Retail Sales, Zurich and Pandas

Australian News

• Total retail sales rose 0.2% in August vs 0.5 % in July and would have been worse had the Women’s FIFA World Cup not taken place.

• Covid was the 3rd leading cause of death in Australia in 2022, the first time an infectious disease has been in the top 5 causes of death since 1970.

• Job advertisements have fallen 9.4% since May, with Insurance and Financial Services the only industry with less jobs to fill than in Feb 2020.

• China resumes Australian hay exports, which halved in a span of 2 years after Beijing failed to renew export licences.

• Only 18% of the Australian Government’s total $33.4B Indigenous expenditure went directly into Indigenous spending.

• Australia's top 10 universities all dropped places in the latest world university rankings, due to lower numbers of international students during the pandemic and the rising strength of universities in Asia.

• The Qatar Civil Aviation Authority has asked the Australian Government to review its decision to block 28 flights a week.

• ASIC has prosecuted 36 companies and extracted more than $700K in penalties against companies that failed to comply with financial reporting requirements.

Global News

• Taiwan unveils first domestically built submarine.

• Zurich has become one of Europe’s hottest housing markets, with prices surging past London and Paris as demand is being driven in part by hiring from companies including Google.

• The CIA is building its own AI tool to rival with China.

• London is seeing the largest price cuts for house prices in 5 years with the average discount for new homes coming in at 5% in London and across England.

• All the pandas from US zoos are being returned to their homeland after loan agreements with the Chinese Wildlife Agency expire.

• Argentina’s 125% inflation has pushed poverty levels to over 40%.

• Oil prices are expected to soon rise above $US100 with the price of the international benchmark, Brent crude oil, gaining 30% since July.

Company News

• NAB is the first of the big 4 banks to increase its interest rates on fixed rate home loans this month.

• Tabcorp has been fined a $15,000 penalty for promoting gambling-inducing ads on its website.

• Smiggle to expand overseas with 60 stores to be opened in the Middle East over the next few years.

• Meta looks to launch digital assistants, smart glasses and AI chatbots to help bolster the metaverse.

• Snapchat shuts down its augmented reality business.

• ChatGPT users can now browse the internet.

• Costco is seeing a rise in young people signing up for memberships.

• Lululemon signs a digital apparel partnership with Peloton.

• Toll road group Atlas Arteria's French motorway could be hit with a new annual $200M tax after the French government released its 2024 budget.

• Binance just exited its Russian business by selling it to a recently launched crypto exchange, CommEx.

Other Picks

• The resale upside of Nike Air Jordan 1s have fallen from 61% in 2020 to 4% in 2023.

• Swiss glaciers lose 10% of their volume in the worst 2 years on record.

• Michael Gambon, British actor who played Dumbledore, dies aged 82.

• Australian alcohol-induced deaths were up by nearly 10% from 2021, and the death by suicide of middle-aged males saw a significant year-on-year increase.

This Week’s All Star Picks

• Spotify’s new AI feature translates podcasts into other languages using the same voices as those in shows.

• OpenAI is rolling out a version of ChatGPT that allows users to prompt by speech or uploading pictures.

• Victorian Premier Dan Andrews resigns after 9 years.

• Average pay rises in new agreements are up 4.7%.

• AU supermarket food prices increased by 7.2% YoY, outpacing the 4.9% annual rate of inflation.

• Shoppers are spending more on second hand clothing, with 45% of shoppers reportedly increasing their purchases of pre-loved goods over the past 2 years.

• Melbourne housing market set to outperform Sydney over the next 2 years, with prices projected to rise by 12% in the year to June 2025, while Sydney is projected to grow by 10.3%.

In partnership with:

The Aussie Corporate

Your go-to for insights into corporate Australia sourced from our Auscorp community and delivered to you without the red tape and corporate fluff 🔥 Just dropped: Your monthly caffeinated dose of AusCorp.