October 17, 2025 • 30 mins
An unemployment surprise, the surging price of gold, a super tax backflip, and CEOs in the spotlight.
Michael Thompson and Adam Lang go head to head on the top business stories of the week, with business journalist and founder of Working@It Natalie MacDonald 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
Adam Lang.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning Michael, Now Adam.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Our weekend show is all about the two of us,
each nominating what we think is the biggest business story
of the week, the most remarkable business story, a mystery
category that we change every single week, and our favorite story.
And normally we would it would be me and Sean Almer.
Sean is on his plane at this very moment heading
back flight back from Europe, back in the studio on Monday,
(00:38):
and so you're stepping in to compete against me, and
as a result, we have called in a very dear
friend of Fear and Greed to replace you as the
judge this week, because we do need a judge to
pick a winner. That judges Natalie McDonald, business journalist, occasional
Fear and greeter and the founder of Working at Us. Natalie,
good morning, Hello, good morning to you. You you judged last
(01:02):
week as well. Are there any particular criteria Have your
criteria evolved since last week? What are you looking for
in order for me to get full marks?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
This is a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
We've already had some shots fired pre record, so who knows, frankly,
how this is going to go. As far as criteria goes,
we're looking at size, we're looking at magnitude. We're here
for headlines. But with that said, we're also here for
the business news that people can use, which means I
do want context. I want to understand what does this
mean for Australians, what does this mean for small business?
What does this mean for professionals? And then we're all
(01:38):
storytellers at heart, some more than others, Michael, So I
want a bit of storytelling. I want to be entertained.
But with that said, the beauty of this is it's
my criteria and I can change it at WIM.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You've been hanging around Adam too much, because when Adam
is the judge, he changes his criteria without warning and
then we'll disregard the criteria that he announced at the
beginning of the show in order to judge differently. So
I'm well versed in this and I'm looking forward to it. Adam,
would you like to go first on the biggest business
story of the week?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Alright? Size and gravitas of news, context, the flow through
to Australians and small business a bit of storytelling. Let's
see if I can do this with some of Natalie's
favored puns. So there was economic data drama this week.
It was like a three act play. In the first act,
the minutes from the Reserve Banks seven October meeting we're
(02:32):
released on Tuesday, keeping the Australian economy soft landing story
alive with an approach that is cautious, data dependent, and
waiting for proof that inflation is easy. Sarah Hunter, the
Reserve Bank's Assistant Governor for Economics, back that view in
two public appearances this week, saying the nation's fundamentals remain
(02:53):
resilient as the Bank holds a watching brief on potential
rate cuts. Now for the second act, which came on Thursday,
when the Australian Bureau Statistics dropped a data bomb, reporting
unemployment at four point five percent in September and only
fifteen thousand jobs created while the population grows since at
two percent. Employment has grown one point three percent this year,
(03:14):
worse than the RBA expected. Now for the third act,
and markets rallied within hours of that RBA data being hit.
With the Australian Bureau Statistics, traders priced a seventy percent
chance of an interest rate cut this year, and the
ASX hit an intra day high. The biggest news story
of the week now has economic data. Theater goers turning
(03:36):
to the twenty nine October quarterly inflation data and the
next RBA announcement on Melbourne Cup Day, which is also
known as the fourth of November biggest story of the week.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, I'm just here looking around the studio for a
bell or like an air horn or something to sound
the alarm for an illegal move. Natalie, really, yes, yes,
because I mean it's an omnibus story for one thing,
there's multiple things drawn into one. But the other problem
with that was that you have absorbed part of the
true biggest story, my story into your own, Adam, and
(04:08):
that is a legal move. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Is it an appropriation?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
It is? It is, and it's also grounds for disqualification.
But I'll leave that up to Natalie. But clearly you
know what you need to do here. The economy is
a big story this week, but until we get the
September quarter inflation data, everything is up in the air. Right.
What isn't up in the air is markets this week.
Allow me to give you a very quick rap of
(04:36):
what has happened this week, because this this.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Is not going to be quick. This will not be
a quick round boiler alas.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I promise you it will be start the timer. I
will be done in under one minute. Right. Gold keeps
hitting new records. It seems like every single day we
are talking about gold hitting a new record, surging, surging,
surging investors looking for a safe haven past multiple threshold.
This week four two hundred US dollars an ounce. The
gold miners, the Australian gold miners are loving it. Did
(05:04):
you know the gold this year is up sixty percent
since the beginning of the year. It is quite incredible.
Silver though, as well silver miners. The price of silver
hit its own records, more than fifty two US dollars
an ounce, resetting highs from nineteen eighty from nineteen eighty.
This is unprecedented except for nineteen eighty, of course, so
(05:26):
it's semi precedented anyway. Equities, Adam, you did mention this,
and you got yourself disqualified by doing so. All that
talk of interest rate cuts fueled the ASX to an
all time high, and that was on Thursday around lunchtime.
Quite incredible. And then there are these big moves as well.
When we're talking about markets, we tend to focus on
all the good stuff that's happening. We need to look
(05:46):
at the other end as well. We had bitcoin having
its largest one day selloff ever in dollar terms. Even
coco prices, yes, slightly obscure market, but coco prices are
from their highs, Which means right that even if if
you assess everything that I've talked about, that the incredible
week that we've had in markets, that even if you're
(06:08):
not an investor in equities, if you don't buy gold,
if you don't buy silver, if you don't own crypto,
you are still going to benefit from my story, Natalie,
which is one of the criteria that you have mentioned.
Because chocolate prices are coming back down. It has been
a heck of a week for markets. It is the
biggest story of the week. Adam wins the that's baloney.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I mean, if only, if only on the fact that
you went for at least a minute and twenty one
seconds plus how long it actually took me to find
the time of star. You haven't, so you haven't even
been able to meet your own standards on this. So
I recognize that this is a visual medium, but you
listeners should know that while Adam was speaking, Michael was
(06:56):
quite literally doing warm up stretches. So so much was
his need and desire not only for love but also
to win this.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh no, and I hear what you're saying. I do
hear what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I also want to point out that last week we
did gold versus Bitcoin. I went with Bitcoin and was
dramatically humbled when that one day fall did happen.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So I pulled my hands up and recognized that.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
However, on this I am certain that when it comes
to the raft of economic data that we've coming through,
when it comes to what November is going to bring.
And also the fact that Sarah Hunter love her, have
really enjoyed seeing her career growth and her development and
her role now at the Reserve Bank. The fact that
she has been doing so much publicly in terms of
(07:47):
really trying to actually communicate what the RBA is looking
at and how they're viewing the economy.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Two thumbs up, brilliant.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
You didn't even mention Sarah Hunter really, but she's in
Oh I did, but.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Work for my final story, I might have another little
easter egg for you there.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Oh no, that's not fair, more grounds for disqualification, for shadowing.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Can I mention though, just in terms of we did
touch on gold, but just how much it is outperforming
like that is when it's up sixty percent this year,
when you compare that with the with Wall Street, the
S and P five hundred is up thirteen percent so
far this year, Bitcoin up nineteen percent, and then you've
(08:27):
got gold sitting at sixty percent like it is. It
is quite staggering. This rush to the safe can do anything. Yeah, yeah,
no it doesn't. And the thing I like about that
as well is that I was speaking to Diana Messina,
the deputy chief economist at AMP, and she gave me
those stats and now I feel like I have let
her down because I failed to use them in a
(08:48):
way that helped me to win the category.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
You also could have drawn upon the interview that we
did with Evan Lucas about a month ago, when we
actually asked him is there a ceiling?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And he was like no, anyway, Look, it feels like
it's all pointless now because I didn't win. And not
that I'm a bad sport or anything, but I don't
want to talk about it anymore. I want to move
on to the most remarkable category. And what's remarkable actually is, Natalie,
you are soldiering through interesting circumstances to join us as
our judge. You are at south By Southwest this week,
(09:20):
which is you've been there all week and now you're
joining us for the weekend edition. And you have tucked
yourself away into a corner of the ICC in Sydney.
And it sounds like quite And that's basically an explanation
for any kind of little background noise that pops up.
That really the party happens at all hours there, right.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, very much.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Everyone is gathering their ready to go. There's some fantastic
sessions coming through today. That is day five. I'll be honest,
I'm tired, but I am fulfilled. I am full of
learning and wisdom.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It's exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
The most remarkable story of the week, if I may
go first on that one, please k This week Macquarie
has reminded the world why it is called the Millionaires Factory.
It has pulled off the biggest data center deal ever ever.
(10:15):
It is selling a network of fifty sites across the Americas,
that's North and South America. Probably didn't need to explain
that to anybody listening. They are selling this to a
consortium led by a few little, little known companies black
Rock and Video Microsoft for a jaw dropping forty billion
(10:37):
US dollars about sixty sixty one billion ossie. The market
loved it when this was announced. Macquarie's shares jumped five percent.
And what it has done. It has cemented the bank's
dominance in one of the hottest asset classes on the planet.
This is not just in Australia or in America. It
is on the This is a global story, this one.
(11:00):
But this is just a year. This is not a
one off. This is just a year after after it
sold a air trunk, it's taken air truck for twenty
three and a half billion dollars. Shows the same playbook
at work here by early scale, fast exit, huge Right.
When mcquarie first invested in aligned data centers back in
twenty eighteen, it was two sites, just two sites. Now
(11:21):
it is fifty campuses with more than five gigawatts of capacity.
Of capacity, of capacity. I don't know why I'm struggling
to say that. And the deal still leaves Macquarie with
a with a sizable slice of equity, a pipeline of
data center players across the US, across the UK, across
China as well. You know what this is. This is
(11:43):
remarkable deal making, even by Macquarie's standards. This is next
level and a guaranteed win. Adam, you don't even need
to enter. You can just say I agree, I stepped
down you either, winner.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No challenge accepted, Tom siden try. It is a ripper
of a story. I wonder too, not to add too
much to your story, but mcquarie has shown exquisite timing
in the past right and taking some money off the
table now and this fear around is there really an
AI bubble?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
You know?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think this is a very very interesting play by mcquoi.
They've shown remarkable international level skills in many, many games,
so watch this space for me though. Look, great billions
are good, but do you know what's better? Trillions? Government
U turns aren't rare, but this one took its time.
(12:40):
The Australian superannuation industry is worth over four point two
trillion dollars and is the fourth largest pension market in
the world. We're behind the US, Canada and the UK.
We're smaller populations, but pound for pound, we are on
our way up. On Wednesday, with a sense of the
Prime Minister's help, Treasurer Jim Chalmers finally stepped back from
the most controversial aspects of the now infamous Division two
(13:03):
nine six proposal to tax unrealized capital gains in superannuation
accounts above three million dollars and not index the thresholds.
It will now be replaced with a higher inflation index
threshold of ten million dollars and a clearer definition of
realized games. So Division two ninety six have become one
of the most criticized policy ideas in years, uniting accountants, advisors,
(13:24):
superannuation funds, and much of the tax paying population in
opposition for its complexity and confusion, and this week's backflip
restored from some confidence and reminded everyone that in superannuation,
as with all policy setting, certainty is key and keeping
the devil out of the details defines trust. This was
(13:46):
a super backflip that took too long, but at last,
with a nod from the PM, we finally got there.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Remarkable wasn't so much a nod from the PM as
a shove r. It's like fix this gym. Natalie Okay,
have we got you mixed?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
No, it really hurts me to say, but Michael's got
this one.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Why does it hurt you to admit that I won?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Because you're so annoying?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
For true we will play a role here that's yours. No,
I completely so Adam. Your story choice completely fed into
what's the flow through impact for Australians. Obviously it's superannuation.
But I think and this does play into as we discussed.
I've been at south By, Southwest Sydney all week. Last
night I was at an air Tree slash Link Tree,
(14:43):
slash Me and Duke event and I just saw what
was being done in that space.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I didn't entirely understand all of.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
It, but there are there are some vibe exactly like
there are there are some incredible minds, there is some
incredible work being done. There is a lot of funds
being raised. It's the decision is smart. Yeah, McCrory are
really really playing an excellent game here. So Michael gets
(15:14):
this one.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That is a very very wise decision.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
One all, don't be, don't be smug about it, don't be.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
But that was Look, I can't stop it, I can't
help it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
It's it is resting state.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, yeah, I've got resting smug face and face.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well that's a very funny license though.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, let's take a very quick break when we come back.
We have got a mystery category. And I really like
this mystery category because it gives us great latitude. We
can talk about anything. Take a quick break. We'll be
back in a moment, Adam. We have it's one all
(16:03):
just as a reminder of the score, so anything could
happen between now and the end of this episode. We
now have our mystery category, and our mystery category changes
every week so that our judge can't over prepare for it.
And so what we have done this week is we've
looked at the array of stories. There's been a lot
that has taken place in the last seven days, and
(16:25):
we have decided that the mystery category this week is
crisis for CEOs and how they are handling it and
what happens next. So it's quite I really like this.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I really like this.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, good, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
This is this is my thing.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
It's thought leadership, it's people marrig supporting workplaces of the future.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
We love this. Get to it.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Oh, dear Adam, you better go first on this one
while I quickly reshape my entry.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
All Right, crises, Arguably you know you need one, Arguably
you don't. So if you don't have one, create one.
Five months into the job, A and Z boss Nuno
Matos is already reshaping the bank and building his reputation.
This week, an Z paused the remaining eight hundred million
dollars of its one point three billion dollar share buy back,
(17:14):
redirecting that capital towards transformation and efficiency. So this new
plan includes around three thousand, five hundred job cuts and
removing contractors as part of an eight hundred million dollar
pre tax cost saving. Matos is also shifting strategy by
reducing reliance on mortgage brokers, building more in house lending.
(17:34):
His ambition is to lift an Z to international banking benchmarks,
matching Commonwealth Bank cost benchmarks and improving the return on
tangible equity to twelve percent by twenty twenty eight. In
a short time. Just five months of being here, Nuno
Matos has built a reputation for bold moves and action.
Nuno Geddon is already the nickname in the lead. As
(17:57):
Matt Wilson, banking analyst at Jarden Australia told You're in
greed Q and A this week in that interview Investors
Guide to Ossie Banks. The test will be delivering higher
profit profitability without cutting corners. It may not have been
a financial crisis on the doorstep of ANZ, but Nuno
Mattos has brought his very own compelling reason for change.
(18:18):
Compete at an international level, be bold and go hard,
Nuno Geddon and investors seem to like it with the
am Z share price heading up.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Michael, that is a good one, That is a great one.
But Natalie Quantus CEO Vanessa Hudson's job got a whole
lot harder this week. Quantus. The context is important here
because Quantus is already one of Australia's most distrusted brands,
which is just extraordinary, right. You think that it should
(18:49):
be up there because it's our national carrier, the Flying
Kangaroo has been around forever and it's something that is
typically a great source of international pride for US. But
here at home, consumers do not trusted, and now the
personal data of five point seven million customers is floating
around on the dark web. The hack goes back to
(19:10):
July when the cyber criminal group, the exotically named Scattered
Lapsus Hunters, with the second s being a dollar sign.
Can you imagine having to put that into your passport
form or something, just like having to spell it out
every time we're trying to register. They tricked a Quantus
call center into giving them access. They demanded a ransom,
(19:31):
Quantus refuse and now names emails, addresses, birth dates, frequent
fire numbers. They are out there for anyone to see
as long as you've got access to the dark web.
No financial details were stolen. That is important, but it's
also not really the point here because after so many challenges,
we had the ariable c inquiry into Quantus selling tickets
(19:52):
on ghost flights, we had the illegal sacking of workers
during COVID and a whole lot of other issues. This
is yet another blow to Quantas's reputation. It's not really
about cybersecurity anymore. This is about restoring faith in a
brand that Australians no longer believe in. It's a reminder
to every other company in Australia that cyber attacks can
(20:14):
take all forms. That this wasn't a ransomware attackrity. This
was actually someone calling up and managing to get their
way talk their way essentially into this. And so it's
a reminder that doesn't matter how big you are, how
many kind of good systems you've got in place, or
how small you are, that it can happen to anybody.
It can affect any business, and that trust can be
shattered so so quickly. The big challenge now is for
(20:37):
Vanessa Hudson to continue kind of restoring that trust, rebuilding
something that has been broken again and again and again.
It feels like there's kind of one step forward, two
maybe three, perhaps even four steps backwards each time. And
I really do feel for anyone in a leadership position
in business at the moment, there you go.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
That was so good both of you.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
But I am I am, I'm.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Not actually entirely sure. I sat here.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I don't know which way I'm going at the moment.
But where I feel at the moment is Vanessa Hudson.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Absolutely. I think the thing You're completely right.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
As far as the Australian public is concerned, the Quantus
brand trust is super super damaged.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Michael stopped pulling that face. I can see you.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
It feels like I'm about to lose this. So I'm
just bracing.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I'm not sure. I'm still not sure I'm actually wishing
it up.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
But I also think to point to Vanessa Hudson's particularly,
a lot of the issues that she has actually been
having to deal with during her tenure are historic. She's inherent,
We're inherited. Yes, yeah, a lot of them are inherent. Well,
she was there, good point, well made, Adam, appreciate it.
So to come to your story A and Zed is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know, when we look at the.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Layoffs that have already taken place, the staff survey that
also said, you know, morale's not great. We're not doing
We're not doing here when it comes to the fact
that people found out via an it email that they
were losing their jobs, and it also to me to
come back to like just a human being at heart. Yes,
share markets and investors love this, but that's an entire
(22:13):
disconnect from what is actually happening internally at these organizations
and what it actually means for the people that are
showing up at nine am for their role. Yeah and
gets it, Adam, You've got it.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That was a wrestle.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
God. This is this is going to keep this is
going to keep me up at night. I honestly wasn't
sure what was going to come out until it came out.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Ah, you have to go with your gut on that
kind of thing. You just you just do. You just
use the force like a child. It's a boy, it's ale.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I got quite.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I was kind of that.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
You two are kind of like children.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
So like that.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
The parallel, the parallel works, it does, it does.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Let's go with the final story, Adam, you go first,
this one. This is the favorite story of the week.
If you could look across the week and pick just
out of everything fun and exciting and fun and fun
that happened this week, pick what you the most first,
(23:19):
favorite fun story from the week.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yep, so got it fun. I detected that and this
is my kind of fun. While Donald Trump regularly berates
US Federal Chair Jerown Powell in Washington over lowering interest
rates this week.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
And do you want another go like, do you another tray?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
No? No?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Oh god no, I am so convicted in this story.
It's me on a plate. This week, Reserve Bank Governor
Michelle Bullock was just down the road in Washington reminding
everyone while central bank leaders can be an insightful and
powerful apolitical asset and a NA mirror forum in the
US Capitol. Michelle Bullocks had astray this should be delivering
(24:01):
stronger fiscal results. While the economy is performing relatively well.
Unemployment remains at low four and a half percent, corporate
and royalty tax revenues are near record highs. We should
be doing better. Her message was echoed back home in Sydney,
where the Reserve Bank Assistant Governors Sarah Hunter explained why
productivity growth matters so much. Hunter revealed that trend productivity
(24:22):
has slowed to around zero point seven percent a year,
down from one percent, and even that's low, and she
warned that weaker productivity will limit how far wages can
rise without reigniting inflation. So Bullock's message was clear. Governments
should make hay while the sun shines. Against the backdrop
of Washington, Michelle Bullock delivered a crisp message back home. Reform,
(24:44):
get productive, compete or perish on the international business playing field.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Well played.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
RBA Governor's my favorite story of the week, International players
of the week.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Perish on the international business playing field. That is a
that is a nice little touch of melodrama there.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
We wanted storytelling, right, That's Natalie's one of her criteria.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Well, you know what, I am just going stories fun,
for fun, for cultural impact, business and for business on business,
and also subjective bias as well.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Are you going to tell me something about satellite No?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
No, not my not my subjective bias. You would note
that I did not do any space stories again. Okay,
you get excited about one satellite story and never let
you forget it.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
We heard about it for weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Because it's going to change tell the communications in Australia anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
No, it's nice objective bias. Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Taylor Swift, she's done it again. She just done it again,
shattering records, rewriting music history. There is a difference to
this one. So her new album, The Life of a
show Girl moved an extraordinary four million units in its
first week, smashing Adele's decade old record. But here's the
(26:16):
real headline. I think in this the thing that makes
this such an interesting business quirk. Okay, one point three
three four million of those were vinyl LPs. Just consider that,
right that in twenty twenty five, one person sold one
point three million vinyl records in just one week. Right. So,
(26:42):
NPR in the US put the numbers together in uh,
remember that one point three million one week. So the
artist Bad Bunny sold just fifty one thousand vinyls this year.
Morgan Wolland sold ninety thousand Sabrina Carpenter right, big success
in the States, but she's sold one hundred and ninety
seven thousand vinyls. Taylor has outsold all of them combined
(27:07):
seven times over in just one week. She broke the
previous record for first week vinyl sales in the modern era,
set last year by of course, Taylor Swift. This is
her fifteenth number one album. She now trails only the Beatles.
The songs from the record have rapped up six hundred
and eighty one million streams in just one week. But
(27:29):
that vinyl stat it is incredible. And Adam, I know
that this appeals to you because you are a vinyl
collector as well, Like this is just it is one
of those stories that crosses over from business into popular
culture and then back and it's just it's great. It
is a favorite story, a universal favorite story, right Natalie.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
So I have a couple of points to make care Adam,
with regards to your story. Upsolutely Australia Australia should just
be doing better when it comes to sort of like
the global economic stage.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Someone pointed out to me this week, and I've just.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Done a fact check Australia's economic diversity were one hundred
and fifth out of one hundred and forty five countries. Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
That's that's that's literal numbers, productively not.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Fun being at the other end of the table. Lots
of no.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Home.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
But then similarly, I will also just gently point out
that when I did a Taylor Swift story, I lost.
I did not win that round.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yeah, we can, we can fix that now. That was
that was an egregious error by the judge at the
time it was.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
It was the third.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
The third point that I would also like to make
is you are currently on.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Two to Adam, one to Michael.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
And last week I did a draw and I felt,
I went away think feeling like a kind of short
changed listeners for the for the win.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
But how's this going to finish?
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Michael gets this one, which means that it is a
raw again and I'm possibly the worst judge in fear
and greed history.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Deadlocked.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, Adam, let's flip a coin, all right, heads, it's
you tails, it's me, Okay, swift, it's Tales. Congratulations to
me that that's a good result overall, Like considering I
thought I was, I thought, no way, I thought your
bias against me, Natalie is just so strong that I'm
(29:25):
definitely going to lose this. And the fact that we
came back and it was too old. I think there's
a it's a good result and in the end, the
winner today is Business News. That's the end. Listeners as
well of course that too. Thank you Natalie for your
judgment and for your time today and your your your
the care that you took in judging today. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's frighting the good vibes.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
That I that I bring yep Adam, thank you for
your vibes.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Thank you Michael, and thank you Natalie.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Remember don't forget to follow the podcast head to Fear
and Greed dot com. Did I you as well to
sign up for our free daily newsletter, Oh Michael Thompson,
And that was Fear and Greed. 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
Adam Lang.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good morning Michael, Now Adam.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Our weekend show is all about the two of us,
each nominating what we think is the biggest business story
of the week, the most remarkable business story, a mystery
category that we change every single week, and our favorite story.
And normally we would it would be me and Sean Almer.
Sean is on his plane at this very moment heading
back flight back from Europe, back in the studio on Monday,
(00:38):
and so you're stepping in to compete against me, and
as a result, we have called in a very dear
friend of Fear and Greed to replace you as the
judge this week, because we do need a judge to
pick a winner. That judges Natalie McDonald, business journalist, occasional
Fear and greeter and the founder of Working at Us. Natalie,
good morning, Hello, good morning to you. You you judged last
(01:02):
week as well. Are there any particular criteria Have your
criteria evolved since last week? What are you looking for
in order for me to get full marks?
Speaker 3 (01:14):
This is a great question.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
We've already had some shots fired pre record, so who knows, frankly,
how this is going to go. As far as criteria goes,
we're looking at size, we're looking at magnitude. We're here
for headlines. But with that said, we're also here for
the business news that people can use, which means I
do want context. I want to understand what does this
mean for Australians, what does this mean for small business?
What does this mean for professionals? And then we're all
(01:38):
storytellers at heart, some more than others, Michael, So I
want a bit of storytelling. I want to be entertained.
But with that said, the beauty of this is it's
my criteria and I can change it at WIM.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You've been hanging around Adam too much, because when Adam
is the judge, he changes his criteria without warning and
then we'll disregard the criteria that he announced at the
beginning of the show in order to judge differently. So
I'm well versed in this and I'm looking forward to it. Adam,
would you like to go first on the biggest business
story of the week?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Alright? Size and gravitas of news, context, the flow through
to Australians and small business a bit of storytelling. Let's
see if I can do this with some of Natalie's
favored puns. So there was economic data drama this week.
It was like a three act play. In the first act,
the minutes from the Reserve Banks seven October meeting we're
(02:32):
released on Tuesday, keeping the Australian economy soft landing story
alive with an approach that is cautious, data dependent, and
waiting for proof that inflation is easy. Sarah Hunter, the
Reserve Bank's Assistant Governor for Economics, back that view in
two public appearances this week, saying the nation's fundamentals remain
(02:53):
resilient as the Bank holds a watching brief on potential
rate cuts. Now for the second act, which came on Thursday,
when the Australian Bureau Statistics dropped a data bomb, reporting
unemployment at four point five percent in September and only
fifteen thousand jobs created while the population grows since at
two percent. Employment has grown one point three percent this year,
(03:14):
worse than the RBA expected. Now for the third act,
and markets rallied within hours of that RBA data being hit.
With the Australian Bureau Statistics, traders priced a seventy percent
chance of an interest rate cut this year, and the
ASX hit an intra day high. The biggest news story
of the week now has economic data. Theater goers turning
(03:36):
to the twenty nine October quarterly inflation data and the
next RBA announcement on Melbourne Cup Day, which is also
known as the fourth of November biggest story of the week.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, I'm just here looking around the studio for a
bell or like an air horn or something to sound
the alarm for an illegal move. Natalie, really, yes, yes,
because I mean it's an omnibus story for one thing,
there's multiple things drawn into one. But the other problem
with that was that you have absorbed part of the
true biggest story, my story into your own, Adam, and
(04:08):
that is a legal move. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Is it an appropriation?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
It is? It is, and it's also grounds for disqualification.
But I'll leave that up to Natalie. But clearly you
know what you need to do here. The economy is
a big story this week, but until we get the
September quarter inflation data, everything is up in the air. Right.
What isn't up in the air is markets this week.
Allow me to give you a very quick rap of
(04:36):
what has happened this week, because this this.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Is not going to be quick. This will not be
a quick round boiler alas.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
I promise you it will be start the timer. I
will be done in under one minute. Right. Gold keeps
hitting new records. It seems like every single day we
are talking about gold hitting a new record, surging, surging,
surging investors looking for a safe haven past multiple threshold.
This week four two hundred US dollars an ounce. The
gold miners, the Australian gold miners are loving it. Did
(05:04):
you know the gold this year is up sixty percent
since the beginning of the year. It is quite incredible.
Silver though, as well silver miners. The price of silver
hit its own records, more than fifty two US dollars
an ounce, resetting highs from nineteen eighty from nineteen eighty.
This is unprecedented except for nineteen eighty, of course, so
(05:26):
it's semi precedented anyway. Equities, Adam, you did mention this,
and you got yourself disqualified by doing so. All that
talk of interest rate cuts fueled the ASX to an
all time high, and that was on Thursday around lunchtime.
Quite incredible. And then there are these big moves as well.
When we're talking about markets, we tend to focus on
all the good stuff that's happening. We need to look
(05:46):
at the other end as well. We had bitcoin having
its largest one day selloff ever in dollar terms. Even
coco prices, yes, slightly obscure market, but coco prices are
from their highs, Which means right that even if if
you assess everything that I've talked about, that the incredible
week that we've had in markets, that even if you're
(06:08):
not an investor in equities, if you don't buy gold,
if you don't buy silver, if you don't own crypto,
you are still going to benefit from my story, Natalie,
which is one of the criteria that you have mentioned.
Because chocolate prices are coming back down. It has been
a heck of a week for markets. It is the
biggest story of the week. Adam wins the that's baloney.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I mean, if only, if only on the fact that
you went for at least a minute and twenty one
seconds plus how long it actually took me to find
the time of star. You haven't, so you haven't even
been able to meet your own standards on this. So
I recognize that this is a visual medium, but you
listeners should know that while Adam was speaking, Michael was
(06:56):
quite literally doing warm up stretches. So so much was
his need and desire not only for love but also
to win this.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Oh no, and I hear what you're saying. I do
hear what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I also want to point out that last week we
did gold versus Bitcoin. I went with Bitcoin and was
dramatically humbled when that one day fall did happen.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
So I pulled my hands up and recognized that.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
However, on this I am certain that when it comes
to the raft of economic data that we've coming through,
when it comes to what November is going to bring.
And also the fact that Sarah Hunter love her, have
really enjoyed seeing her career growth and her development and
her role now at the Reserve Bank. The fact that
she has been doing so much publicly in terms of
(07:47):
really trying to actually communicate what the RBA is looking
at and how they're viewing the economy.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Two thumbs up, brilliant.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
You didn't even mention Sarah Hunter really, but she's in
Oh I did, but.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Work for my final story, I might have another little
easter egg for you there.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Oh no, that's not fair, more grounds for disqualification, for shadowing.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Can I mention though, just in terms of we did
touch on gold, but just how much it is outperforming
like that is when it's up sixty percent this year,
when you compare that with the with Wall Street, the
S and P five hundred is up thirteen percent so
far this year, Bitcoin up nineteen percent, and then you've
(08:27):
got gold sitting at sixty percent like it is. It
is quite staggering. This rush to the safe can do anything. Yeah, yeah,
no it doesn't. And the thing I like about that
as well is that I was speaking to Diana Messina,
the deputy chief economist at AMP, and she gave me
those stats and now I feel like I have let
her down because I failed to use them in a
(08:48):
way that helped me to win the category.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
You also could have drawn upon the interview that we
did with Evan Lucas about a month ago, when we
actually asked him is there a ceiling?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And he was like no, anyway, Look, it feels like
it's all pointless now because I didn't win. And not
that I'm a bad sport or anything, but I don't
want to talk about it anymore. I want to move
on to the most remarkable category. And what's remarkable actually is, Natalie,
you are soldiering through interesting circumstances to join us as
our judge. You are at south By Southwest this week,
(09:20):
which is you've been there all week and now you're
joining us for the weekend edition. And you have tucked
yourself away into a corner of the ICC in Sydney.
And it sounds like quite And that's basically an explanation
for any kind of little background noise that pops up.
That really the party happens at all hours there, right.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, very much.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Everyone is gathering their ready to go. There's some fantastic
sessions coming through today. That is day five. I'll be honest,
I'm tired, but I am fulfilled. I am full of
learning and wisdom.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
It's exciting.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
The most remarkable story of the week, if I may
go first on that one, please k This week Macquarie
has reminded the world why it is called the Millionaires Factory.
It has pulled off the biggest data center deal ever ever.
(10:15):
It is selling a network of fifty sites across the Americas,
that's North and South America. Probably didn't need to explain
that to anybody listening. They are selling this to a
consortium led by a few little, little known companies black
Rock and Video Microsoft for a jaw dropping forty billion
(10:37):
US dollars about sixty sixty one billion ossie. The market
loved it when this was announced. Macquarie's shares jumped five percent.
And what it has done. It has cemented the bank's
dominance in one of the hottest asset classes on the planet.
This is not just in Australia or in America. It
is on the This is a global story, this one.
(11:00):
But this is just a year. This is not a
one off. This is just a year after after it
sold a air trunk, it's taken air truck for twenty
three and a half billion dollars. Shows the same playbook
at work here by early scale, fast exit, huge Right.
When mcquarie first invested in aligned data centers back in
twenty eighteen, it was two sites, just two sites. Now
(11:21):
it is fifty campuses with more than five gigawatts of capacity.
Of capacity, of capacity. I don't know why I'm struggling
to say that. And the deal still leaves Macquarie with
a with a sizable slice of equity, a pipeline of
data center players across the US, across the UK, across
China as well. You know what this is. This is
(11:43):
remarkable deal making, even by Macquarie's standards. This is next
level and a guaranteed win. Adam, you don't even need
to enter. You can just say I agree, I stepped
down you either, winner.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
No challenge accepted, Tom siden try. It is a ripper
of a story. I wonder too, not to add too
much to your story, but mcquarie has shown exquisite timing
in the past right and taking some money off the
table now and this fear around is there really an
AI bubble?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
You know?
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think this is a very very interesting play by mcquoi.
They've shown remarkable international level skills in many, many games,
so watch this space for me though. Look, great billions
are good, but do you know what's better? Trillions? Government
U turns aren't rare, but this one took its time.
(12:40):
The Australian superannuation industry is worth over four point two
trillion dollars and is the fourth largest pension market in
the world. We're behind the US, Canada and the UK.
We're smaller populations, but pound for pound, we are on
our way up. On Wednesday, with a sense of the
Prime Minister's help, Treasurer Jim Chalmers finally stepped back from
the most controversial aspects of the now infamous Division two
(13:03):
nine six proposal to tax unrealized capital gains in superannuation
accounts above three million dollars and not index the thresholds.
It will now be replaced with a higher inflation index
threshold of ten million dollars and a clearer definition of
realized games. So Division two ninety six have become one
of the most criticized policy ideas in years, uniting accountants, advisors,
(13:24):
superannuation funds, and much of the tax paying population in
opposition for its complexity and confusion, and this week's backflip
restored from some confidence and reminded everyone that in superannuation,
as with all policy setting, certainty is key and keeping
the devil out of the details defines trust. This was
(13:46):
a super backflip that took too long, but at last,
with a nod from the PM, we finally got there.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Remarkable wasn't so much a nod from the PM as
a shove r. It's like fix this gym. Natalie Okay,
have we got you mixed?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
No, it really hurts me to say, but Michael's got
this one.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Why does it hurt you to admit that I won?
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Because you're so annoying?
Speaker 4 (14:21):
For true we will play a role here that's yours. No,
I completely so Adam. Your story choice completely fed into
what's the flow through impact for Australians. Obviously it's superannuation.
But I think and this does play into as we discussed.
I've been at south By, Southwest Sydney all week. Last
night I was at an air Tree slash Link Tree,
(14:43):
slash Me and Duke event and I just saw what
was being done in that space.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I didn't entirely understand all of.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
It, but there are there are some vibe exactly like
there are there are some incredible minds, there is some
incredible work being done. There is a lot of funds
being raised. It's the decision is smart. Yeah, McCrory are
really really playing an excellent game here. So Michael gets
(15:14):
this one.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That is a very very wise decision.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
One all, don't be, don't be smug about it, don't be.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
But that was Look, I can't stop it, I can't
help it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
It's it is resting state.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, yeah, I've got resting smug face and face.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well that's a very funny license though.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, let's take a very quick break when we come back.
We have got a mystery category. And I really like
this mystery category because it gives us great latitude. We
can talk about anything. Take a quick break. We'll be
back in a moment, Adam. We have it's one all
(16:03):
just as a reminder of the score, so anything could
happen between now and the end of this episode. We
now have our mystery category, and our mystery category changes
every week so that our judge can't over prepare for it.
And so what we have done this week is we've
looked at the array of stories. There's been a lot
that has taken place in the last seven days, and
(16:25):
we have decided that the mystery category this week is
crisis for CEOs and how they are handling it and
what happens next. So it's quite I really like this.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I really like this.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, good, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
This is this is my thing.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
It's thought leadership, it's people marrig supporting workplaces of the future.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
We love this. Get to it.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Oh, dear Adam, you better go first on this one
while I quickly reshape my entry.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
All Right, crises, Arguably you know you need one, Arguably
you don't. So if you don't have one, create one.
Five months into the job, A and Z boss Nuno
Matos is already reshaping the bank and building his reputation.
This week, an Z paused the remaining eight hundred million
dollars of its one point three billion dollar share buy back,
(17:14):
redirecting that capital towards transformation and efficiency. So this new
plan includes around three thousand, five hundred job cuts and
removing contractors as part of an eight hundred million dollar
pre tax cost saving. Matos is also shifting strategy by
reducing reliance on mortgage brokers, building more in house lending.
(17:34):
His ambition is to lift an Z to international banking benchmarks,
matching Commonwealth Bank cost benchmarks and improving the return on
tangible equity to twelve percent by twenty twenty eight. In
a short time. Just five months of being here, Nuno
Matos has built a reputation for bold moves and action.
Nuno Geddon is already the nickname in the lead. As
(17:57):
Matt Wilson, banking analyst at Jarden Australia told You're in
greed Q and A this week in that interview Investors
Guide to Ossie Banks. The test will be delivering higher
profit profitability without cutting corners. It may not have been
a financial crisis on the doorstep of ANZ, but Nuno
Mattos has brought his very own compelling reason for change.
(18:18):
Compete at an international level, be bold and go hard,
Nuno Geddon and investors seem to like it with the
am Z share price heading up.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Michael, that is a good one, That is a great one.
But Natalie Quantus CEO Vanessa Hudson's job got a whole
lot harder this week. Quantus. The context is important here
because Quantus is already one of Australia's most distrusted brands,
which is just extraordinary, right. You think that it should
(18:49):
be up there because it's our national carrier, the Flying
Kangaroo has been around forever and it's something that is
typically a great source of international pride for US. But
here at home, consumers do not trusted, and now the
personal data of five point seven million customers is floating
around on the dark web. The hack goes back to
(19:10):
July when the cyber criminal group, the exotically named Scattered
Lapsus Hunters, with the second s being a dollar sign.
Can you imagine having to put that into your passport
form or something, just like having to spell it out
every time we're trying to register. They tricked a Quantus
call center into giving them access. They demanded a ransom,
(19:31):
Quantus refuse and now names emails, addresses, birth dates, frequent
fire numbers. They are out there for anyone to see
as long as you've got access to the dark web.
No financial details were stolen. That is important, but it's
also not really the point here because after so many challenges,
we had the ariable c inquiry into Quantus selling tickets
(19:52):
on ghost flights, we had the illegal sacking of workers
during COVID and a whole lot of other issues. This
is yet another blow to Quantas's reputation. It's not really
about cybersecurity anymore. This is about restoring faith in a
brand that Australians no longer believe in. It's a reminder
to every other company in Australia that cyber attacks can
(20:14):
take all forms. That this wasn't a ransomware attackrity. This
was actually someone calling up and managing to get their
way talk their way essentially into this. And so it's
a reminder that doesn't matter how big you are, how
many kind of good systems you've got in place, or
how small you are, that it can happen to anybody.
It can affect any business, and that trust can be
shattered so so quickly. The big challenge now is for
(20:37):
Vanessa Hudson to continue kind of restoring that trust, rebuilding
something that has been broken again and again and again.
It feels like there's kind of one step forward, two
maybe three, perhaps even four steps backwards each time. And
I really do feel for anyone in a leadership position
in business at the moment, there you go.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
That was so good both of you.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
But I am I am, I'm.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Not actually entirely sure. I sat here.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I don't know which way I'm going at the moment.
But where I feel at the moment is Vanessa Hudson.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Absolutely. I think the thing You're completely right.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
As far as the Australian public is concerned, the Quantus
brand trust is super super damaged.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Michael stopped pulling that face. I can see you.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
It feels like I'm about to lose this. So I'm
just bracing.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
I'm not sure. I'm still not sure I'm actually wishing
it up.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
But I also think to point to Vanessa Hudson's particularly,
a lot of the issues that she has actually been
having to deal with during her tenure are historic. She's inherent,
We're inherited. Yes, yeah, a lot of them are inherent. Well,
she was there, good point, well made, Adam, appreciate it.
So to come to your story A and Zed is fascinating.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know, when we look at the.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Layoffs that have already taken place, the staff survey that
also said, you know, morale's not great. We're not doing
We're not doing here when it comes to the fact
that people found out via an it email that they
were losing their jobs, and it also to me to
come back to like just a human being at heart. Yes,
share markets and investors love this, but that's an entire
(22:13):
disconnect from what is actually happening internally at these organizations
and what it actually means for the people that are
showing up at nine am for their role. Yeah and
gets it, Adam, You've got it.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
That was a wrestle.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
God. This is this is going to keep this is
going to keep me up at night. I honestly wasn't
sure what was going to come out until it came out.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Ah, you have to go with your gut on that
kind of thing. You just you just do. You just
use the force like a child. It's a boy, it's ale.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
I got quite.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I was kind of that.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
You two are kind of like children.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
So like that.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
The parallel, the parallel works, it does, it does.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Let's go with the final story, Adam, you go first,
this one. This is the favorite story of the week.
If you could look across the week and pick just
out of everything fun and exciting and fun and fun
that happened this week, pick what you the most first,
(23:19):
favorite fun story from the week.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yep, so got it fun. I detected that and this
is my kind of fun. While Donald Trump regularly berates
US Federal Chair Jerown Powell in Washington over lowering interest
rates this week.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
And do you want another go like, do you another tray?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
No? No?
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Oh god no, I am so convicted in this story.
It's me on a plate. This week, Reserve Bank Governor
Michelle Bullock was just down the road in Washington reminding
everyone while central bank leaders can be an insightful and
powerful apolitical asset and a NA mirror forum in the
US Capitol. Michelle Bullocks had astray this should be delivering
(24:01):
stronger fiscal results. While the economy is performing relatively well.
Unemployment remains at low four and a half percent, corporate
and royalty tax revenues are near record highs. We should
be doing better. Her message was echoed back home in Sydney,
where the Reserve Bank Assistant Governors Sarah Hunter explained why
productivity growth matters so much. Hunter revealed that trend productivity
(24:22):
has slowed to around zero point seven percent a year,
down from one percent, and even that's low, and she
warned that weaker productivity will limit how far wages can
rise without reigniting inflation. So Bullock's message was clear. Governments
should make hay while the sun shines. Against the backdrop
of Washington, Michelle Bullock delivered a crisp message back home. Reform,
(24:44):
get productive, compete or perish on the international business playing field.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
Well played.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
RBA Governor's my favorite story of the week, International players
of the week.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Perish on the international business playing field. That is a
that is a nice little touch of melodrama there.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
We wanted storytelling, right, That's Natalie's one of her criteria.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Well, you know what, I am just going stories fun,
for fun, for cultural impact, business and for business on business,
and also subjective bias as well.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Are you going to tell me something about satellite No?
Speaker 1 (25:27):
No, not my not my subjective bias. You would note
that I did not do any space stories again. Okay,
you get excited about one satellite story and never let
you forget it.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
We heard about it for weeks.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Because it's going to change tell the communications in Australia anyway.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
No, it's nice objective bias. Let's do it.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Taylor Swift, she's done it again. She just done it again,
shattering records, rewriting music history. There is a difference to
this one. So her new album, The Life of a
show Girl moved an extraordinary four million units in its
first week, smashing Adele's decade old record. But here's the
(26:16):
real headline. I think in this the thing that makes
this such an interesting business quirk. Okay, one point three
three four million of those were vinyl LPs. Just consider that,
right that in twenty twenty five, one person sold one
point three million vinyl records in just one week. Right. So,
(26:42):
NPR in the US put the numbers together in uh,
remember that one point three million one week. So the
artist Bad Bunny sold just fifty one thousand vinyls this year.
Morgan Wolland sold ninety thousand Sabrina Carpenter right, big success
in the States, but she's sold one hundred and ninety
seven thousand vinyls. Taylor has outsold all of them combined
(27:07):
seven times over in just one week. She broke the
previous record for first week vinyl sales in the modern era,
set last year by of course, Taylor Swift. This is
her fifteenth number one album. She now trails only the Beatles.
The songs from the record have rapped up six hundred
and eighty one million streams in just one week. But
(27:29):
that vinyl stat it is incredible. And Adam, I know
that this appeals to you because you are a vinyl
collector as well, Like this is just it is one
of those stories that crosses over from business into popular
culture and then back and it's just it's great. It
is a favorite story, a universal favorite story, right Natalie.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
So I have a couple of points to make care Adam,
with regards to your story. Upsolutely Australia Australia should just
be doing better when it comes to sort of like
the global economic stage.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Someone pointed out to me this week, and I've just.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Done a fact check Australia's economic diversity were one hundred
and fifth out of one hundred and forty five countries. Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
That's that's that's literal numbers, productively not.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Fun being at the other end of the table. Lots
of no.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
Home.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
But then similarly, I will also just gently point out
that when I did a Taylor Swift story, I lost.
I did not win that round.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Yeah, we can, we can fix that now. That was
that was an egregious error by the judge at the
time it was.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
It was the third.
Speaker 4 (28:36):
The third point that I would also like to make
is you are currently on.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Two to Adam, one to Michael.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
And last week I did a draw and I felt,
I went away think feeling like a kind of short
changed listeners for the for the win.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
But how's this going to finish?
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Michael gets this one, which means that it is a
raw again and I'm possibly the worst judge in fear
and greed history.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Deadlocked.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, Adam, let's flip a coin, all right, heads, it's
you tails, it's me, Okay, swift, it's Tales. Congratulations to
me that that's a good result overall, Like considering I
thought I was, I thought, no way, I thought your
bias against me, Natalie is just so strong that I'm
(29:25):
definitely going to lose this. And the fact that we
came back and it was too old. I think there's
a it's a good result and in the end, the
winner today is Business News. That's the end. Listeners as
well of course that too. Thank you Natalie for your
judgment and for your time today and your your your
the care that you took in judging today. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
It's frighting the good vibes.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
That I that I bring yep Adam, thank you for
your vibes.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Thank you Michael, and thank you Natalie.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Remember don't forget to follow the podcast head to Fear
and Greed dot com. Did I you as well to
sign up for our free daily newsletter, Oh Michael Thompson,
And that was Fear and Greed. Have a great weekend.
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