenses lifting the total
(03:37):
to that two hundred and thirty two thousand, six hundred
and thirty dollar mark for Allen, one parliamentary secretary and
six staff. The figures don't include costs for four labor
backbenchers who also traveled, meaning the final bill is certainly
going to be higher than that. The September visit was
Allen's first to China as premier and included stops in Beijing, Shanghai,
(03:59):
and Changdu, where she launched Victoria's five year China strategy
and promoted trade, education, and tourism links. The trip does
follow ongoing political sensitivity around Victoria's China engagement after former
Premier Daniel Andrews was criticized for attending a Beijing military
parade earlier in the year, and finally, Story number five
(04:19):
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has put the
Trump administration into damage control mode after giving a series
of unusually frank interviews to Vanity Fair. Wiles, who is
the first woman to hold the role, said President Donald
Trump is using his position to settle scores with opponents
and wants regime change in Venezuela. She also described Vice
(04:42):
President J. D. Vance as a conspiracy theorist. She labeled
Budget Chief Russell Vought as a right wing zealot, and
called Elon Musk an odd, odd duck. She revealed deep
internal disagreements over Trump's trade tariffs, saying that the roll
out involved quote a lot of thinking out loud and
(05:03):
caused more pain than expected. Wiles has since described the
profile as a hit piece, but she didn't dispute its
contents and has provided further context to her comments, and
the White House has rallied behind her, praising her loyalty
and her leadership. That's it for the Afternoon Report for Wednesday,
the seventeenth of December. Make sure you're following the podcast
and head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot
(05:24):
A you to sign up for our free daily newsletter.
I'm Michael Thompson. Enjoy your even
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