Tech stocks surge, women CEO numbers jump, Qantas rethinks staff uniforms

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Michael Thompson: US tech stocks surge as confidence returns to the sector.

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Michael Thompson: The number of senior women in charge of large ASX

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Michael Thompson: companies spikes, but it’s still well below the number of

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Michael Thompson: male CEOs, and Qantas changes the rules for what their

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Michael Thompson: air crew can wear.
It’s Monday, the 12th of June,

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Michael Thompson: 2023. Welcome to Fear and Greed, Australia’s most popular business

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

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Sean Aylmer: Good morning, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: Now Sean, with much of the country enjoying the King’s

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Michael Thompson: Birthday long weekend, this morning’s show is a little bit

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Michael Thompson: shorter, a little bit shorter, and we’ve got some fantastic

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Michael Thompson: stories coming up, and you’ve got a great chat, an

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Michael Thompson: interview, coming up straight after the show. You’re speaking with

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Michael Thompson: Kiarne Treacy, the Chief Executive of Sustainable Choice Group.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, so it’s a startup, and what Sustainable Choice Group

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Sean Aylmer: is hoping to do is introduce a more or less

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Sean Aylmer: standardized measurement for green transition. Now there’s a lot going

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Sean Aylmer: on, greenwashing, green- hushing, the idea that companies aren’t talking

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Sean Aylmer: about what they’re doing, which ASIC is just as worried

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Sean Aylmer: about as those overstating it, and what Treacy and the

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Sean Aylmer: team at Sustainable Choice Group is trying to do is

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Sean Aylmer: find a measurement which can alleviate those problems. It’s a

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Sean Aylmer: really interesting chat, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, it’s a really good one. Kiarne’s a great communicator.

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Michael Thompson: It’s well worth sticking around for. It’s coming up a

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Michael Thompson: bit later on, and the main story this morning though, Sean,

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Michael Thompson: is one out of the US where tech stocks are

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Michael Thompson: on a tear, helping the local IT companies as well, with

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Michael Thompson: the tech- heavy NASDAQ up 27% since the beginning of

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Michael Thompson: the year. Not bad.

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Sean Aylmer: Not bad. There have been some incredible performances. We’ve spoken

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Sean Aylmer: a bit about chip maker Nvidia. It’s riding the artificial

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Sean Aylmer: intelligence wave, and its share price is up 170% this

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Sean Aylmer: year, easily the best of the lot, but there’s a

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Sean Aylmer: few others, and easing of supply chain issues and a

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Sean Aylmer: rush of sales alongside beneficial tax changes in the US

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Sean Aylmer: have helped Tesla’s share price jump 126% this year, while

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Sean Aylmer: Meta, father of Facebook and Instagram, is up 112%. The

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Sean Aylmer: laggards are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. They’re up between 35 and

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Sean Aylmer: 45%. Now compare that to the broader S& P 500,

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Sean Aylmer: which is up about 12%, or the local ASX 200, which

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Sean Aylmer: is up about 1% this year, and it just shows you

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Sean Aylmer: how popular tech stocks are at the moment.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, absolutely, but break it down for me just a

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Michael Thompson: little bit. Why have these tech stocks done so well?

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Sean Aylmer: The crazy outperformers, like Nvidia and Tesla, have had stock

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Sean Aylmer: specific reasons. Artificial intelligence for Nvidia. Tesla was changes in

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Sean Aylmer: terms of tax treatment in the US. But more generally,

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Sean Aylmer: the sentiment around tech stocks is much, much more positive.

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Sean Aylmer: Three reasons for that.
First, they were sold off really

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Sean Aylmer: hard in 2022, so they entered this year at lower

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Sean Aylmer: valuations, hence the rise is off a lower base. People

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Sean Aylmer: also like investing in tech stocks when they want long-

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Sean Aylmer: term growth, so there’s a bit of uncertainty around at the moment, we

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Sean Aylmer: know that, but people think tech stocks, or the big

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Sean Aylmer: guys particularly, do have long- term growth.
Third, they also

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Sean Aylmer: like tech stocks when interest rates are at or near

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Sean Aylmer: a peak, and that seems to be the case in

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Sean Aylmer: the US, seems to be the case here. That’s not

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Sean Aylmer: to say there won’t be one, two, maybe three more

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Sean Aylmer: rate rises, but certainly when interest rates have peaked, that’s

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Sean Aylmer: when people start turning to tech stocks.
There’s also a

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Sean Aylmer: fourth one, which I should really throw in. Tech stocks

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Sean Aylmer: are often considered recession proof, so the idea… COVID was

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Sean Aylmer: an example of that where there was a downturn but

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Sean Aylmer: the tech stocks did well. It’s that idea that people

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Sean Aylmer: will always use technology, even if there is a downturn.

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Sean Aylmer: You put all that together and that’s why they’ve done

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Sean Aylmer: so well.

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Michael Thompson: And of course, we’re not an investing podcast, so always

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Michael Thompson: important to get specific advice when you’re making these kind

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Michael Thompson: of decisions. But with this improvement in the general sentiment

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Michael Thompson: around tech stocks, is that translating then to Australian stocks?

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Sean Aylmer: It is. It’s not quite as dramatic, but tech stocks

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Sean Aylmer: have done well on the local market. WiseTech Global, the

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Sean Aylmer: tracking software group and the largest IT company on the

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Sean Aylmer: ASX, is up more than 50% this year. Accounting software

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Sean Aylmer: group, Xero, is up 33%. Online real estate company, REA,

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Sean Aylmer: is up 21%. It certainly doesn’t mean it’s going to

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Sean Aylmer: last, and get your own advice on this for sure,

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Sean Aylmer: but it has been a great start to 2023 for

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Sean Aylmer: the tech stocks.

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Michael Thompson: All right. Good story. Now Sean, the ASX is closed

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Michael Thompson: today obviously, but how did local markets finish up last week?

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Sean Aylmer: The S& P/ ASX 200 closed up 0.3%, to 7, 123 points, with two

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Sean Aylmer: sectors doing much of the work, the tech stocks and the

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Sean Aylmer: mining sector. We’ve spoken a fair bit about tech stocks.

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Sean Aylmer: In terms of the miners, iron ore futures are trading

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Sean Aylmer: higher. BHP climbed 1.3% as a result. Fortescue Metals was up 1. 4%. The

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Sean Aylmer: best on the bourse on Friday though was Nickel Industries,

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Sean Aylmer: up 13.3%.

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Michael Thompson: And is there much going on in commodity markets at

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Michael Thompson: the moment, Sean?

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Sean Aylmer: They’re all trading, but oil and gold prices are off

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Sean Aylmer: a bit. As I mentioned, iron ore prices are up

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Sean Aylmer: a bit. Been a good few days for the Aussie

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Sean Aylmer: dollar, and that’s probably the standout news item this morning.

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Sean Aylmer: It’s trading around 67.4 US cents, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: All right, we’ll be back in a moment with the

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Michael Thompson: rest of the day’s business news.
Sean, Australia’s biggest companies

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Michael Thompson: are doing a better job than the broader corporate sector

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Michael Thompson: of appointing female chief executives, with five women now in

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Michael Thompson: leadership roles among the top 20. The rise in part

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Michael Thompson: reflects more female executives acquiring greater operational experience and boards

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Michael Thompson: recognizing the advantage of having greater diversity among top decision

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Michael Thompson: makers, according to a report in the Financial Review.
There

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Michael Thompson: have been three female appointments of top 20 ASX companies in

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Michael Thompson: the past year. Vicki Brady at Telstra, Leah Weckert at

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Michael Thompson: Coles, and Fiona Hick at Fortescue. That means the number

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Michael Thompson: has gone from two to five. Of course, the other

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Michael Thompson: two, Shemara Wikramanayake runs Macquarie Bank, and Meg O’Neill is boss

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Michael Thompson: at Woodside.
The number of women running companies in the

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Michael Thompson: top 50 has doubled to eight. Among the ASX 200, the

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Michael Thompson: proportion of companies headed by women has also doubled, but

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Michael Thompson: at a much lower ratio. Basically it shows that 21,

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Michael Thompson: or about 10%, of the top 200 companies are now

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Michael Thompson: run by women, so at the very top level it’s 25%,

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Michael Thompson: but the further you go the lower it gets. Still

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Michael Thompson: some work to do, in fact, still a lot of

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Michael Thompson: work to do, but at least they’re on the way.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah, it is a bit of progress it seems.

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Michael Thompson: Now Sean, Crown Resorts’ Chief Executive, Ciarán Carruthers, has called

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Michael Thompson: for more workers to return to the office to help

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Michael Thompson: Australia’s CBDs survive the cost of living crisis and economic slowdown.

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Sean Aylmer: Carruthers also backed the federal government’s moves to lift skilled

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Sean Aylmer: migration, saying more overseas workers will help the casino group

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Sean Aylmer: bounce back to pre- pandemic levels, but he warns that

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Sean Aylmer: spiraling rents need to be tackled, saying it presented a

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Sean Aylmer: triple barrier for foreign workers choosing Australia in a very

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Sean Aylmer: globally competitive labor market.
Crown is Victoria’s biggest single site

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Sean Aylmer: employer, taking up most of Melbourne’s CBD eastern flank. The

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Sean Aylmer: company also opened a 2. 2 billion VIP casino and

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Sean Aylmer: resort at Barangaroo in Sydney last August. It’s got big

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Sean Aylmer: operations in Perth as well. Overall, it employs 23, 500 staff.

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Sean Aylmer: Now, Carruthers has joined a growing number of chief executives,

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Sean Aylmer: including National Australia Bank’s Ross McEwan, who wants workers to

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Sean Aylmer: return to their offices in order to revitalize CBDs, which

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Sean Aylmer: of course would in turn help lift consumer and business

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Sean Aylmer: confidence, or at least that’s what Ciarán Carruthers and Ross

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Sean Aylmer: McEwan hope.

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Michael Thompson: All right, Sean, change is afoot at Qantas. Actually, stop.

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Michael Thompson: Missed opportunity here. Change is in the air at Qantas.

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Sean Aylmer: Oh, much better. Much better.

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Michael Thompson: Much, much. It’s just glorious, isn’t it? Now, the change

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Michael Thompson: that we’re talking about here, male cabin crew now being

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Michael Thompson: allowed to grow their hair, that would obviously be a

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Michael Thompson: sensitive one for you, Sean, and wear makeup as well,

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Michael Thompson: and women can wear flat shoes and don’t have to

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Michael Thompson: wear makeup.

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Sean Aylmer: It’s quite remarkable that this story is a story, but

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Sean Aylmer: it is. It’s actually the biggest change in dress policy

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Sean Aylmer: at the national carrier in 10 years. So the relaxation,

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Sean Aylmer: is the word they’ve used, the relaxation of previously hard-

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Sean Aylmer: line styling rules followed a lengthy uniform review by Qantas

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Sean Aylmer: that came after a lot of lobbying from unions.
Other

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Sean Aylmer: changes include the option for men and women to wear

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Sean Aylmer: diamond earrings and colorful nail polish. Fitbits and large watches

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Sean Aylmer: are now allowed as well. Men and women with long

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Sean Aylmer: hair must wear it in a ponytail or bun or

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Sean Aylmer: cornrows. Now I had to look up what cornrows was,

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Sean Aylmer: and I saw a picture of it and I would’ve called it tight

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Sean Aylmer: plaits, but anyway, cornrows. There is also more fluidity between

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Sean Aylmer: specific men’s and women’s uniform sets, with much more ability

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Sean Aylmer: to mix up the various pieces. However, there is still

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Sean Aylmer: a requirement to cover up any tattoos, and stockings are

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Sean Aylmer: still required when wearing a dress or skirt. Name badges

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Sean Aylmer: also remain compulsory for crew.
Interesting story, this one in 2023.

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Michael Thompson: In international news, Sean, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, acknowledged over

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Michael Thompson: the weekend that his military was engaged in counteroffensive and

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Michael Thompson: defensive operations. A day after Russia’s Vladimir Putin said his long-

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Michael Thompson: vaunted drive to retake territory was well underway.

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Sean Aylmer: Zelenskyy said counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in

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Sean Aylmer: Ukraine, but wouldn’t be drawn on what stages they are.

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Sean Aylmer: He said when asked, ” The generals are all in a

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Sean Aylmer: positive mood. Pass that on to Putin.” Now, he said

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Sean Aylmer: that with a smile, and he was standing alongside visiting

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Sean Aylmer: Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, at the time. Not sure

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Sean Aylmer: that Trudeau quite knew what to say in response to that, but obviously the

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Sean Aylmer: counteroffensive is up and running.

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Michael Thompson: And Sean, Donald Trump addressed his supporters over the weekend

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Michael Thompson: for the first time since his indictment on multiple federal

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Michael Thompson: charges, saying it is a witch hunt, a fake indictment,

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Michael Thompson: and shows two standards of justice in the US.

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Sean Aylmer: The 37 counts of the indictment released on Friday and

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Sean Aylmer: focused on his alleged mishandling of classified materials, is potentially

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Sean Aylmer: far more severe, legally at least, than previous charges of

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Sean Aylmer: personal, political, or commercial misconduct. In Columbus, Georgia, Trump called

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Sean Aylmer: it a fake indictment, saying he’s been pursued in court

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Sean Aylmer: because of his bid for a second term in the

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Sean Aylmer: White House. He went on, and I’ve got to quote

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Sean Aylmer: this, Michael, because it is quite incredible, ” We now have

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Sean Aylmer: two standards of justice in our country. The Democrat communists

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Sean Aylmer: want to jail their opponents, while they protect the murderers

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Sean Aylmer: who prowl our cities day and night, and other brazen criminals.”

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Michael Thompson: Mm- hmm, right.

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Sean Aylmer: Trump is due to appear in a federal court in

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Sean Aylmer: Miami tomorrow night Australian time to answer charges he put

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Sean Aylmer: US national security at risk.

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Michael Thompson: Well, the theater, Sean, just rolls on it.

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Sean Aylmer: We talk about it so much because it is theater

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Sean Aylmer: and it is so entertaining, but it’s also about running

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Sean Aylmer: the world’s most powerful country, and in fact when you think about

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Sean Aylmer: that, it’s incredibly sad.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, it’s very, very, very serious indeed.

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Sean Aylmer: Yeah.

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Michael Thompson: Now up next is the Fear and Greed Daily Interview.

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Michael Thompson: You’re speaking today with Kiarne Treacy, the Chief Executive of

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Michael Thompson: Sustainable Choice Group, and part of that is the web

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Michael Thompson: platform, SustainabilityTracker. com.

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Sean Aylmer: Yes, so SustainabilityTracker. com, Kiarne hopes, will eventually morph into

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Sean Aylmer: basically a measurement tool to judge how people are going

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Sean Aylmer: in the green transition. Really interesting chat with Kiarne.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, it’s good, and it is interesting because the conversation goes

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Michael Thompson: into some of those clients that are working with them

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Michael Thompson: already, like I think Europcar is one of them, and

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Michael Thompson: John West I know you talked about.

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Sean Aylmer: John West is another, yeah.

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Michael Thompson: Yeah, and so it illustrates the way that big companies

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Michael Thompson: are able to use a platform like this. I’ve found

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Michael Thompson: it really interesting. You’ve also got, of course, Fear and

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Michael Thompson: Greed – The Week Ahead, featuring our resident economist, Stephen Koukoulas.

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Sean Aylmer: I think he’s in shock after last week. We had

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Sean Aylmer: growth numbers that were weak. We had an interest rate

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Sean Aylmer: hike which, well broadly, people didn’t really expect, and we

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Sean Aylmer: bring all that together. Also this week we’ve got labor

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Sean Aylmer: force numbers. Very, very important. It’s a lagging indicator, as

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Sean Aylmer: in the unemployment numbers come out after the economy has

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Sean Aylmer: moved on a bit, they lag, and as a result

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Sean Aylmer: it’ll be interesting to see whether we are seeing an

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Sean Aylmer: uptick in the unemployment rate from the current level of 3. 7%.

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Michael Thompson: Excellent. Both of those interviews are coming up next in

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

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Michael Thompson: at fearandgreed. com. au. Thank you, Sean.

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Sean Aylmer: Thank you, Michael.

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Michael Thompson: It’s Monday, the 12th of June, 2023. Make sure you’re

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Michael Thompson: following the podcast. Join us online on LinkedIn and Instagram and

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Michael Thompson: Twitter and Facebook, and stay up to date on all

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Michael Thompson: at amazon. com. au.
I’m Michael Thompson and that was

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Michael Thompson: Fear and Greed. Have a great day.