Social media has changed our lives. Armed only only a phone, we can FaceTime relatives around the world, see our friends travelling the world on Instagram, check someone’s location on Snapchat, and watch a highlight video of their trip on TikTok. But there’s a difference between being connected - and having meaningful interactions. We don’t often find that on social media. Now, a number of new studies are now backing up that feeling. When social media or high speed internet came into our lives, ...
Apr 06, 2023•17 min
TikTok is having a bit of a moment. Coinciding with its raging popularity, TikTok’s CEO has been facing a US congress hearing over security concerns stemming from its Chinese parent company, Bytedance. We’ve already seen countries like New Zealand, France and the UK banning TikTok from government devices. Yesterday, Australia also joined in banning the app from government devices. The US government though is considering banning TikTok entirely unless it sells its American arm of the business, de...
Apr 04, 2023•16 min
It’s only been just over ten years since the American state of Colorado legalised recreational marijuana. It felt like big news at the time, but now the world has seen a big push towards legalisation. Uruguay followed in 2013, then Georgia, South Africa and Canada in 2018, Mexico and Malta in 2021 and most recently Thailand in 2022. In the United States, there's now 21 states that've legalised marijuana for recreational use. An estimated 180 million people around the world use cannabis recreatio...
Apr 02, 2023•20 min
Today we’re tackling a controversial topic. Whether or not we should have Daylight Savings Time. It’s a common practice globally - but not everyone agrees. Those who follow it, mostly love it. Those who don’t, seem to hate it. It’s so polarising that Lebanon actually split into two different time zones last week after the Government decided not to change the clocks but half the country did it anyway. In Australia, those living on the NSW and QLD border would know the pain all too well - for 6 mo...
Mar 30, 2023•18 min
Afterpay - is the definition of a recent Aussie success story. The buy-now-pay-later service that catapulted to the front of the pack when that wave of services came through a couple of years ago. And if you’re on financial media - like we are - you’re always encountering the headline - which stock is the next Afterpay? Reminding us of what a golden run it had during the pandemic. The company was acquired for $29 billion USD in 2021 by Block, formerly known as Square, one of the hottest fintech ...
Mar 28, 2023•15 min
Today, we’re trying something a little different. You’re used to Sascha introducing one story that we’ll talk about for the next fifteen or so minutes, but today we want to tackle three. There's no reason why, we just really like these stories... but honestly, we didn’t quite think there was quite enough to pump out a full episode. So we just thought - why not talk about them together! So here we are - we’ll tackle 5 minutes, three stories. How has monkey labour led to a change in Hello Fresh’s ...
Mar 26, 2023•15 min
A million people have taken to the streets in France. Why? Because the Government has forced through a new law increasing the pension age from 62 to 64. The move from President Emmanuel Macron has not been popular. Two thirds of the French population disagree with the change. It’s seen his popularity plummet to just 28%. But Macron says - this is a change that had to be done and he’s not the only world leader considering changing retirement policies. Globally, we have an ageing population. So go...
Mar 23, 2023•16 min
The global banking system is under some extreme stress. Over the past few weeks, three U.S. banks have failed. And Swiss bank Credit Suisse has been acquired by its biggest rival after it also ran into trouble. It's natural to be worried. Is this the start of a run on the banks? A financial crisis? Or is this a lot of media hype? Most importantly, when it comes to American banks on the other side of the world - how concerned should we be here in Australia? Today Darcy and Sascha ask - is this th...
Mar 21, 2023•15 min
Recently, it was revealed that The Mormon Church - aka Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - had a secret $100 billion investment portfolio. That headline caught our attention, because it sparked so many questions: How do you keep $100 billion dollars a secret? Why did it need to be secret in the first place? How does the church amass so much money? Do all churches have that much money? Today Sascha and Alec understand more about the Mormon Church’s $100 billion portfolio. Tell us what y...
Mar 19, 2023•18 min
Apple has been secretly working on a revolutionary healthcare project for years. One they started when Steve Jobs was still CEO. Here's a clue about what it involves... Did you know 11.5% of global health expenditure is spent on diabetes? That’s USD$966 billion! Roughly 1 in 10 Americans are diabetic - in Australia, it is roughly 1 in 20. Every day, most diabetics prick their skin to test their blood sugar levels. Apple’s secret project has been working on technology to test blood sugar without ...
Mar 16, 2023•14 min
By now, you’d’ve heard of ChatGPT. And after playing with it for a couple of minutes - had that moment of existential dread as you think - how long until this technology takes my job? Don't worry, ChatGPT is still often getting things wrong. Here at Equity Mates HQ, we asked it for a blurb on an Australian software company. It gave us a description for a real estate investment trust - that’s just not right. We shared a few other examples in our Thought Starters email last week - including ChatGP...
Mar 14, 2023•20 min
Over the past decade, the biggest agricultural revolution since the domestication of livestock has been taking place. Cultured meat. Cultivated meat. Lab-grown meat. Cell-based meat. No kill meat. Whatever you call it, what started as Dutch researcher Mark Post’s effort to prove you could produce meat without killing animals - has since exploded into one of the hottest trends in agriculture. In 2020, VC funding for lab-grown meat crossed $1 billion dollars. In 2021, it crossed $2 billion. More t...
Mar 12, 2023•17 min
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission - ASIC - has just brought forward its first ever greenwashing case. It's accused Mercer Superannuation of misleading customers about its sustainable plus fund, one of its superannuation investment options. The Sustainable Plus options were marketed as suitable for members who ‘are deeply committed to sustainability’ due to the fact they excluded investments in companies involved in carbon intensive fossil fuels, alcohol production and gambling...
Mar 09, 2023•16 min
The Reserve Bank has been looking into the use of a central bank digital currency here in Australia. The world is rapidly moving towards a cashless society - Cash was used for 59% of point-of-sale transactions in 2022, down from 72% in 2019. But in Australia less than 25% of transactions use cash, in the UK it’s just 15% and in Norway, only 3% of payment transactions are cash! So our currency is basically digital already. So when the RBA announced plans to create a Central Bank Digital Currency ...
Mar 07, 2023•19 min
The government has announced they want to tax earnings above $3 million in super at 30% instead of the current 15%. That's frustrating if you're one of the 0.5% of Australians with that kind of money in your account. But most of us don't have $3 million stashed away... actually the average account has a measly $150,000 in it. Forbes reports that by the age of 25-29, the average man will have around $45,100 in their super fund, and woman will have $39,400. So... just who is affect by these new ch...
Mar 05, 2023•16 min
Onions, a staple in many dishes worldwide, are currently facing a serious shortage. This shortage, along with other food crises, raises concerns about food security . It’s a global problem. Especially because onions are the staple of cuisines across the world, the most consumed vegetable after tomatoes. If you put all the carrots, turnips, chillies, garlic and peppers the world together - that’s the equivalent of just how many onions are produced. About 106 million metric tons. Now though, the t...
Mar 02, 2023•16 min
Companies are exploring ways to offer more flexibility and better work-life balance to their employees. One trend gaining traction is the four-day workweek. In a pilot program in Britain, 56 out of 61 businesses decided to continue with the four-day workweek, recognizing its benefits. Benefits for employees include better work-life balance and reduced burnout. According to the pilot program, 70% of employees reported lower levels of burnout at the end of the trial. Benefits for employers include...
Feb 28, 2023•15 min
Pokies, poker machines, slot machines. Whatever you call them, they've been popular in Australia since the 1950s when pubs and clubs were looking for ways to entertain their customers. Then in the 1990s, they became electronic - making them more sophisticated and addictive. The government saw pokies as a potential source of revenue and began issuing licenses for their installation in clubs and pubs across the country. Today, the industry generates over $5 billion annually, making it one of the l...
Feb 26, 2023•18 min
When was the last time you sent a letter? With the rise of digital communication, the traditional act of mailing a letter has become increasingly rare. Australia Post, one of the country's most iconic institutions, is feeling the impact of this trend. In the past six months, the company has reported a loss of nearly $200 million in its letter division. With the CEO, Paul Graham, warning of an unstoppable decline in letter volume, the question remains – are the days of letters numbered? Please gi...
Feb 23, 2023•16 min
Rev up your engines, folks! It's time to explore the incredible world of Formula One racing and the groundbreaking technology that drives it. If you're a fan of this high-speed sport, you know that it's not just about racing around a track at breakneck speeds, it's about pushing the boundaries of engineering and technology. Fast cars, competitive team principles, and charismatic drivers are just the tip of the iceberg. What really sets Formula One apart is its unrelenting pursuit of innovation. ...
Feb 21, 2023•15 min
Lithium is a hot commodity - integral to the world’s move towards sustainability, as its an essential component in electric vehicles. Is it unsurprising then that global demand has skyrocketed? German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently flew to Latin America to secure more lithium supplies. Why? Almost half of the global lithium resources are located in the so-called lithium triangle between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. And for Scholz, this trip wasn’t just about boosting supplies to help the likes...
Feb 19, 2023•15 min
Last year, a record 180 rockets were successfully launched into orbit - many of them carrying satellites. This meant at the end of 2022, there were 8261 satellites orbiting the Earth. Interestingly though increasingly more satellites are being launched by private companies rather than governments. In 2021, private-sector funding in space-related companies topped $10 billion dollars, an all-time high and a tenfold increase over the past decade. The percentage of global space R&D funding comin...
Feb 16, 2023•17 min
February 14th has many of us looking around and asking: What percentage of flowers are purchased on Valentine's Day? There’s just no escaping the mass of flowers seen in florists, or on your social media feeds, regardless if you’ve a Valentine or not. Here’s an interesting fact about Valentine’s Day. It alone makes up around 10% of the annual demand for cut flowers. That's all in one day! But most of the flowers you see have actually come from the other side of the world. The supply chain for fl...
Feb 14, 2023•17 min
The value of these $7 million 30-second ad slots are explored. With over 200 million viewers worldwide, the Super Bowl is a cultural phenomenon in its own right. The advertising during the biggest spectacle in American sports commands a high price, with a 30-second advertising space setting you back $7 million dollars - and that's just the starting price! You have production costs, agency fees and celebrity appearance costs to factor in as well. So, is the investment worth it? Join Alec and Sasc...
Feb 13, 2023•21 min
2023 is the year of major advancements in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. With the rise of generative AI, people are becoming more fascinated with AI language models like ChatGPT and AI art like Dall-E. However, the real game-changer in 2023 may not be AI but the rapid progression in Robotics. Boston Dynamics and other companies are bringing us closer to the integration of agile and intelligent robots in our daily lives. Join Sascha and Alec as they delve into the future of Robotics and AI...
Feb 10, 2023•19 min
Beyonce became the most decorated musical artist in Grammy history this week - claiming her 32nd award win. From her years with Destiny's Child, through to her legacy as a celebrated pop icon, she's not needed these awards to help cement her status as iconic, but a record breaking haul of Grammys over the years has certainly helped, and not hindered, her career. She's not alone. Forbes found there was a ' Grammys bounce ' of both concert ticket sales, and producer fees - to an average of 55% - i...
Feb 08, 2023•17 min
A price war is brewing in the electric vehicle market. While prices of EVs remain significantly more expensive than cars and trucks with traditional engines, prices are starting to come down. With a flurry of new competitors entering the market, some of the established players are dropping their prices to attract more buyers. It’s Monday the 6th of February and today Darcy and Sascha talk about the state of the electric vehicle market - is it suddenly about to become more affordable? Tell us wha...
Feb 06, 2023•17 min
Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, faced a major blow last week after a US-based investment research firm - Hindenburg Research - accused them of "the biggest con in corporate history". The report resulted in a significant decrease in the value of Adani’s businesses, totalling over $100 billion. It's important to note Adani denies the claims made by Hindenburg Research and highlights the fact that the report was released to create a reaction from the market, allowing Hindenburg to profit as an...
Feb 03, 2023•17 min
Everyone is talking about Chat GPT. We did an episode about this revolutionary new step in Artificial Intelligence when it launched last year. What does GPT stand for? Generative Pretrained Transformer. And transforming is certainly what it is doing. The numbers don't lie - it crossed 1 million users within a week - when it took Instagram 2.5 months, Facebook 10 months, and Twitter nearly 24 months to reach those same user numbers. On 23rd January, Microsoft finally confirmed a new multi-year in...
Feb 01, 2023•18 min
Australia is in the midst of a rental crisis. In this midst of this prolonged period of low rental vacancy rates and increasing rent levels, Corelogic published data earlier in the month that said the National Vacancy rate had almost halved in the past twelve months - down to 1.2% from 2.1%. Since the start of the upswing in September 2020, Australian rent values have lifted 22.2%, marking the largest rental upswing on record - based on the CoreLogic hedonic rental index back series. What does t...
Jan 30, 2023•17 min
