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Chanticleer

This Month

February 24, 2025

These two issues should frame the election. Don’t hold your breath

Tension between Australia’s cost-of-living crisis and our record household wealth lies at the heart of this federal poll. Real, long-term thinking is needed.

Jon Gray says it’s a good time to expand in Australia.

Here’s Blackstone’s next big target in Australia

Just months after spending $24 billion to buy AirTrunk, Blackstone president Jon Gray has another big Australian market on his agenda.

Lord Mark Sedwill from Rothschild & Co in Melbourne.

British lord and adviser reveals secrets on what makes Trump tick

There is method to Trump’s madness according to this Rothschild representative, who has previously negotiated steel tariffs with the US president.

Matt Stanton suddenly has a big pile of cash to chase growth and/or reward shareholders.

The curious case of the company with half its market cap to give back

Nine Entertainment looks certain to pocket $1.4 billion from the sale of Domain to US group CoStar. What it does with the cash will be the subject of fierce debate.

Canada’s discount retailer is paying a big price to get into Australia.

The Reject Shop finds a pot of gold at the end of a Canadian rainbow

Dollarama’s cash bid for the ASX minnow resulted in a big premium from a strategic buyer with no regulator risk – shut up and take shareholders’ money.

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Car tariffs more proof that Trump’s new world order is coming

Just two weeks after the US president bought a Tesla from Elon Musk’s electric vehicle maker, he hit the products coming out of its factories.

The big banks have bought nearly $20 billion of their own stock since August 2021.

The easy days of banks buying their own shares are numbered

The big four have bought nearly $30 billion worth of their own shares since August 2021. What happens when that buying stops?

Michele Bullock was so hawkish last month that to cut in April would probably dent the central bank’s credibility.

Inflation data brings two rays of housing crisis hope

Wednesday’s inflation data strengthened the case for another rate cut and contained another slice of good news on housing.

There has been a staggering reversal in consumer confidence since Donald Trump’s victory last November.

US consumers are freaking out. Australian investors should worry

Donald Trump’s tariffs have smashed confidence at the same time as household wealth has taken a whack from falling shares. April 2 looms larger by the day.

Jim Chalmers has delivered a budget with something for everyone in the short-term, but lacking in vision.

Just like the ASX, Chalmers’ pitch is mired in Australian mediocrity

The ASX’s malaise is also evident in the ‘lay-buy’ budget. But solutions require the sort of courage and long-term thinking lacking in business and politics.

Star Entertainment CEO Steve McCann is fighting to stave off its collapse.

Star’s Steve McCann goes all in on Salter Brothers

There is no more time for Plan B or Plan C. Salter Brothers has to work.

Gold’s record run has corporate plays soaring.

Gold fever brings open-pit M&A warfare. Beware investors

In case a $2.2 billion bid for a twice-broke gold hopeful wasn’t enough, a new David vs Goliath battle has broken out in WA gold. Pity the shareholders.

Roc Partners’ Michael Lukin has spent his career at the nexus of superannuation funds and private equity. That he’s trying to now raise money from family offices and high net worth investors is telling.

PE money man Michael Lukin’s chase for the holy grail within reach

For 20 years, private equity funds have planned assaults on Australia’s non-institutional investor set. It’s finally happening, and is possible because of one thing.

Don’t be fooled by the sudden burst of tariff bullishness

The outbreak of hope that greeted Donald Trump’s announcement that he may give “a lot of countries breaks” on the levies looks to be built on shifting sands.

Fridays are normally quiet as fund managers head out to lunch – but not when they coincide with index changes.

$12b traded in seconds: Inside ASX’s record day

A quiet day when $20.3 billion of Australian shares changed hands? It is time to wake up.

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James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter insists the deal ticks all the boxes.

James Hardie’s $14b bet exposes gulf between Aussie and US investors

The industrial logic of James Hardie’s big bet on US giant Azek is sound enough, but the price is already worrying investors. 

Michael Harnett says Donald Trump’s  April 2 tariff reveal will be the market’s  “peak fear day”.

‘Peak fear day’ is coming for markets. Our super sector is exposed

Donald Trump calls it “liberation day” but the date of his next big reveal on tariffs comes at a risky time for Australia’s large superannuation funds.

Solomon Lew says consumers are feeling stressed.

How Solomon Lew will win the tariff war amid ‘worst conditions in 62 years’

Consumers are feeling stressed and conditions are tough, but the retail guru is still looking for growth.

Macquarie’s Viktor Shvets says investors now find themselves in a 1930s world.

Macquarie’s Viktor Shvets sees a world on fire. Here’s how to play it

Investors have been slow to wake up to the scale of change Donald Trump is trying to engineer, in part because it seems so wild. But inertia could be costly.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s extensive look at the supermarket sector won’t change the underlying competitiveness of the market.

Why the ACCC can’t limit Coles and Woolies’ power

The two supermarkets will cop more scrutiny on their practices and globally impressive margins, but their long-term market position and power will stay intact.

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