Iran, Trump rattle markets; Future Fund's US fear; stock soars 46,000%

Iran, Trump rattle markets; Future Fund's US fear; stock soars 46,000%

News in brief

Australia’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, The Future Fund, will cut its US exposure in response to fears President Donald Trump has added “layers of volatility and uncertainty” to the world’s biggest economy.

 

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the $30 billion Santos takeover bid from a consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s national oil company “has got a long way to run yet”. Mr Chalmers said the Foreign Investment Review Board’s advice would consider economic and national security.

 

Australian uranium stocks, including Deep Yellow, Boss Energy and Paladin, are having a good time of it, with 48 hours of share price increases. It comes after Sprott Physical Uranium Trust said it will raise $US100 million to buy the nuclear fuel.

 

CSL has announced that the United States’ Food and Drug Administration has approved its new drug designed to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic condition that triggers uncontrolled and seemingly random swelling.

 

There’s a stock that trades on Wall Street, had made zero revenue this year, much less a profit, yet its share price is up 46,000 per cent. It’s a biotech focused on herbal medicine called Regencell Bioscience Holdings Limited. Its market cap in now almost $US30 billion, up from $US53 million a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

Fear-o-meter

Future Fund chair Greg Combet yesterday outlined why the US isn’t as safe a place to invest today as it was 12 months ago.

 

He pointed to a series of controversial calls made by Washington, including its global tariff regime and the decision to review AUKUS, as proof that Australia’s economic and security relationships with the US have changed.

 

He gave a bunch of other reasons - the retreat by the US from a leadership role in global and economic security, rivalry between the US and China, the US dollar depreciation that threatens its role as the world’s reserve currency, attacks on the US Federal Reserve, and Donald Trump’s big beautiful tax bill that promise to increase taxes on foreign investors like Australian super funds.

 

What Combet explained were the biggest threats to the US’s dominance in the global economy in the long run. The short run damage Trump is doing to the US is minimal, at least financially. The long term damage over decades will be enormous.

Who's talking today?

On Abu Dhabi's $30 billion bid for Santos, the long-term role of gas in the energy market, and the increased interest in Australia's oil and gas producers from the Middle East (following both the ADNOC bid for Santos, and Saudi Aramco's deal for joint ventures with Woodside):

 

" If you've been through the Middle East recently, you can see the power of the Petrodollar there in terms of what it's done from a transformational perspective to the respective economies of countries like UAE and others. So certainly there's a lot of cash out there and I think they're also realising that the source of their wealth has been from their oil deposits in their own country.

 

And I think they're all taking now a longer term look globally about where they need to invest. Because are we going to be driving petrol cars in 50 years time and what's the oil outlook  long term?

 

And they're taking a very long term approach here. So it's not a surprise in some respect that you're seeing Woodside signing deals with the likes of Aramco."

It's Wednesday the 18^th of June 2025, and financial markets are on edge after US President Donald Trump said people should evacuate from the Iranian capital of Tehran. He issued the warning as he left the G7 Summit in Canada early. After five days of fighting in the Middle East, the comment from Trump rattled investors, sending gold and oil prices higher.

Greed-o-meter

Sector	% in arrears
Food & Beverage	10.8%
Electricity, Gas, Water & Waste Services	7.2%
Construction	6.7%
Accommodation	5.7%
Retail Trade	5.7%

Forwarded from a friend? Sign up to our daily newsletter

The worst could be over for Australian business, with the May Business Risk Index from CreditorWatch showing an easing in the number of insolvencies. But plenty of businesses are still under pressure, particularly when it comes to overdue payments. These sectors below have the highest number of payments more than 60 days overdue:

Listen to today's episode 🎧 

Source: CreditorWatch

Business by numbers

The top 3 numbers to know for the week, brought to you by Xero

$30 billion: the bid for Santos by Abu Dhabi’s national oil company. If successful, it is probably the largest all-cash deal in ASX history. 

 

20 million: how many tonnes of copper a Rio Tinto / BHP joint venture wants to produce over 40 years in Arizona.

 

46,000%: the jump in the share price over the past year of Regencell Bioscience, a herbal medicine stock that has zero revenue so far.

Tell us what you think, and win!

We’re working with Fonto, a research agency, to learn more about our community. We’re running a short survey to hear from you – how you’re feeling, what you love, what we could improve on, and more. It only takes a few minutes, and by taking part before 30 June, you’ll be in the running to win a $3,000 Luxury Escapes voucher. Click here to take part.