Rate rises can’t stop auctions, Van urged to quit politics, home workers less productive

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Michael Thompson: Rising interest rates can’t stop the strong Aussie housing market.

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Michael Thompson: Former Liberal senator, David Van, urged to quit politics over

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Michael Thompson: sexual harassment allegations. And new research shows that people working

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Michael Thompson: from home are less productive, but you can blame their

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Michael Thompson: managers for that.
It’s Monday the 19th of June 2023.

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Michael Thompson: Welcome to Fear and Greed, Australia’s most popular business podcast.

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Michael Thompson: I’m Michael Thompson, and good morning, Sean Aylmer.

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Sean Aylmer: Good morning, Michael. Love this time of the year. Do

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Sean Aylmer: you know why?

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Michael Thompson: Because we are approaching the winter solstice.

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Sean Aylmer: Oh, well done. You remembered.

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Michael Thompson: Oh, I’m counting down as well, because as soon as

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Michael Thompson: we hit that point it’s just like we’re on the

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Michael Thompson: downhill slope to summer. Is that how you say it?

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Sean Aylmer: That’s it, some ski analogy there, which is appropriate for winter,

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Sean Aylmer: and I just think that winter is over once we

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Sean Aylmer: hit that summer solstice. Don’t worry about the temperature, winter

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Sean Aylmer: is over.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, away we go.
Now, Sean, if you’re an investor or if you’re at

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Michael Thompson: least interested in investing, it is worth a listen to

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Michael Thompson: your interview today. You’re speaking with Anto Joseph, the CEO

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Michael Thompson: of Stropro.

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Sean Aylmer: That’s right. Lovely fellow, Anto. We initially start talking about

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Sean Aylmer: what’s going on in the U. S. and Japan, but

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Sean Aylmer: we quickly morph into some of the clients that Anto

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Sean Aylmer: works with. And a lot of those are high net

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Sean Aylmer: worth individuals, rich people investing their money, and we talk

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Sean Aylmer: about where they are investing their money. And Michael, it’s

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Sean Aylmer: not equities and it’s not bonds, it’s somewhere different. Well worth

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Sean Aylmer: a listen.

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Michael Thompson: Oh, I love the way that you’re teasing us with

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Michael Thompson: that, Sean.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, yeah.

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Michael Thompson: It is worth sticking around for. But the main story this morning,

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Michael Thompson: Sean, there might be talk of much higher interest rates

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Michael Thompson: and even a recession, but that isn’t stopping the housing

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Michael Thompson: market. Well, I suppose not yet, anyway. Auction clearance rates

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Michael Thompson: over the weekend above 70% for the second consecutive week,

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Michael Thompson: despite all of this negativity around.

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Sean Aylmer: And there were nearly 2, 000 homes going to auction, which

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Sean Aylmer: is about double the amount of a week earlier. Of

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Sean Aylmer: course, a week earlier was the King’s holiday in many

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Sean Aylmer: States, so that dampened some of the auction numbers, but

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Sean Aylmer: still nearly 2, 000 houses going up, pretty good.
CoreLogic’s preliminary

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Sean Aylmer: clearance rate was 72.5%, which is about the same as

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Sean Aylmer: a week earlier. There were also anecdotal reports of a

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Sean Aylmer: spike in the number of bidders. CoreLogic said the Sydney clearance

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Sean Aylmer: rate was 74. 5%, down a touch from a week

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Sean Aylmer: ago. In Melbourne, nearly 73% of homes under the hammer

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Sean Aylmer: were sold. It was the busiest capital city. There was

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Sean Aylmer: 863 homes up for sale. Adelaide’s clearance rate was just

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Sean Aylmer: under 68%. Canberra was just over 70%, and Brisbane came

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Sean Aylmer: in at 66%.

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Michael Thompson: Sean, surely this is a bit odd, right? This must

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Michael Thompson: defy expectations, because the rate rises that everyone’s talking about,

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Michael Thompson: they don’t seem to be having much of an impact.

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Sean Aylmer: Yes, it is worrying. It doesn’t really make that much

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Sean Aylmer: sense. I mean, the full impact of the 12 rates

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Sean Aylmer: that we’ve had so far, that impact is still to

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Sean Aylmer: be felt, and some market economists are talking about at

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Sean Aylmer: least two more rate rises, and we know house prices

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Sean Aylmer: are rising. It is a bit unusual.
Now, Westpac chief

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Sean Aylmer: economist, Bill Evans, he’s one who thinks there’ll be two

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Sean Aylmer: more rate rises. Last week he came out and lowered

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Sean Aylmer: his forecast for economic growth. Bill Evans is, well, you

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Sean Aylmer: would say a veteran, but he’s one of the best

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Sean Aylmer: economists around, so he’s really well worth listening to. Two

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Sean Aylmer: more rate rises, slower economic growth. In fact, he reckons

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Sean Aylmer: the economy will grow by just 0. 6% this year,

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Sean Aylmer: 1% 2024. He said the key driver of the insipid

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Sean Aylmer: growth outlook is household consumption. The Reserve Bank, it has

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Sean Aylmer: higher growth forecast, but it’s also worried about household spending.

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Sean Aylmer: Some economists out there reckon that there’s about a one

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Sean Aylmer: in three chance that we’ll go into a recession. So

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Sean Aylmer: all that’s going on, yet people are still spending money

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Sean Aylmer: on housing. It just seems at odds that the economy’s

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Sean Aylmer: slowing, rates are still rising, and people are piling into

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Sean Aylmer: the auction market.

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Michael Thompson: I don’t understand it. I don’t even pretend to understand that.

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Sean Aylmer: Sure, I don’t either. I don’t either. Just in my

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Sean Aylmer: career, I have looked at this for many, many years

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Sean Aylmer: and it just doesn’t seem to make a lot of

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Sean Aylmer: sense to me. The Australian housing market is incredibly strong, and

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Sean Aylmer: it always has been. The fear is that for 30

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Sean Aylmer: years that we’ve been having lower interest rates effectively, like

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Sean Aylmer: falling and then low interest rates, but we may end

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Sean Aylmer: up in this period of rising interest rates. And people

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Sean Aylmer: have just forgotten what that means, and as a result

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Sean Aylmer: the housing market could come a cropper. That’s what the

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Sean Aylmer: worst case scenario is, but it’s still a possibility. Definitely.

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Michael Thompson: How much does talk and discussion of, say, the population

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Michael Thompson: rising and this massive influx of people coming into the

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Michael Thompson: country over the next 18 months, how much does that

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Michael Thompson: do to encourage, say, the FOMO, fear of missing out,

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Michael Thompson: and this need to get into the property market quickly?

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Michael Thompson: Does just talking about it, and all of the coverage

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Michael Thompson: about that, perhaps contribute to this urgency?

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, perhaps. I mean, it certainly contributes to it. I

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Sean Aylmer: don’t know how much it is. That might be the

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Sean Aylmer: reason. I also think the FOMO, when you hear that

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Sean Aylmer: house prices in Sydney are down 14% or 15%, and in

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Sean Aylmer: Melbourne they’re down 10% or 11%, you think, oh, now’s the time

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Sean Aylmer: to jump into, without even thinking about the migration stuff.

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Sean Aylmer: So I think there are a few factors at play here.

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Michael Thompson: And how good is Bill Evans’ use of the word

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Michael Thompson: insipid to describe the growth?

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Sean Aylmer: Sensational.

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Michael Thompson: I love it.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah.

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Michael Thompson: Local markets, Sean, how did we finish up on Friday?

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Sean Aylmer: S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1% on Friday, it was a

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Sean Aylmer: very good day. Finished at 7, 251 points, that was five

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Sean Aylmer: rises in a row. Mind you, most of them were

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Sean Aylmer: small, apart from Fridays. It’s the best run since April,

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Sean Aylmer: and the market is at its highest level in more

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Sean Aylmer: than three weeks. The energy sector led the way, thanks

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Sean Aylmer: to higher energy prices. While the tech stocks also did

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Sean Aylmer: pretty well, the healthcare index was the only one of

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Sean Aylmer: the 11 sub indices to end the day lower. Santos

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Sean Aylmer: was up 4%. Woodside Energy 3%, gold company Northern Star

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Sean Aylmer: rose 4. 5%. Among the tech stocks the best large

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Sean Aylmer: caps were REA 0. They were both up around 3%.

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Sean Aylmer: Banks were pretty good, led by Commonwealth Bank and Westpac.

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Sean Aylmer: Iron ore miners underperformed the broader market, and the retailers

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Sean Aylmer: were mixed.

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Michael Thompson: And what’s happening on the international markets?

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Sean Aylmer: Did you know that, well, Wall Street closed just a

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Sean Aylmer: touch lower over the weekend, right, and the news late

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Sean Aylmer: last week, inflation figures came out, came in at about

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Sean Aylmer: 4%, lower than thought. Good news there. Also jumping consumer

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Sean Aylmer: sentiment in the U. S. All that’s good. But really,

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Sean Aylmer: Michael, what I want to talk to you about is that the markets are

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Sean Aylmer: closed tonight. Did you know that, for the Juneteenth holiday?

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Sean Aylmer: Do you know what the Juneteenth holiday is?

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Michael Thompson: No, but if I’m honest, I don’t really understand what

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Michael Thompson: it’s for, but I’ve seen so much more about it

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Michael Thompson: over the last couple of years.

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Sean Aylmer: Oh, you’re a genius, because the first was in 2021, so it’s not

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Sean Aylmer: a long time holiday. This is only the third Juneteenth

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Sean Aylmer: holiday. What it is President Joe Biden signed legislation in 2021 to

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Sean Aylmer: make June the 19th a federal holiday. It’s the 12th federal holiday

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Sean Aylmer: in the U. S. It basically goes back to June 19th

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Sean Aylmer: 1865, which was the day the last enslaved people in

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Sean Aylmer: the United States learned that they were free.

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Michael Thompson: Oh, wow.

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Sean Aylmer: That’s pretty cool.

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Michael Thompson: That is amazing. And so that is today, June 19th?

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, Juneteenth.

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Michael Thompson: Okay.

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Sean Aylmer: And that’s why markets are closed. And just before we leave

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Sean Aylmer: international markets, Earl’s up a bit. Gold’s flat. Coal’s come

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Sean Aylmer: off. It had been up late last week and we

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Sean Aylmer: saw some of the coal companies do really well locally.

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Sean Aylmer: It’s come off over the weekend, so you may see

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Sean Aylmer: some of the share prices of the New Hopes, Whitehavens,

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Sean Aylmer: et cetera, fall back a bit today. Not that I’m

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Sean Aylmer: forecasting share markets, no idea on that one. And the

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Sean Aylmer: Aussie Dollar, Michael, not far off, 69 U. S. cents.

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Sean Aylmer: And if you’re someone who in a couple of months

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Sean Aylmer: has to go overseas briefly to the U. S. I

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Sean Aylmer: think you’d be pretty happy with that, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: Oh, god.

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Sean Aylmer: Go, you Aussie Dollar.

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Michael Thompson: Oh, you can’t just be there barracking for it to

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Michael Thompson: actually climb just because you have a brief U. S.

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Michael Thompson: trip planned for a couple of months time.

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Sean Aylmer: Self- interest, that’s what it’s all about.

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Michael Thompson: Yes, apparently so. We’ll be back in a moment with

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Michael Thompson: the rest of the day’s business news.
Sean, former Liberal,

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Michael Thompson: now independent Senator, David Van, has thus far refused to

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Michael Thompson: quit politics amid accusations of sexual harassment, but will take

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Michael Thompson: leave and will miss the final week of Parliament, before

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Michael Thompson: the mid- winter break.

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Sean Aylmer: Over the weekend Senator Van quit the Liberal Party, that

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Sean Aylmer: was Saturday, having been kicked out of the party room

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Sean Aylmer: last week. It follows allegations of sexual harassment by Independent

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Sean Aylmer: Senator, Lydia Thorpe, under parliamentary privilege on Wednesday, which Van

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Sean Aylmer: strenuously denies. Those claims are followed by former Liberal National

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Sean Aylmer: Party Senator, Amanda Stoker, claiming Van had squeezed her bottom.

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Sean Aylmer: Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has said he’s also aware of

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Sean Aylmer: a third complaint against Van from a woman who has

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Sean Aylmer: not come forward. Dutton said Van should resign from the

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Sean Aylmer: Parliament sooner rather than later, and seek the help that

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Sean Aylmer: he needs. That call to quit was backed by plenty

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Sean Aylmer: of senior Liberals, including Simon Birmingham, Maurice Payne, Anne Ruston.

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Sean Aylmer: Michaelia Cash was another one. Certainly, he’s under pressure to go.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, he sure is.
Sean, how about this one? Household

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Michael Thompson: electricity prices are set to rise by more than 50%

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Michael Thompson: in some cases as retailers advise of price rises far

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Michael Thompson: exceeding the ones in regulated benchmark tariffs announced last month.

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Michael Thompson: 50%, wow, what a hit to the household budget.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah. So I got the email on Friday. Mine is going

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Sean Aylmer: up more like 20%, and I was, so I mean, had a bit of a look

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Sean Aylmer: around as a result of that, getting it myself. Some are going

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Sean Aylmer: up 50%, and these are the ones that you are

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Sean Aylmer: actually paying. So we’re not talking about the wholesale prices

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Sean Aylmer: that the energy regulator sets, this is actually certainly I’ll

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Sean Aylmer: be paying 20% more for my tariff and some will

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Sean Aylmer: be a lot more. So it was last week AGL

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Sean Aylmer: Energy advised customers of increases in- peak and off- peak

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Sean Aylmer: tariffs. They’ll kick in on July 1. While the average

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Sean Aylmer: rise for a AGL’s household customers in New South Wales on

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Sean Aylmer: variable rate market contracts is 29.7%, the top rate, the

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Sean Aylmer: top increase, is 51%, according to the financial review.
Origin

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Sean Aylmer: Energy also told customers last week of price increases, as

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Sean Aylmer: has government owned Red Energy, part of Snowy Hydro, for

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Sean Aylmer: both electricity and gas. EnergyAustralia is expected to advise its

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Sean Aylmer: customers of increases in its market offers within days. Now

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Sean Aylmer: the jump in some cases exceeds or even doubles the

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Sean Aylmer: rises of 20% and 25% for regulated benchmark tariffs approved by

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Sean Aylmer: the Australian Energy Regulator. They’re the wholesale prices. Retail prices,

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Sean Aylmer: in some cases, are double that level. As you said,

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Sean Aylmer: 50%. Amazing.

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Michael Thompson: Ouch. And Sean, on a somewhat related topic, AGL says

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Michael Thompson: core profit next financial year will be at least double,

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Michael Thompson: helped by higher wholesale power prices and an improved performance

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Michael Thompson: at power plants.

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Sean Aylmer: It triggered a 10% jump in the electricity and gas

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Sean Aylmer: supplier share price on Friday. It hit its highest level

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Sean Aylmer: in two years. However, the company also downgraded its dividend

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Sean Aylmer: payout policy. New Chief Executive, Damian Nicks, said AGL wants

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Sean Aylmer: to focus on striking a balance between investing in the

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Sean Aylmer: opportunities of the transition economy while maintaining a healthy balance

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Sean Aylmer: sheet, providing shareholder returns. Quite a job, mind you, because

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Sean Aylmer: AGL is the country’s largest emitter of carbon, it has

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Sean Aylmer: a massive job ahead to transition to a green energy

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Sean Aylmer: operator. It will involve billions of dollars of investment. Quite

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Sean Aylmer: the journey. Biggest shareholder is Atlassian founder, Mike Cannon- Brookes.

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Michael Thompson: Sean, Covid continues to transmit through the country, with the

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Michael Thompson: death toll last year four times higher than during the

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Michael Thompson: first two years of the pandemic.

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Sean Aylmer: Almost 10,000 people died last year, that’s according to the

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Sean Aylmer: Bureau of Statistics. Deaths from Covid- 19 this year remained high.

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Sean Aylmer: There’s been 1, 314 fatalities recorded between January and April,

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Sean Aylmer: much more than previous horror flu seasons. However, the rate

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Sean Aylmer: of deaths has also slowed significantly compared to a year

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Sean Aylmer: ago.
Now, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald,

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Sean Aylmer: as of Friday there were 70 Australians in intensive care with Covid-

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Sean Aylmer: 19. Deaths have been slowly on the rise, from 124

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Sean Aylmer: in the week ending May 19 to 205 in the

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Sean Aylmer: week ending June 16, that’s last week ending Friday. Top

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Sean Aylmer: epidemiologists now believe the 7th wave of Covid is peaking,

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Sean Aylmer: or perhaps it has peaked, or is very close to.

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Sean Aylmer: Australia had significantly fewer deaths than usual in 2020 when

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Sean Aylmer: Covid hit, mainly due to the absence of influenza, but

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Sean Aylmer: then vastly more deaths than usual in 2022, due to

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Sean Aylmer: Covid and other pandemic related impacts. In the first couple

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Sean Aylmer: of months of this year the Actuaries Institute found that

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Sean Aylmer: there were 1, 500 more deaths than would’ve been expected if

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Sean Aylmer: the pandemic hadn’t happened. There you go.

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Michael Thompson: PointsBet has given DraftKings, which lobbed a $ 285 million bid

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Michael Thompson: for its business in the United States over the weekend,

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Michael Thompson: just nine days to formalize the offer before it proceeds

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Michael Thompson: with another offer.

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Sean Aylmer: Yes. So according to the Financial Review, the discussions between

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Sean Aylmer: the two companies said the ASX- listed wagering group, we’re

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Sean Aylmer: talking about PointsBet here, will continue to recommend shareholders accept

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Sean Aylmer: an earlier offer, which is $ 150 million offer from Florida-

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Sean Aylmer: headquartered Fanatics. DraftKings, which is a Nasdaq- listed wagering group,

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Sean Aylmer: best known for its fantasy sports contest, lobbed the bid

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Sean Aylmer: on Friday night. However, it remains indicative and non- binding.

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Sean Aylmer: Now PointsBet is the seventh- largest sports betting operator in the U.S. It

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Sean Aylmer: had really struggled to become profitable, so these bids clearly

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Sean Aylmer: very interesting to the board. It’s also considering a sale

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Sean Aylmer: of its Australian operations.

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Michael Thompson: Just a terminology thing here, Sean, indicative and non- binding

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Michael Thompson: just essentially means that it’s an intention at this stage,

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Michael Thompson: and so PointsBet have said, hey, formalize it in nine days

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Michael Thompson: and make it…

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah.

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Michael Thompson: What’s the opposite of indicative and non- binding?

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Sean Aylmer: So, basically you’re right. What they want to get to

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Sean Aylmer: is a non- conditional binding offer, which means that DraftKings

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Sean Aylmer: must pay the money that they’re offering. Not at that

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Sean Aylmer: point now, but that’s what they want to get to.

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Michael Thompson: Okay. This is an interesting story, and actually pretty worrying,

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Michael Thompson: Sean. An artificially generated video of Commonwealth Bank boss, Matt

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Michael Thompson: Comyn, a fake video, is promoting large returns on investments

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Michael Thompson: on both Facebook and Instagram.

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Sean Aylmer: The fake Mr. Comyn, who has a U. S. accent,

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Sean Aylmer: says investors will automatically generate profits. Now the website being

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Sean Aylmer: promoted is not owned by Commonwealth Bank, but it does

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Sean Aylmer: demonstrate the challenges facing corporates trying to prevent scammers. The

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Sean Aylmer: artificially generated reproduction is known as a deepfake, D- E-E- P- F- A- K-

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Sean Aylmer: E, and is increasingly being used to swindle victims. Other

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Sean Aylmer: Australian leaders being incorrectly represented on these deepfake videos include

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Sean Aylmer: Meriton Managing Director, Harry Triguboff, and busy Chair, Anthony Pratt.

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Michael Thompson: I don’t want to give too much advice to scammers,

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Michael Thompson: Sean, but surely if you’re going to go to all the effort

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Michael Thompson: of creating a fake video-

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Sean Aylmer: I thought the same thing, yes.

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Michael Thompson: Like Matt Comyn, surely you can find someone to do an

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Michael Thompson: Australian accent.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah.

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Michael Thompson: The attention to detail in scams these days is just

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Michael Thompson: not what it used to be.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, I know. I’m with you.

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Michael Thompson: Goodness me. Working from home, Sean, last year made the

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Michael Thompson: average worker less productive and more anxious, depressed and lonely,

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Michael Thompson: according to new academic research. And a big part of

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Michael Thompson: the problem, in fact the main part of the problem,

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Michael Thompson: was bad managers. Really?

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Sean Aylmer: Good managers could actually lessen the negative effects, according to

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Sean Aylmer: the study by researchers from the Australian National University, University

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Sean Aylmer: of Newcastle and Macquarie University. Broadly, the study found that

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Sean Aylmer: people are less productive the more they work from home,

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Sean Aylmer: but once people are working from home for a while,

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Sean Aylmer: think they get used to it, I suppose, outcomes start

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Sean Aylmer: to improve. So companies with more skilled managers and have

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Sean Aylmer: people working from home for a while end up with

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Sean Aylmer: much better results, in terms of remote and hybrid working.

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Sean Aylmer: Now, funny thing about this study, better managers, better results.

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Sean Aylmer: I really do wonder whether that’s a work from home

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Sean Aylmer: issue or not.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah. I’m glad you said that, because, I mean, surely

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Michael Thompson: the better the manager, the better the result, wherever you’re working.

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Sean Aylmer: You would think so.

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Michael Thompson: Yes. We probably didn’t need a study to tell us

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Michael Thompson: that.
In international news, Sean, U. S. President, Joe Biden,

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Michael Thompson: has called for new taxes on the wealthy and corporations,

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Michael Thompson: and warned that Republicans would roll back policies he argued

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Michael Thompson: had saved the U. S. economy

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Sean Aylmer: Sounds like an election campaign, or a re- election campaign

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Sean Aylmer: in Joe Biden’s case. Over the weekend he was appearing

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Sean Aylmer: at a rally with Union members in Philadelphia. He contrasted

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Sean Aylmer: his platform with Donald Trump’s agenda. He didn’t actually use

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Sean Aylmer: Donald Trump’s name, but he talked about the Republican’s agenda.

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Sean Aylmer: Very much assigned that Biden wants to put populist economic

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Sean Aylmer: issues rather than legal controversies at the center of his

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Sean Aylmer: pitch for a second term. The President touted his domestic

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Sean Aylmer: achievements, and argued they’ve fueled economic growth, hot jobs market

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Sean Aylmer: and gains from middle class. Now, according to Bloomberg, he

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Sean Aylmer: cited laws passed during his first two years in office,

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Sean Aylmer: including a climate, health and tax package, and new funding

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Sean Aylmer: for infrastructure and semiconductor manufacturing.

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Michael Thompson: And, Sean, U. S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, arrived

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Michael Thompson: in Beijing yesterday morning for a short diplomatic trip as

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Michael Thompson: the Biden administration seeks to stabilize what are pretty strained

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Michael Thompson: relations between the world’s two biggest economies.

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Sean Aylmer: Yes. Big news, really. The top U. S. diplomat, whose

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Sean Aylmer: previous attempt to visit China in February was scrapped at

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Sean Aylmer: the last minute when the U. S. revealed that an

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Sean Aylmer: alleged Chinese spy balloon was floating over American territory, will

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Sean Aylmer: have a series of meetings with senior officials over the

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Sean Aylmer: two days. While he’s on the ground he’ll meet the

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Sean Aylmer: Chinese Foreign Minister and may also have a meeting with

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Sean Aylmer: Chinese President, Xi Jinping. He’ll also deliver remarks at a

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Sean Aylmer: news conference before he departs. He’s actually the most senior U.

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Sean Aylmer: S. official to visit China in five years. I think

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Sean Aylmer: the world would be a better place if China and the U.

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Sean Aylmer: S. were getting on better.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, completely agree. That’s very encouraging. But didn’t the spy

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Michael Thompson: balloon saga blow over quickly?

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Sean Aylmer: Blow over, nice. I thought, look, I was waiting for

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Sean Aylmer: a pun and I thought in this story the one

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Sean Aylmer: thing you’ll focus on is this spy balloon.

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Michael Thompson: Would you say it was a bit overinflated?

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Sean Aylmer: Full of hot air, I thought.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah. Oh, well done. Oh, nicely done. Perfect way to

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Michael Thompson: finish, Sean.

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Sean Aylmer: God, I’m turning into you.

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Michael Thompson: You are, and I love it.
Up next is the

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Michael Thompson: Fear and Greed daily interview. You are speaking with Anto

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Michael Thompson: Joseph, CEO of Stropro. This is a great one for investors.

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Sean Aylmer: Sure is. I mean, the part of it that I really

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Sean Aylmer: like is we talk about what rich people are investing

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Sean Aylmer: in. And they’re rich for a reason, I reckon, so

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Sean Aylmer: it’s always good to know what they’re investing in, and

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Sean Aylmer: it’s not bonds, and it’s not equities.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, it’s worth a listen. It’s coming up next in

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Michael Thompson: the Fear and Greed playlist on your podcast platform or

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00:19:45,960 –> 00:19:49,890
Michael Thompson: at fearandgreed. com. au. Also, make sure you check out

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Michael Thompson: Fear and Greed – The Week Ahead, with our resident economist,

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00:19:52,200 –> 00:19:55,440
Michael Thompson: Stephen Koukoulas. A massive week last week, and Steven gives

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Michael Thompson: his thoughts on last week and where we’re heading.
Thank

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Michael Thompson: you, Sean.

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Sean Aylmer: Thank you, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: It’s Monday the 19th of June 2023. Make sure you’re

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00:20:03,630 –> 00:20:07,800
Michael Thompson: following the podcast. Join us online on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter

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00:20:07,800 –> 00:20:10,109
Michael Thompson: and Facebook, basically everywhere, and stay up to date on

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Michael Thompson: all the business news with Alexa and your Amazon Echo

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00:20:12,540 –> 00:20:14,789
Michael Thompson: smart speaker. All you have to do is say, ” Alexa,

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Michael Thompson: play the Fear and Greed Podcast.” And the latest episode

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00:20:17,340 –> 00:20:20,069
Michael Thompson: should just start playing. Grab yours now at amazon. com.

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Michael Thompson: au.
I’m Michael Thompson, and that was Fear and Greed. Have a great day.