2021 was a record year for start-ups with US$671bn funding from venture capital funding. Rising interest rates, market volatility, high inflation, record fuel prices & other factors cause investors to spend less on start-ups. The Nasdaq has fallen 20% YTD as investors flee growth stocks. Following a record year for…

48% of businesses say they will not raise prices, primarily due to the desire to retain customers. One third of Aussie businesses are set to hike the price of goods and services over the next three months. Qantas and Uber have already moved to increase the price of services to…

Metricon, Australia’s largest home builder, is rumoured to be on the brink of collapse. Both Probuild and Condev went under earlier in 2022. Rising materials costs, supply chain constraints, low margins and pandemic-related restrictions have created the perfect storm for the construction industry. The fragility of Australia’s building sector could…

Lithium, cobalt and nickel are the key metals used in electric vehicle batteries. McKinsey predicts the market for lithium batteries globally will grow to at least $360bn by 2030. Investors pile into lithium producer shares following a number of companies announcing supply agreements with leading EV manufacturers. As a growing…

Australia’s CPI rose big time in the March Quarter, the highest rise since the introduction of the GST. New dwelling construction costs soared 6.7% above the March 2021 quarter amid raw material shortages, labour constraints & supply chain disruptions. Automotive fuel prices rose at the strongest annual rate in over…

Netflix posted a decline of 200,000 net subscribers in Q1 & expects a further 2 million subscribers to drop off in Q2. Netflix’s share price plunged 35% in one trading session to a YTD low of US$212. Despite the challenges, Netflix maintains a 45% global market share in the streaming…

Meta-owned Instagram’s foray into NFTs could drive up to US$8 billion in net annual revenue. The total addressable market for the non-interchangeable units of data is estimated to be more than US$1 trillion. Ukraine’s government is looking into NFTs as a way to finance its war with Russia. The market…

Aged care providers rallied on record government spend on the sector. Ampol jumped 1.13% on the government???s halved excise fuel tax. archTIS rocketed 18% on the government???s $9.9bn cyber security package. There were some key winners and losers in Australia???s …

Well, that was in-EV-itable Brent crude oil rose 5.3% to US$121.60/barrel again last week. Tesla shares rallied 25% over the last month, while Nio & Lucid also gained 3% and 2.45% respectively. Demand for EVs is surging due to government subsidies & rising cost of fuel, with Tesla delivering 87.4%…