December 19, 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.
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ASX closes 0.5pc higher
-
PM announces gun buyback scheme
-
WiseTech investigation wraps up
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Trump Media to merge with nuclear fusion
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Coldplay kiss cam HR chief speaks
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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 Friday, the nineteenth of December twenty twenty five. I'm
Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories
that happened today that you need to know about. So
let's go with story number one. The S and P
ASX two hundred closed zero point five percent higher today
to eighty six hundred and twenty eight points. Eight of
the eleven sectors gained ground. It was a good day,
(00:26):
not enough though, to overcome some losses earlier in the week.
The ASX two hundred was down zero point eight percent
for the week, but let's focus on today. It had
a good lead in from Wall Street, which came after
renewed hopes of more interest rate cuts in the United States.
The local tech stocks went well. Zip and Megaport were
more than three percent higher. Wistet Global climbed too, but
(00:49):
I'll have a bit more on that one shortly. The
banks had a good day, especially Comnwealth Bank up nearly
two percent, Westpac was one point three percent higher, NAB
almost one percent. Macquarie was up one and a half
percent despite receiving a thirty five million dollar fine from
ask over misreporting short securities sales over a fifteen year period.
(01:09):
Drone Shield was the best on the BOSS, up nearly
twelve percent, taking it to a hefty thirty one percent
gain for the week. Uranian miners had a cracking day,
not so the big iron ore miners Fortescue, for instance,
was off three point two percent for the day. Today
on de story number two, now and Prime Minister Anthony
Albernezi has announced the largest gun buyback scheme in almost
(01:33):
thirty years as part of the crackdown on gun laws
following the Bondai Beach terror attack. The Prime Minister today
said the cost of the buyback scheme would be split
with the states and territories, with hundreds of thousands of
firearms expected to be collected and destroyed. In New South Wales,
legislation will be tabled on Monday that we'll see gun
owners in the state allowed a maximum of four firearms each.
(01:57):
Sajid Akram, the fifty year old gunman who was killed
by police in Bondai on Sunday, legally held six firearms
in his home. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has declared this
Sunday will be an official day of reflection with flags
of flight half masted and Australians encouraged to light a
candle at six forty six pm to mark exactly one
(02:18):
week since the start of the terror attack and just
before we leave this story, seven men arrested in Sydney
Southwest yesterday after heavily armed police rammed a vehicle have
been released from custody. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mallannion
said the justification for the group's ongoing detention quote no
longer exists subject to a review of evidence. It was
(02:41):
earlier reporter that the men were believed to have extremist
beliefs and had potentially traveled to Sydney from Victoria, where
they were known to Victoria Police and under regular monitoring.
Story number three I mentioned wis Tech Global before an
internal investigation into the company and the founder, Richard White,
has found no evidence that the billionaire misused company funds
(03:03):
in his personal relationships. The Australian Financial Review reports that
the review, conducted by law firm SI fath Shaw, was
commissioned after allegations last year forced White to resign as
chief executive. It examined Wisetech's expense system and records, and
found no evidence that company money was used to fund
travel or lifestyle expenses for two women linked to White.
(03:26):
Wise Tech said the board would take no further action,
effectively closing the chapter on the internal review, a separate
matter raised by a former employees being handled through a
confidential process. White, who owns about thirty four percent of
Wise Tech, returned earlier this year as executive chairman. Wisetech's
share price closed more than three percent higher today. Story
number four. Donald Trump's media company is merging with a
(03:49):
nuclear fusion startup in a deal valued at more than
six billion US dollars, so somewhat unusual pairing linking the
president's business empire with a futurist, clean energy play aimed
at powering artificial intelligence. Trump Media, which owns truth Social,
will merge with fusion firm TAE Technologies in an all
stock deal, creating one of the world's first publicly listed
(04:13):
fusion companies. The combined group says it plans to begin
work next year on what it calls the world's first
utility scale fusion power plant. Trump owns about forty one
percent of Trump Media, and the deal has added hundreds
of millions of dollars to his net worth. Critics, though,
have raised concerns about conflicts of interest given Trump's political
influence and the heavy regulation required to commercialize fusion energy.
(04:37):
And finally, story number five, This one, I suppose you
would say is business news adjacent, but it is Friday
afternoon after all. Kristin Cabot, who is the former HR
chief caught on a coldplay kiss cam with her CEO,
has spoken publicly for the first time about the fallout
from that very viral moment. Speaking to The New York Times,
(04:58):
Cabot says that both she and her then boss, astronomer
CEO Andy Byron, were separated from their partners at the
time of the incident. She went on to say that
she was not in a physical relationship with her boss
at the time, and described the incident as a single
alcohol fueled mistake that cost her career and upended her
family life. She says she was subjected to intense online abuse,
(05:21):
death threats, and relentless harassment after the footage went viral.
It really is quite a harrowing account of what she
went through in the days afterwards. Cabot resigned from her
role shortly after the incident and said she spoke to
The New York Times to reclaim her narrative, particularly for
her children. She says accountability matters, but the scale of
public shaming did not fit the mistake. And that's it
(05:43):
for the Afternoon Report for Friday, the nineteenth of December.
Make sure you're following the podcast I'm Michael Thompson to
enjoy your evening.
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Friday, the nineteenth of December twenty twenty five. I'm
Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories
that happened today that you need to know about. So
let's go with story number one. The S and P
ASX two hundred closed zero point five percent higher today
to eighty six hundred and twenty eight points. Eight of
the eleven sectors gained ground. It was a good day,
(00:26):
not enough though, to overcome some losses earlier in the week.
The ASX two hundred was down zero point eight percent
for the week, but let's focus on today. It had
a good lead in from Wall Street, which came after
renewed hopes of more interest rate cuts in the United States.
The local tech stocks went well. Zip and Megaport were
more than three percent higher. Wistet Global climbed too, but
(00:49):
I'll have a bit more on that one shortly. The
banks had a good day, especially Comnwealth Bank up nearly
two percent, Westpac was one point three percent higher, NAB
almost one percent. Macquarie was up one and a half
percent despite receiving a thirty five million dollar fine from
ask over misreporting short securities sales over a fifteen year period.
(01:09):
Drone Shield was the best on the BOSS, up nearly
twelve percent, taking it to a hefty thirty one percent
gain for the week. Uranian miners had a cracking day,
not so the big iron ore miners Fortescue, for instance,
was off three point two percent for the day. Today
on de story number two, now and Prime Minister Anthony
Albernezi has announced the largest gun buyback scheme in almost
(01:33):
thirty years as part of the crackdown on gun laws
following the Bondai Beach terror attack. The Prime Minister today
said the cost of the buyback scheme would be split
with the states and territories, with hundreds of thousands of
firearms expected to be collected and destroyed. In New South Wales,
legislation will be tabled on Monday that we'll see gun
owners in the state allowed a maximum of four firearms each.
(01:57):
Sajid Akram, the fifty year old gunman who was killed
by police in Bondai on Sunday, legally held six firearms
in his home. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has declared this
Sunday will be an official day of reflection with flags
of flight half masted and Australians encouraged to light a
candle at six forty six pm to mark exactly one
(02:18):
week since the start of the terror attack and just
before we leave this story, seven men arrested in Sydney
Southwest yesterday after heavily armed police rammed a vehicle have
been released from custody. New South Wales Police Commissioner Mallannion
said the justification for the group's ongoing detention quote no
longer exists subject to a review of evidence. It was
(02:41):
earlier reporter that the men were believed to have extremist
beliefs and had potentially traveled to Sydney from Victoria, where
they were known to Victoria Police and under regular monitoring.
Story number three I mentioned wis Tech Global before an
internal investigation into the company and the founder, Richard White,
has found no evidence that the billionaire misused company funds
(03:03):
in his personal relationships. The Australian Financial Review reports that
the review, conducted by law firm SI fath Shaw, was
commissioned after allegations last year forced White to resign as
chief executive. It examined Wisetech's expense system and records, and
found no evidence that company money was used to fund
travel or lifestyle expenses for two women linked to White.
(03:26):
Wise Tech said the board would take no further action,
effectively closing the chapter on the internal review, a separate
matter raised by a former employees being handled through a
confidential process. White, who owns about thirty four percent of
Wise Tech, returned earlier this year as executive chairman. Wisetech's
share price closed more than three percent higher today. Story
number four. Donald Trump's media company is merging with a
(03:49):
nuclear fusion startup in a deal valued at more than
six billion US dollars, so somewhat unusual pairing linking the
president's business empire with a futurist, clean energy play aimed
at powering artificial intelligence. Trump Media, which owns truth Social,
will merge with fusion firm TAE Technologies in an all
stock deal, creating one of the world's first publicly listed
(04:13):
fusion companies. The combined group says it plans to begin
work next year on what it calls the world's first
utility scale fusion power plant. Trump owns about forty one
percent of Trump Media, and the deal has added hundreds
of millions of dollars to his net worth. Critics, though,
have raised concerns about conflicts of interest given Trump's political
influence and the heavy regulation required to commercialize fusion energy.
(04:37):
And finally, story number five, This one, I suppose you
would say is business news adjacent, but it is Friday
afternoon after all. Kristin Cabot, who is the former HR
chief caught on a coldplay kiss cam with her CEO,
has spoken publicly for the first time about the fallout
from that very viral moment. Speaking to The New York Times,
(04:58):
Cabot says that both she and her then boss, astronomer
CEO Andy Byron, were separated from their partners at the
time of the incident. She went on to say that
she was not in a physical relationship with her boss
at the time, and described the incident as a single
alcohol fueled mistake that cost her career and upended her
family life. She says she was subjected to intense online abuse,
(05:21):
death threats, and relentless harassment after the footage went viral.
It really is quite a harrowing account of what she
went through in the days afterwards. Cabot resigned from her
role shortly after the incident and said she spoke to
The New York Times to reclaim her narrative, particularly for
her children. She says accountability matters, but the scale of
public shaming did not fit the mistake. And that's it
(05:43):
for the Afternoon Report for Friday, the nineteenth of December.
Make sure you're following the podcast I'm Michael Thompson to
enjoy your evening.
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