Good morning. Gen Z is the most financially stressed generation in history and somehow the most optimistic about it.

Despite living through Covid, back-to-back inflation spikes and an inflated housing market, 82% still feel good about the year ahead. 74% of millennials also feel optimistic about their financial future.

ING Bank reckons it’s because “the younger you are, the more time you have to course correct.”

All the headlines and more below...

ANZ CUTS INVESTOR BORROWING BY 20% AS NEGATIVE GEARING ENDS.

ANZ has joined Westpac, NAB and Macquarie in slashing how much property investors can borrow now that negative gearing no longer applies to established properties bought after budget night. Loan applications needed unconditional approval by close of business today to avoid reassessment under the new rules.

Commonwealth Bank, the country's largest mortgage lender, is the only major bank that hasn't updated its policy. It says it's still working through the changes.

Westpac economists expect investor activity to drop 34% and total dwelling turnover to fall 20%. They're forecasting Sydney down 3% and Melbourne down 4% by year's end. Morgan Stanley has flagged a possible 5-10% drop nationally = one of the largest corrections in 40 years.

4 of the 5 biggest lenders moved within 2 weeks.

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

• The government has introduced a landmark bill to overhaul capital gains tax and negative gearing as surveys, state leaders and business groups warn the changes are dampening investment sentiment. LINK

• New RBA research has found that housing investors in Australia are increasingly older and wealthier as the share of investors aged over 60 has more than doubled since 1999. LINK

• Global coal investment is forecast to rise 4% to US$180B in 2026, the highest since 2012, as conflict-driven energy security concerns lift spending led by China and Australia. LINK

• Currency forecasters expect the euro to weaken against the Australian dollar this year as Europe’s energy-reliant economy suffers more from the Iran war shock than Australia’s. LINK

• 60% of professionals use AI regularly at work while 78% receive no formal training and only about 22% express concern about organisational readiness. LINK

78% OF WORKERS USING AI DAILY GET ZERO TRAINING FROM THEIR EMPLOYER.

60% of Australian professionals now use AI regularly at work. 22% have received formal training. The gap isn't a skills problem - it's employers handing out tools without instructions.

Just 13% of organisations have broad AI adoption. 40% have moderate adoption across teams. 35% are still exploring. Yet only 22% of professionals and 23% of employers are concerned about their organisation's ability to adapt to AI in the next 3 years.

COMPANY NEWS

• ANZ has tightened lending policies by only recognising negative gearing for new builds in line with federal budget changes, as CBA remains the last major yet to respond. LINK

• The Department of Finance has warned KPMG Australia it could be banned from bidding for Commonwealth contracts after repeated failures to disclose serious whistleblower allegations about client data misuse. LINK

• The European Commission has fined Temu €200M for failing to adequately prevent illegal products on its platform following a nearly 2-year Digital Services Act investigation. LINK

• Revolut, valued at US$75B, has outlined an aggressive global business banking expansion as its Australian leaders vow to challenge the big four and become a top 3 business bank. LINK

• Australian Unity is planning to sell more than $600M of assets, including the $317M Peninsula Private Hospital, as it seeks to ease debt pressures on its $3.2B healthcare property fund. LINK

• Australia’s big 4 banks face rising competitive pressure from Macquarie’s higher-rate savings products, as analysts warn shifting $370B of “lazy deposits” could cut bank earnings by up to 40%. LINK

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CHART OF THE DAY

Where is it hardest to afford a home?

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TRIVIA

Which six letter word can go after "corn", "wall" and "sun" to make three new words?

Answer below

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ANSWER

Flower

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