CommSec

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No it’s binball finals at the CommSec Games! 🤾 🗑️   Our week long CommSec Games saw many CommSec team members on a quest for victory in Connect Four, Binball and Table Tennis. It was a week of fun, camaraderie, friendly competition and some  absolutely thrilling scenes if we do say so ourselves.   A big congratulations to those who took home a medal 🥇🥈🥉   #teamwork #officelife

It’s Scams Awareness Week, an important time to reflect on and discuss with your colleagues or loved ones that anyone can fall victim to a scam.   Here’s some practical tips on how to protect yourself or your business from the risk of losing money to investment scams.   STOP 🛑   ▪️Be suspicious of ‘investment opportunities’ offering high returns with little to no risk. ▪️Stay alert to online interactions, especially through social media ads endorsed by public figures or popular TV programs. ▪️Look out for sponsored ads and AI technology that impersonate well-known public figures. These may be used to give a false sense of legitimacy to the investment scam. CHECK 🔎 ▪️Sense check investment opportunities with friends and family before committing to anything. They may help identify warning signs or red flags that you might have missed.  ▪️Research and check reviews by searching the investment name with the word ‘scam.’  ▪️Consult ASIC's list of companies you should not deal with by using the ASIC search portal. If the company that called you is on the list, do not communicate with them. ▪️Understand how to check if a company or a person is licensed on MoneySmart. REJECT ❌ ▪️Do not provide your details to unsolicited calls or emails about investments, especially from unknown sources. Hang up or delete the email. ▪️If you are being pressured to make a decision about your money or investments, hang up, block, report and do not respond to any subsequent attempts to contact you. ▪️Understand that if you participate in such investments, chances of recovering your funds, let alone seeing your returns are extremely slim.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its official cash rate steady at a more than 12-year high of 4.35% for a sixth successive meeting today, as widely expected, after its closely watched core or trimmed mean inflation measure rose by less-than-expected in the June quarter. The RBA Board retained its neutral forward guidance in its statement, but the tone of commentary was hawkish, with policymakers reiterating that, "Data have reinforced the need to remain vigilant to upside risks to inflation and the Board is not ruling anything in or out." Underlying inflation is now expected to slow to 3.5% by year-end, compared to 3.4% previously. It was seen declining to 2.9% by late 2025 and 2.6% by the end of 2026. The RBA aims to keep core inflation in a 2%-3% target band over time. CBA Group economists see the RBA on hold until the November Board meeting when we expect the RBA to commence an easing cycle. Markets are now pricing in a 63% chance of a rate cut by November. During RBA Governor Michele Bullock’s press conference, the S&P/ASX 200 index pared gains, up 0.6%, but down from its intraday high of up 0.8%, after the Governor pushed back against market forecasts for rate cuts in the coming months. This propelled the AUD/USD higher by 0.3% to US65.19 cents and 3-year bond yields to 3.63%, the day’s high. #RBA #interestrates

MST Financial, Senior Research Analyst, Brian Johnson speaks with Tom Piotrowski, sharing insights on the financial sector, including major banks. They discuss the key reasons behind the dispersion in bank valuations and their primary drivers.   You’ll find a link to the full video in the comments 👇

“Undoubtedly, we are lagging the rest of our developed economy peers in beginning the cutting cycle.” - Anna Milne, CFA, Senior Investment Analyst, WAM Leaders. In our recent Executive Series interview, Tom Piotrowski was recently joined by WAM Leaders (WLE), Senior Investment Analyst, Anna Milne.   The pair discussed the upcoming reporting season, the market’s recent performance and the impact of potential interest rate moves.   You’ll find a link to the full video in the comments 👇

A solid job market and construction activity has seen South Australia top the economic performance leaderboard in the latest CommSec State of the States report for the third quarter in a row, just ahead of second-placed Western Australia. The State of the States report assesses the performance of state and territory economies compared with the averages of the past decade or ‘normal’. For each #economy, the latest level of the indicator—such as retail spending or economic growth—is compared with the decade average. South Australia was the most consistent performer, taking out top spot on three of the report’s eight key economic indicators - relative unemployment, construction work done, and dwelling starts. Western Australia remains in the second spot and is fast closing-in on first place – leading on relative population growth and home lending. Want to see how your state performed? Head to the link in in the comments 👇 #ausecon

We recently came together for another incredible Innovation & Learning Day.   This time, the spotlight was on problem solving, with over 200 dedicated team members collaborating to tackle challenges and enhance our customer experience.   A special congratulations to our Innovation & Learning Day Awards winners!   The energy, collaboration, and creativity displayed by everyone were truly inspiring.

Antipodes Global (ASX: AGX1) Portfolio Manager, Vihari Ross recently joined Tom Piotrowski in the studio for our Executive Series.   The pair discussed her views on the ‘Magnificent 7’, which includes NVIDIA, Apple, Tesla, Meta and Microsoft. She also discusses potential opportunities for thematic investments beyond larger tech.   You'll find a link to the full interview in the comments 👇 #investing #tech

The Aussie #sharemarket lifted by +7.8% over the past financial year. Here’s a glimpse at some of the best & worst of the Aussie market FY24.   While a lot happened over the last financial year, the Aussie share market was mostly driven by a few (likely unsurprising factors): 1. Inflation 2. Interest Rates 3. China's sluggish economy (which hurt our mining stocks)   Another key catalyst for global share markets was the #AI boom, which started receiving a lot of attention around January this year. While it helped some of our tech stocks lift, the industry's unprecedented growth led US stocks to repeated record highs.  

The RBA kept the cash rate at a 12-year high of 4.35%, as expected, where they have been since a hike in November last year. Here’s what you need to know: Wrapping up its June meeting, the RBA Board repeated that it was “not ruling anything in or out” on policy, implying a neutral stance. Policymakers also reiterated "the need to remain vigilant to upside risks to inflation." It also noted recent domestic economic data had been “mixed”, with inflation remaining above target, despite “slow” economic (GDP) growth, rising unemployment and “weaker-than-expected” wages growth. Policymakers added, “Recent budget outcomes may also have an impact on demand, although federal and state energy rebates will temporarily reduce headline inflation,” while conceding that “the persistence of services price inflation is a key uncertainty.” A first quarter-point easing is not fully priced until April 2025, with only 52 basis points of cuts seen by the end of 2025. Australian shares advanced on Tuesday. The S&P/ASX 200 index eased from session highs of 7,780.4 points just ahead of the RBA’s decision to 7,764 points but was up 71 points or 0.9% to 7,771.6 points at the time of writing. CommBank (CBA) Group economists believe the August Board meeting is potentially ‘live’ following the release of June quarter consumer prices. Our base case sees the RBA on hold until November 2024 where we have pencilled in the start of an easing cycle. To learn more about today’s interest rate decision, listen in to the evening episode of the CommSec Market update. Available wherever you get your podcasts. #RBA #interestrates