🗞️ Luxury fashion bubble bursts

Good morning. Remember when Elon Musk fought went around in circles about fighting Mark Zuckerberg? Well get ready for a virtual round 2 but with a different opponent, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela is in the middle of political turmoil stemming from the country’s election results declaring Maduro the winner. Both political sides are claiming the win so Musk accepted a challenge Wednesday from Maduro to fight after the billionaire repeatedly attacked the president’s “massive election fraud” in Sunday's elections and called Maduro a “dictator” on X.

Musk also tweeted, “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.” The chances of Musk fighting are very rare given he has chronic neck and back pain after attempting to throw a sumo wrestler on his birthday in 2014.

All the headlines and more below...

PARIS OLYMPICS 2024

• American Noah Lyles wins the fastest man alive title beating Jamaican Kishane Thompson by 0.005 seconds in the 100 metre final.

• Australians Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson finished second and third in the women's high jump.

• Australians won silver in the 4x100m mixed relay in the last event in the pool.

• Australia’s Meg Harris clinched silver in the women’s 50m freestyle.

• Novak Djokovic wins his first Olympic gold medal after defeating Carlos Alcaraz.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Aussies embrace apartment living but supply is lagging as construction costs rise

• The shift to apartment living is accelerating, but a supply shortage due to rising construction costs is slowing progress in NSW. LINK

• Adelaide is set to surpass Melbourne in average property prices this month. LINK

• Investor borrowing in Australia reached a 2-year high in June, with property investors rapidly returning to the market. LINK

• There are higher rental vacancy rates around university suburbs, contrary to claims that international students are exacerbating the housing crisis. LINK

• AU government is considering new regulations on gambling ads, with proposed restrictions on TV, radio and online platforms. LINK

• Household spending in Australia decreased by 0.5% in June after consecutive rises, with people spending less on recreational activities, hotel accommodation and eating out. LINK

• Sydney Metro insisted on the safety of the new line between Sydenham and Chatswood despite a recent electric shock incident during testing. LINK

• The Australian Federal Police discovered over 2,000 compromised cryptocurrency wallets owned by Australians. LINK

• Perth achieved an 88.9% weekend auction success rate, indicating a recovering residential property market despite being a small auction market with only 12 homes auctioned. LINK

GLOBAL NEWS

High cholesterol critical factor to development of dementia

• High cholesterol and vision loss have been identified as critical risk factors for dementia development, with new research linking them to nearly half of global cases. LINK

• The Australian dollar remained near 3-month lows due to weak US economic data. LINK

• The luxury fashion bubble is bursting with declining sales and stockpile issues. LINK

COMPANY NEWS

Dan Murphy’s absorbs Penfolds price hikes

• Dan Murphy’s is absorbing price increases on Penfolds wines to maintain its value-oriented reputation amid rising competition and price hikes from Treasury Wine Estates. LINK

• Alphabet coincidentally cut its stake in cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike by half before the global outage. LINK

• Mars Wrigley Australia is facing unprecedented cost hikes in cocoa and energy. LINK

• Mercer was fined $11.3M for greenwashing after misleading clients about the sustainability of investment options. LINK

• Snap shares dropped 17% premarket after a weak forecast. LINK

• Apple reported better-than-expected Q3 iPhone sales and anticipates further gains with upcoming AI features, despite overall disappointment in its China business. LINK

• Booking.com expects lower room bookings growth in Q3 due to a shrinking booking window (time between reservation and actual arrival). LINK

• Tiktok and ByteDance was sued by the US Justice Department for failing to protect children's privacy. LINK

• Block reported resilient consumer spending and successful cost-cutting measures. LINK

• Optus reported a $480M annual net loss, primarily due to decreased demand for traditional telecom services and last year's national network outage. LINK

• Rex Airlines has officially terminated hundreds of employees after the company entered voluntary administration. LINK

• Amazon reported slowing online sales growth in Q2, noting consumers are seeking cheaper options. LINK

• CBA is negotiating with the government to establish a branch in Nauru to counter China's influence in the South Pacific. LINK

• Nintendo's revenue and profit plunged 55% in Q1 due to declining Switch console sales. LINK

• Microsoft listed OpenAI as a competitor in AI and search, reflecting a shift in their strategic partnership. LINK

CHART OF THE DAY

Household Spending Since 2020

• Household spending in Australia fell by 0.5% in June, the first decline in months after consecutive rises.

• Notable reductions in spending on recreational activities, accommodation and dining out.

• Decreased spending on essentials like car repairs and food.

TRIVIA

It’s Game Time

Who wants to be a Millionaire is back… It's time to get back in the Millionaire hot seat and prove you could get $50,000. No phoning a friend sorry...

1) For the value of one pint of Stone and Wood ($100): What is the largest ocean on Earth?

A) Atlantic Ocean
B) Indian Ocean
C) Arctic Ocean
D) Pacific Ocean

2) For $10,000: In what year was the first iPhone released?

A) 2005
B) 2006
C) 2007
D) 2008

3) For $50,000: In Greek mythology, who was the mother of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis?

A) Hera
B) Aphrodite
C) Leto
D) Demeter

Answers below - prize money not actually included

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ANSWERS

1. Pacific Ocean
2. 2007
3. Leto