🗞️ A bad taste

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All the headlines and more below...

COLES AND WOOLWORTHS ARE RUNNING HALF-PRICE SALES ON THE SAME PRODUCTS IN ALTERNATING WEEKS

An Oral-B electric toothbrush kit advertised at half price for $99.50 at Woolworths was full price the week before. The same week it went on sale at Woolworths, it reverted to full price at Coles, where it had been half price the previous week. Data shows 10 products, Dr Oetker frozen pizza, Blackmores fish oil, mini Magnums, have followed near-identical promotional cycles at both supermarkets over 2 years.

The pattern repeats with 1.25L Coca-Cola bottles: $2 at one, $4 at the other, then they swap. Fairy dishwasher tablets sell for $76 at one chain and $30 at the other, then flip. The ACCC found items can be on special for up to 26 weeks a year at Woolworths. Coles caps promotions at half the year. Both say they don't see each other's pricing plans. Suppliers often fund the campaigns.

Consumer advocates say the tactic makes it impossible to know a product's real price. It also punishes shoppers who can't wait for a sale or don't track pricing cycles.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• New analysis has found Coles and Woolworths frequently alternate high/low promotions on identical products such as electric toothbrushes, as a court has ruled Coles misled customers with its “Down Down” discounts. LINK

• Sydney’s housing market has emerged as the first casualty of the government’s tax changes as auction listings fell almost 15% and clearance rates dropped 6 percentage points. LINK

• Macquarie and Westpac have started tightening investor lending in response to federal tax changes ending negative gearing for existing properties and cutting capital gains discounts, as analysts predict a 25-40% fall in investor loans. LINK

• Australia’s major banks are withholding parts of recent RBA rate hikes from many deposit accounts to protect margins as mortgage growth slows after housing tax concessions were reined in. LINK

WESTPAC AND MACQUARIE JUST KILLED NEGATIVE GEARING IN LOAN ASSESSMENTS

Macquarie and Westpac have told lenders to stop factoring in negative gearing when assessing loans for existing properties. The change happened within days of the budget announcement. It affects investors borrowing now for rules that don't start until July 2025.

CBA, ANZ and NAB haven't moved yet. Brokers expect them to follow within weeks. Applications lodged before the budget are still assessed under old setting, a window that's already closing.

The policy starts in 14 months. The banks priced it in today.

COMPANY NEWS

• Westpac and Macquarie have moved to stop factoring in negative gearing on existing property purchases as they tighten investor lending policies following the federal budget changes. LINK

• Canva has lost 4 senior leaders including its long-serving chief technology officer and head of design as it undertakes major changes to reposition as an artificial intelligence platform. LINK

• PwC Australia has decided to offshore more executive assistant roles to its Manila hub, lifting Philippines-based EA positions from 38% to 58% after an internal review. LINK

• Westpac has ordered lenders to stop counting future negative gearing in serviceability assessments for property investors as banks align lending standards with the federal budget’s tax concession restrictions. LINK

• A hacking group called ShinyHunters has breached Canvas, stealing 275 million student records and 3.65 terabytes of data from 8,809 institutions including 122 in Australia. LINK

• Elders posted a 17% rise in HY statutory profit to $39.5M as revenue jumped 32% to $1.77B, while elevated diesel prices remain a key industry challenge. LINK

• Humm Group reported Q3 assets under management up 5.1% to $5.4B while commercial and consumer volumes declined and elevated Takeovers Panel costs are expected to keep FY26 earnings subdued. LINK

• Optus lifted monthly postpaid mobile plan prices by $5 with extra data included as Telstra and Vodafone complete similar increases of up to $5 across the Big Three. LINK

• CBA appointed UNSW academic Mary-Anne Williams as its first chief AI scientist to lead internal AI research, talent attraction and responsible AI innovation across the bank. LINK

• Pinterest has launched a global campaign with the tagline "The best thing you can find online is a reason to go offline" as it shifts focus from time-on-platform metrics to real-world actions. LINK

• Brambles cut its FY26 underlying profit growth forecast to 3% to 5% and sales growth to 2% to 3% as stricter US pallet repair standards drive an estimated US$60 million earnings hit. LINK

OPTUS HIKES MOBILE PLANS BY $5. TELSTRA AND VODAFONE ALREADY DID THE SAME.

Optus is raising postpaid mobile plans by $5 a month from today, its second increase in 12 months. Telstra lifted prices on 5 May. Vodafone on 15 April. All three major carriers have now increased monthly plans by up to $5 in the past month.

Optus is bundling extra data with the hike, but ACCC data suggests most customers won't use it anyway. Canstar analysis found Australians could save up to $456 a year by switching to a cheaper provider on the same network infrastructure. Providers using Optus and TPG (Vodafone) infrastructure get full network access. Those on Telstra's wholesale network cover 98.8% of the population, 0.9% less than its retail network.

Raising prices in lockstep while customers use a fraction of what they're paying for is a tidy way to fund infrastructure without anyone cancelling.

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CHART OF THE DAY

Where people ride local trains

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BRAINTEASER

It was the 30% question on the show, meaning that 30% of the population could solve it correctly within the 30-second time limit. You have 30 seconds, no calculators, starting......now:

Allegra has just turned 40. She has four children: Anni, Cat, Bo and Mac. Her twins were born when she was 26. Bo is 16. He is younger than Anni. Who are the twins?

Answer below

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ANSWER

Cat and Mac. As Bo is 16, Allegra was 24 when she had him, so he is not a twin. Neither is Anni, who is older than Bo. This leaves Mac and Cat as the twins.

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