Interesting - seems like the Macquarie Conference isn't such a big deal after all (from 'The Australian'):

"The 28th annual Macquarie Australia Conference kicks off in Sydney this week, but the traditional “confession season” drama may have already played out.

The three-day event, running from May 5-7, has long earned the nickname “the confession conference” for companies delivering profit downgrades to assembled investors.

But in today’s hyper-vigilant disclosure environment, most companies are getting their bad news out early rather than saving it for the big stage.

Market participants say the conference has become a little less dramatic in terms of shock announcements.

Companies with material downgrades know they can’t sit on the information until conference day without breaching continuous disclosure obligations.

The result is a wave of pre-announcements designed to get the bad news out of the way before executives face the investor audience.

With two more interest rate rises expected and consumer spending stalling in the past six weeks amid the Iran conflict, conditions remain tough across the board.

The retail sector is feeling the pain acutely – footwear retailer Accent Group on Monday slashed its second-half 2026 profit guidance by about 15 per cent and flagged an ASIC investigation into its chief executive.

Shares plunged 10 per cent to a six-year low of 56 cents.

While Accent Group isn’t among the conference presenters, its downgrade signals the difficult environment many companies are navigating.

Those presenting this week will be answering tough questions about consumer discretionary spending and household budget pressures.

Rather than dramatic reveals at the conference, investors are now getting their disappointments served up in advance.

The three days in Sydney will be more about managing the fallout and answering questions than dropping unexpected bombs.

The confession booth, it seems, has moved online – and companies are queuing up early to get it over with.

Now it's a "SaaSurection" :

https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/saasurection-tipped-to-send-asx-tech-stocks-on-a-tear-20260603-p603e3

Is that resurrection or insurrection?

It's buy time:

@RogueTrader I assume you mean buy oil and gas stocks?

Really hard to know exactly what is happening, but I honestly can't see this holding. Already the two sides seem to be saying different things. For example the Iranians still seem to think that they will "manage" the strait of Hormuz.

Don't give up on the NACHO trade just yet IMO

@Lewis , thanks for that mate, one of the things I love about the Strawman community is the new podcasts I get onto. This looks really interesting, I've added it to my playlist.

@Lewis - you know how someone tells you of something random they think you will like, and then someone else (in this case you) tells you the same thing? When that happens, I know that it's time to pay attention!

Last Friday, my hairdresser (yes, of all people) told me about Sarah Paine for the same reasons.

I am now going to check her out. Thanks in advance for the prod!

Good on you @Clio , let me know how you go. Never underestimate the wisdom of hairdressers or bartenders, they've heard it all!

Nice one @Lewis -- adding it to my playlist now.

Yep Sarah Paine is great - her strategic talks have provided true understanding to address some of my geopolitical concerns over the last year or so, in particular about China.

While we're talking about podcasts; I'd like to recommend "The Economics of Everyday Things" hosted by Zachary Crockett.

Each episode is around 30mins. I find it both entertaining and insightful. They look into everything from the international logistics of floristry, tow-trucks, cemetery operations, direct-to-customer mattresses, storage units and a heap of other business models you wouldn't even think about. It's USA-centric, but the ideas around economics are generally adaptable to all business.

The way they break down operational costs, revenue generation opportunities and business threats have been great for giving me ideas to think about how other business I own or may be interested in work.

Sounds really interesting @Lisa_Llama, I'll check that out for sure.

Thanks @Lewis for this pod rec. I recently started on macro voices which has irritating bits but also some interesting thoughts from a US perspective on macro themes

Interesting video from a guy who set stock price targets at Goldman Sachs - basically they're highly motivated to only say good things about companies (if they want to keep their jobs.) I'd assume it's much the same in Oz?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgEzf6SrLE

I've been listening to these lectures, and 2 things about them really stand out to me.

One is that with hindsight you can see the big mistakes that are being made at the time, often as a result of 'half-court tennis', making the mistake of not knowing your adversary or counterpart and thinking that they would react how you would.

The second is the concepts of limited vs unlimited objectives. If your adversary has unlimited objectives (e.g. the eradication of your civilisation and belief system) then compromising with them is just putting them in a stronger position for the 'final kill'. There are a number of existential threats to Western Civilisation and the rules based order that our governments and nations are making the mistake of thinking we can compromise with. Here's hoping some of our world leaders listen to these lectures and recognise the 'unlimited objectives' of certain nations and ideologies and act accordingly before it is all too late.

Glad you like it @tomsmithidg. They were released over a few years, the first couple were recorded when Biden was in, she talks about how destructive the tariffs were in the 30's, and how important allies are. Then Trump comes in for the 2nd term and puts tariffs on all his allies so the last few lectures you see it all playing out in real time and it becomes a commentary on the present as well as a history lesson. As I said in the original post, Im a huge fan of how Sarah Paine has framed all of her thinking, and it's really helped me think constructively about the current state of the world. Ive re-listened to a few throughout the week too, the 2nd half of episode 5 where she talks about the geography of China and Russia is particularly good if you haven't gotten there yet.

Worth a listen – Marcus Padley is worried about concentration risk in both the US and Oz:

“In 2026, the stock market faces a massive risk that investors are overlooking. That risk? Concentration risk. With the S&P 500s top 10 stocks now accounting for over one third of the index, the stock market is flirting with danger. But what happens next? Can this issue be resolved, or is it set to cause problems down the track?”

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD1TSJuFO-M

Aaaand it's closed again:

However in good news, Japan has finally answered Trump's call for aid in the Strait:

"Gonna party like it’s 1999": (from the Fin Review)

AI name changes serve as a reliable red flag for short-selling funds

In late March, Nasdaq-listed sneaker maker Allbirds was preparing to shut up shop. Its share price was languishing at 99 per cent below the level it was floated at in 2021. Instead, the company announced it would pivot – to artificial intelligence computing. On Thursday, its stock surged six-fold. 

One day later, it was a similar story at Myseum. A social media penny stock, Myseum rebranded itself by simply adding the letters AI to the name. It would use AI to manage social media and ensure privacy, the company said. That sent Myseum.AI’s shares soaring almost 150 per cent. 

Allbirds and Myseum are hardly the first to try. In February, a Nasdaq-listed, Fort Lauderdale-based karaoke machine maker known as Singing Machine made a curious turn and said it had developed AI technology that helped businesses improve the efficiency of their supply chains. 

Now known as Algorhythm, shares rose 222 per cent. It may have been one reason why WiseTech Global, an ASX-listed logistics platform, sold off more than 10 per cent that day, in the midst of a months-long software crash. 

For such blatant pivots, the decision by Wall Street minnows to go all-in on AI, whether real or not, is working. Investors have been clamouring to uncover the next AI darling, and right now, everything is fair game.

Such name changes had been rampant during other periods of market exuberance, from the dotcom bubble to the cryptocurrency craze. 

Long Island Iced Tea, which made iced teas and lemonades, became Long Blockchain in the early days of the latter to reflect its shift “towards the exploration of and investment in opportunities that leverage the benefits of blockchain technology”. The share price spiked, but the company failed anyway. Three people were charged with insider trading. 

But can the excitement be anything other than short-lived? That does not seem likely. Shares in Allbirds tumbled 36 per cent the day after its rebranding; Algorhythm has dropped 69 per cent since its pivot.

While the explosive moves can leave retail investors nursing huge losses, it also creates an opportunity for hedge funds to bet against the stocks. Allbirds shares experienced the heaviest level of short-selling in its history on the day of its rebranding, according to trading platform Moomoo. 

A company changing its name is one of the 150 red flags that Plato Investment Management uses to help determine whether to short a stock in its $3.4 billion Global Alpha Plus Fund. Portfolio manager David Allen said there were currently 120 stocks globally that had changed their name at least twice, a powerful indicator of imminent underperformance. 

“If you look back at 30 years of data identifying every time a company has changed their name, the performance has subsequently been horrible,” Allen said. “It’s like they’re either trying to reboot and divorce themselves from a dubious past, or needing to reinvent themselves, but as Buffett loves to say, ‘turnarounds seldom turn’.” 

Plato has been betting against ASX-listed Echo IQ, which has changed its name four times since 2014. The company listed in 2010 as copper and gold explorer Sentosa Mining, became Parmelia Resources in 2014, Veriluma in 2016, Houston We Have in 2019, and eventually Echo IQ in 2021. 

It has since pivoted into medical AI software and says it is “leveraging AI technology to enhance the identification of structural heart disease.”

“Echo IQ exhibits 13 red flags, including changing its name four times, large share issuance [and] negative cash flows from operations,” Allen said. 

While there have been signs that AI rebranding is growing in Australia, fund managers believe the trend is far more prevalent on Wall Street.

The Securities and Exchange Commission started cracking down on so-called AI washing two years ago, fining two investment advisory firms for allegedly making false statements about their use of technology. 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission followed suit in May that year with an inquiry that considered whether there was AI washing. 

Dean Fergie, who runs Cyan Investment Management’s small cap C3G Fund, believes the trend is less prevalent in Australia because investors are more sceptical than their counterparts in the United States, meaning a rebranding doesn’t typically generate as much of a spike in a share price. 

“Almost every company that can bring in an AI angle will do so, whether it’s talking about operational efficiencies, marketing or just general technology, everyone is doing it,” said Fergie. “But it’s becoming so ubiquitous now that I don’t think anyone’s buying into the hype any more in Australia.” 

Fergie pointed to the rise in bitcoin treasury stocks on the ASX as a similar trend, where companies tried to mimic the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy by hoarding the popular cryptocurrency. 

Cyan has a position in delivery start-up Locate Technologies, which made history last year by becoming the first ASX-listed company to launch a bitcoin treasury. The stock initially doubled within six weeks.

However, Locate has since moved to the New Zealand Exchange after claiming it would have been booted off the ASX if it kept buying up bitcoin. The stock has dropped 75 per cent since it moved late last year. 

“All those bitcoin treasury businesses across the market ... haven’t performed very well at all, and that’s partly because bitcoin prices have been weak,” Fergie said. “Whether it’s medicinal marijuana or lithium mining, companies will always rebrand to the next biggest thing.”

https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/ai-name-changes-serve-as-a-reliable-red-flag-for-short-selling-funds-20260417-p5zonc

Unbelievable. Probably the craziest macro situation that I have ever seen

In hindsight, a strategy of trading against the news cycle would have absolutely killed it for the last 6 weeks. Every time Trump says the war is over, buy oil stocks, wait for the inevitable reversal and then sell. Rinse, repeat ad nauseum

I've just discovered (maybe you all knew this?) that my online broker CMC has an option 'Pay Australian dividends into cash account?' I've been with them about 25 years, and was only told this recently after contacting them on their chat feature to complain about Computershare (who else?) withholding a dividend due to my banking details not being updated. Would have saved me a lot of time and trouble over the years...

WHAT!?!

Amazing news. Anything to limit computer share is golden.

Yes @RogueTrader - There are a few online brokers who also offer the same service including Commsec where paying dividends into my CDIA (Commsec settlement account) is their default option. I have overridden that for my income account because that's not where I want the dividends to go, however for my speccy portfolio (SPF) that holds small more speculative companies who mostly don't pay dividends anyway, I've allowed Commsec to use that default option.

What the means is that every time I add a new position to that portfolio, Commsec contacts the appropriate share registry and gives them my CDIA account details for that holding. I usually then get a "Welcome to..." email about a week to 10 days later along with (in a separate envelope of course!) another letter from the same share registry thanking me for updating my banking details. When I go in to the registry's website to add my TFN and choose my communications options for that position, my banking details are already there.

There are a couple of share registries that allow me to set defaults for banking and communications and they also automatically add my TFN to all new positions - Computershare isn't one of them, but I think either Link, Boardroom or Automic do it though, and/or one of the others.

Computershare is by far the worst share registry from a user perspective, difficult, unnecessarily repetitive, and NOT intuitive, plus they send out everything in separate envelopes instead of together.

Also @RogueTrader I just managed to get a missing dividend resent to a new account - arrived in the account on Tuesday - from Computershare, but they deducted a $25 fee from the dividend, calling it a "re-issue fee". In this case, I couldn't have avoided it because it was a dividend for a family member who died back in February and I was their EPOA and then the executor of their will, and CBA closed her accounts and transferred the balances to me two days before the dividend hit, so the dividend was returned to Computershare due to the account being closed. I was unable to get new account details to Computershare for that holding before that because the HIN had been "locked" as a deceased estate pending probate, so both Commsec and Computershare wouldn't make any changes. After receiving the probate grant and supplying certified copies of it to CBA, Commsec and Computershare, along with the relevant paperwork (their own required paperwork) in each case, CBA took 2 days to settle and close the bank accounts, and both Commsec and Computershare took 4 weeks. It all got settled eventually, but the hold up seems to have been caused by Commsec, as the holdings were CHESS-sponsored by them so Computershare couldn't act until Commsec unlocked the account - and transferred the shares into my wife's HIN (she was the sole beneficiary), and at that point Computershare agreed to re-issue the dividend, less a $25 fee. It is what it is, but it's still annoying!

Yes @Bear77 it is "annoying", but doubtless Computershare figure they won't get sued over $25 so they keep doing it. They did have an 'EasyUpdate' letter they sent out a while back to allow you to quickly log on and update your banking details, but soon ended that after doubtless realizing their terrible mistake, which would cost them a fortune in $25 fees. (Probably someone lost their job over that one!) They won't let me create an individual account btw, as I have "Too many stocks." (Around one thousand since I used to keep at least one share after selling, to receive capital raising offers, after Stephen Mayne popularized the idea in 'The Australian' back in 2009) : https://www.smh.com.au/business/how-to-make-75000-in-three-months-20090519-bdfd.html

To add onto the reserves chart:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/foreign-demand-weakens-at-us-treasury-auctions-in-march-in-midst-of-middle-east-war/articleshow/130148331.cms

Since the start of the Iran war, the US treasuries primary auctions have seen pretty weak demand from foreign central banks. Could be signs that central banks are accelerating their de-dollarisation / de-polarisation. One weak auction is just noise, but if it becomes a trend then it could push yields up, exacerbating the issue.

@Chagsy good summary and I largely agree. A prolonged closure of the SoH is not priced in to markets. Historically, these don’t price geopolitical risk well, but the odd thing here is that the risk has crystallised and as you’ve pointed out it’s not in POTUS’ gift to re-open the SoH.

The respected commentators I follow, (including those who are well connected to those who understand the regime) believe that Iran is going to apply leverage this time to try and change the game for the long term. They also believe the regime has a much higher tolerance for pain than DJT.

Interestingly, some of the things the US has said and done appears to be strengthening the hand of the regime, making regime change less likely.

We’ll see.

My strategy is simple. Keep 2-3 years in cash/money market funds and just keep on truckin. That means, beyond the buffer, I’m fully invested 75% equities / 25% fixed income. I’m fully braced for pain, but hope that in 2-3 yrs time, it will be in the rear view mirror.

Thanks @mikebrisy

Sage words and a steady hand.

I always think I can be cleverer than is good for me!

Out of interest is your fixed interest portfolio a vanilla one? Or do you have an active manager.

The reason I ask is that every time I’ve looked into bonds I discover a couple of things:

1/ active managers do better than passive (oooh! There is an exception, Mr Bogle)

2/ discovering what your Super fixed interest portfolio actually invests in is impossible. I’ve tried numerous times and cannot get a portfolio breakdown. Not even the %age exposure to real estate. Maddening!

Everyone is gonna boo me here mate, but I don't think you can go wrong with the Big 4 Banks (not CBA - dividends are too small). Collect your safe 4%+ dividends tax free in pension stage, then get the extra 30 cents on the dollar franking credit refunded to you at tax time. Support that with whatever US dividend aristocrats you are partial to (I recently added CLX to my existing stable of KEY, MO, T and VZ) paying ballpark 5%+ dividends, now is not a bad time to buy with the AUD above 70 cents US and those companies mostly below long term average prices. Enjoy the currency kick once Albo and his band of merry retards tanks the Aussie dollar again. They also mostly pay quarterly which smooths out the income delivery. There is a tax treaty with the US for Superannuation which gives you a reduced, I think around 15%, tax on dividends over there. Depending on your risk profile, further supplement with some higher returning 100% franked dividend Aussie stocks, everyone here knows I'm bullish on WDS, even at today's close $31.04, it is returning 5.32% dividend before franking credits. Odds are profits are going to be better with everything happening at the moment, which could result in a higher return for 2026-27. Maybe a small percentage punt on big likely recovery stocks like TWE, and/or a Gold Prospector.

Boring as batshit, but safe as houses. That's my 2 cents. Best of luck mate!

@Chagsy they are mostly global, investment grade corporate bond index funds. Their role is simply to provide some dampening to equity volatility, through being (mostly) uncorrelated. Totally passive and I know they are diluting my long term expected returns, but there you go.

I know very little about fixed income, so a major consideration is low fees.

Probably should have gone 100% equities.

The entire portfolio was set up in 2017, and the equity element has done very well indeed.

I would not be living the life I can based on my Strawman portfolio returns!!!

Well @Chagsy I hope I can offer some silver lining to the clouds your seeing – they are big but like all clouds they will eventually go away and the sun return.

Some thoughts on the many points and issues you raise:

• You have a lot longer to live than this “crisis” – The conventional wisdom that when people retire they should avoid any risk (ie mostly go to cash/fixed interest) is ridiculous when on average you have 20years+ to live. So provided you have a year or two of cash/fixed interest, I see no reason not to in equities (ie so called high risk) for the rest, in fact most people have to if they are going to earn enough to get through the next 20 years. So the current market dip should be looked at just like any other prior to you retiring – don’t panic. Note if you have dividend stocks, the dividend payments hold up very well even in prolonged periods of market and economic downturn which helps with cash needs if your not earning income.
• Interest rates fear campaign – the RBA should be looking through any inflationary impact of the current oil price surge, for several reasons. They may still increase rates, but it should have nothing to do with the current oil price, so they may do it for other reasons. Interest rate policy is slow acting and based on data that takes a long time reveal what is happening, plus it is a very blunt instrument that is focused on general demand and takes a long time to impact the economy. The oil issue is potentially short term, is a supply side issue and if it increases prices, it will dampen general demand, effectively doing the RBA’s job for them. If the oil price becomes a long-term issue, that may be different (it may increase inflationary expectations), but no one (not even so called super geniuses like Trump…) knows if it will, so making slow acting long term interest rate decisions based on what we currently know is madness.
• Holding is buying – a mental approach to seeing the price of investment you hold drop considerably but still think are good companies but can’t buy more is to take the view that by not selling you are in effect choosing to buy your portfolio every day you hold. The lower the price of a stock the lower the risk, provided nothing else has changed – so you are now holding lower risk positions in good companies. Just do your diligence to confirm your reasons for investing hold.
• World Oil supply – If the SoH never opened again this would still be less of an issue than the Opec crisis of the 70’s, and you lived through that and it ended without the world ending. The reasons are many, firstly the world is less oil depended, the second is the US is now a major producer and self-sufficient, the third is there is a lot more capacity and options than 50 years ago (alternat supply will take time to come on line but there is a lot of options). I am not downplaying it as a major issue in the short term, just not the irreparable long term catastrophe the media is trying to play it as – there will be pain but it’s not fatal or permanent.
• Opportunity mindset – I like your approach to look for opportunities in the current situation, if you have a cash buffer to protect from volatility then an offensive mindset in times like this can be very rewarding long term. Those opportunities will be where the fear is greatest and short termism is strongest. As “retail” investors this is an area we can shine – looking long term and doing our due diligence to understand deeply what is actually happening rather than what is being shouted about loudest is where we get market beading returns.

For almost 10 years I have been effective semi-retired and almost totally dependent on investment returns for our family income (2 kids still at home). I say this to let you know I understand how “extra” hard a market downturn or major macroeconomic issue can be to deal with mentally. 2021-22 was a very hard period for me and what I was investing at the time, so I have been there (and no doubt will be again).

Find some source of hope to address the mind set issues, but then objectively review your portfolio and investments you are thinking about making. Have patience and remain focused on how things look beyond the noise. It’s hard, but I have seen the effect of doing this and not doing it over the last 10 years and the difference in results is profound.

Good luck and all the best

@Chagsy Yes the current political instability and macro outlook concern me a lot. Like you, my wife and I are totally dependent on investments for income: shares, property and cash.

We have already deployed all the cash we feel comfortable with into the market at this point. From here I think we will bunker down in anticipation of a long haul ahead with our remaining cash, incoming dividends/franking credits, and rental income.

Recently we added significantly to our Credit Corp holding. Credit Corp do well when things get tough. They haven’t done well in recent times because the economy has been strong and there has been limited availability to debt ledgers which is where they make their money. This is already starting to turn in the US.

I am not hoping for the economy to decline so Credit Corp can do well. Far from it! Most of our portfolio benefits from a strong economy.

Credit Corp pays a very solid dividend, which is likely to be 7% fully franked in FY26 (10% yield) going on Friday’s close ($10.78 per share, near a 12 month low). If we had more cash we felt comfortable deploying, I would be adding more Credit Corp shares on Monday, ahead of the stock going ex/div on Tuesday this week.

@Rick I’ve noted with interest your work on $CCP. I have held historically, but not for a few years now.

Im curious as to how you viewed their FY24 writedowns, driven as I understand by sector weakness, meaning their assumptions for recovery of debt ledgers purchased in FY22 and FY23 was optimistic.

I ask because, although their experience was shared by sector peers, $CCP was hit relatively harder.

I guess I’ve been scared off them because I don’t know whether they’ll be shown to repeat the issue, if macro turns against them.

Am interested in how you have viewed this.

Disc: Not held.

I need to look into this more @mikebrisy. Not today though, we have visitors arriving soon!

I believe there is a sweet spot for CCP, they need access to well priced debt ledgers, but then the economy needs to good enough for debtors to repay their loans. They don’t flourish in a really bad economy either because they can struggle to recover debts.

To this point, I have been trusting in management’s FY26 guidance.

TACO time:

"U.S. President Donald Trump ​told aides ‌he is willing to end ​the military ​campaign against Iran even ⁠if the ​Strait of ​Hormuz remains largely closed and leave ​a complex ​operation to reopen it ‌for ⁠a later date, the Wall Street Journal ​reported ​on ⁠Monday, citing administration officials."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-tells-aides-he-is-willing-end-iran-war-without-reopening-hormuz-wsj-2026-03-31/

Could be another stupid Trump trick,he says : think I'm going to pack my toys up and go home, 12hrs later marines on Kharg island.

Trump : "We have the best marines, the most beautiful marines, strong marines, they are taking Kharg island, beautiful Kharg island it's all ours god bless America and the troops etc etc etc "

I think he's been looking for an off ramp since the Strait closed, not even he is pig headed enough to think collapsing the global economy is a good move. Also, money talks and lots of important people who have his ear will be scared of loosing lots of money. He doesn't need a win or a strategic outcome, just a barely plausible narrative that he made a good "deal". I think it's waiting on Iran to decide they've extracted enough pain, then some meaningless concessions both ways and Donny can claim art of the deal saved the day. Waiting for Iran's pragmatic side to come to the fore, and hoping Don doesn't get talked or tricked into throwing the toys out of the cot and doubling down. It's by no means a certainty, but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel (here's hoping it's not the train).

From the AFR:

ASX rises 1pc on Trump’s Iran war remarks; Koala rallies 12pc on debut

Matt Bell

Australian shares snapped earlier losses to turn higher on Tuesday on reports that US President Donald Trump is prepared to end the Iran war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index reversed an intraday fall of 0.5 per cent to 8410.60 to last be up by 83.60 points, or 1 per cent, to 8544.60 at 2.09pm AEDT. Gains on Tuesday were led by a rebound in tech stocks along with the major banks.

The benchmark, however, remains down by 7.1 per cent, which at present would be the worst month since June 2022, when it fell 8.9 per cent.

US futures rose by 1 per cent ahead of Tuesday’s opening after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date.

The prospect that the conflict could wind down sparked a reversal in Brent crude, which was last down by 1.1 per cent to $US106.19 a barrel. It remained on track for the biggest monthly gain on record.

VanEck deputy head of investments and capital markets Jamie Hannah said that the sharp turnaround in markets are indicative of the volatility we’ve experienced this month.

“Comments coming out of the US and developments in the war with Iran have taken the limelight away from AI disruption and private credit issues,” he said.

“After a month of headlines moving sharemarkets lower and bond yields higher, there is a realisation that unless things change course then there will be wide-ranging global economic implications associated with the war.”

Tech stocks rebounded after heavy selling on Monday as bargain hunters returned. Xero rose 8.4 per cent, WiseTech Global 5.9 per cent and TechnologyOne by 4 per cent.

Banks were mixed despite offering heavyweight support as Westpac added 2.1 per cent, Commonwealth Bank 1.1 per cent, and ANZ 1.1 per cent. National Australia Bank gained 0.9 per cent.

Gold rose by 1.4 per cent to $US4546 an ounce, with the Federal Reserve saying long-term US inflation expectations appeared to be in check even as the war escalated in the Middle East. This helped gold miners, with Newmont up 3.1 per cent and Northern Star by 4.9 per cent.

Must've managed to find a secure place for the Epstein files over the last 4 weeks....

The latest thoughts from the guys at Intelligent Investor:

Stock Take: The unreasonable whack job edition

Join John, Graham and Nick as they discuss the opportunities in the sectors unreasonably hit by AI fears, as well as Graham's love for The World Game.

An interesting article on LiveWire from Auscap pointing out discrepancies between the ASX 20 and the ASX 200 (They're particularly keen on LOV, NCK, AUB and SDF):

Undervalued ASX stocks from the recent market dislocation - Tom Stelzer | Livewire

I blame the Orange Man: