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    Chanticleer

    Today

    Andrew Forrest’s big wins arrived in the form of tax incentives that will boost both his publicly listed giant Fortescue Metals Group and private interests.

    Why Andrew Forrest is a big budget winner

    Jim Chalmers’ $23 billion bet on turning Australia into a green industry superpower ignores many of the issues on the top of the business sector’s wishlist.

    • 1 hr ago
    • James Thomson
    Anglo American’s Duncan Wanblad said it was the “most radical changes to Anglo American in decades”.

    Anglo American shapes up for $64b fight with BHP

    Anglo American has pulled out a takeover defence with the works. Now, it has to convince shareholders not to side with BHP.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    Wages are up and employment is strong, but households are under pressure.

    Where Australians are spending their larger pay packets

    Australian household income is up, but so is spending on some undesirables. The result is what our retail CEOs are talking a lot about - shopping for value.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    BHP chief executive Mike Henry will be up in front of shareholders on Tuesday night, promising the company will stay disciplined in its pursuit of Anglo American.

    BHP turns Anglo pursuit into $64b chess game

    BHP has bid against itself and disclosed it, in an effort to put pressure on the London-listed miner. The next move is Anglo’s, and only hours away.

    • Updated
    • Anthony Macdonald
    GameStop’s market capitalisation surged $US4 billion to $US9.3 billion ($14 billion) in a single session after Keith Gill’s cryptic social media post.

    Meme stock stupidity is back at the dumbest possible time

    The $6 billion jump in the value of crappy US retailer GameStop is a sign of pure speculative excess. 

    • James Thomson
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    Yesterday

    Rio Tinto boss Jakob Stausholm is feeling like Rio is putting its recent history behind it.

    How Rio Tinto executives can get paid more this year

    Rio Tinto has made a step-change to executive remuneration. Bonus payments could increase materially, but not for the usual reasons.

    • Updated
    • Anthony Macdonald
    The lower inflation Jim Chalmers forecasts will require a sharper slowdown.

    Investors shouldn’t believe Chalmers on inflation just yet

    For inflation to get back to target by Christmas, more pockets of pain will have to emerge. But the corporate sector is holding up well. 

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    Jim Simons.

    The five rules of Wall Street legend Jim Simons still ring true

    The death of Jim Simons, the quant king hailed by many as the world’s greatest investor, is a reminder that greatness is rarely made by running with the pack.

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    PEXA CEO Glenn King has Joe Pepper (right) tackling the UK market.

    PEXA’s offshore venture shows much-needed proof of life

    Going global has brought plenty of successful Australian businesses undone. This unheralded tech unicorn needed proof it was making headway – and it found some 10 days ago.

    • Anthony Macdonald

    This Month

    Perpetual chief executive Rob Adams: the company bit off more than it could chew by paying too much for rival funds manager Pendal – and using debt to fund the deal.

    There’s a bigger story behind Perpetual’s sad break-up

    The break-up of Perpetual is a story of mismanagement, but it also speaks to the structural changes sweeping across Australia’s financial sector.

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    The energy transition and digitisation are the big themes for the rest of this decade, although both are only as good as government policy settings.

    What we learnt as CEOs meet capital markets kings, queens

    It’s been three days of watching CEOs pitch to fund managers and hearing their off-record feedback at Macquarie’s annual conference. Both sides are more upbeat.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    CBA chief executive Matt Comyn says the bank lost market share by staying out of the mortgage wars.

    CBA shows this is not your parents’ slowdown

    CBA’s chief executive started banging the drum on loss-making mortgages early last year. Now, the broader banking sector appears to be thinking along the same lines.

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    Orica CEO Sanjeev Gandhi is worried about the cracks he’s seeing in Australian manufacturing.

    ‘Why would I invest a single cent in Australia?’ asks Orica boss

    The explosives giant’s CEO, Sanjeev Gandhi, is getting a little tired of hearing about the Albanese government’s much hyped Future Made in Australia policy.

    • James Thomson
    Departures lounge: Perpetual chairman Tony D’Aloisio and chief executive Rob Adams.

    How 138-year-old Perpetual came unstuck

    It is a sad day for Australian funds management. The Perpetual equities team, which stood up to Woolworths, Crown, Brambles, Ramsay and IAG will have to find a new name.

    • Updated
    • Anthony Macdonald
    Goodman Group CEO Greg Goodman says the company is enmeshed in the AI ecosystem.

    How Goodman Group’s data centre dream could be super-sized

    The next generation of data centres will require even more land. That’s something Greg Goodman says his group can provide. 

    • James Thomson
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    Jon Gray says the investment themes of AI, energy and private credit are colliding.

    Blackstone’s Jon Gray reveals ‘defining theme for the next decade’

    The Wall Street titan says three megatrends that have driven Blackstone to $1.9 trillion in assets under management are now combining in a unique way. 

    • James Thomson
    Stanley Druckenmiller says the Fed set financial conditons on fire at exactly the wrong time.

    ‘I’m not Buffett’: Druckenmiller on Nvidia, Trump and the Fed’s error

    Wall Street legend Stan Druckenmiller has profited from the Federal Reserve’s dovish pivot, though he says it could get harder for investors to time AI’s boom.

    • James Thomson
    Orora went big with an offshore M&A deal right as its core business was softening.

    The chart that gives Goldman confidence M&A is on the up

    Be wary of bankers talking deal pipelines. But what you can rely on them for is a good chart. Goldman Sachs’ M&A boss Marissa Freund didn’t disappoint.

    • Updated
    • Anthony Macdonald
    The unemployment data re-enforces why RBA governor Michele Bullock sounds so cautious about the prospect of rate cuts.

    RBA is still betting on Goldilocks. Investors shouldn’t follow suit

    With the ASX 200 back near record levels, investors are betting Michele Bullock is right on a soft landing. But with uncertainty high, a more all-weather approach looks sensible.

    • Updated
    • James Thomson
    Shayne Elliott says ANZ can pursue growth and return capital to investors at the same time.

    The sneaky bad news in the banks’ $4.5b buyback bonanza

    ANZ joined the bank buyback party on Tuesday. Investors love getting excess capital back, but do these buybacks show the banks are short of growth options?

    • Updated
    • James Thomson

    The Australian Financial Review Magazine

    BOSS Financial Review

    Telstra boss Vicki Brady

    Life & Leisure

    Rich List

    Tim Gurner.

    Gurner-Roberts merger plan sinks

    • Michael Bleby and Larry Schlesinger