November 14, 2025 • 34 mins
A bumper week for the economy, the end of the US government shutdown, CBA's big sell-off and the Liberals dump net zero - so many stories to choose from! Sean Aylmer and Michael Thompson go head to head on the top business stories of the week, with Adam Lang picking a winner in a fierce debate.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is the weekend edition of Fear and Greed business
news you can use. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning,
Sean Aylman. Good morning, Michael, Sean. Our weekend show is
all about the two of us, each nominating what we
think is the biggest business news story, the most remarkable story,
the mystery category that we change every week, and then
our favorite business related story. It is a competition. We
(00:26):
need a winner. So we are joined every week by
a judge who has a very strict set of criteria
that he disregards the moment he starts. Fear and Greed.
Colleague Adam Lang is our judge. Adam.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Good morning, Good morning Michael and Sean.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Adam't you ever get sick of the abuse that Michael
hurls at you every morning? No, it's strangely, Saturday morning, strangely.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I quite enjoy it. It wakes me up for the competition.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
And it's not abuse, it's just context. Everyone needs to
understand that the criteria that you have, Adam, are applied
loosely at best. What are those criteria?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Topicality and time illness are obviously their economic impact is
the most important one to me. Then there's some subjective
bias the things I like, and melodrama throw a bit
into it.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Do you think that subjective Adam's subjective bias and melodrama
are at the opposite ends of the.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Spectrum against melodrama. I suspect that might be the case.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I mean, a man that loves a spreadsheet ain't melodramatic.
That's really what I'm saying here.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
But what if you use like happy colors, that's you
don't on spreadsheets?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Do you do the coloring stuff?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I don't mind the shading. I just don't like the color.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh the colored text.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
No, the text is pretty constant black. But I do
like the shading the highlights.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
But even then I prefer the dull colored shades to
the shades. Yeah, very much pastor mean when it comes.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
To you and I are so similar as Sean were.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
The same age, our birthdays just days away from each other.
We had very similar sort of upbringings.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yepeah, Yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Were equally dull. Goodness, this is what a start to
the show. We both like a bit of punishment, well,
good Catholic cupbringing.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's it. The guilt anyway, I.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Had no idea where you were going with that, just said,
let's get into it. Sean biggest story of the week,
what was it?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yes, we had to rest last week from this one.
But how can you ignore the economy, Adam? The economy
hasn't the worm turned any fan of the two Ronnies,
which I'm sure Adam was. We understand what the worm
turned was. Just a few weeks ago, it was all
about when is the next interest rate cut? Now it's
all about whether there'll be an interest rate cut, Probably
(02:54):
not this week. The unemployment rate fell to four point
three percent last month, from four point five percent to September. Now,
in October, the number of employed people rose by forty
two thousand, why above expectations. There was a fifty five
thousand jump in full time employees offset by thirteen thousand
(03:15):
loss in part time workers. Consumer sentiment saw to its
highest level in nearly four years. You put that into
everything mean that just means that the economy is actually
doing okay. Therefore the Reserve Bank are less likely cut
interest rates. It's pretty much the best result in seven years.
Outside COVID maybe a Roague number. We had Deputy Governor
(03:35):
Andrew Houser, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, of course,
saying that the central bank could be boxed in because
the economy isn't creating enough capacity. So we had data,
we had surveys, we had Reserve Bank officials this week,
all coming out pointing to interest rates on hold so
very much. This week the question shifted from when to
(03:59):
weather there'll be a rate cut? Brief, concise, important, economic impact,
lacks melodrama. I agree with that, but otherwise an excellent,
excellent effort for the biggest story of the week. Michael,
did you just judge yourself? At least I didn't go
into the third person squirrel. You know that's what you do, Michael.
(04:22):
Sometimes you go into the third person and call yourself
by the nickname Hm.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I have done it once, maybe twice. But I cannot
believe that I'm having to remind you of this for
the third week in a row. That you need to
think bigger Sean, that you need to think global once again,
think perhaps the biggest economy in the world, the US
adam is moving again at last.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Which.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Just on the spot, it's like it's on a treadmill,
but at least that the treadmill itself is now moving
once again. Because it was switched off. The US government
shut down, ending after forty three days, the longest in history.
One point four million federal employees unpaid, suspended food stamps
to many low income and Americans, delayed, canceled flights, chaos
(05:17):
at airports. There was a breakthrough after the Democrats. Some
of the Democrats broke ranks in the Senate. They were
citing the fact that the suspension of the food stamp
program was actually a crisis. It was a real crisis
that made them basically negotiate and degree and finally, finally, finally,
the shutdown is over. The big question here is where
(05:39):
to now for the United States. The pressure is on
flights to resume as normal in time for Thanksgiving. They're
saying that it could take weeks for things to get
back to normal because it has been such a widespread impact.
The Fed will start getting data again gradually, though it's
ability to make interest rate decisions and other decisions has
surely been affected, and there's so much uncertainty now over
(06:00):
rate cuts and the potential for further rate cuts. It's
course all sorts of chaos and financial markets Bitcoin fell,
Wall Street fell, chaos, chaos, I mean, come on like
you only need to look at Wall Street and just
go you know what, there's only one word that describes that.
It's chaos, absolute chaos.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Anyways, no different this week to any other weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yes, yeah, I know that's true, but big falls chaos everywhere. Adam,
chaos sean back pay for back pay for government employees. Interestingly,
contractors don't receive backpay once the shut down ends. Many
of those Adam, interesting kind of side bar here. Many
of those are small businesses without other big clients, relying
(06:47):
entirely on the US government for their income. Massive effect
on those the lasting economic impact have This analyst estimated
that the shutdown was going to knock about zero point
one zero point two percentage points of economic growth for
every week that it went on. Fifteen billion US dollars
a week for six weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That is huge.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Not to mention did I mention the chaos as well
on financial markets because of the uncertainty of our interest rates?
Like this is the biggest story of the week. It
is a global story that then has an effect on
everyone else because of.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
The US is a US story?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
No, no, no, because whatever happens to the US effects
everyone else. It's just like it is, just because it
is so big and so influential. We've seen this, we've
discussed it of cause it's chaos sean everywhere.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Anyway, I'm confidently handed over to you.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I've thrown a lot of stuff at you there. I
don't know where it's going to get picked up.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
On the word chaos. I think that thing there.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yes, the biggest economy in the world. Yes, absolutely enormous
impact there, but no, not the big business story of
the week here in Australia.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
But you never said that it needs to be Australian.
I don't, I don't. I don't want to quibble. I've
never been one to argue, but you've never said that
this needs to be Australian. It feels like you've just
added a new criteria local one one nil.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah, economic impact here, I was really surprised by those
unemployment numbers I know anywhere. So it's great news for
people who can earn. But for those trillions of dollars
that Australians have in their property, the one third that
owned them, one third that don't they rent the year Yeah, absolutely,
(08:44):
And I've got a vested interest in it too, right,
It affects all of us, so we're not going to
get a lower interest rate, not for the short term,
not for a while.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
An interesting point that you just made about the trillions
of dollars of property, because if I can move quite
seamlessly onto the most remarkable story of the week, okay, adam,
quite a remarkable milestone for the Australian property market, twelve
trillion dollars in value. So I mean, I know that
this is something that you're interested in because you brought
it up yourself just moments ago. Twelve trillion dollars extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And the week did it tick over.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
It was about four o'clock on Monday afternoon. I noticed
it happened. I was just watching it going here. It's
like watching the O Domina in the car. Here it comes, here,
it comes, and you don't want to miss it because
if you missed that twelve trillion dollar mark.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And then inevitably you look up when you're driving and
then you look back down and I've gone through the
ninety zero one.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah you miss it in something that yeah, twelve twelve
trillion and one, you're like, oh damn, missed it. But anyway,
that is three times the size of the superannuation system.
As you pointed out to us this week, Sean, when
you were emphasizing how remarkable this was four times the
size of bank deposits across the country. But also, what
I think is the most remarkable part of this is
(10:07):
the fact that the value of the housing market has doubled,
doubled in the last decade, most of the growth coming
in the last five years. That is just extraordinary, right,
And we hit the twelve trillion dollar mark faster than
the experts. Stay at totality where this data came from.
We're expecting this happened, that they were forecasting it. We've
(10:30):
been waiting for it and waiting for it, and then
it came faster than we thought. Two reasons why this
is so remarkable. As we were discussing through the Weekshawn
again when we're emphasizing how remarkable this whole thing is.
That has an economic impact. Of course, house price is rising.
If you own a place the value is going up,
you feel wealthy, you spend more of the wealth effect
good for the economy, et cetera, et cetera. The other reason,
(10:52):
of course, Adam, it emphasizes just how tough it is
for first home buyers as well. How on earth and
someone looking at that going the housing market has doubled
the value in ten years, How on earth can a
first home buyer be expected to save a deposit when
the entire market, the value of the market is growing
(11:13):
that It is just extraordinary, right, the whole thing is remarkable.
Twelve trillion dollars. That's it.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Do you think it's remarkable?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
It is just like I thought, chaos, Yeah, yeah, chaos, chaos, chaos, remarkable, yes,
all of.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
These there's not That is a remarkable number. Twelve trillion dollars.
I've got to say remarkable. Incremental though, because this time
last week it was probably you know, eleven point nine
nine nine nine trillion dollars. That's twelve trillion dollars. Like,
I don't know what that's changing anyone's life this week?
(11:49):
What does change everyone's life? Our lives included, right, we
who run a small business. This week we saw an
action the fill for full Federal Courts land mark ruling
back in twenty twenty three actually hit home. The ruling
said that all the employers must ask employees if they
(12:09):
want to work public holidays. They can't just automatically matically
roster them on this week. BHP was found that it
had to pay one hundred thousand dollars for failing to
ask its mining workforce whether they wanted to work on
Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Now the Big Australian bridged
national employment standards, as per the Federal Court ruling in
twenty twenty three. The point here, the point here. This
(12:32):
is the first time it was tested. This affects every
single business. The twenty twenty three ruling applies regardless of
agreements and contracts. It extends to all sectors of the economy,
all sectors of the economy, fast food, retail, podcasting. What
if we're working on a public holiday, which we done.
(12:53):
You've got to ask me if I want to work.
You can't just tell me to work. You want to say, Sean,
do you want to work?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
You say Sean, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
No.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
I always say, of course not, I want to work
public holiday. I mean. The thing is, an employee can
still require workers to come in and work on a
public holiday if the employee's refusal to its request is
unreasonable based on the nature of the work. So I say, Adam, no,
I don't want to come in. You say well we're
not going to have a show. Well, then I have
to come in. But Adam, Michael, both of you, you've
(13:25):
still got to ask me first. And this is a
christ You think of retail, you think of hospitality, people
working on those days. You can't just be rostered on.
You've got to be asked. And this is the first
time we saw the reality of that ruling. That is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That is remarkable, certainly remarkable. In twenty twenty three when
the landmark ruling was made.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
But no one knew how it was going to be
Today this week we found out what it means.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
That feels incremental help. Without Adam, it's chaos.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Chaos.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I have never been asked if I wanted to work
a public holiday as either.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Roster hon or.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
I wasn't you know, And I actually until that you
brought it up this week, Sean, I had no idea
it was a thing.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So why on earth would that exist?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So Luke our producer, right, we oh, we did do.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
An employment agreement with him.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
He's you. But because everything like, we've got to ask Luke. Hey, Luke,
you know once again, can you work on a public
holiday for us? It looks great?
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Nine times a year in the state of New South Wales.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, there you go, asked, So.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Michael wins on this one. I am. I think they're
both excellent.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Don't be too hard on his shot. That's a I'm
a good result, thanks, Adam.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
They're both remarkable stories. But the you know, the wealth
effect of twelve trillion in property is pronounced and as
you said, Michael, people trying to get into the market
and it's doubled in value in the last ten years.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Now, hold on, Look, I just don't want to point
at a fault in Michael's theory here, but can I.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Is it to do with the fact that more supplies
come on.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
There might be two hundred thousand new houses a year,
so there's two million new houses a year. Yes, it's
not like the actual prices of double.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
The existing stock value has doubled. Yes, And I thought,
but I wasn't going to point that out because it
took away slightly from.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
The remarkability in case.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I mean, it's just the headline as well, the fact
that it has doubled in the last decade. In the
first home, I was just like, I don't know how
I can I can't compete with that it feels like
I'm just going to kind of miss the what do
you miss the bus, the boat, the train? Oh yeah,
missed the boat traditionally the boat, I think, perhaps missed
the monorail, like it feels like that needs to be modernized.
(15:56):
Missed the hovercraft on.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
This the horseless carriage?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes? Did you have any additional comments to make in
praise of my story, Adam?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Or is that.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I was pretty much done? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That was because there were no comments because it wasn't
that remarkable story. That's why I call that a pity win.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Usually I get those in about the third or fourth
category when once I lost everything else.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Michael, can you now give us permission to work every
single public holiday in twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So there's a good question. Can you actually say on
bulk yes?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh gosh, batch approval?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Otherwise it feels very inefficient of having to go around
to every employee and ask them before and got to
do it over Christmas Christmas and they separate email. Yeah,
but what happens if you have someone who doesn't look
at their emails?
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Sean, do you know how many emails I got don't opens? Oh?
Go on, do it? My work account or personal account.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Give us your work account, because that's the one that
eighteen thousand. So this is a public service announcement to
anybody looking to get in contact with Fear and Greed.
Email me order do not.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Do not become one of the eighteen thousand waiting into
the abyss that is Alma's inbox.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Goodness gracious. Okay, we will take a quick break back
in a moment with the mystery category of the week. Okay, Sean,
we are looking now for our mystery category. It is
one all so.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Just before we would just jump into this because during
the break you had to go at me for not
having for having so many unopened emails, and then during
the break you showed me your phone, and Adam showed
us his phone. You have one hundred and three text messages.
I read, therefore not answer it. Shocking, I have zero.
(18:02):
I mean, as you imagine, Adam has zero emails and
answered zero texts. I have a lot of emails and
always do a text you, Michael, more than a hundred texts.
How can you do that? That's just cruel living on.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, okay, it is partly because I see them on
my watch when they come in I'm like, oh, I
will respond to that on my phone later when I've
got my phone on me, and then I forget to
do that or something, or it's it's something that requires
more thought.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And say, are there certain people you've got a long
line of texts from? So I presume Shann your partner, Shan, Yep,
you'd be answering her all the time. That's fine, Yes,
answer Shann because I'm scared of Shan.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
But no, mostly I'm just scrolling down through this, Sean.
I think, I look, I'm going to get myself in
trouble by going into any detail on this.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It is.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
The mystery category this week. This is that's not fair.
You dropped me in that big time. It's something that
we were discussing privately off air, and then you did
the unforgivable and brought it into the podcast, into the
podcast fair game, I say, which I have never done
ever ever. Our mystery category this week, Adam, is because
(19:33):
there were some really good stories around this week, but
the stories that were more interesting were the stories that
they were really about, not the stories that you thought
they were about.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Right, So this is the news that's not the news, Okay, the.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Story that is actually about something else.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yes, sean Commonwealth Bank the news. That's not the news.
The news is that Commonwealth Bank at a really strong
first quarter. Homelands grew by one point one times the
average of the banking sector, so better than the average
of the banking sector, household deposits one point two times.
In those areas, CBA very much outperformed the market. In
(20:11):
the increasingly competitive business lending sector. Come Wealth Bank did
the same as the rest of the market. The bank's
profit margin improved, bad loans decreased. Good news, that's the news.
But but but quote truple but investors quadruple? But what
(20:32):
would it qua druple? But anyway, investors are looking for
anything negative they can on CBA at the moment. And
Matt Common made a few comments about competition in the future.
That did the trick. So what wasn't the news? All
the news was good news. What wasn't the news? But
(20:53):
was the reality is that Commonwealth Bank was sold off
big time. Dropped ten percent in two in fives eight
percent in two days this week. The shift away from
Commonwealth Bank is quite marked, quite dramatic. This financial year.
Komof Banks down thirteen percent. West Packs up twenty percent,
ain Z's up thirty three percent, Nabs up nine percent.
(21:16):
So it again. Kamov Bank is off thirteen percent. Not
that long ago, Commonwealth Bank's market cap was about the
same as the three banks combined. No longer. It is
coming back to the pack And incredibly, the news this
week was all the good news out of Commonwealth Bank.
Not the news. The reality was the massive selloff. Did
(21:37):
that work or not? It's the way we did that,
Michael or not? Adams happy, I think so, yeah, very
I think so.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I was clearing text messages.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But it's your news. That wasn't the news, Michael.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
The Liberal Party this week, Adam, Yes, dumped net zero,
which you would think would be the You would think
that would be the so it's what everyone was talking about.
But this story is not about climate policy. It's not
about net zero. This is about the Liberal Party leadership,
about Susan Lee and her very very very tenuous hold
on the party, on her position and on the future
(22:15):
of the party as well within the Australian system, because
it's actually quite a it's quite worrying and it's quite
a sad state for the party to be in at
the moment. You can go back to the split months
ago between the Libs and the Nats, where that was
over a bunch of issues from nuclear power and a
whole lot of other bits and pieces. But the conservatives
(22:36):
in the party, I suspect saw their chance at that
time and drove a wedge in the ability potentially make
to push the party to a more conservative side and
hopefully regained some of the voters that they had lost.
It has been a slow bleed since then for the party.
For Susan Lee at front benches like Andrew Hasty quitting
(22:57):
over I think he was quitting over immigration. But net
zero has been bubbling along under the surface for quite
some time through that. This week net zero came to
a head in the party room.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
For the Libs. Susan Lee lost.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
She wanted to keep net zero, but the numbers went
against her and the party dumped it. There are two
things here. There's a lot here that I find puzzling,
but in particular two things that I find really really puzzling.
How on earth does the Liberal Party expect to win
votes back from the teals where they did lose people
too by going more conservative. And for the party as well,
(23:36):
that's supposed to be the friend of business in Parliament
promising to repeal carbon emission legislation, both both kind of
short term and long term targets. It's probably the opposite
of what business wants because we talk about the fact
that business wants certainty and a pathway to a greener economy,
and legislation in place at the moment does provide certainty.
(23:59):
It actually says this is the target, this is where
we need to get to. This is where we need
to get to by twenty thirty. It's where we need
to get to by twenty fifty, and saying that hey,
in three years or two and a half years, or
if it's in kind of five and a half years,
we're going to change all of that. We're going to
get rid of all the legislation that's there and we're
just going to start all over again. We're going to
do this separately. That's not certainty. It is not certainty
(24:19):
for business, it's not certainty for Australia. I actually feel
really sorry for Susan Lee on this because she inherited
a basket case after the election, an absolute drubbing, drubbing
for the Liberal Party and it's just getting worse. It
feels like she might have brought a little bit of
time perhaps by dumping net zero. She's staved off what
is likely to be a leadership challenge, But it's another
(24:41):
two and a half years to the next election, and
the odds of her still being there when this really
what this was a proxy for the leadership. This is
a proxy for the future of the entire party here
and she does not have the authority within the party
and you can only imagine it's going to take one
more issue and there will be a leadership spill. The
odds of her still being there at the next election
(25:02):
are not good. So while this looked on the surface
to be about climate policy and net zero, it was
about the broader future of the Liberal Party and how
on earth they actually restore themselves to being an opposition
party and don't end up, bizarrely potentially as the minor coalition.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I think is chaos involved in the Liberal Party at
the moment?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
There is chaos. There is chaos everywhere. Sean so CBA Sean.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Wasn't it like the world's most valued bank? Yeah, in
terms of share price multiple, share price improblement extraordinary, And
so when you get over performance to the market average
and get such a heavy drop, so what we're investor
is expecting. I thought that was so interesting, Mike. I
think you have to win this one. We know we
(25:54):
need an effective opposition.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Mark look on Michael's face. No it's not.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I'm trying to be a gracious winner.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
It's a winner. I don't know how to do it, but.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We you know, as a nation, I think we wasted
ten years. Is there a carbon tax? Isn't there?
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Both sides of politics tore themselves apart over it, and
then we finally got consensus and we got certainty, business
got certainty, and now we don't again, and it's just
trying out of ego over logic.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I just don't get it.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
I don't disagree with your judgment, right, I think that
is a good call, and I find that really hard
to say, but he's a good call. The only thing though,
I would say, just away from this show, we're spending
so much time of this. The coalition won't be in
power for another six years, possibly nine years possible, and
so this is a exists at all. Yeah, yeah, So
(26:50):
this is a policy of an organization which I suppose
backs up Michael's point that it's not actually about climate change,
it's about Susan Lee's leadership. Let's just move on. Two one.
You're up, guys, hard agree with the jobs.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Just let you go freely there.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
This is glorious. You know what this is?
Speaker 2 (27:09):
This is chaos.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Favorite story Michael Gove for Chaos.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Warren Buffett, legendary investor, is going quiet. He says he
has written Adam his final annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway
shareholders ahead of his retirement in coming weeks, and it
was all class wasn't it? Just Warren Buffett just seems
like a classy kind of fella. He talked about accelerating philanthropy,
(27:35):
trying to give away a bit more of his one
hundred and fifty billion dollar fortune, doing it through his
three children's foundations, to the tune of giving them enough
that they are then able to give away five hundred
million dollars each per year, which overall is not going
to get one hundred and fifty billion dollars, but that
(27:56):
is when you think about it, the causes that that
is going to be able to support five hundred million
dollars each per year, and there will be more to come.
You've got greg Abel taking over a CEO. Buffett says,
he'll take here. I like this. He'll keep a significant
chunk chunk of Berkshire's Class A shares until shareholders are
fully comfortable with greg Abel. So a bit of a
(28:20):
sign of support, he said, though that level of confidence
shouldn't take long. He did he had to squeeze in
a few more lessons. And this is the thing about
his letters, that they are full of kind of lessons
in investing, lessons in leadership, lessons in kind of life,
his view on everything. But he said that essentially executive
pay disclosure rules had fueled an arms race. His quote
(28:41):
was what often bothers very wealthy CEOs is that other
CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand
in hand. I just love that, right, like it's it's
just a cool line. Wonder how long he spends kind
of crafting these things, and I wonder to what extent
is chat GPT help him towards in the last in
the last year, in the last couple of years, not much.
(29:04):
I can't imagine it would be a huge amount. It
seems quite a fitting sign off from the oracle of Omaha,
who turned a textile mill into a trillion dollar conglomerate,
taught generations adam of investors about the fundamentals of buying
what you understand, thinking long term. And it's done probably
more to encourage philanthropy in the US than almost anyone else.
(29:26):
Him and Bill Gates and Melinda Gates and a few
others with the Giving Pledge as well, when they are
kind of committing to giving away as much of their
of their fortunes as they can and setting up the
structure to do it, and putting the pressure on others
to do the same, to do it publicly, and to
make sure that it is actually done, preferably while still alive,
but if not, then on death and make sure that
(29:46):
actually does make a difference. I think that's also significant.
That is it a bit of a rambling long one
from me there forever I know, but it went on forever.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I'll tell you my favorite story really quickly, because we're
so out of time. Michael, Yes, just keep your mouth
closed there, don't jump In favorite story, a couple in
northern New South Wales, the town of Lismore, bought a
house for one dollar. They were at an auction at
(30:17):
Mwoomba ROSL. Five other houses no sorry, four other houses
sold for five dollars. There's another one that sold for
two hundred dollars. The couple that bought the two hundred
dollar house used to rent it, went to the RSL
to see what it would get, ended up buying it.
It's part of the New South Wales government's buyback scheme
for flood affected housing. Those who don't know that region
horrendous floods in over the last decade a few times
(30:39):
in that region. The government has brought back the homes
and the land and now they're selling the house. Now
there is a catch. You've basically got to move the house.
You've got to cut the house in half on a truck,
restump it on your own land, put it back together.
I suggested glue, though Michael thought that was a silly suggestion.
You might need a few renovations. That five thousand, yeah exactly.
(31:04):
The you who stick that's about one hundred thousand estimate
about one hundred thousand to do all that. But that's
a lot cheaper than a new build. I just you know,
I've got to congratulate the New South Wales government on
this one. For selling these homes actually firstly taking them
off people's hands, these are unensurable areas and selling the
(31:24):
people for a dollar. Great story, great marketing too, right, Yeah,
I love it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Unfortunately I love Warren Buffett more.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
You would because you don't care about the people of Lizmore.
You just care about the rich dudes. What okay, let
me unload on Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and Melinda
Gates and stuff like that. It's all okay for these
philanthropists to be great philanthropists when they are multi billionaires, right,
how do they become multi billionaires? They became multi billionaires
(31:56):
by taking a large share of the profits as opposed
to providing workers with decent pay. I mean, I'm kind
of overstating a little bit. Let's it does so of
get to me that these guys who have tens of
billions of dollars, they got to give it away, right,
and it's not going to affect their lifetile one iota.
(32:16):
But how did they actually get that money? Right? They
shrewd investments no, I mean Microsoft, They built Microsoft or
berkhy Hathaway and took the profits and the profits made
them rich. Why, I mean, why does a business have
a profit because it pays workers less, or it pays
supplies less. Like come on, it's all a rich more
(32:39):
become very socialist of the leander.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
This is celerity, brilliant, brilliant for a show called Fear
and Greed though right in the zone. So yes, Michael,
you have to win that one. The Oracle of Omaha
signs off and that means Michael, you've won the story count.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Three to one. The story count.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
This could be that day where I lose on the points, though.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I think it's a PB.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Michael, ninety four points your ninety two points. Very clod Michael,
brilliant debate.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Solid result, good result, well done, chaos everywhere.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
This is good.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Thank you Adam for your judgments this morning and next week,
do you reckon? We can establish whether we are talking
local or internationally, because that's three weeks in a row
now I have tried to go the global angle for
these stories, and three weeks in a row where I
have been punished for it.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Don't you think? Don't you think a fool would learn
the first time? Fool me once, shame on you, fool
me twice, shame on me, fool me three times. Call me,
Michael Thompson.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
I feel like I may have deserved that. Thank you, Sean,
thank you, Michael, thank you, Adam, thank you, Michael.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Make sure you're following the podcast and head along to
Fearandgreed dot com dot au to to sign up for
our free daily newsletter. That is a link as well.
In today's show notes, I'm Michael Thompson. That was Fear
and Greed. We have a great weekend.
This is the weekend edition of Fear and Greed business
news you can use. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning,
Sean Aylman. Good morning, Michael, Sean. Our weekend show is
all about the two of us, each nominating what we
think is the biggest business news story, the most remarkable story,
the mystery category that we change every week, and then
our favorite business related story. It is a competition. We
(00:26):
need a winner. So we are joined every week by
a judge who has a very strict set of criteria
that he disregards the moment he starts. Fear and Greed.
Colleague Adam Lang is our judge. Adam.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Good morning, Good morning Michael and Sean.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Adam't you ever get sick of the abuse that Michael
hurls at you every morning? No, it's strangely, Saturday morning, strangely.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I quite enjoy it. It wakes me up for the competition.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
And it's not abuse, it's just context. Everyone needs to
understand that the criteria that you have, Adam, are applied
loosely at best. What are those criteria?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Topicality and time illness are obviously their economic impact is
the most important one to me. Then there's some subjective
bias the things I like, and melodrama throw a bit
into it.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Do you think that subjective Adam's subjective bias and melodrama
are at the opposite ends of the.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Spectrum against melodrama. I suspect that might be the case.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
I mean, a man that loves a spreadsheet ain't melodramatic.
That's really what I'm saying here.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
But what if you use like happy colors, that's you
don't on spreadsheets?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Do you do the coloring stuff?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
I don't mind the shading. I just don't like the color.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh the colored text.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
No, the text is pretty constant black. But I do
like the shading the highlights.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
But even then I prefer the dull colored shades to
the shades. Yeah, very much pastor mean when it comes.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
To you and I are so similar as Sean were.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
The same age, our birthdays just days away from each other.
We had very similar sort of upbringings.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yepeah, Yeah, we.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Were equally dull. Goodness, this is what a start to
the show. We both like a bit of punishment, well,
good Catholic cupbringing.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's it. The guilt anyway, I.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Had no idea where you were going with that, just said,
let's get into it. Sean biggest story of the week,
what was it?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yes, we had to rest last week from this one.
But how can you ignore the economy, Adam? The economy
hasn't the worm turned any fan of the two Ronnies,
which I'm sure Adam was. We understand what the worm
turned was. Just a few weeks ago, it was all
about when is the next interest rate cut? Now it's
all about whether there'll be an interest rate cut, Probably
(02:54):
not this week. The unemployment rate fell to four point
three percent last month, from four point five percent to September. Now,
in October, the number of employed people rose by forty
two thousand, why above expectations. There was a fifty five
thousand jump in full time employees offset by thirteen thousand
(03:15):
loss in part time workers. Consumer sentiment saw to its
highest level in nearly four years. You put that into
everything mean that just means that the economy is actually
doing okay. Therefore the Reserve Bank are less likely cut
interest rates. It's pretty much the best result in seven years.
Outside COVID maybe a Roague number. We had Deputy Governor
(03:35):
Andrew Houser, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, of course,
saying that the central bank could be boxed in because
the economy isn't creating enough capacity. So we had data,
we had surveys, we had Reserve Bank officials this week,
all coming out pointing to interest rates on hold so
very much. This week the question shifted from when to
(03:59):
weather there'll be a rate cut? Brief, concise, important, economic impact,
lacks melodrama. I agree with that, but otherwise an excellent,
excellent effort for the biggest story of the week. Michael,
did you just judge yourself? At least I didn't go
into the third person squirrel. You know that's what you do, Michael.
(04:22):
Sometimes you go into the third person and call yourself
by the nickname Hm.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I have done it once, maybe twice. But I cannot
believe that I'm having to remind you of this for
the third week in a row. That you need to
think bigger Sean, that you need to think global once again,
think perhaps the biggest economy in the world, the US
adam is moving again at last.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Which.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Just on the spot, it's like it's on a treadmill,
but at least that the treadmill itself is now moving
once again. Because it was switched off. The US government
shut down, ending after forty three days, the longest in history.
One point four million federal employees unpaid, suspended food stamps
to many low income and Americans, delayed, canceled flights, chaos
(05:17):
at airports. There was a breakthrough after the Democrats. Some
of the Democrats broke ranks in the Senate. They were
citing the fact that the suspension of the food stamp
program was actually a crisis. It was a real crisis
that made them basically negotiate and degree and finally, finally, finally,
the shutdown is over. The big question here is where
(05:39):
to now for the United States. The pressure is on
flights to resume as normal in time for Thanksgiving. They're
saying that it could take weeks for things to get
back to normal because it has been such a widespread impact.
The Fed will start getting data again gradually, though it's
ability to make interest rate decisions and other decisions has
surely been affected, and there's so much uncertainty now over
(06:00):
rate cuts and the potential for further rate cuts. It's
course all sorts of chaos and financial markets Bitcoin fell,
Wall Street fell, chaos, chaos, I mean, come on like
you only need to look at Wall Street and just
go you know what, there's only one word that describes that.
It's chaos, absolute chaos.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Anyways, no different this week to any other weeks.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yes, yeah, I know that's true, but big falls chaos everywhere. Adam,
chaos sean back pay for back pay for government employees. Interestingly,
contractors don't receive backpay once the shut down ends. Many
of those Adam, interesting kind of side bar here. Many
of those are small businesses without other big clients, relying
(06:47):
entirely on the US government for their income. Massive effect
on those the lasting economic impact have This analyst estimated
that the shutdown was going to knock about zero point
one zero point two percentage points of economic growth for
every week that it went on. Fifteen billion US dollars
a week for six weeks.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
That is huge.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Not to mention did I mention the chaos as well
on financial markets because of the uncertainty of our interest rates?
Like this is the biggest story of the week. It
is a global story that then has an effect on
everyone else because of.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
The US is a US story?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
No, no, no, because whatever happens to the US effects
everyone else. It's just like it is, just because it
is so big and so influential. We've seen this, we've
discussed it of cause it's chaos sean everywhere.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Anyway, I'm confidently handed over to you.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I've thrown a lot of stuff at you there. I
don't know where it's going to get picked up.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
On the word chaos. I think that thing there.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
Yes, the biggest economy in the world. Yes, absolutely enormous
impact there, but no, not the big business story of
the week here in Australia.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
But you never said that it needs to be Australian.
I don't, I don't. I don't want to quibble. I've
never been one to argue, but you've never said that
this needs to be Australian. It feels like you've just
added a new criteria local one one nil.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Yeah, economic impact here, I was really surprised by those
unemployment numbers I know anywhere. So it's great news for
people who can earn. But for those trillions of dollars
that Australians have in their property, the one third that
owned them, one third that don't they rent the year Yeah, absolutely,
(08:44):
And I've got a vested interest in it too, right,
It affects all of us, so we're not going to
get a lower interest rate, not for the short term,
not for a while.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
An interesting point that you just made about the trillions
of dollars of property, because if I can move quite
seamlessly onto the most remarkable story of the week, okay, adam,
quite a remarkable milestone for the Australian property market, twelve
trillion dollars in value. So I mean, I know that
this is something that you're interested in because you brought
it up yourself just moments ago. Twelve trillion dollars extraordinary.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And the week did it tick over.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
It was about four o'clock on Monday afternoon. I noticed
it happened. I was just watching it going here. It's
like watching the O Domina in the car. Here it comes, here,
it comes, and you don't want to miss it because
if you missed that twelve trillion dollar mark.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And then inevitably you look up when you're driving and
then you look back down and I've gone through the
ninety zero one.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah you miss it in something that yeah, twelve twelve
trillion and one, you're like, oh damn, missed it. But anyway,
that is three times the size of the superannuation system.
As you pointed out to us this week, Sean, when
you were emphasizing how remarkable this was four times the
size of bank deposits across the country. But also, what
I think is the most remarkable part of this is
(10:07):
the fact that the value of the housing market has doubled,
doubled in the last decade, most of the growth coming
in the last five years. That is just extraordinary, right,
And we hit the twelve trillion dollar mark faster than
the experts. Stay at totality where this data came from.
We're expecting this happened, that they were forecasting it. We've
(10:30):
been waiting for it and waiting for it, and then
it came faster than we thought. Two reasons why this
is so remarkable. As we were discussing through the Weekshawn
again when we're emphasizing how remarkable this whole thing is.
That has an economic impact. Of course, house price is rising.
If you own a place the value is going up,
you feel wealthy, you spend more of the wealth effect
good for the economy, et cetera, et cetera. The other reason,
(10:52):
of course, Adam, it emphasizes just how tough it is
for first home buyers as well. How on earth and
someone looking at that going the housing market has doubled
the value in ten years, How on earth can a
first home buyer be expected to save a deposit when
the entire market, the value of the market is growing
(11:13):
that It is just extraordinary, right, the whole thing is remarkable.
Twelve trillion dollars. That's it.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Do you think it's remarkable?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
It is just like I thought, chaos, Yeah, yeah, chaos, chaos, chaos, remarkable, yes,
all of.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
These there's not That is a remarkable number. Twelve trillion dollars.
I've got to say remarkable. Incremental though, because this time
last week it was probably you know, eleven point nine
nine nine nine trillion dollars. That's twelve trillion dollars. Like,
I don't know what that's changing anyone's life this week?
(11:49):
What does change everyone's life? Our lives included, right, we
who run a small business. This week we saw an
action the fill for full Federal Courts land mark ruling
back in twenty twenty three actually hit home. The ruling
said that all the employers must ask employees if they
(12:09):
want to work public holidays. They can't just automatically matically
roster them on this week. BHP was found that it
had to pay one hundred thousand dollars for failing to
ask its mining workforce whether they wanted to work on
Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Now the Big Australian bridged
national employment standards, as per the Federal Court ruling in
twenty twenty three. The point here, the point here. This
(12:32):
is the first time it was tested. This affects every
single business. The twenty twenty three ruling applies regardless of
agreements and contracts. It extends to all sectors of the economy,
all sectors of the economy, fast food, retail, podcasting. What
if we're working on a public holiday, which we done.
(12:53):
You've got to ask me if I want to work.
You can't just tell me to work. You want to say, Sean,
do you want to work?
Speaker 2 (13:00):
You say Sean, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
No.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
I always say, of course not, I want to work
public holiday. I mean. The thing is, an employee can
still require workers to come in and work on a
public holiday if the employee's refusal to its request is
unreasonable based on the nature of the work. So I say, Adam, no,
I don't want to come in. You say well we're
not going to have a show. Well, then I have
to come in. But Adam, Michael, both of you, you've
(13:25):
still got to ask me first. And this is a
christ You think of retail, you think of hospitality, people
working on those days. You can't just be rostered on.
You've got to be asked. And this is the first
time we saw the reality of that ruling. That is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
That is remarkable, certainly remarkable. In twenty twenty three when
the landmark ruling was made.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
But no one knew how it was going to be
Today this week we found out what it means.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
That feels incremental help. Without Adam, it's chaos.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Chaos.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I have never been asked if I wanted to work
a public holiday as either.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Roster hon or.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
I wasn't you know, And I actually until that you
brought it up this week, Sean, I had no idea
it was a thing.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So why on earth would that exist?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So Luke our producer, right, we oh, we did do.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
An employment agreement with him.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
He's you. But because everything like, we've got to ask Luke. Hey, Luke,
you know once again, can you work on a public
holiday for us? It looks great?
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Nine times a year in the state of New South Wales.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, there you go, asked, So.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Michael wins on this one. I am. I think they're
both excellent.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Don't be too hard on his shot. That's a I'm
a good result, thanks, Adam.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
They're both remarkable stories. But the you know, the wealth
effect of twelve trillion in property is pronounced and as
you said, Michael, people trying to get into the market
and it's doubled in value in the last ten years.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Now, hold on, Look, I just don't want to point
at a fault in Michael's theory here, but can I.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Is it to do with the fact that more supplies
come on.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
There might be two hundred thousand new houses a year,
so there's two million new houses a year. Yes, it's
not like the actual prices of double.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
The existing stock value has doubled. Yes, And I thought,
but I wasn't going to point that out because it
took away slightly from.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
The remarkability in case.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I mean, it's just the headline as well, the fact
that it has doubled in the last decade. In the
first home, I was just like, I don't know how
I can I can't compete with that it feels like
I'm just going to kind of miss the what do
you miss the bus, the boat, the train? Oh yeah,
missed the boat traditionally the boat, I think, perhaps missed
the monorail, like it feels like that needs to be modernized.
(15:56):
Missed the hovercraft on.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
This the horseless carriage?
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes? Did you have any additional comments to make in
praise of my story, Adam?
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Or is that.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
I was pretty much done? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That was because there were no comments because it wasn't
that remarkable story. That's why I call that a pity win.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Usually I get those in about the third or fourth
category when once I lost everything else.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Michael, can you now give us permission to work every
single public holiday in twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3 (16:29):
So there's a good question. Can you actually say on
bulk yes?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh gosh, batch approval?
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Otherwise it feels very inefficient of having to go around
to every employee and ask them before and got to
do it over Christmas Christmas and they separate email. Yeah,
but what happens if you have someone who doesn't look
at their emails?
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Sean, do you know how many emails I got don't opens? Oh?
Go on, do it? My work account or personal account.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Give us your work account, because that's the one that
eighteen thousand. So this is a public service announcement to
anybody looking to get in contact with Fear and Greed.
Email me order do not.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Do not become one of the eighteen thousand waiting into
the abyss that is Alma's inbox.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Goodness gracious. Okay, we will take a quick break back
in a moment with the mystery category of the week. Okay, Sean,
we are looking now for our mystery category. It is
one all so.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Just before we would just jump into this because during
the break you had to go at me for not
having for having so many unopened emails, and then during
the break you showed me your phone, and Adam showed
us his phone. You have one hundred and three text messages.
I read, therefore not answer it. Shocking, I have zero.
(18:02):
I mean, as you imagine, Adam has zero emails and
answered zero texts. I have a lot of emails and
always do a text you, Michael, more than a hundred texts.
How can you do that? That's just cruel living on.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, okay, it is partly because I see them on
my watch when they come in I'm like, oh, I
will respond to that on my phone later when I've
got my phone on me, and then I forget to
do that or something, or it's it's something that requires
more thought.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
And say, are there certain people you've got a long
line of texts from? So I presume Shann your partner, Shan, Yep,
you'd be answering her all the time. That's fine, Yes,
answer Shann because I'm scared of Shan.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
But no, mostly I'm just scrolling down through this, Sean.
I think, I look, I'm going to get myself in
trouble by going into any detail on this.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It is.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
The mystery category this week. This is that's not fair.
You dropped me in that big time. It's something that
we were discussing privately off air, and then you did
the unforgivable and brought it into the podcast, into the
podcast fair game, I say, which I have never done
ever ever. Our mystery category this week, Adam, is because
(19:33):
there were some really good stories around this week, but
the stories that were more interesting were the stories that
they were really about, not the stories that you thought
they were about.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
Right, So this is the news that's not the news, Okay, the.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Story that is actually about something else.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yes, sean Commonwealth Bank the news. That's not the news.
The news is that Commonwealth Bank at a really strong
first quarter. Homelands grew by one point one times the
average of the banking sector, so better than the average
of the banking sector, household deposits one point two times.
In those areas, CBA very much outperformed the market. In
(20:11):
the increasingly competitive business lending sector. Come Wealth Bank did
the same as the rest of the market. The bank's
profit margin improved, bad loans decreased. Good news, that's the news.
But but but quote truple but investors quadruple? But what
(20:32):
would it qua druple? But anyway, investors are looking for
anything negative they can on CBA at the moment. And
Matt Common made a few comments about competition in the future.
That did the trick. So what wasn't the news? All
the news was good news. What wasn't the news? But
(20:53):
was the reality is that Commonwealth Bank was sold off
big time. Dropped ten percent in two in fives eight
percent in two days this week. The shift away from
Commonwealth Bank is quite marked, quite dramatic. This financial year.
Komof Banks down thirteen percent. West Packs up twenty percent,
ain Z's up thirty three percent, Nabs up nine percent.
(21:16):
So it again. Kamov Bank is off thirteen percent. Not
that long ago, Commonwealth Bank's market cap was about the
same as the three banks combined. No longer. It is
coming back to the pack And incredibly, the news this
week was all the good news out of Commonwealth Bank.
Not the news. The reality was the massive selloff. Did
(21:37):
that work or not? It's the way we did that,
Michael or not? Adams happy, I think so, yeah, very
I think so.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I was clearing text messages.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
But it's your news. That wasn't the news, Michael.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
The Liberal Party this week, Adam, Yes, dumped net zero,
which you would think would be the You would think
that would be the so it's what everyone was talking about.
But this story is not about climate policy. It's not
about net zero. This is about the Liberal Party leadership,
about Susan Lee and her very very very tenuous hold
on the party, on her position and on the future
(22:15):
of the party as well within the Australian system, because
it's actually quite a it's quite worrying and it's quite
a sad state for the party to be in at
the moment. You can go back to the split months
ago between the Libs and the Nats, where that was
over a bunch of issues from nuclear power and a
whole lot of other bits and pieces. But the conservatives
(22:36):
in the party, I suspect saw their chance at that
time and drove a wedge in the ability potentially make
to push the party to a more conservative side and
hopefully regained some of the voters that they had lost.
It has been a slow bleed since then for the party.
For Susan Lee at front benches like Andrew Hasty quitting
(22:57):
over I think he was quitting over immigration. But net
zero has been bubbling along under the surface for quite
some time through that. This week net zero came to
a head in the party room.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
For the Libs. Susan Lee lost.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
She wanted to keep net zero, but the numbers went
against her and the party dumped it. There are two
things here. There's a lot here that I find puzzling,
but in particular two things that I find really really puzzling.
How on earth does the Liberal Party expect to win
votes back from the teals where they did lose people
too by going more conservative. And for the party as well,
(23:36):
that's supposed to be the friend of business in Parliament
promising to repeal carbon emission legislation, both both kind of
short term and long term targets. It's probably the opposite
of what business wants because we talk about the fact
that business wants certainty and a pathway to a greener economy,
and legislation in place at the moment does provide certainty.
(23:59):
It actually says this is the target, this is where
we need to get to. This is where we need
to get to by twenty thirty. It's where we need
to get to by twenty fifty, and saying that hey,
in three years or two and a half years, or
if it's in kind of five and a half years,
we're going to change all of that. We're going to
get rid of all the legislation that's there and we're
just going to start all over again. We're going to
do this separately. That's not certainty. It is not certainty
(24:19):
for business, it's not certainty for Australia. I actually feel
really sorry for Susan Lee on this because she inherited
a basket case after the election, an absolute drubbing, drubbing
for the Liberal Party and it's just getting worse. It
feels like she might have brought a little bit of
time perhaps by dumping net zero. She's staved off what
is likely to be a leadership challenge, But it's another
(24:41):
two and a half years to the next election, and
the odds of her still being there when this really
what this was a proxy for the leadership. This is
a proxy for the future of the entire party here
and she does not have the authority within the party
and you can only imagine it's going to take one
more issue and there will be a leadership spill. The
odds of her still being there at the next election
(25:02):
are not good. So while this looked on the surface
to be about climate policy and net zero, it was
about the broader future of the Liberal Party and how
on earth they actually restore themselves to being an opposition
party and don't end up, bizarrely potentially as the minor coalition.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
I think is chaos involved in the Liberal Party at
the moment?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
There is chaos. There is chaos everywhere. Sean so CBA Sean.
Speaker 4 (25:31):
Wasn't it like the world's most valued bank? Yeah, in
terms of share price multiple, share price improblement extraordinary, And
so when you get over performance to the market average
and get such a heavy drop, so what we're investor
is expecting. I thought that was so interesting, Mike. I
think you have to win this one. We know we
(25:54):
need an effective opposition.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Mark look on Michael's face. No it's not.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
I'm trying to be a gracious winner.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
It's a winner. I don't know how to do it, but.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We you know, as a nation, I think we wasted
ten years. Is there a carbon tax? Isn't there?
Speaker 4 (26:12):
Both sides of politics tore themselves apart over it, and
then we finally got consensus and we got certainty, business
got certainty, and now we don't again, and it's just
trying out of ego over logic.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
I just don't get it.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
I don't disagree with your judgment, right, I think that
is a good call, and I find that really hard
to say, but he's a good call. The only thing though,
I would say, just away from this show, we're spending
so much time of this. The coalition won't be in
power for another six years, possibly nine years possible, and
so this is a exists at all. Yeah, yeah, So
(26:50):
this is a policy of an organization which I suppose
backs up Michael's point that it's not actually about climate change,
it's about Susan Lee's leadership. Let's just move on. Two one.
You're up, guys, hard agree with the jobs.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Just let you go freely there.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
This is glorious. You know what this is?
Speaker 2 (27:09):
This is chaos.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
Favorite story Michael Gove for Chaos.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Warren Buffett, legendary investor, is going quiet. He says he
has written Adam his final annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway
shareholders ahead of his retirement in coming weeks, and it
was all class wasn't it? Just Warren Buffett just seems
like a classy kind of fella. He talked about accelerating philanthropy,
(27:35):
trying to give away a bit more of his one
hundred and fifty billion dollar fortune, doing it through his
three children's foundations, to the tune of giving them enough
that they are then able to give away five hundred
million dollars each per year, which overall is not going
to get one hundred and fifty billion dollars, but that
(27:56):
is when you think about it, the causes that that
is going to be able to support five hundred million
dollars each per year, and there will be more to come.
You've got greg Abel taking over a CEO. Buffett says,
he'll take here. I like this. He'll keep a significant
chunk chunk of Berkshire's Class A shares until shareholders are
fully comfortable with greg Abel. So a bit of a
(28:20):
sign of support, he said, though that level of confidence
shouldn't take long. He did he had to squeeze in
a few more lessons. And this is the thing about
his letters, that they are full of kind of lessons
in investing, lessons in leadership, lessons in kind of life,
his view on everything. But he said that essentially executive
pay disclosure rules had fueled an arms race. His quote
(28:41):
was what often bothers very wealthy CEOs is that other
CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand
in hand. I just love that, right, like it's it's
just a cool line. Wonder how long he spends kind
of crafting these things, and I wonder to what extent
is chat GPT help him towards in the last in
the last year, in the last couple of years, not much.
(29:04):
I can't imagine it would be a huge amount. It
seems quite a fitting sign off from the oracle of Omaha,
who turned a textile mill into a trillion dollar conglomerate,
taught generations adam of investors about the fundamentals of buying
what you understand, thinking long term. And it's done probably
more to encourage philanthropy in the US than almost anyone else.
(29:26):
Him and Bill Gates and Melinda Gates and a few
others with the Giving Pledge as well, when they are
kind of committing to giving away as much of their
of their fortunes as they can and setting up the
structure to do it, and putting the pressure on others
to do the same, to do it publicly, and to
make sure that it is actually done, preferably while still alive,
but if not, then on death and make sure that
(29:46):
actually does make a difference. I think that's also significant.
That is it a bit of a rambling long one
from me there forever I know, but it went on forever.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
I'll tell you my favorite story really quickly, because we're
so out of time. Michael, Yes, just keep your mouth
closed there, don't jump In favorite story, a couple in
northern New South Wales, the town of Lismore, bought a
house for one dollar. They were at an auction at
(30:17):
Mwoomba ROSL. Five other houses no sorry, four other houses
sold for five dollars. There's another one that sold for
two hundred dollars. The couple that bought the two hundred
dollar house used to rent it, went to the RSL
to see what it would get, ended up buying it.
It's part of the New South Wales government's buyback scheme
for flood affected housing. Those who don't know that region
horrendous floods in over the last decade a few times
(30:39):
in that region. The government has brought back the homes
and the land and now they're selling the house. Now
there is a catch. You've basically got to move the house.
You've got to cut the house in half on a truck,
restump it on your own land, put it back together.
I suggested glue, though Michael thought that was a silly suggestion.
You might need a few renovations. That five thousand, yeah exactly.
(31:04):
The you who stick that's about one hundred thousand estimate
about one hundred thousand to do all that. But that's
a lot cheaper than a new build. I just you know,
I've got to congratulate the New South Wales government on
this one. For selling these homes actually firstly taking them
off people's hands, these are unensurable areas and selling the
(31:24):
people for a dollar. Great story, great marketing too, right, Yeah,
I love it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Unfortunately I love Warren Buffett more.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
You would because you don't care about the people of Lizmore.
You just care about the rich dudes. What okay, let
me unload on Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and Melinda
Gates and stuff like that. It's all okay for these
philanthropists to be great philanthropists when they are multi billionaires, right,
how do they become multi billionaires? They became multi billionaires
(31:56):
by taking a large share of the profits as opposed
to providing workers with decent pay. I mean, I'm kind
of overstating a little bit. Let's it does so of
get to me that these guys who have tens of
billions of dollars, they got to give it away, right,
and it's not going to affect their lifetile one iota.
(32:16):
But how did they actually get that money? Right? They
shrewd investments no, I mean Microsoft, They built Microsoft or
berkhy Hathaway and took the profits and the profits made
them rich. Why, I mean, why does a business have
a profit because it pays workers less, or it pays
supplies less. Like come on, it's all a rich more
(32:39):
become very socialist of the leander.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
This is celerity, brilliant, brilliant for a show called Fear
and Greed though right in the zone. So yes, Michael,
you have to win that one. The Oracle of Omaha
signs off and that means Michael, you've won the story count.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Three to one. The story count.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
This could be that day where I lose on the points, though.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I think it's a PB.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Michael, ninety four points your ninety two points. Very clod Michael,
brilliant debate.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Solid result, good result, well done, chaos everywhere.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
This is good.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Thank you Adam for your judgments this morning and next week,
do you reckon? We can establish whether we are talking
local or internationally, because that's three weeks in a row
now I have tried to go the global angle for
these stories, and three weeks in a row where I
have been punished for it.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Don't you think? Don't you think a fool would learn
the first time? Fool me once, shame on you, fool
me twice, shame on me, fool me three times. Call me,
Michael Thompson.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
I feel like I may have deserved that. Thank you, Sean,
thank you, Michael, thank you, Adam, thank you, Michael.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Make sure you're following the podcast and head along to
Fearandgreed dot com dot au to to sign up for
our free daily newsletter. That is a link as well.
In today's show notes, I'm Michael Thompson. That was Fear
and Greed. We have a great weekend.
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