Bargain

Labor looks to negotiate with the Coalition to get several pieces of legislation through parliament. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGovernment listening to ‘money and power’ on gambling says independent MPKate Chaney, who was on the inquiry with the late Labor MP Peta Murphy that handed down the landmark ‘you win some, you lose more’ report on gambling harm, says so far it seems the talks between the Coalition and Labor on a gambling reform package are “disappointing”.In 2017, when the last round of partial restrictions came in, the money just moved around. And for example, gambling ads after 8:30 more than doubled, increased 131%. And I suspect that that’s what we’re going to see here too: is the money moving around.I think it is about the government listening to the money and the power, not the people. The gambling companies make big political donations. They are present lobbyists in this building. We’re hearing their talking points coming out of the Prime Minister’s mouth. And the media companies and the sports codes make a lot of money out of gambling too. Unfortunately, Australians pay the cost for that. And the average Australian household loses more in gambling than they pay for in electricity. So this is our blind spot.I think that that whole interview was pretty cringe. Let’s face it, the Prime Minister didn’t really cover himself with glory with that And it’s disturbing to hear that the the Japanese government has expressed some concerns about it.We’re talking about a a really special gift that the Japanese state has given to the country. And if I was the PM, I’d pick up the phone to the Japanese Prime Minister and apologise to her on on this one.When the the Prime Minister’s crude and dirty podcast banter is formally raised by the Japanese government. Anthony Albanese just has an embarrassed himself. He’s embarrassed Australia. This is now a a diplomatic incident because of the the appalling behaviour of the Prime Minister. Continue reading...

• The KOSPI index rebounded by over 2%, marking its first gain in three days as investors engaged in bargain hunting following a sharp short-term decline. • This recovery occurred despite overnight losses in the New York stock market, which were triggered by escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran. • The rebound is primarily attributed to a shift in sentiment among foreign investors who viewed the recent price drops as an opportunity to buy undervalued assets.

• AI inference is rapidly becoming a commodity market, with costs for equivalent capabilities dropping 55x in less than four years to approximately $0.40. • The market experienced a sudden repricing in January 2025 following the release of DeepSeek's R1 model, which offered input and output tokens at $0.55 and $2.19 per million, respectively. • This stands in stark contrast to OpenAI's o1-preview, launched four months prior, which priced the same services significantly higher at $15 and $60 per million tokens.

• South Korean stocks surged nearly 6 percent on Friday, July 3, as investors engaged in bargain buying following a steep sell-off in the previous session. • The rally was primarily driven by a strong rebound in semiconductor shares, which had previously seen significant price drops. • This recovery coincided with a strengthening of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar, signaling a shift in market sentiment.

• The FTSE 100 Index surged 174.53 points (+1.67%) to close at 10,652.87 on Thursday, July 2, 2026. • The rebound was driven by a wave of bargain hunting and sector rotation, which significantly lifted sentiment across the London market. • This upward movement is highlighted by momentum indicators turning more constructive, signaling a potential shift in market trend.

• Fund managers are increasingly purchasing European software stocks after a period of significant decline in valuations. • The shift is driven by a decrease in investor fears that artificial intelligence will disrupt or replace traditional software business models. • This trend marks a strategic pivot toward "bargain hunting" in a sector that was previously avoided due to AI-related volatility.

Union leaders say veto from Democrat Abigail Spanberger is an about-face from promises she made on campaign trailVirginia’s Democratic governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill Thursday that would have restored collective bargaining rights for 50,000 public sector workers in the state. Union leaders say the veto is a “betrayal” and “slap in the face” after the governor campaigned last year on promises to restore collective bargaining rights.Though majorities in both chambers of Virginia’s general assembly passed legislation that would restore bargaining rights to most public sector workers, Spanberger introduced an amended version of the bill last month that was eventually rejected by the assembly. Continue reading...