Today's News Wall Street New York: Markets, Trading News Media Man

Today's News

New York: Markets, Trading News

Cryptos, FinTech, Big Tech, Big Biz

TKO/WWE Lifts In And Out Of The Ring; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offers Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; TKO's LinkedIn Enjoys Strong News Media Buzz

April 27, 2026

(Sydney, Australia)

ASX futures down 3 points/0.03%: 8798
AUD +0.1% at US71.60¢
Bitcoin $79,222.72 +2.34%
Dow -0.2%
S&P +0.8%
Nasdaq +1.6%
Gold +0.3% to $US4709.50 an ounce
Silver 76.540 +0.858
Brent oil +0.3% at $US105.33 a barrel
Iron ore +0.3% at $US107.05 a ton
Coffee 294.90 -5.45

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7130 USD (up $0.0006 USD)
Iron Ore: $107.05 USD (up $0.40 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $94.40 USD (down 2.99 USD)
Gold Price : $4,708.69 USD (up $15.67 USD)
Copper Price): $6.0285 USD (up $0.0060 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,230.71 (down 79.61 points

Before The Bell

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$186.50 +0.24 +0.13%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$344.40
+5.51 +1.63%

News

WWE/Pop Culture

Paul Heyman Praises Lil Yachty Amid WWE Celebrity Backlash

On SmackDown, Yachty celebrated new U.S. Champion Trick Williams' WrestleMania 42 victory over Sami Zayn, but Zayn ambushed them unmasked as a Gingerbread Man with a Helluva Kick. Paul Heyman endorsed Yachty as a respectful crossover star who honors WWE's history and fans, countering backlash from viewers upset over recent talent cuts like Aleister Black and Karrion Kross. While some fans call it unwanted filler, others praise the fun energy as WWE balances celebrities with homegrown stories ahead of Backlash. (Media Man Peg-On): We're going with Heyman on this. Yachty is great and over with the audience for the most part.

News

UFC/MMA

(Australia)

UFC Fight Night in Perth Features Main Event Between Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates

UFC Fight Night is set for Perth, Western Australia, headlined by a welterweight bout between top-ranked fighters Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates. The event, promoted as UFC Perth, airs live on Paramount Plus. (Media Man Peg-On): On paper this Fight Night down under should be stronger/better than some of their previous fight nights are far as match quality.

News

Pop Culture/WWE

Adam Pearce Hypes Stacked WWE Raw in Laredo Tomorrow

WWE Raw hits Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, Texas, tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET exclusively on Netflix, building hype for Backlash with Seth Rollins opening in promo, Becky Lynch returning as three-time Women's Intercontinental Champion, Joe Hendry's first Raw concert, Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Rusev grudge match, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, and Roman Reigns responding to Jacob Fatu's title challenge. Pearce teased the action in a fun video, but fans voice frustrations over Kairi Sane's absence and repeated women's tag bouts. Local buzz mentions possible CM Punk spots, though unconfirmed. (Media Man Peg-On): Always pumped for WWE RAW. Fresh meat, men and women, comig in from NXT. Let's F'N Go! Red turns to green baby!

News

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

AAA Announces New General Manager Reveal on May 23

On the April 25 episode of AAA on Fox, President Marisela Peña announced that Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide will get a new General Manager, with the live reveal set for May 23 in Mexico City. This follows her son Dorian Roldán's recent plea for the role, which she decided to open to other candidates after careful thought. Fans are speculating on names like Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, or even The Undertaker, amid AAA's growth since WWE's majority stake acquisition last April and its new Fox broadcasts blending lucha action with WWE polish. (Media Man Peg-On): Ariba. Triple A has massive influence from The Undertaker, and it's paying off as far as entertainment value for fans and in other creative and business ways from what we see and hear. Can see see Danhausen in Triple H also? Lucha Hausen!

News

Gunman Tries to Breach Security at White House Correspondents' Dinner, Trump Escapes Unharmed

A 31-year-old man from California, Cole Tomas Allen, rushed a security checkpoint at the annual black-tie event, armed with a handgun, shotgun, and knives; he left a manifesto targeting Trump. One Secret Service agent was hit in his bulletproof vest but not seriously injured, and no other casualties occurred. Trump praised the agents as heroes and renewed calls for a secure White House ballroom, while bipartisan leaders condemned the violence amid criticism of event security lapses. (Media Man Peg-On): Talk about a high risk occupation, and we thought Army and journalism was a tough gig!

April 23

(Wall St, New York) : April 24 (Sydney, Australia)

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black Friday - Black-ish Thursday into Friday

Post WrestleMania; Road To WWE Backlash 2026

WWE Management And Wrestlers Bullish; Wrestling and Boxing

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

Traditional Big Tech Sector Takes Big Hit April 23

Media Man Group Weekly Series

News Lead Up

ASX 200 futures down 4 points: 0.1% to 8828
AUD -0.4% to US71.30¢
Bitcoin $78,168.22 +0.52%
Dogecoin $0.09776 +2.24%
Ripple aka XRP $1.4374 +1.48%

Wall St:
Dow -0.4%
S&P -0.4%
Nasdaq -0.9%

VIX +0.39 to 19.31
Gold -1% to $US4694.14 an ounce
Brent oil +4.5% to $US106.44 a barrel
Iron ore -0.6% to $US106.65 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.32% Australia 5.00%

News Lead Up

April 24 (Sydney, Australia)

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7124 USD (down $0.0036 USD) Iron Ore: $106.65 USD (down $0.45 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $97.39 USD (up 4.52 USD)
Gold Price : $4,693.02 USD (down $46.76 USD)
Copper Price: $6.0225 USD (down $0.1145 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,310.32 (down 179.71 points)

News

Bulls control Crude Oil

The conflict in the Middle East has altered the dynamics of the oil market.

The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, the higher the risks of a Brent rally. Don’t expect things to return to normal. Before the conflict in the Middle East, the oil market was in the hands of the bears. Demand was falling due to the shift towards alternative energy sources, whilst supply was rising. OPEC+ was gradually increasing production to avoid losing market share and investors were talking about a record surplus. Today, the IEA estimates the loss of supply at 12 million barrels per day, which is more than during the Arab oil embargo of 1973–1974 and the Iranian Revolution of 1978–1979 combined. However, it would be rather naive to think that the end of the war will cause prices to plummet. Even after the Strait of Hormuz reopens, it will take months to restore production in the damaged energy infrastructure of the Persian Gulf. At the same time, countries are seriously concerned about energy security and will work hard to boost oil demand. Interestingly, the current decline in demand is preventing Brent from soaring too high. Vitol, a crude oil trader, estimates a demand loss of around 4 million barrels per day due to excessively high prices. If we add Saudi Arabia’s workarounds, the increase in US crude exports, and active purchases by China and India of Russian barrels stranded at sea, then the stabilisation of Brent near $100 starts to look logical. The math suggests that the actual deficit is closer to 5% than 10%. The problem is that the crude on Russian tankers at sea is running out, the US’s ability to ramp up supply is limited by existing infrastructure, and a resumption of fire in the Middle East could lead to the Houthis blocking Saudi Arabia’s alternative routes. With this background, Citi’s forecast of Brent rising to $110 a barrel should the Strait of Hormuz be blocked for another month will seem far too modest. The longer the US and Iran delay reaching a peace agreement, the more devastating the oil crisis risks being for the global economy. However, optimism has not yet faded. Investors are operating on the assumption that ‘it could be worse’. A fragile peace in the form of an indefinite ceasefire is better than war. The transit fee paid to Iran is seen as compensation for the bombing of its territory. (FxPro)

News Flashback

March 2026

plus

Past, Present and Future

News Flashback

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$195.41 +6.21 +3.28%

News Flashback

TKO's WWE Gets John Cena For WrestleMania Vegas 2026

John Cena to host WrestleMania 42

John Cena is stepping back onto The Grandest Stage of Them All as the host of WrestleMania 42. The Greatest of All Time broke the news on social media that he is headed to Las Vegas. The 17-time World Champion retired from in-ring competition last December after his loss to Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event but is now making his first return to WWE. Don't miss all the action when WrestleMania 42 STREAMS LIVE on Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, at 6 ET/3 PT on the ESPN App from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

News Flashback

WWE Raw Hits Madison Square Garden with Title Defenses and Big Returns

Penta El Zero Miedo defends the Intercontinental Championship against hometown hero Kofi Kingston, fresh off Kingston's social media challenge. The Usos put the World Tag Team Titles on the line in a Street Fight against Austin Theory and Logan Paul, while Nia Jax and Lash Legend face Bayley and Lyra Valkyria for the Women's Tag Championships. CM Punk confronts Roman Reigns amid their heated feud, Brock Lesnar returns for revenge on Oba Femi, and Finn Bálor addresses a Judgment Day betrayal—all building hype for WrestleMania 42. The show streams live on Netflix at 8 ET from the iconic arena.

News

News Flashback

November 2025

Polymarket Partnership Could Be a Game Changer for TKO Group Holdings (TKO)

Nov 17

(In Case You Missed It)

Polymarket/UFC/TKO

Polymarket recently announced a multi-year partnership making it the Official and Exclusive Prediction Market Partner for UFC and Zuffa Boxing, introducing real-time fan prediction metrics directly into UFC broadcasts and social media experiences.

This collaboration marks the first time major sports organizations have integrated prediction market technology into the live fan experience, creating new ways for audiences to interact and for TKO's sports brands to differentiate themselves.

We'll explore how this innovative fan engagement initiative could strengthen TKO Group Holdings' investment narrative by deepening audience connection and content value.

What Is TKO Group Holdings' Investment Narrative?

To see the value in TKO Group Holdings as a shareholder, you really have to believe in its ability to keep building out top sports entertainment brands like UFC and WWE into global, multi-platform franchises. A lot of the story is about continuing to grow earnings and revenue faster than the overall market, attract loyal audiences, and evolve with changes in media rights, streaming, and digital fan engagement. Recent announcements, such as the multi-year partnership with Polymarket, reflect TKO’s push to unlock new monetization avenues and deepen fan involvement.

However, it’s unlikely this news will materially change the core short-term catalysts, which are still dominated by performance in key international deals, broadcast partnerships, and the rollout of new events. The biggest risks remain legal challenges, compression of media rights value, and questions about board experience. The new fan engagement efforts add differentiation, but don’t directly reduce these core risks for now. On the flip side, investors should pay close attention to ongoing legal proceedings against TKO and UFC.

TKO Group Holdings' shares have been on the rise but are still potentially undervalued by 15%.

Ten retail investors in the Simply Wall St Community produced fair value estimates for TKO ranging from US$63.92 to a very large US$37,618.47. While community views can be widely split, ongoing legal challenges remain a topic several market participants keep circling back to as a concern for TKO’s future performance. Explore these diverse perspectives and see how the risks and opportunities stack up.

Bonus:

TKO Group $200.29 -4.20 -2.05%

News Flashback

Magnificent 7, Markets, Stocks

New York/Wall Street

September 15, 2025

TKO Bullish Mad Monday Off WrestleMania 43 Saudi News: Media Man Edition!

Netflix Inc $1,202.26 +13.82 +1.16%

Alphabet Inc Class A $251.61 +10.81 +4.49%

NVIDIA Corp $177.75 -0.071 -0.040%

Amazon Dotcom Inc $231.43 +3.28 +1.44%

Apple Inc $236.70 +2.63 +1.12%

Meta Platforms $764.70 +9.11 +1.21%

Tesla $410.26 +14.32 +3.62%

Microsoft Corp $515.36 +5.46 1.07%

News

Lead Up

New York/Wall Street

September 12, 2025

TKO Bullish Friday Leading Into Weekend; TKO Bullish Heading To Mad Monday Off WrestleMania 43 Saudi News: Media Man Edition!

Netflix Inc $1,188.44 -15.06 -1.25%
Alphabet Inc Class A $240.80 +0.43 +0.18%
NVIDIA Corp $177.82 +0.65 +0.37%
Amazon Dotcom Inc $228.15 -1.80 -0.78%
Apple Inc $234.07 +4.04 +1.76%

Meta Platforms $755.59 +4.69 +0.62%

Tesla $395.94 +27.13 +7.36%

Bonus:

TKO Group $202.44 +0.060 0.030%

News Flashback

Historical Data and Intel

TKO Group: News

September 13, 2025

Jones Financial Companies Lllp Acquires 77,883 Shares of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. $TKO

Jones Financial Companies Lllp significantly increased its stake in TKO Group Holdings by 149,775%, now owning 77,935 shares valued at approximately $11.9 million.

Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and Invesco, have also raised their stakes in TKO Group, indicating a strong interest in the company, which is now 89.79% owned by institutional investors.

TKO Group recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.76, up from $0.38, reflecting a strong return for investors despite a high dividend payout ratio of 125.62%.

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. by 149,775.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,935 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,883 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in TKO Group were worth $11,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in TKO Group by 425.0% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 168 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in TKO Group during the first quarter worth $26,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in TKO Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of TKO Group in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of TKO Group by 129.8% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.79% of the company's stock.

News Flashback

Insider Buying and Selling at TKO Group

In related news, Director Nick Khan sold 45,168 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total value of $7,715,597.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 156,494 shares in the company, valued at $26,732,305.08. This represents a 22.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,725 shares of company stock valued at $12,767,807. Corporate insiders own 61.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TKO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised TKO Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research upgraded TKO Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on TKO Group from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on TKO Group in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Capital raised their target price on TKO Group from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $192.21.

TKO Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:TKO traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.33. 897,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 683,611. TKO Group Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $114.01 and a 52-week high of $204.10. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $178.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $40.12 billion, a PE ratio of 83.61 and a beta of 0.79.

TKO Group (NYSE:TKO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.06). TKO Group had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 53.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that TKO Group Holdings, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TKO Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from TKO Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. TKO Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.81%.

TKO Group Profile

TKO Group Holdings, Inc operates as a sports and entertainment company. The company produces and licenses live events, television programs, and long-form and short-form content, reality series, and other filmed entertainment on digital and linear channels and via pay-per-view. It is involved in the merchandising of video games, apparel, equipment, trading cards, memorabilia, digital goods, and toys, as well as sale of travel packages and tickets.

News Flashback

Mag 7 Markets Lead Up

Historical Data and Intel

Trades

New York/Wall Street

September 9, 2025

TKO Bullish Friday And Weekend Media Man Edition!

Netflix Inc $1,263.25 +18.49 +1.49%

Alphabet Inc Class A $239.63 +5.59 +2.39%

NVIDIA Corp $170.76 +2.45 +1.46%

Amazon Dotcom Inc $238.24 +2.40 +1.02%

Apple Inc $234.35 -3.53 -1.48%

Meta $765.70 +13.40 +1.78%

Tesla $346.97 +0.57 +0.16%

Microsoft Corp $498.41 +0.21 0.042%

Bonus:

TKO Group $196.43 -4.07 -2.03%

News Flashback

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. is an American sports and sports entertainment company. Established on September 12, 2023, the public company was formed by a merger between Endeavor subsidiary Zuffa—the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship —and the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment. TKO is led by CEO Ari Emanuel and president Mark Shapiro, both of Endeavor; Dana White and Nick Khan retained their roles as CEOs of UFC and WWE respectively upon the merger, while WWE co-founder Vince McMahon served as executive chairman until resigning from the company in January 2024 amid a sex trafficking scandal. The merger marked the first time that WWE has not been solely and primarily majority-controlled by the McMahon family, which founded the company and owned it for over 70 years. As of 2024, the UFC and WWE were the two most valuable combat sports organizations in the world according to Forbes. UFC was listed as the most valued mixed martial arts company with a revenue of $1.406 billion and WWE being the most valued professional wrestling promotion with a revenue of $1.398 billion in 2023. (Wikipedia)

TKO owns iconic properties including UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization; WWE, the global leader in sports entertainment; and PBR, the world’s premier bull riding organization. Together, these properties reach 210 countries and territories and organize more than 500 live events year-round, attracting more than three million fans.

TKO also services and partners with major sports rights holders through IMG, an industry-leading global sports marketing agency; and On Location, a global leader in premium experiential hospitality. (Credit: TKO Group)

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

April 22, 2026

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street New York

Wrestling With Numbers, World Situation and Pop Culture

Media Man Watercooler

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 63 points/0.7% to 8915.
AUD -0.2% to US71.62¢
Bitcoin $77,269.70 +2.19%
Wall St:
Dow -0.6%
S&P -0.6%
Nasdaq -0.6%
VIX +0.63 to 19.50
Gold -2.1% to $US4720.04 an ounce
Silver 77.875 +1.25
Brent oil +3.8% to $US99.14 a barrel
Iron ore -0.2% to $US106.65 a ton
10-year yield: US 4.29% Australia 4.90%

News

April 22

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7150 USD (down $0.0030 USD)
Iron Ore: $106.65 USD (down $0.15 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $90.22 USD (up $2.42 USD)
Gold Price : $4,719.98 USD (down $100.56 USD)
Copper Price: $6.0170 USD (down $0.0285 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,149.38 (down 293.18 points)

ASX closes flat as US-Iran outcome looms

The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Tuesday, with uncertainty about a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran weighing on investor sentiment; the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.04 per cent to close at 8,949.4 points. The ANZ Bank was down 1.7 per cent at $37.28, Woodside Energy finished 1.8 per cent lower at $31.21 and HUB24 shed 8.3 per cent to end the session at $87.50. However, Rio Tinto was up 0.8 per cent at $173.86 and Megaport rose 2.3 per cent to $8.77. (RMS)

The Lead Up

24 Hours Ago

News

ASX steadies amid renewed US-Iran tensions

The Australian sharemarket edged higher on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.07 per cent to close at 8,953.3 points. Iran's move to close the Strait of Hormuz weighed on investor sentiment and boosted the price of Brent crude oil. The Commonwealth Bank was up 1.1 per cent at $180.15 and Wesfarmers advanced 2.4 per cent to $74.63. However, Woodside Energy was down 2.9 per cent at $31.77 and Worley fell 5.8 per cent to $11.13. (RMS)

News

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$183.10
-1.60 -0.87%
Lead Up
$184.70
-1.61 -0.86%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$332.29
-5.13 -1.52%
Lead Up
$337.42
-4.26 -1.25%

Netflix Inc
$92.58
-2.25 -2.37%
Lead Up
$94.83
-2.48 -2.55%

Mp Materials Corp
$65.76
-0.47 -0.71%
Lead Up
$66.23
+5.24 +8.59%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$107.66
-1.13 -1.04%
Lead Up
$108.79
-0.40 -0.37%

Light & Wonder Inc
$88.54
-0.26 -0.29%
Lead Up
$88.80
+0.55 +0.62%

Red Rock Resorts Inc
$55.84
-0.45 -0.80%
Lead Up
$56.29
-0.62 -1.09%

PENN Entertainment Inc
$15.47
-0.37 -2.34%
Lead Up
$15.84
-0.0100 -0.063%

Caesars Entertainment Inc
$27.64
-0.0100 -0.036%
Lead Up
$27.65
+0.43 +1.58%

Caterpillar Inc
$800.45
+2.05 +0.26%
Lead Up
$798.40
+5.26 +0.66%

News

WWE RAW After WrestleMania

T-Mobile Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Crowd Attendance: 12,596

WWE RAW

NXT Stars Ethan Page, Sol Ruca, and Joe Hendry Debut on WWE Raw

WWE Raw welcomed three NXT call-ups after WrestleMania: Ethan Page pinned Je'Von Evans following Rusev's interference and then targeted Intercontinental Champion Penta's title. Sol Ruca interrupted Women's World Champion Liv Morgan's celebration, putting on an athletic showing before Zaria's ambush led to Morgan's victory. Joe Hendry's move to Raw was confirmed live, with a 'RAW Concert' set for April 27 on Netflix, capping a strong night of fresh talent injection as Backlash approaches. (Media Man Peg-On): All great additions. Ruca is our stand out. Keeping things fresh and new match-ups in the works for weekly TV and PLE's.

News

Pop Culture/WWE

CM Punk Slaps Phone from Fan's Hand After WrestleMania Loss

The incident unfolded around midnight on April 20 in the MGM Grand Hotel lobby in Las Vegas, where WWE stars stayed during WrestleMania weekend. Video shows Punk confronting the man, slapping the phone to the floor after AJ Lee reportedly waved off the filming, with the fan apologizing before security intervened. Amid chaotic fan crowds mobbing wrestlers like Drew McIntyre, many backed Punk for protecting his family's private moment, though some called the physical response excessive; similar tensions arose with Damian Priest aiding another talent. (Media Man Peg-On): Way too many "fans" (more like autograph stalkers) are extremly disrespectful towards pro wrestlers and other people in general. We've witnesses this type of situation a number of times over the decades. Ambulance chasers, stay away from pro wrestlers private lives. That goes for red carpet "fans" (more like stalkers also). Much respect to the wrestlers who have to put up with these scum from time to time. Booker T has now also gone public, about a "fan" following him to the bathroom re take take a picture. That's a stalker. See the movie, "The Fan" .. different sport, but same mongrel fake fans and more stalkers!!! The hotel/casinos need much more security to keep stalkers away!

News

WWE

WrestleMania Fan Tumbles Over Railing After Rollins Loss

During Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the fan in full Austin gear lost his footing in the steep nosebleed seats amid the crowd's devastation from Gunther's win with Bron Breakker's help. The bald spectator below took the impact like a crash pad, shook it off without serious injury, and security escorted the tumbler out. The clip spread widely online, with fans joking about the raw passion in the cheap seats while the event featured Cody Rhodes retaining his title and other big matches. (Media Man Peg-On): How many beers or coffees did the fan have? It's free to ask. A number of NFL players we having drinking contests over WrestleMania Weekend.

News

Combat Sports/Boxing

Usyk Stays No. 1 in Ring Magazine's Latest Pound-for-Pound Rankings

The Ring Magazine released its updated top 10 on April 20, with Usyk at No. 1 and Inoue at No. 2, followed by Shakur Stevenson, Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, Dmitry Bivol, Junto Nakatani, David Benavidez, Devin Haney, Oscar Collazo, and Emanuel 'Vaquero' Navarrete. Artur Beterbiev fell off the list due to inactivity since his loss to Bivol, making room for Navarrete after his super featherweight title unification. Fans agreed on the top ranks but debated Navarrete's entry, with his recent TKO win earning praise amid criticism of a prior lightweight loss; the list builds buzz for Inoue's May 2 defense against Nakatani. (Media Man Peg-On): Usyk is the champ however much of the world is more interested in what's next for the likes of Tyson Fury and even Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. Pop culture cut through is an important part of pro sports.

News

Oil/Mining/Politics (Australia)

Stalemate over race to fast-track oil field approvals

The Queensland government wants its federal counterpart to help fast-track the approvals process for the Taroom Trough, which is regarded as having the potential to be Australia's first significant new oil province in five decades. Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt contends that it completely in the state's control to speed up approvals of the Taroom Trough; Queensland's Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie in turn says he is waiting for the federal government to "make the next move". Australian Energy Producers' CEO Samantha McCulloch says all levels of government should worke together to fix the approvals system; she adds that the Taroom Trough could reduce Australia's reliance on fuel imports. (RMS)

News

Mining/Resources: Tasmania/Australia

Federal support looms for smelter to save jobs

A number of potential buyers have been conducting due diligence on the Liberty Bell Bay manganese smelter in Tasmania, which was placed in administration in March. However, a deal between administator EY and unions to keep paying the smelter's workers is set to expire this week, and about 175 jobs will be lost unless the workers agree to take leave without pay. The federal government is expected to intervene with a support package to fund the smelter's $1.6m fortnightly payroll until prospective buyers have completed due diligence. Industry Minister Tim Ayres has described Australia's only manganese smelter as "efficient" and "capable". (RMS)

News

Another week, another gap down for EURUSD

The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has boosted demand for the US dollar. • Washington and Tehran may be strengthening their positions ahead of negotiations.

First, talks between the US and Iran broke down; now, reports suggest a second round may not take place. No sooner had Tehran announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels than the Americans seized one of its tankers. However, it should be noted that the initial fear is being washed out of the market rather quickly. It seems that major players are discerning positive dynamics amidst this chaos.

On Tuesday, 21 April, the ceasefire expires. Donald Trump is threatening further air strikes if Iran does not agree to a deal. Investors realise they have gone too far in their desire to jump onto the last carriage of the EURUSD train heading north. The markets, like the US president, have been mistaking wishful thinking for reality. It is time to shed these illusions. An escalation of the conflict in the Middle East risks triggering a renewed rally in oil and the USD index.

News

Millions are on the AI train but we don't know it

AustralianSuper's latest corporate filings shows that it has exposure to artificial intelligence platforms via private equity stakes. The industry superannuation fund has disclosed that it had stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI at the end of 2025. AustralianSuper has not revealed the extent the extent of its exposure to the developers of large language models ChatGPT, Claude and Grok, or whether these stakes are managed directly or via a third-party manager. OpenAI and Anthropic are not profitable at present, but Alphinity Investment Management portfolio manager Alphinity Investment Managemen believes that they might book a profit more quickly than expected. (RMS)

News

Independent servo owners on edge

Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker says that the fire at the Viva refinery in Geelong is only likely to add to the pressure that its members are feeling at the present time. Parker notes many operate in regional areas and are already dealing with a lack of fuel and significantly high prices, along with price increases for materials such as plastic and aluminium packaging. The Geelong fire is also causing stress for small, independent service stations, as has Iran's 'backflip' on a commitment to re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

News

Directors brace for rising costs, AI risk and global volatility

(Roy Morgan Summary)

The Australian Institute of Company Directors' latest Director Sentiment Index survey was conducted by Roy Morgan between 20 February and 10 March. It shows that company directors are increasingly concerned about Australia's productivity performance, rising business costs and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The DSI survey for the first half of 2026 shows that boards were already approaching the year with a level of caution even before the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, with expectations that economic and operational risks would increase over the next 12 months. A quarter of directors reported that global economic conditions had curtailed their investment plans. Almost 90 per cent expect business costs to rise, and for material impacts on Australia's trade flows, supply chains and commodity prices. Productivity growth remains the top issue directors want governments to address both in the short and long term, while domestic economic conditions are the number one thing keeping directors awake at night. Concerns around artificial intelligence, cyber security and regulatory burden also continue to climb. (RMS)

News

Cryptos

Crypto: Sentiment is recovering, Bitcoin finds support at ever-higher levels

Market Overview

The crypto market cap rose by 2.52% over the past 24 hours to $2.56 trillion. Among the most liquid coins, the top gainers are Basic Attention Token (+7.7%), Immutable (+7.6%) and Toncoin (+5.9%). Lagging are Tron (-0.74%), Uniswap (-0.68%) and Algorand (+0.2%).
The sentiment index is continuing its recovery, rising to 33, its highest level since 19 January. This remains in fear territory but is now close to neutral levels.

Bitcoin is trading at $76K, having found support at March’s highs during yesterday’s intraday pullback. This classic transformation of resistance into support points to further positive momentum in the coming days towards $86K, where the 200-day moving average and the support zone from late last year are concentrated.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global investments in crypto funds rose by $1.401 billion last week, hitting their highest level since mid-January. Investments in Bitcoin increased by $1.116 billion, in Ethereum by $328 million, in Chainlink by $5 million, and in Sui by $2 million. Investments in XRP fell by $56 million, and in Solana by $2 million.

Bitcoin has consolidated above the realised price of short-term holders at around $69,400, notes analyst Darkfost. This helps restore confidence among traders who have recently entered the market and reduces the likelihood of their rapid capitulation.

65% of Japanese institutional investors use Bitcoin to diversify their portfolios, according to a survey by Japanese financial holding company Nomura. 31% of respondents view the market outlook positively. Most investors plan to allocate between 2% and 5% of their capital to crypto assets over the next three years.

Strategy has made its largest Bitcoin purchase since November 2024, acquiring 34,164 BTC for $2.54 billion at an average price of $74,395 per coin. Strategy now holds 815,061 BTC, purchased for $61.6 billion at an average price of $75,527 per Bitcoin.

Over the past week, BitMine has increased its purchases to 101,627 ETH. The company’s reserves have exceeded 4.97 million ETH, representing 4.12% of the Ethereum supply. ETH is showing resilience amid geopolitical instability and is in demand in AI and asset tokenisation, noted BitMine CEO Tom Lee.

Investors withdrew over $13 billion from DeFi protocols in two days following Saturday’s $292 million hack of the Kelp, liquid restaking protocol. (FxPro)

Cryptos

April 18

Bitcoin is gathering momentum around $75K

Market Overview

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation stands at $2.55T, up 0.56% over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency sentiment index has fallen from 23 to 21, while US stock indices are rallying. The top performers among the most liquid coins are APT (+7.2%), AAVE (+6.4%) and IOTA (+5.2%); the underperformers are NEAR (-1%), ZEC (-2.5%) and DASH (-3.2%).

Bitcoin remains near $75K, showing little change over the last two days. However, this is not a lull but a build-up of momentum, as the leading cryptocurrency is at a key resistance level where the 61.8% retracement of the decline and the March highs converge. In the first half of 2025, this area acted as support, halting the correction, while in 2024 the rally ended at this level. Given this background, the direction chosen could determine the fate of the entire crypto market over the coming months. And here, both sides need thorough preparation.

Solana has significantly outperformed the market over the last day, attempting to bounce off an important long-term support line, but failing to do so for over two months now. We will only be able to declare a victory for the bulls once it has consolidated above the $105 level, at which point we can talk about a return above the 200-week moving average, a break above previous local highs and a breach of the round figure.

News Background

The crypto market has entered a ‘no-trade zone’ and is awaiting a signal from the US Federal Reserve, said BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes. According to him, the current range-bound movement is due to the lack of clear macroeconomic signals.

Pension funds, insurance companies and large investors no longer view Bitcoin as a speculative instrument. They regard it as a standard component of an investment portfolio — regardless of capital inflows or outflows from crypto ETFs, Sygnum Bank notes.

Over the next few years, Ethereum could exceed $62,000, suggested BitMine CEO Tom Lee. According to him, the recent downturn in the crypto market can be viewed as a ‘mini-crypto winter’, which is nearing its end.

One of the Bitcoin developer groups has presented a new proposal to improve the first cryptocurrency’s network (BIP-361). The proposal involves freezing 1.7 million BTC held in obsolete P2PK addresses that are potentially vulnerable to quantum attacks. (FxPro)

*Media Man: Developing and fluid situation. Another update in less than 12 hours approx.

News

Australia/Asia Pacific

News

The Lead Up

Clients seek AI savings in consulting 'rug pull'

Revium MD Adam Barty says that clients of the boutique advisory firm are asking for discounts on contracts if they find out that the company has used artificial intelligence in performing the work. Barty says Revium generates "maybe 30 to 40 per cent"of its code using AI, with that proportion tipped to grow to "more like 70 to 80" per cent by next year; he labels as being "like a rug pull" in that it reduces fees for IT work as fewer professionals produce higher quality work, while he said the company is conscious of not using AI for work that needs human judgment and experience. (RMS)

News

Tabcorp's controversial live pucks to enter Victorian pubs

The Victorian Gambling & Casino Control Commission is understood to have given Tabcorp permission to install its live betting devices in the state's pubs and clubs. Around 30cm tall and described as being like a puck, they allow gamblers to tap their phones and place bets during live racing and sport events. As it stands, betting during live events has been permitted only if a punter uses a self-service terminal, speaks to a TAB operator in person or contacts its call centre, with such restrictions aimed at protecting problem gamblers, while rival bookmakers have expressed a view that the devices are illegal. (RMS)

News

Australia takes its social media ban global

Australia's ban on children under 16 having a social media account has attracted global attention, with France and Greece among the countries set to follow Australia's example. Greece announced earlier this month that it will implement a ban on children under 15 accessing social media from next year, while France aims to pass laws imposing a ban for people of the same age from September. However, some computer experts have raised concerns about the effectiveness of Australia's ban, including claims that it infringes on childrens' privacy and that it violates their human rights. (RMS)

How the daughters of WA mining pioneers came to be opponents in high-profile legal fight

A lengthy court battle that pitted the families of two of Western Australia's iron ore pioneers against each other concluded in the WA Supreme Court last week. It saw Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person and the daughter of Lang Hancock, in a legal contest against Angela Bennett, the daughter of Hancock's business partner of many decades, Peter Wright. In her lengthy judgment, spanning more than 1,500 pages, Justice Jennifer Smith paid tribute to Hancock and Wright's partnership, and the involvement of fellow prospector Don Rhodes, witth Smith concluding that the Wright and Rhodes 'camps' were entitled to more royalities than they had been receiving from iron ore tenements in WA's Pilbara region, although Smith affirmed Rinehart's ownership of the tenements. (RMS)

News

Labor's top lawyer warns of new wave of oil and gas lawfare

The International Court of Justice found last year that national governments have a legal obligation to protect the climate system from greenhouse gas emissions. Australian barristers Ruth Higgins, Jennifer Robinson and Zoe Bush will publish a legal opinion on the ICJ's ruling on Monday, with Higgins having been announced this month as Australia's new solicitor-general. Higgins, Robinson and Bush will claim in the opinion that the ruling could see the boards of Australian fossil fuel companies facing a wave of legal action, and that new coal, oil and gas projects could be restricted. (RMS)

News

WWE/Wrestling/Pop Culture

Oba Femi Pins Brock Lesnar in Stunning WrestleMania 42 Debut

At WrestleMania 42 Night 2 in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium, Nigerian powerhouse Oba Femi made his main roster debut by squashing Brock Lesnar in under five minutes, marking one of the quickest Mania matches ever. Lesnar, 48, left his gear behind and exited emotionally, fueling retirement talk after handpicking Femi as his final opponent. Triple H praised Femi's arrival with 'HOLY S***!!!!!', while Kurt Angle posted a heartfelt tribute, and Femi quickly called out new champion Roman Reigns on the post-Mania show.

News

WWE

Roman Reigns Beats CM Punk for World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 42

In front of a sellout Las Vegas crowd on Night 2 of WrestleMania 42, Reigns returned to his dominant Tribal Chief persona, overcoming Punk's submissions and near-falls to win clean with a Spear. The Original Tribal Chief celebrated with his family ringside, hugging his kids and wife before raising the belt high. On the post-show, he promised to ditch his part-time label and appear all summer, firing back at rising challenger Oba Femi amid roaring fans who hailed it as one of WrestleMania's all-time classics.

News

Pop Culture/WWE/Wrestling

Shawn Michaels Marks 30 Years Since Iron Man Classic with Bret Hart

On March 31, 1996, at WrestleMania XII in Anaheim, Bret Hart defended his WWF Championship against Michaels in a grueling 60-minute Iron Man Match before 18,853 fans. The bout ended 1-1 after regulation, but Michaels won his first world title in sudden-death overtime with Sweet Chin Music at 61:52, fulfilling his 'boyhood dream' as announcer Gorilla Monsoon declared. Fans cherish it as wrestling's blueprint for storytelling, with many crediting the match for sparking their lifelong passion, while Michaels' anniversary post brought back waves of nostalgia for the reconciled rivals' endurance test.

News

Pop Culture/WWE

News

Danhausen Crashes WrestleMania 42 Weekend with Curses and Blimp Chaos

The indie wrestler, famous for his 'very nice, very evil' persona and hexes, disrupted Friday's SmackDown vow renewal in Las Vegas, then hit the Hall of Fame red carpet Saturday in goth attire with his wife. Big E jokingly called him a Hall of Famer, WWE trolled with a 'Blimphausen' flyover where he waved cursed teeth over Allegiant Stadium, and CM Punk praised his entertaining throwback style. Fans love the mayhem, pushing for a full-time WWE deal as Night 2 approaches Sunday.

News

Pop Culture/Movie Box Office (U.S)

April 19, 2026

1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - $35m

2. Project Hail Mary - $20.5m

3. Lee Cronin's The Mummy - $13.5m

4. The Drama - $4.8m

5. You, Me & Tuscany - $3.8m

6. Hoppers - $2.9m

7. Normal - $2.7m

8. BTS World Tour Arirang - $1.8m

9. Busboys - $1.7m

10. Bhooth Bangla - $950,000

News

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'Media Services Company Of The Month' award

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award; Runner-up: The Australian

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of The Month' award

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award

WWE wins Media Man 'Wrestling Promotion Of The Month' award

UFC wins 'Combat Sports Brand Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: Most Valuable Promotions, Everlast, BKFC

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Brand Of The Month' award

CAT wins Media Man 'Heavy Industry Brand Of The Month' award

Dynasty: The Murdochs wins 'Streaming Show Of The Month' award (Netflix)

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

April 21, 2026

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street New York

Wrestling With Numbers, World Situation and Pop Culture

Media Man Watercooler

Markets

ASX 200 futures up 48 points/0.5%: 9023
AUD +0.1% to US71.79¢
BTC $75,646.69 +1.41%
Dow -0.01%
S&P -0.2%
NAS -0.3%
VIX +1.39 to 18.87
Gold -0.2% to $US4820.66 an oz
Silver 78.854 - 0.774
Brent oil +4.3% to $US94.30 a barrel
Iron ore +1% to $US106.80 a ton

News

April 21

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7180 USD (up $0.0055 USD)
Iron Ore: $106.80 USD (up $1.05 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $87.80 USD (up $3.95 USD)
Gold Price : $4,820.54 USD (up $49.36 USD)
Copper Price): $6.0455 USD (down $0.0360 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,442.56 (down 4.87 points)

News

ASX steadies amid renewed US-Iran tensions

News

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$184.70
-1.61 -0.86%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$337.42
-4.26 -1.25%

Netflix Inc
$94.83
-2.48 -2.55%

Mp Materials Corp
$66.23
+5.24 +8.59%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$108.79
-0.40 -0.37%

Light & Wonder Inc
$88.80
+0.55 +0.62%

Red Rock Resorts Inc
$56.29
-0.62 -1.09%

PENN Entertainment Inc
$15.84
-0.0100 -0.063%

Caesars Entertainment Inc
$27.65
+0.43 +1.58%

Caterpillar Inc
$798.40
+5.26 +0.66%

News

WWE RAW After WrestleMania

T-Mobile Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada

Crowd Attendance: 12, 596

News

Pop Culture/WWE

CM Punk Slaps Phone from Fan's Hand After WrestleMania Loss

News

WWE

WrestleMania Fan Tumbles Over Railing After Rollins Loss

News

Combat Sports/Boxing

Usyk Stays No. 1 in Ring Magazine's Latest Pound-for-Pound Rankings

News

Oil/Mining/Politics (Australia)

Stalemate over race to fast-track oil field approvals

News

Mining/Resources: Tasmania/Australia

Federal support looms for smelter to save jobs

News

Another week, another gap down for EURUSD

• The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East has boosted demand for the US dollar.
• Washington and Tehran may be strengthening their positions ahead of negotiations.

The US dollar opened the week with a 0.2% gap upwards, driven by increased demand for safe-haven assets. EURUSD has opened with a downward gap for the second five-day period in a row due to signs of an escalating conflict in the Middle East. First, talks between the US and Iran broke down; now, reports suggest a second round may not take place. No sooner had Tehran announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels than the Americans seized one of its tankers. However, it should be noted that the initial fear is being washed out of the market rather quickly. It seems that major players are discerning positive dynamics amidst this chaos.

News

Australia and World

Strait closure to weigh on stocks, oil tipped to rally

Futures pricing had initially suggested that Australian equities will gain about 0.9 per cent when the market opens on Monday. However, this was prior to Iran's announcement that the Strait of Hormuz is again closed, a move that is likely to weigh on investor sentiment. Wall Street had rallied on Friday and the crude oil price fell sharply after Iran had declared the key shipping channel to be "completely open"; the Islamic republic's subsequent backflip due to the ongoing blockade of its ports has been labeled "blackmail" by US President Donald Trump. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.09 per cent to 8,946.9 points on Friday. (RMS)

News

Millions are on the AI train but we don't know it

News

Independent servo owners on edge

News

Directors brace for rising costs, AI risk and global volatility

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Cryptos

April 20

The crypto market has taken a step back, while remaining in an uptrend

Market Overview

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation stands at $2.53T, down 0.81% over the past 24 hours but up 5% over the past week. The day’s top performers were SUSHI (+2.5%), IOTA (+2%) and NEAR (+2%). Among the underperformers were ZEC (-4.1%), ALGO (-2.5%) and ETH (-0.4%). The Fear and Greed Index rose to 29 points — its highest level since 28 January.

Bitcoin is trading just below $75K on Monday morning, having retreated from last week’s highs above $78K. For now, we view the current movement as a pullback within an uptrend, rather than a reversal back to a downtrend. The pressure on the leading cryptocurrency is linked to negative reactions in stock markets to news about Iran, which has reduced risk appetite. BTC has lagged significantly behind equities in recent days, building up potential but not yet rushing to realise it.

News Background

According to SoSoValue, net inflows into spot BTC ETFs rose to $996.4 million. Net weekly inflows into US spot Ethereum ETFs totalled $275.8 million.

According to Glassnode, positioning in the options market remains uncertain. Nexo confirms the contradiction: the rally is gaining momentum, but the derivatives market does not believe in it.

Bitcoin’s return above $75,000 is met with scepticism: funding rates on perpetual futures have remained in negative territory for around 46 consecutive days, notes Bloomberg. This is one of the longest periods of bearish sentiment in the history of derivatives, comparable only to the aftermath of the FTX crypto exchange collapse in late 2022.

Traders are actively building up short positions, betting against a breakout. This creates conditions under which a short squeeze becomes more likely should the upward momentum persist, notes K33 Research. A break above $76,000 could send BTC towards $85,000, suggests Kaiko.

According to TheEnergyMag, public mining companies sold a record 32,000 BTC in the first quarter amid a record-low hash rate. This is more than in the whole of 2025. The figure also exceeds the second-quarter 2022 data, when miners liquidated 20,000 BTC following the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem.

As a result of the latest adjustment, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty fell by 2.43% to 135.59 T. According to Glassnode, the BTC network’s hash rate, smoothed by a 7-day moving average, has recovered from ~978 EH/s to ~992 EH/s since the start of the month. (FxPro)

Cryptos

April 18

Bitcoin is gathering momentum around $75K

Market Overview

News Background

*Media Man: Developing and fluid situation. Another update in less than 12 hours approx.

News

Australia/Asia Pacific

News

The Lead Up

Clients seek AI savings in consulting 'rug pull'

News

Tabcorp's controversial live pucks to enter Victorian pubs

News

Australia takes its social media ban global

How the daughters of WA mining pioneers came to be opponents in high-profile legal fight

News

Labor's top lawyer warns of new wave of oil and gas lawfare

News

WWE/Wrestling/Pop Culture

Oba Femi Pins Brock Lesnar in Stunning WrestleMania 42 Debut

News

WWE

Roman Reigns Beats CM Punk for World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 42

News

Pop Culture/WWE/Wrestling

Shawn Michaels Marks 30 Years Since Iron Man Classic with Bret Hart

News

Pop Culture/WWE

Stephanie McMahon Headlines WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026

The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at Dolby Live in Las Vegas features Stephanie McMahon leading the Class of 2026 alongside AJ Styles, Demolition, Sid Eudy, Bad News Brown, and Dennis Rodman, hosted by Michael Cole and The Miz. Triple H's heartfelt tribute drew her warm reply, 'Forever baby, with you, I can fly,' amid fan reflections on the 10th anniversary of Chyna's death and ongoing calls for her solo induction. Reports indicate Vince McMahon won't attend, highlighting family dynamics as WWE honors its evolving legacy.

News

Danhausen Crashes WrestleMania 42 Weekend with Curses and Blimp Chaos

News

Politics/Resources (Australia)

Albanese Secures 100 Million Litres of Diesel Amid Oil Crisis Criticism

Announced on April 16, 2026, the purchase from Brunei and South Korea uses new Strategic Reserve powers to direct fuel to farmers, regional areas, and essential services, as local shortages worsen from a Geelong refinery fire and the Strait of Hormuz closure. Critics like Pauline Hanson call it insufficient, blaming net-zero policies for refinery closures and import reliance, though most shutdowns occurred years earlier due to economic pressures under prior governments. Albanese described the move as practical protection against shocks, while debates intensify over building domestic fuel security.

News

Pop Culture/Movie Box Office (U.S)

April 19, 2026

1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - $35m
2. Project Hail Mary - $20.5m
3. Lee Cronin's The Mummy - $13.5m
4. The Drama - $4.8m
5. You, Me & Tuscany - $3.8m
6. Hoppers - $2.9m
7. Normal - $2.7m
8. BTS World Tour Arirang - $1.8m
9. Busboys - $1.7m
10. Bhooth Bangla - $950,000

News

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'Media Services Company Of The Month' award

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award; Runner-up: The Australian

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of The Month' award

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award

WWE wins Media Man 'Wrestling Promotion Of The Month' award

UFC wins 'Combat Sports Brand Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: Most Valuable Promotions, Everlast, BKFC

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Brand Of The Month' award

CAT wins Media Man 'Heavy Industry Brand Of The Month' award

Dynasty: The Murdochs wins 'Streaming Show Of The Month' award (Netflix)

Media Man

Markets, Cryptos, Miners, Politics and Pop Culture

Friday PM into The Weekend Edition

WrestleMania Weekend Trends Upward With Media and Social Media Blitz

All That Glitters Can Sometimes Be Gold! Gold Overall Media and Long Term Save Haven; Cash King In Short Term; Money In The Bank Mixed Strategy: Media Man Group

April 17/18, 2026

Markets

S&P/ASX 200 8946.90 +0.41%
S&P 500 7126.06 +1.20%
NIKKEI 58475.90 -1.75%
FTSE 10667.63 +0.73%
AUD/USD 71.73 +0.03%
GOLD 4829.40 -0.79
SILVER 80.755 +2.35
BTC $77,298.39 +3.58%

Cryptos

Bitcoin is gathering momentum around $75K

Market Overview

News Background

News

The dollar is retreating

The de-escalation in the Middle East has left the dollar vulnerable

The Bank of England is managing rate expectations, maintaining the outlook for two hikes.

Over the past two weeks, the US dollar has fallen to its lowest level since early March, giving back almost all the gains made since the start of the armed conflict in the Middle East. Talks with Iran are set to resume in the coming days. Donald Trump continues to insist that the war will end soon and that an extension of the ceasefire will not be necessary. Coupled with record highs in US stock indices, this is contributing to the continued rally in EURUSD, as geopolitics has ceased to support the greenback, bringing macroeconomics back into focus.

Investors’ attention has also shifted to corporate earnings reports and Congress’s deliberations on Kevin Warsh’s nomination for the post of Fed Chair. Contrary to Trump’s promises, the replacement of the Fed Chair may coincide with accelerating inflation driven by rising oil prices, requiring a tightening of monetary policy. What will Warsh choose? To justify the president’s trust or to demonstrate the central bank’s independence and adherence to its principles?

Investors are drawing parallels with the 1970s, when an inflationary shock amid the oil crisis saw the Fed chair, loyal to the White House, ease monetary policy. The rate cuts resulted in an even sharper rise in consumer prices and the entrenchment of high inflation expectations. At that time, the US dollar collapsed. It was only the subsequent change in the central bank chief and the aggressive tightening of monetary policy, despite the recession, that put the dollar on a path of steady growth from the summer of 1980.

Currency interventions could put pressure on the greenback. Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuko Katayama has long spoken of selling USDJPY. However, following a conversation with Scott Bessent, the intensity of her pressure on speculators has increased. This suggests that the US is not opposed to intervening in the Forex market. In 1985, coordinated currency interventions led to a multi-year decline in the USD.

Other European currencies are rising in tandem with the euro. The British pound has returned to pre-war levels, partly due to the ‘hawkish’ rhetoric of Bank of England officials. Megan Green believes that the futures market’s expectations of two rate hikes in 2026 are justified. Meanwhile, Andrew Bailey stated that previous market estimates of four hikes were too high. (FxPro)

News

Stocks driven by FEAR on TACO

Confidence in an approaching end to the war in the Middle East, the resilience of the US economy to geopolitical shocks, and expectations of a strong first-quarter earnings season enabled the S&P 500 to surpass the January record highs.

About a year ago, after the White House introduced tariffs, the broad stock index first fell and then surged as Trump Chickens Out. Nowadays, since late March, the fear of missing out on TACO has been driving strong volumes, as investors who missed last year’s rally rush to catch up.

Usually, such sharp surges occur from the very bottom of a bear market. This time, the S&P 500 has lost less than 10% from its January highs. So, it has not even been officially called a correction. Something similar occurred only in March 2000, on the eve of the dot-com bubble bursting. (FxPro)

News

April 15

The euro sees no obstacles to growth

Global risk appetite and monetary policy divergence are driving gains in EURUSD

The Bank of Japan gave no signal of a rate hike in April.

The US dollar continues to retreat amid falling demand for safe-haven assets, as the de-escalation of the Middle East conflict has raised global risk appetite. Investors are confident that US-Iran peace talks will resume shortly. This is aided by the White House’s shift from a military strategy to economic leverage through a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

A prolonged blockade could lead to the IMF’s adverse scenario. Under this scenario, oil prices would remain above $100 per barrel for an extended period, global GDP would slow to 2.6%, and inflation would rise to 5.4%. In the baseline scenario, economic growth in 2026 will be 3.1%, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous forecast. The International Monetary Fund believes that the eurozone will suffer more than the US. The shared currency bloc is dependent on energy imports.

However, the euro has a positive correlation with risk appetite, and its bulls have capitalised on the strong rally in US indices, pushing them towards record highs. At the same time, the rising correlation between the VIX volatility index and the US dollar is putting pressure on the greenback.

MUFG Research notes that the 40% rally in Brent since the start of the war in the Middle East should have led to a 3% fall in EURUSD. The firm attributes the euro’s return to pre-war levels to rising global risk appetite and divergence in monetary policy. The futures market is pricing in a 35% probability of a Fed rate cut in 2026. Investors are confident of two ECB rate hikes and a 30% chance of a third.

Other global currencies have benefited from the US dollar’s weakness. However, the yen is in no hurry to rise as Kazuo Ueda’s comments unsettled USDJPY bears. The BoJ Governor stated the Bank would continue to monitor developments in the Middle East and gave no signals of a tightening of monetary policy. This is a dovish tone, as he has given such signals before. As a result, the futures market has reduced the probability of monetary tightening in April from 55% to 32%. (FxPro)

News

April 16

Crypto stalls as risk appetite shows cracks

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation fell by 0.74% over the past 24 hours to $2.5 trillion. Today’s top performers include Immutable (+3.2%), SushiSwap (+0.8%) and Tron (+0.7%). The underperformers were Dash (-5.4%), Toncoin (-4.5%) and NEAR Protocol (-4.4%). The crypto market took a step back, despite further gains in stock indices. From its local low at the end of March, the crypto market has risen by 8.6%, a more modest increase than the Nasdaq 100’s 13.6%.

Bitcoin briefly rose above $76K on Tuesday, almost matching March’s peak levels, but had retreated to $73.6K at the time of writing. Buyers are looking for a catalyst to push the price to a new level beyond the consolidation range. If Bitcoin is looking for external signals, it may remain indecisive until key US stock indices hit new highs. However, we are more inclined to believe that the first cryptocurrency’s stagnation is a sign of a fragile risk appetite that will soon manifest in the broader market.

News Background

The conflict in Iran has increased the appeal of non-sovereign money and brought Bitcoin closer to serving as a real medium of exchange, according to Bitwise. Since the start of the war in the Middle East, BTC has risen by 12%, whilst the S&P 500 and gold have fallen by 1% and 10% respectively.

Bitcoin could fall to $30K only if the US economy enters a deep recession, according to analyst Benjamin Cowen. A correction of 65–70% from the highs is in line with historical trends and is not exceptional.

According to CoinDesk, derivatives accounted for 76.5% of the total trading volume on centralised crypto exchanges (CEX) in March — the highest figure since September 2023. Derivatives trading volume on CEXs stood at $3.99 trillion — 3.2% lower than in February.

Trump’s nominee for Fed chair has disclosed his cryptocurrency investments. Kevin Warsh has invested in the Polymarket prediction market and several decentralised startups, according to his financial disclosure statement.

News

Australia

April 17

Australian Dollar: $0.7159 USD (down $0.0011 USD)
Iron Ore: $106.25 USD (up $1.95 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $93.37 USD (up $1.98 USD)
Gold Price : $4,788.31 USD (down $2.53 USD)
Copper Price: $6.0340 USD (down $0.0445 USD)
Dow Jones: 48,578.72 (up 115.00 points)

News

World warned 'don't deal with Iran oil'

The Trump administration has confirmed that the temporary sanctions waiver on Iranian oil exports that was introduced on 20 March will not be extended. It is due to expire within days, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that reinstating the oil sanctions will be the "financial equivalent" of a bombing campaign in terms of Iran's ability to generate revenue. Bessant has also warned that the US is willing to impose secondary sanctions on companies or nations that buy Iranian oil or have Iranian money in bank accounts. Meanwhile, Iran has urged the US to end its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that it will be regarded as a breach of the two-week ceasefire if it remains in place. (RMS)

News

Machinery or maintenance failure in focus at Geelong refinery

Viva Energy believe a gas leak was responsible for an explosion and the resulting fire at its Geelong oil refinery, although the exact cause is still under investigation. Bill Patterson from Viva Energy has downplayed suggestions that the disaster is linked to delayed maintenance work at the plant; he notes that some such work has been deferred due to the Iran war, but this had not been scheduled for the part of the refinery where the incident occured. Fire Rescue Victoria's Deputy Commissioner Michelle Cowling says the initial indications suggest that a mechanical or engineering failure within equipment in a transfer section of the refinery may have been responsible for the disaster. (RMS)

News

'I'm not happy': Trump renews criticism of Australia, ignores defence spend boost

US President Donald Trump has again criticised Australia for not helping the US in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump making his comments while being questioned as he left the White House on Thursday US time. Ignoring the federal government's recent announcement that it will spend an extra $53 billion on defence over the next decade, an decision partly made to assuage criticism from the Trump administration about Australia's low military spending, Trump said "I'm not happy with Australia because they were not there when we asked them to be there", while he did not respond to questions as to whether he was still on good terms with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. (RMS)

News

War a chance to wound illicit tobacco market

Retailers of illegal cigarettes say that supply chain problems resulting from the Iran war have pushed up the prices of their products. A pack of popular Double Happiness cigarettes has risen from about $7 a pack to $17 in recent weeks, while a carton of 10 packs, that would have previously sold for between $60 and $70, is now selling for as much as $140. The rise in the price of illegal cigarettes has led to calls for the federal government to 'wound' the tobacco black market by cutting the tobacco excise, thereby reducing the cost of legal cigarettes. (RMS)

News

Auto

We will not survive': Toyota, Honda and Ford CEOs issue chilling warning about China - and it could hit your portfolio

70 per cent of all new electric vehicles now come from China, leaving Toyota, Honda and Ford worried about projects and overhauling their strategy. Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe said after a recent visit to a Shanghai parts factory that "we have no chance against this", with Ford and Toyota leaders having expressed similar sentiments regarding Chinese makers' sheer speed in not just building cars, but designing them. Automotive stocks are a common part of many broad-based mutual funds and ETFs, while Tesla, Ford and Toyota remain among the best-known investment options in the sector. However, big shifts in focus under the threat of Chinese manufacturing, along with disappointing sales figures by foreign car makers in China, could make investors with holdings in those stocks nervous. (RMS)

News

X News

Elon Musk Proposes Universal High Income to Offset AI Job Losses

On Friday, Musk posted on X that universal high income payments from the federal government offer the best fix for AI-driven unemployment, arguing AI and robotics will create abundant goods and services without inflation. He differentiates this from universal basic income, pointing to AI's potential for far greater wealth that makes work optional. Reactions divided sharply, with supporters praising adaptation to tech changes and critics warning of lost purpose, government overreach, and economic pitfalls like eroded work incentives.

News

WWE/Pro Wrestling/Pop Culture

Shawn Michaels Marks 30 Years Since Iron Man Classic with Bret Hart

News

WWE

Stephanie McMahon Headlines WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026

News

WWE Unveils Hulk Hogan Statue at WrestleMania 42 Weekend

The statue anchors the 'Hulkamania Forever' exhibit at WWE World in Las Vegas, packed with relics like championship belts, a Hulkamobile motorcycle, and vintage posters from Hogan's 1980s peak. Triple H dubbed it 'Immortal,' honoring the six-time champion who brought wrestling mainstream, though some fans noted ironies like Nick Hogan's 2007 car crash near the motorcycle display and joked about the statue's dark bronze patina. This first post-death WrestleMania tribute coincides with Netflix's 'Hulk Hogan: Real American' docuseries premiere on April 22, drawing crowds to celebrate the complicated icon.

News

Pop Culture/Gaming/Movies

Street Fighter Live-Action Trailer Unleashes 1990s Arcade Vibes

The official trailer for the live-action Street Fighter movie, set during the Super Street Fighter II era, stars Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, and Callina Liang as Chun-Li, who draws them into the World Warrior Tournament. Directed by Kitao Sakurai, it features WWE stars like Cody Rhodes as Guile and Roman Reigns as Akuma, alongside Jason Momoa as Blanka and 50 Cent as Balrog, embracing the game's campy fun over gritty realism. The cast appeared at WrestleMania in full regalia, and most reactions praise the trailer's goofy spirit, though some note cosplay-like vibes; it hits theaters October 16.

News

WWE

Cody Rhodes and CM Punk share emotional promo and hug on final SmackDown before WrestleMania

Cody Rhodes delivered a promo praising CM Punk as the new Mr. WrestleMania, stating that his father Dusty Rhodes would be proud of Punk, and expressing love for him. CM Punk reciprocated the sentiment toward Cody Rhodes before they embraced to close the show.

News

Danhausen Curses Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's First Take

The WWE wrestler, real name Donovan Danhausen from Warren, Michigan, crashed Friday's First Take in Las Vegas to hype WrestleMania 42, declaring Stephen A. cursed while hosts Molly Qerim and Keyshawn Johnson laughed. Fresh off signing with WWE in February 2026 after his AEW contract ended, Danhausen debuted dramatically at Elimination Chamber and has fans buzzing with his 'very nice, very evil' antics, including a Goodyear Blimp ride where he gleefully cursed the city below. The stunt amps up excitement for the two-night event at Allegiant Stadium on April 18-19, with rumors of more surprises alongside host John Cena. (Media Man Peg-On). Danhausen got off to a bit of a rough start in his WWE debut but has more than made up for it. Catch the Danhausen Fever and Mania. Media Hausen! Wrestle Hausen Weekend!

News

Bitcoin News Byte

Despite a 47% Price Drop, Bitcoin Traders Aren’t Selling:

A survey of U.S. Bitcoin holders and crypto subreddit posts found that despite anxiety and market turbulence, most investors (69%) held onto their Bitcoin, with only 8% panic selling.

Bitcoin faced a dramatic market correction in early 2026, plunging 46% from its $126,000 all-time high and briefly dipping below $61,000 on February 6.

The drop erased over $1 trillion in market value and prompted headlines warning of a defining crypto moment. Social media feeds filled with reactions, yet most holders remained on the sidelines.

A survey by Oobit of 1,006 American Bitcoin holders and sentiment analysis of 117,630 posts across 10 major crypto subreddits reveals that fear did not translate into widespread selling.

News Flashback

Last Week

Gold News

Gold is back in focus as markets react to geopolitics

The market is fixated on the threat of accelerating inflation driven by high energy prices. As a result, central banks are expected to adopt a tighter monetary policy, keeping rates at high levels or even raising them. This has a positive impact on fiat currencies and strips gold of its key feature as a store of value amid currency debasement. It is no surprise that the precious metal, which had got off to a strong start, has been losing out to Bitcoin and the US dollar since the start of the armed conflict in the Middle East. Although gold is generally regarded as a safe-haven asset, in the early stages of financial market turmoil, investors often choose to flee to liquidity. They favour fiat currencies and are far more willing to buy US dollar-nominated short-term treasuries.

Gold prices usually recover only if market shocks worsen, fears of recession or stagflation rise, and central banks start adding liquidity. Bank of America believes that the markets are still underestimating the scale of the potential consequences of geopolitical tension. They are fixated on the threat of accelerating inflation and are not considering a global economic downturn. Therefore, the longer the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran lasts, the better it is for the precious metal.

UBS Global Wealth Management notes that gold serves as a hedge against currency devaluation, rising budget deficits and recession. All of these could result from a geopolitical shock. The firm therefore maintains its bullish outlook on gold. In its view, the precious metal could rise to the $5,900-$6,200 range before the end of this year. However, gold must first weather the storm of numerous central bank meetings. The RBA has already raised its cash rate to 4.15%. Investors now expect ‘hawkish’ rhetoric from the rest. The ECB and the Bank of Japan are ready to tackle inflation, and the futures market expects them to tighten monetary policy. The Fed and the Bank of England are most likely to talk about prolonged pauses in their cycles.

Thus, gold appears to be a win-win option. It will gain if the conflict in the Middle East drags on, and will not lose if it ends. Investors just need to be patient for a little while. (FxPro)

News

Media Man Awards

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'Media Services Company Of The Month' award

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award; Runner-up: The Australian

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of The Month' award

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award

WWE wins Media Man 'Wrestling Promotion Of The Month' award

UFC wins 'Combat Sports Brand Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: Most Valuable Promotions, Everlast, BKFC

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Brand Of The Month' award

CAT wins Media Man 'Heavy Industry Brand Of The Month' award

Dynasty: The Murdochs wins 'Streaming Show Of The Month' award (Netflix)

Markets, Shares, Cryptos, Miners, Social Media and Culture

March 23, 2026

Mad Monday

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street. New York, and beyond the Blackstump and Internet Matrix Of Things!

Pop Culture themes

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (Cannonball Adderley)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"The Wall Street Hustle" (10cc)
"Video Killed the Radio Star" (The Buggles)
"I Don't Like Mondays" (The Boomtown Rats)
"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & the Papas)

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 156 points/1.8%: 8343

AUD -0.9% to US70.23¢
Bitcoin $67,584.42 -1.97%
Dow -1%
S&P -1.5%
Nasdaq -2%
VIX +2.72 to 26.78
Gold -3.4% to $US4492.43 an ounce
Silver 65.686 -2.065
Brent oil +3.9% to $US112.86 a barrel
Iron ore +1% to $US108.25 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.38% Australia 5.02%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.6999 USD (down $0.0084 USD) Iron Ore: $108.25 USD (up $0.80 USD)
Oil Price: $98.23 USD (up $3.45 USD)
Gold Price: $4,494.10 USD (down $159.14 USD)
Copper Price: $5.3020 USD (down $0.218 USD)
Dow Jones: 45,577.47 (down 443.96 points)

News

Streaming News Watercooler

Netflix CEO allegedly won’t speak to Meghan Markle on phone without lawyer

Meghan Markle is caught in a fresh Netflix storm with rumors claiming CEO Ted Sarandos is refusing to take her calls without a lawyer. Netflix denies everything but whispers of canceled deals and rising tension have fans questioning the truth!

News

MMA/UFC Watercooler

Dana White responds to Jon Jones' claims about $15 million offer

Dana White has doubled down on his stance about Jon Jonesnever being a part of the White House plan.

Jones is not fighting at the UFC White Housecard in June despite having tried for a spot ever since the event was first mentioned. Jones recently claimed that he was willing to fight Alex Pereirafor much less than he had demanded to fight Tom Aspinalllast year. However, the UFC was allegedly not willing to offer more than $15 million to Jones, who didn't think it was enough.

"Was ready, willing and physically able to step in," Jones wrote on X. "I was willing to take substantially less than the Aspinall ask but they wouldn't budge one dollar over $15m. I felt like our fight was worth more."

No Way in Hell

White responded to Jones' claims at the UFC Londonpost-fight press conference on Saturday. White maintains that Jones was never a part of the plan for the White House card.

"How many f--ing times I gotta say this?" White said. "He was never fighting on the White House card… There was no way in hell I was putting him on that card, no matter what the money was. Jon Joneswas never gonna fight in the White House card."

Jones (28-1) kept the heavyweight division hanging for over a year, while White kept promising fans that "Bones" would fight interim champion Aspinall. However, Jones retired in June 2025 without fighting Aspinall. Jones would return to the drug testing pool just weeks later, after plans for the White House card were mentioned. Jones kept rallying for a spot on the card, even pleading with White.

When Jones missed out, White claimed that he was never a part of the plan. However, the former UFC double champ lashed out on social media, hinting at lengthy negotiations with the promotion about fighting at the White House. Jones has since called for his release from the UFC.

News

Social Media

The Metaverse Is Dead

In a move that signals the end of a highly publicized digital era, Meta announced this week that its flagship social virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds, is being completely removed from Quest headsets by June 15. The app will survive solely as a mobile experience, repositioning itself to compete with established gaming platforms like Roblox and Fortnite rather than fulfilling its original vision of an all-encompassing virtual universe.Virtual Worlds

The shutdown of the VR component of Horizon Worlds is the clearest signal yet that the much-hyped pivot to the metaverse has been quietly unwound by the tech giant.

When Mark Zuckerberg famously renamed Facebook to Meta in 2021, he described the metaverse as “the next frontier” for human interaction. Yet, despite being the center of that massive corporate bet, the platform never drew more than a few hundred thousand monthly active users—a staggering underperformance for a project that consumed billions.

To put the financial toll into perspective, Reality Labs, the division at Meta responsible for VR and metaverse development, has accumulated an astonishing $80 billion in losses since 2020. In the fourth quarter of last year alone, it posted an operating loss of over $6 billion.

The Heyman Hustle is taking the position that this strategic retreat is entirely driven by the explosive rise of Artificial Intelligence.

When ChatGPT arrived in late 2022 and fundamentally shifted the tech landscape, Meta quickly pivoted its public messaging. Leveraging its highly respected AI research division led by Yann LeCun, the company found a new, credible foundation. As a result of prioritizing AI over empty digital rooms, ad revenue improved, the stock aggressively recovered, and by 2024, Meta had nearly tripled in value from its 2022 lows.

While Meta executives claim they have not abandoned VR entirely—pointing to upcoming hardware and the massive success of their AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses—the closure of the flagship Horizon Worlds VR experience marks the end of a multi-billion dollar dream. (THH)

Full article and coverage via The Heyman Hustle

News

A.I News

Australia

Watchdog warns against 'dangerously' positive AI advice amid crypto trading spike

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has expressed concern about the growing tendency for young Australians to use artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT for financial advice. Its figures show young people are following 'dangerously' positive AI recommendations about investing in risky investments such as crypto, with their faith in what has been referred to as 'unverified, risk-averse digital advice' occurring as many Australians are struggling with major cost of living pressures; ASIC's figures also show that 23 per cent of Gen Z now hold crypto assets – up from just 9 per cent in 2023. (RMS)

News

Resources

Drill, baby, drill: Boom for mineral, petroleum explorers

Advisory firm BDO has calculated that ASX-listed mineral and petroleum explorers raised a record $5.63 billion in the final quarter of last year. It broke the previous record for fund raising of $3.75 billion that was set in the same period in 2021, with the $5.63 billion in fund raising leaving mineral and petroleum explorers with record cash reserves of $12 billion. It comes as the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that spending on mineral exploration hit a two-year high in the final quarter of 2025, while spending on petroleum exploration was at a decade high. (RMS)

News

A.I News

Global giants join Australia in fight to make AI companies pay for content

Both the US and the UK appear to be backing the stance of the federal government of wanting AI companies pay for their use of content that has been produced by artists, musicians and journalists. In a document released on Friday that was titled 'Respecting Intellectual Property Rights and Supporting Creators', the White House stated that US copyright laws - under which content theft for the training of AI models, or any other use, is illegal - will remain. For its part, the UK government stated last week that it no longer had a "preferred option" on copyright reform, which comes after it last year endorsed a proposal that would have allowed tech companies to use copyrighted work without permission unless rights holders 'opted out' of the process. Its change of stance follows a longrunning campaign – led by artists including Elton John and Thom Yorke from Radiohead – which warned that the unlicensed use of copyrighted material for training AI models was threatening the livelihoods of people working in the creative industries. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Bitcoin News Byte

Despite a 47% Price Drop, Bitcoin Traders Aren’t Selling:

A survey of U.S. Bitcoin holders and crypto subreddit posts found that despite anxiety and market turbulence, most investors (69%) held onto their Bitcoin, with only 8% panic selling.

Bitcoin faced a dramatic market correction in early 2026, plunging 46% from its $126,000 all-time high and briefly dipping below $61,000 on February 6.

The drop erased over $1 trillion in market value and prompted headlines warning of a defining crypto moment. Social media feeds filled with reactions, yet most holders remained on the sidelines.

A survey by Oobit of 1,006 American Bitcoin holders and sentiment analysis of 117,630 posts across 10 major crypto subreddits reveals that fear did not translate into widespread selling.

News

Media (Australia)

Kyle and Jackie 'O' win some, lose some

The first official radio ratings survey for 2026 shows that KIIS FM's Kyle & Jackie O show had an audience share of 12.7 in the Sydney breakfast slot, unchanged from the last survey for 2025. However, 2GB's talkback program hosted by Ben Fordham won the Sydney breakfast slot, with its audience share rising from 14.9 per cent to 16.6 per cent. Meawhile, 3AW won the Melbourne breakfast timeslot, although the audience share of Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft dipped to 18.9 per cent; the Kyle and Jackie O Show was ranked eighth in the Melbourne breakfast, with its audience share edging up to 5.1 per cent. The long-running show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson has been axed by KIIS FM owner ARN Media. (RMS)

News

Social Media (Australia)

Firms face fines as kids beat the ban

The eSafety commission has declined to release updated figures on how many social media accounts of children under the age of 16 have been closed since the federal government implemented its world-leading ban. It had claimed in January that 4.7 million accounts had been closed since early December, but those figures were called into question, with it being claimed that they had been heavily inflated. The commission says it will provide updated figures on the ban at the end of March and that tech companies found guilty of non-compliance with it will soon face fines, while many children are claiming that beating the ban is easy. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Mining/Energy/Resources: Australia and World)

McEwan braces for exits as Craig takes BHP helm

Nearly 43 per cent of BHP's staff are female, and there were some who expected that Mike Henry would be replaced as CEO by an internal female candidate. Minerals Australia president Geraldine Slattery and chief development officer Catherine Raw were viewed as two such candidates, but BHP gave the job to mining engineer Brandon Craig. Asked if his appointment could mean the loss of skilled female executives who were overlooked for the job of CEO, BHP chairman Ross McEwan said he would not be surprised if unsuccessful candidates chose to leave the company. (RMS)

News

New coal mines at greenfield sites to be banned in NSW

NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee has described a decision by the state government to ban new coal mines on greenfield sites as "disappointing". The government announced the ban on Thursday as part of a new strategy aimed at managing the NSW coal sector until 2050, while it also announced new rules requiring major coal mines in NSW to reduce methane emissions caused by their operations; NSW coal mines produce around 30 per cent of the state's methane emissions and contribute around 11 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions. (RMS)

News

Qatar strike deepens LNG supply crisis

It had been forecast as recently as January that the global liquefied natural gas market could be facing a glut, which would have seen prices tumble and new products delayed. However, the Iranian conflict has changed those predictions, with LNG prices having almost doubled since the initial strikes on Iran on 28 February. Iran's attack on Qatar LNG's Ras Laffan facilities could see a further rise in prices and impact significantly on supply, with Ras Laffan being the world's largest LNG export plant; MST Marquee energy analyst Saul Kavonic says the attack "could cause a lasting global gas shortage". (RMS)

News

Cryptos

Crypto: the bulls may have their horns broken

Market Overview

The crypto market cap has fallen to $2.42 trillion, under pressure from sellers alongside risk assets, as the Fed pushes the next rate cut further into the future, boosting the dollar’s appeal. The decline also coincided with the upper boundary of the corrective rebound being touched. It is possible that cryptocurrencies were simply unable to ignore the significant deterioration in external sentiment, but they may soon return to outperforming other assets. Overall, however, we maintain a more pessimistic view, anticipating the bear market will continue, with bulls likely to be beaten soon, not least due to macro factors.

Bitcoin has fallen by 8.4% from its latest peak on Tuesday morning and briefly dipped below 70 at the start of the day on Thursday. At these levels, BTC is testing the 50-day moving average from above. As we have repeatedly warned previously, the upward momentum will face significant resistance at the boundary of a typical correction from the latest downward impulse. The leading cryptocurrency has more room to move within the $65K–$75K range.

Breaking out of this range may require more momentum to determine the market’s direction for the coming days or weeks.

News Background

Investment bank Citigroup has lowered its 12-month price targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum amid delays in the adoption of US cryptocurrency legislation. The forecast for Bitcoin has been lowered from $143,000 to $112,000, and for Ethereum from $4,304 to $3,175. In a negative scenario, BTC risks falling to $58,000 and ETH to $1,198.

Bitcoin still has two-thirds of its bear cycle ahead, said Willy Wu, co-founder of the Bitcoin Vector project, urging investors to remain cautious. In his view, it is premature to expect sustained growth without an improvement in market liquidity.

Ethereum developers are testing the Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR), which will speed up transfers between the mainnet and the second layer from 13 minutes to 13 seconds. (FxPro).

Media Peg-On (as seen burning up the LinkedIn and X newsfeeds with web traffic spikes)

Media Man Peg-On: Having your horns broken is one step better than having your you know what broken. Ball breaking headlines that hit you right between the Eye Ball! BTC for the true believers, for better or worse. A labor of love and for those who keep the dream alive. Remember our saying, "Bullish is a mindset", right Mr Michael Saylor of Strategy. MC is always good fodder for the crypto and tech media fodder and website traffic generation. MC, the media darling you love to hate! So, when's the running of the bulls then? Red flag to a bull!

News

Betting on Americas and keeping BHP whole

BHP has ended long-running speculation about succession planning after announcing that Brandon Craig will succeed CEO Mike Henry. The BHP veteran has ruled out demerging assets such as the resources group's copper mines during his tenure, which will start on 1 July. Craig says he believes that a diversified model is still superior, especially in the mining sector. He argues that BHP's ability to use its flagship iron ore division to fund projects such as copper and potash mines differentiates it from rivals. Craig says BHP may be open to mergers and acquisitions, although he says any such opportunities would need to be compelling to compete with its internal growth options. He has also indicated that BHP's focus will shift to the Americas, where many of its growth projects are located. (RMS)

News

A most powerful, anonymous miner

South African-born Brandon Craig has quietly risen through BHP's ranks since joining the resources group in 1999; he also has a much lower profile than top industry leaders and the other internal candidates who had been tipped to replace outgoing CEO Mike Henry. Meanwhile, Craig has used his first press conference as BHP's incoming CEO to confirm that BHP will shift its focus to the Americas under his leadership; he was previously BHP's president of the Americas, a role that included copper mines in South America and potash mining in Canada. (RMS)

News

Woodside taps insider amid energy turmoil

Woodside Energy's chairman Richard Goyder has praised new CEO Liz Westcott, stating that she was the "outstanding candidate" to succeed Meg O'Neill. Westcott has been the acting CEO since O'Neill resigned in late 2025 to take the helm at BP. Westcott joined Woodside in 2023, and has previously worked at ExxonMobil and EnergyAustralia. Westcott says she will hold meetings with Woodside's partners, investors, shareholders, employees and government officials across its global operations over the next several months. (RMS)

News

Alphabet Inc Class A
$301.00 -6.13 -2.00%

Lead Up Price
$307.13 -0.56 -0.18%

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$188.38 -8.94.53%

Lead Up Price
$197.31 -3.72 -1.85%

Netflix Inc
$91.82 +0.080 +0.087%

Lead Up Price
$91.74 -2.96 -3.13%

Caterpillar Inc
$680.88 -7.77 -1.13%

Lead Up Price
$688.65 -4.97 -0.72%

Tesla Inc
$367.96 -12.34 -3.24%

Lead Up Price
$380.30 -12.48 -3.18%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$99.98 -3.18 -3.08%

News

X Newsfeed

Trump Declares Victory Over Iran, Targets Democrats as New Enemy

The conflict, now in its third week, began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites like Natanz and targets in Tehran, including residential areas. Iran hit back with ballistic missiles breaching Israel's Iron Dome, injuring at least 175 in Arad and Dimona near a nuclear facility, while Israel bombed east Tehran blocks. Netanyahu urged world leaders to join the fight after Iran's missile toward Diego Garcia, though U.K. and NATO officials questioned the claims; Trump demands Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours or face more strikes, as oil prices soar over 50%. Skeptics like former official Joe Kent note U.S. intelligence saw no imminent Iranian nuclear bomb, and Pope Leo XIV decried the civilian toll.

Media Man Peg-On: The Art Of War Continues! All's fair in love and war, and politics?!

News

Trump Endorses Donalds at Mar-a-Lago Amid Iran Tensions and GOP Rift

President Trump arrived at his Palm Beach estate on Friday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, hosting supporters at what appeared to be a fundraiser where he backed Donalds, the frontrunner to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis. The event unfolded against U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran's Kharg Island oil hub and Iran's Strait of Hormuz restrictions, which Trump sidestepped with a quip about his plans. GOP tensions flared when candidate James Fishback claimed he was barred for criticizing Israel and the Iran conflict, prompting Candace Owens to joke about better vibes at Taco Bell, while highlighting divides between hawkish and isolationist Republicans.

News

WWE

Rhea Ripley Shuts Down Physique Trolls Ahead of WrestleMania Title Match

The WWE star fired back at online critics mocking her body, daring them to post their own photos while reminding them they know nothing about her life or mental health. Her post drew massive support from fans and wrestlers like Bully Ray, who called her 'OVAH,' though some questioned why she engages trolls at all. This comes as Ripley, fresh off winning the 2026 Women's Elimination Chamber, gears up to challenge champion Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42 amid a heated feud with body jabs and a recent three-on-one ambush by Cargill's allies. Marking five years since her main roster debut, Ripley stays focused on the gold.

Wrestling/WWE/Pop Culture

Jade Cargill Calls Out Rhea Ripley in Heated SmackDown Face-Off

On Friday's SmackDown, WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill challenged Rhea Ripley directly, boasting she doesn't need the title or fans to be 'that b*tch.' Ripley, fresh from her Elimination Chamber win for a title shot, stood ready to strike back amid a roaring crowd. The intense promo ramps up their WrestleMania 42 rivalry, with fans praising Cargill's star power while craving the first brawl. Both bring unmatched athleticism and attitude to the collision course. Media Man Peg-On: Ripley our Uncrowned Women's Champion, belt or not! She's Got IT! NXT's Zaria shares some of the same attributes, as does Z's rival, Sol Ruca.

News Lead Up

March 19

Dread for Australian investors as $51 billion wipe out ravages the ASX after tit-for-tat strikes on energy assets send oil prices soaring

Australians are despairingly watching the stock market tumble once again after massive strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East sent oil prices surging. (Sky News Australia)

News

Gold News

Gold is back in focus as markets react to geopolitics

Thus, gold appears to be a win-win option. It will gain if the conflict in the Middle East drags on, and will not lose if it ends. Investors just need to be patient for a little while. (FxPro)

News

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'Media Series Company Of The Month' award

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award; Runner-up: The Australian

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of The Month' award

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award

WWE wins Media Man 'Wrestling Promotion Of The Month' award

UFC wins 'Combat Sports Brand Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: Most Valuable Promotions, Everlast, BKFC

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Brand Of The Month' award

CAT wins Media Man 'Heavy Industry Brand Of The Month' award

Dynasty: The Murdochs wins 'Streaming Show Of The Month' award (Netflix)

Media Man Int

News Flashback

The Lead Up

Markets, Shares, Cryptos, Miners, Social Media and Culture

March 21, 2026

Friday Into The Weekend Edition

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street. New York, and beyond the Blackstump and Internet Matrix Of Things!

Pop Culture themes

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (Cannonball Adderley)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"The Wall Street Hustle" (10cc)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Thursday’s Child" David Bowie)
"Thursday" (Pet Shop Boys)
"Working for the weekend" (Loverboy)
"Video Killed the Radio Star" (The Buggles)
"Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" (Elon John)

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 156 points/ 1.8%: 8343
AUD -0.9% to US70.23¢

Bitcoin $70,732.76 +0.34%

Wall St:
Dow -1%
S&P -1.5%
Nasdaq -2%
VIX +2.72 to 26.78
Gold -3.4% to $US4492.43 an ounce
Silver 67.596 -5.19
Brent oil +3.9% to $US112.86 a barrel
Iron ore +1% to $US108.25 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.38% Australia 5.02%

News

Bitcoin News Byte

Despite a 47% Price Drop, Bitcoin Traders Aren’t Selling:
A survey of U.S. Bitcoin holders and crypto subreddit posts found that despite anxiety and market turbulence, most investors (69%) held onto their Bitcoin, with only 8% panic selling.

Bitcoin faced a dramatic market correction in early 2026, plunging 46% from its $126,000 all-time high and briefly dipping below $61,000 on February 6.

The drop erased over $1 trillion in market value and prompted headlines warning of a defining crypto moment. Social media feeds filled with reactions, yet most holders remained on the sidelines.

A survey by Oobit of 1,006 American Bitcoin holders and sentiment analysis of 117,630 posts across 10 major crypto subreddits reveals that fear did not translate into widespread selling.

News Lead Up

ASX wipes $50b in 1.7pc plunge; miners drop

The Australian sharemarket slumped on Thursday, falling to its lowest level since late November; the S&P/ASX 200 finished 1.7 per cent lower at 8,497.8 points. Gold stocks were sold down after a sharp fall in the price of bullion, with Northern Star Resources shedding 9.5 per cent to end the session at $18.96 and Ora Banda Mining down 14.1 per cent at $1.28. However, energy and coal stocks rallied in response to an airstrike on a major gas field in the Middle East; Woodside Energy was up 7.2 per cent at $33.70 and Yancoal Australia rose 6.8 per cent to $8.03.

News

Media (Australia)

Kyle and Jackie 'O' win some, lose some

News

Social Media (Australia)

Firms face fines as kids beat the ban

News

Mining/Energy/Resources: Australia and World)

McEwan braces for exits as Craig takes BHP helm

News

New coal mines at greenfield sites to be banned in NSW

News

Qatar strike deepens LNG supply crisis

News

Cryptos

Crypto: the bulls may have their horns broken

Market Overview

Breaking out of this range may require more momentum to determine the market’s direction for the coming days or weeks.

News Background

Ethereum developers are testing the Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR), which will speed up transfers between the mainnet and the second layer from 13 minutes to 13 seconds. (FxPro).

Media Peg-On (as seen burning up the LinkedIn and X newsfeeds with web traffic spikes)

News

Finance/Business/Banking

The dollar is back on the offensive

The Fed’s intention to keep rates steady is helping the greenback

The Bank of Japan's measured tone has helped steady the yen, preventing a sharper selloff.

Rising oil prices and the Fed’s hawkish rhetoric have allowed the US dollar to continue its advance. Israel has struck the world’s largest gas field, South Pars. In response, Iran attacked a fuel hub in Qatar. Brent soared above $112 a barrel, spurring EURUSD’s decline. Donald Trump claimed that he was allegedly unaware of the Israelis’ intentions. They will not do this again. The US President is clearly unhappy with the surge in oil prices, and this is not the only problem for him.

Even those FOMC officials who previously supported cutting rates changed their view in March. The median estimate pointed to a single rate cut in 2026, which generally agrees with markets’ pricing on this matter. Moreover, the continuation of the conflict in the Middle East may convince investors that there will be no easing of monetary policy. According to Jerome Powell, the Fed has faced a tariff shock, a pandemic, and now an energy shock. All of this could fuel inflationary expectations. The FOMC’s upward revision of its forecast for the personal consumption expenditure price growth from 2.4% to 2.7% y/y suggests that the Fed is more likely to keep rates on hold than to cut them. The US dollar is a relatively high-yield currency. The longer borrowing costs remain at their current level, the more comfort the EURUSD bears feel. The Bank of Japan has kept its overnight rate at 0.75%, a 30-year high. However, its previous mantra that it is ready to raise rates further if forecasts are met gave the Yen a lifeline in current conditions. If the conflict in the Middle East continues and oil prices rise further, inflation risks spiralling out of control. Such a background helped USDJPY to retreat from its recent high. On top of this, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is resorting to increasingly frequent verbal interventions, saying the government is monitoring the yen’s movements with a strong sense of urgency and ready to act at any moment. The Fed’s focus on keeping interest rates has triggered a fresh downward trend in gold prices. The precious metal does not generate interest income. Consequently, it struggles when borrowing costs remain high, and the dollar strengthens. (FxPro)

Media Man Peg-On

What was that about Trump Trade and No wars? Oh, that was last year. Times change. Darwinism 101 required on a few fronts. The Art Of The Deal meets The Art Of War!

News

Betting on Americas and keeping BHP whole

News

A most powerful, anonymous miner

News

Woodside taps insider amid energy turmoil

News

Alphabet Inc Class A
$301.00 -6.13 -2.00%

Lead Up Price
$307.13 -0.56 -0.18%

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$188.38 -8.94.53%

Lead Up Price
$197.31 -3.72 -1.85%

Netflix Inc
$91.82 +0.080 +0.087%

Lead Up Price
$91.74 -2.96 -3.13%

Caterpillar Inc
$680.88 -7.77 -1.13%

Lead Up Price
$688.65 -4.97 -0.72%

Tesla Inc
$367.96
-12.34 -3.24%

Lead Up Price
$380.30 -12.48 -3.18%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$99.98 -3.18 -3.08%

Lead Up Price
$103.16 +1.54 +1.52%

Warner Bros Discovery Inc
$27.42 -0.21 -0.76%

Arafura Rare Earths Ltd
$0.28 +0.015 +5.66%
(ASX)

Mp Materials Corp
$50.60 -2.50 -4.71%

Palantir Technologies Inc
$150.68 -5.00 -3.21%

NVIDIA Corp
$172.93 -5.63 -3.15%

http://Amazon.com Inc
$205.37 -3.40 -1.63%

News

X Newsfeed

Trump Endorses Donalds at Mar-a-Lago Amid Iran Tensions and GOP Rift

News

Wrestling/WWE/Pop Culture

Jade Cargill Calls Out Rhea Ripley in Heated SmackDown Face-Off

News Lead Up

March 19

Dread for Australian investors as $51 billion wipe out ravages the ASX after tit-for-tat strikes on energy assets send oil prices soaring

Australians are despairingly watching the stock market tumble once again after massive strikes on energy infrastructure in the Middle East sent oil prices surging. (Sky News Australia)
News

Gold News

Gold is back in focus as markets react to geopolitics

Thus, gold appears to be a win-win option. It will gain if the conflict in the Middle East drags on, and will not lose if it ends. Investors just need to be patient for a little while. (FxPro)

News Lead Up

Crypto Market Tests Breakout Above Key Resistance
Market Overview

Crypto market capitalisation increased by a further 2.7% in the last 24 hours, reaching $2.54 trillion. At its peak earlier in the day, the market climbed to $2.58 trillion, its highest since early February. This indicates a period of consolidation above the 50-day moving average, an attempt to break free from the correction pattern following the decline, and a move above the 61.8% retracement level of the initial movement.

The sentiment index gained 5 points to reach 28 for the day, breaking out of the extreme fear zone and hitting its highest level since late January. This indicator's positive signal complements the favourable technical picture.

Bitcoin rose to $76K, later retreating to $74K, where it is trading as the European session begins. The market is currently testing the rally's stability. Meanwhile, sentiment in traditional markets has shifted: gold and stock indices closed higher on Monday, while the dollar index dived back below 100.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global investment in crypto funds rose by $1.1 billion last week, marking the third week of inflows after five weeks of outflows.

Investments in Bitcoin increased by $793 million, in Ethereum by $315 million, in Solana by $9 million, and in Chainlink by $3 million.

Since the beginning of the Iranian crisis, the total assets under management (AuM) in global crypto ETFs have grown by 9.4% to $140 billion, according to CoinShares.

Over the past 30 days, users have withdrawn more than 32,060 BTC from crypto exchanges. Only 2.44 million BTC remain on the balance sheets of trading platforms, the lowest figure in recent years, according to Crypto Patel.

Ethereum has outpaced Bitcoin in growth rates amid the return of institutional investors. According to Arkham, Erik Voorhees, the former CEO of the ShapeShift crypto exchange, purchased 24,968 ETH worth $56.5 million after a one-year hiatus.

Strategy bought a further 22,337 BTC ($1.57 billion) last week at an average price of $70,946 per coin. This is the largest bitcoin purchase since November 2024. Strategy now owns 761,068 BTC, bought for $57.61 billion at an average price of $75,696 per bitcoin.

BitMine acquired approximately 60,000 ETH over the past week. The company's reserves now total 4.59 million ETH, representing 3.81% of the Ethereum market supply. BitMine aims to accumulate 5% of all ether. (FxPro)

News

News Flashback/Lead Up

March 16

Middle East/World Biz News

Central banks are trying to get back into the spotlight

A flurry of central bank meetings is coming up this week

Gold is under pressure due to the shift in the outlook for Fed rates

Confidence in the Fed is growing, but this is not saving the central banks. The conflict in the Middle East has pulled the blanket over itself.

It has become the main driver of pricing in the financial markets. The federal judge’s ruling that the Justice Department’s subpoenas to Jerome Powell were unlawful has provided yet another reason to buy the US dollar. If the Fed is under protection, it is not possible to put pressure on it to cut rates. The US President has come up against a brick wall with the Supreme Court and the Federal Court in cases concerning tariffs, as well as against Jerome Powell. The chances of him succeeding in dismissing FOMC Governor Lisa Cook are also slim. A blitzkrieg against Iran is not working out either. Tehran has no intention of surrendering, however much Trump tries to convince the markets otherwise. The plan to release 400 million barrels from strategic reserves is failing. It will take time to implement. The maximum that IEA members can put on the market is 3 million bpd. Even by the most optimistic estimates, the loss of global supply due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amounts to 10 million bpd. Oil prices continue to rise, and as Brent rallies, central banks’ hopes of regaining their role as the main newsmakers in the Forex market are fading. It has been a while since we’ve seen such a packed five-day schedule of central bank meetings. Whilst the Fed is certain to discuss the two-way risks posed by the conflict in the Middle East to the US economy, the ECB and the Bank of Japan are likely to hint at near-term rate rises.

The RBA is even ready to raise the cash rate to 4.15%, which provides a tailwind for the Australian dollar. The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of Canada intend to extend the pause in their policy-easing cycles until the end of the year. The higher the rates, the greater the appeal of currencies and bonds denominated in them. Gold must now forget about debasement trading, which served it faithfully in 2025 and early 2026. The precious metal feels out of its depth against the backdrop of the Fed’s rate cut prospects being pushed back from June to September and derivatives losing their illusions of two federal funds rate cuts in 2026. (FxPro)

News

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'Media Series Company Of The Month' award

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award; Runner-up: The Australian

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of The Month' award

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award

WWE wins Media Man 'Wrestling Promotion Of The Month' award

UFC wins 'Combat Sports Brand Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: Most Valuable Promotions, Everlast, BKFC

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Brand Of The Month' award

CAT wins Media Man 'Heavy Industry Brand Of The Month' award

Dynasty: The Murdochs wins 'Streaming Show Of The Month' award (Netflix)

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

February 20, 2026

Mining For Intel
Crypto Fool's Gold Shines Up A Little

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street, New York

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 44 points/0.5%: 9003
AUD +0.2% to US70.59¢

Bitcoin $66,744.93 +0.48%

Wall St:
Dow -0.5%
S&P -0.3%
Nasdaq -0.3%
VIX +0.61 to 20.23
Gold +0.5% to $US5000.44 an ounce
Silver 76.738 -0.86
Brent oil +2.2% to $US71.89 a barrel
Iron ore -0.4% to $US95.35 a tonne

10-year yield:
US 4.07%
Australia 4.78%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7048 USD (up $0.0008 USD) Iron Ore: $95.35 USD (down $0.60 USD) Oil Price: $66.60 USD (up $1.35 USD) Gold Price: $4,990.28 USD (up $11.22 USD) Copper Price: $5.7530 USD (down $0.0110 USD) Dow Jones: 49,319.56 (down 343.10 points)

News

ASX rallies as banks, oil stocks gain; Zip sinks 34pc

The Australian sharemarket performed strongly on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing up 79.20 points at 9086.20. The big four banks all rose, while the rising oil price on the back of fears of a US-Iran conflict saw energy stocks in demand, with Santos up 5.6 per cent to $7, and Woodside Energy increasing 4.5 per cent to $27.10. Payments company Zip slumped after its results for the half year fell short of expectations, while Lifestyle Communities fell 7.1 per cent to $5.33 after its profit dropped to $15.8 million for the first half. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Shares Summary/Snapshot (near live)
*check Google Finance or Yahoo! Finance for totally live (as close to) for the latest ticker prices)

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$208.68 -4.60 -2.16%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$302.85 -0.48 -0.16%

Netflix Inc
$77.00 -0.99 -1.27%

News

Cryptos

Ethereum is resting on a 6-year trend

Market Overview
The crypto market cap fell by more than 1% in 24 hours to $2.31 trillion, approaching last week's lows but leaving the market 5% above its low point on 6 February. The market's range continues to narrow, suggesting that volatility is likely to soon break out of the $2.3-2.4T range. Given the previous dynamics and the increasingly cautious nature of growth in the US stock markets, there is a greater chance of an early update of local lows with a dip to the levels we saw in the second half of 2024.
Bitcoin is trading just above $67K, losing slightly under 1%, which is better than the market, as active selling has moved to altcoins outside the top five. BTC is trading at the bottom of the downward range of the last week and a half.
Ethereum is resting on a support line that originated in 2020 and was touched in early 2024 and at the February lows. This global trend line now also coincides with the area around $2,000, which further reinforces its significance. However, for such a serious event as the breakdown of the 6-year support, confirmation in the form of a failure below the recent lows at $1,500 is required. Until then, bulls may remain hopeful, attracting long-term buyers on dips. News Background

The indicator of Bitcoin inflows from large holders to the Binance exchange has reached record levels, indicating increased pressure on BTC from large players, according to CryptoQuant.
The current state of the crypto market resembles the final stage of the 2022 bear phase, which was followed by a protracted period of consolidation, according to K33.
Bitcoin has only entered the first phase of the bear cycle, according to Willy Woo, co-founder of the CMCC Crest investment fund. The second phase will be associated with a fall in global stock markets, and the third will mark a period of stabilisation.
Strategy bought 2,486 BTC ($168.4 million) over the past week at an average price of $67,710 per coin. Strategy now owns 717,131 BTC, purchased for $54.5 billion at an average price of $76,027 per bitcoin.
Japan's Metaplanet reported a net loss of $619 million for 2025. The negative financial result is due to the revaluation of the company's Bitcoin reserves.
Ethereum's share of staking exceeded 50% of the total supply of the asset for the first time in history, according to Santiment. The queue for Ethereum staking is near historic highs — 3.8 million ETH (waiting time — 67 days).

BlackRock has taken the first step towards launching a staking Ethereum ETF in the United States.
The Founders Fund, a venture capital fund owned by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, has sold all of its shares in the DAT company ETHZilla, one of the largest corporate holders of Ethereum. Back in August, Thiel's share was 7.5%.
Updated rules from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have scared American crypto investors. Starting in 2026, all US-licensed crypto exchanges will be required to disclose information about their clients, from the volume of investments to the profits or losses they have. (FxPro)

News

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin’s worrying slips down

Market Overview

The crypto market cap has been hovering around $2.34-2.35T for the third day in a row. Volatility seems to have been turned off in this market, while stock indices are much livelier. There, investors are actively buying up dips, relying on support in the form of important moving averages: 50-day for the Dow Jones and Russell 2000 and 200-day for the Nasdaq100. The crypto market is now below its 50- and 200-day curves by 17% and 31%, respectively. If cryptocurrencies still play a role as an indicator of risk appetite, it points to disaster.

By and large, the cryptocurrency sentiment index says the same thing, falling to 8 at the start of the day on Wednesday. The indicator has been in single digits for nine of the last fourteen days. This is worse than the darkest moments of 2020 and 2022. It seems that as the cryptocurrency market matures, it is becoming less optimistic. On the other hand, it is also becoming less volatile.

Bitcoin continues its downward drift, periodically bouncing along the way. At the end of US trading, the price of the first cryptocurrency fell to $66.7K but added about 1,000 at the time of writing. It is alarming that Bitcoin's dynamics mirror the recent strengthening of the dollar. When investors become convinced that the rise of the dollar is a trend, there may be a sharp increase in volatility.

News Background

Bitcoin's collapse to $60,000 has put psychological pressure on long-term BTC holders, comparable to the collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem in May 2022, Glassnode notes. They began to sell off assets at significant losses, which is typical of the later stages of a bear market.

A net outflow of stablecoins from the Binance exchange has been observed for the third month in a row, signalling a continuing liquidity squeeze across the crypto market, notes analyst Darkfost. The last time a similar dynamic was observed was during the 2023 bear market.

Standard Chartered Bank has significantly lowered its forecasts for major cryptocurrencies for 2026 amid market volatility. The forecast for Bitcoin has been lowered from $150,000 to $100,000, for Ethereum from $7,000 to $4,000, for Solana from $250 to $135, and for XRP from $8 to $2.8.

Bloomberg Intelligence commodities strategist Mike McGlone has reiterated his forecast for Bitcoin. According to him, the leading cryptocurrency could plummet to $10,000 this year, heralding a recession in the US economy and a stock market crash.

According to Token Terminal, Polygon has surpassed Ethereum in daily transaction fees for the first time. The Polymarket prediction platform has made the main contribution to the growth in activity.

Stablecoins are increasingly being used for payments, salaries and savings, according to a study by BVNK. The key factor was savings on fees, which average 40% compared to traditional payment services. (FxPfo)

News

Geopolitics saves Crude Oil

Asian demand is making the black gold market more bullish than last year

The fate of Brent depends on the outcome of negotiations between the US and Iran on the one hand, and Russia and Ukraine on the other.

Brent bulls believe that sooner or later, Russia and Iran will reduce production and exports of Crude. This will lead to price increases. The bears are convinced of the opposite: thanks to discounts, barrels of oil will be absorbed by buyers, most likely China. At the same time, the negotiation processes between Washington and Tehran on the one hand, and Moscow and Kyiv on the other, are of key importance.

According to a Bloomberg insider, Russian oil production did indeed decline for the second month in a row to 9.28 million bpd in January. This is approximately 300,000 bpd below OPEC+ quotas. Nevertheless, exports rose to 3.39 million bpd in the week ending February 15th. In the first half of the month, deliveries to China jumped to more than 2 million bpd. According to Kpler, they are being redirected from India.

Overall, Asian demand for oil continues to grow rapidly. The company expects record growth in imports to China, India and other countries in the region to 28.51 bpd in February. This growth could lead to a smaller market surplus than previously expected. This is especially true given the supply disruptions that have occurred, including those caused by sanctions.

Thus, even without geopolitics, the situation looks less bearish than it did in 2025. Last year, according to the IEA, onshore reserves of Oil grew by 477 million barrels, or 1.3 million bpd. The main reason for this was increased production in the US, Brazil and OPEC+. At the same time, global demand remained healthy.

The market's attention is focused on the negotiations between Washington and Tehran, where each side has its own version of the truth. The Iranian Foreign Ministry claims that the basic terms of the agreement have been reached. This will allow sanctions to be lifted and war in the Middle East to be avoided. US Vice President DJ Vance, on the other hand, believes that Donald Trump's demands have not been met and that Tehran has two more weeks to do so.

Iran has an important trump card. It knows the peculiarities of the US president's negotiating tactics, which involve moving from threats to retreat. Moreover, a rise in Brent to $150 per barrel is not part of Donald Trump's plans, especially in the run-up to the midterm elections. (FxPro)

News

Eric Trump Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $1 Million Despite Slump

Speaking at the World Liberty Forum in Mar-a-Lago, hosted by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., Eric forecasted Bitcoin hitting $1 million, citing its average 70% yearly gains from $16,000 two years ago. The event ties to their World Liberty Financial platform, launched after banks closed Trump Organization accounts post-January 6, 2021, which the brothers call political debanking. Donald Trump Jr. called traditional banking a 'Ponzi scheme' favoring insiders, while WLFI announced a partnership with Apex Group for their USD1 stablecoin.

News

Shares (Yesterday - 24 Hour Ago)
The Lead Up
(For reference, historical and educational purposes)

Alphabet Inc Class A
$303.33 +1.31 +0.43%

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$213.40 +3.30 +1.57%

Netflix Inc
$77.99 +0.99 +1.29%

Palantir Technologies Inc
$135.38 +2.36 +1.77%

Tesla Inc
$411.22 +0.59 +0.14%

Microsoft Corp
$399.60 +2.74 +0.69%

Mercedes Benz Group ADR
$17.41 +0.030 +0.17%

Porsche Automobile Holding SE Unsponsored Germany ADR
$4.20 +0.011 +0.26%

Volvo ADR (Parent to Mack Trucks)
$38.13 +0.13 +0.34%

Formula One Group Series A
$81.70 +2.07 +2.60%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$116.31 +1.91 +1.67%

MGM Resorts International
$37.19 +2.92 +8.52%

Light & Wonder Inc
$98.12 +0.020 +0.020%

Mineral Resources Ltd
$53.75 +1.73 +3.33%

St George Mining Ltd
$0.079 -0.0262 -4.76%

Lynas Rare Earths ADR
$11.00 +0.21 +1.95%

Arafura Rare Earths Ltd
$0.17 +0.0006 +00.35%

Rio Tinto plc ADR Common Stock
$98.93 +2.05 +2.12%

Fortescue Ltd
$20.20 (ASX)
+0.100 +0.50%

BHP Group Ltd
$52.29 -0.45 -0.85% (ASX)

News

Culture/Streaming

24 Hours Ago approx

YouTube Restores Service After Brief Global Outage

The outage hit around 2 a.m. UTC on February 18, blocking access to videos, apps, recommendations, YouTube TV, Music, and Kids for under two hours. TeamYouTube confirmed the issues and fixed them by 3:12 a.m. UTC, after Downdetector logged over 320,000 U.S. complaints alone. Users turned to X to share frustrations and jokes, while some reports of wider disruptions to services like Google and Netflix went unconfirmed by official status pages.

News

Sports/Formula One

Russell Edges Piastri to Top Bahrain Pre-Season Test Day One

On Wednesday at Bahrain International Circuit, Russell's 1:33.459 lap led Piastri by a whisker, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third after 70 laps. Mercedes piled on mileage at 145 laps combined, while Lewis Hamilton tested Ferrari's SF-26, calling it 'exciting' with his heavy sim input baked in. Drama came from Lance Stroll's gravel spin and Aston Martin's power issues, but off-track smiles shone in the 'Carlando' reunion photoshoot of Norris and Sainz. (Grok)

News

Culture

'Welcome To The Blockchain' aka

The Bitcoin Song

Intro

We're now standing on the precipice of a global revolution
Of economics, of politics, and government
Welcome to the blockchain

verse

Power corrupts, money is power
The power to control the money is one that is now
In the hands of those who pretend we can't function without them
So how can we do something about it? (Huh?)
Working hard to get a raise, lifting that wage up
Inflation takes it like a hidden taxation
Manipulated interest rates to give the banks
A way to create money with the loans that they're giving out daily (yup)
That means our money is debt
That we gotta pay back more than a hundred percent
No wonder then why the middle class is going under
When the one's above them gotta cover and come to collect
And many have no access to banking
Making payments, or saving, so more fees are taken
And every day the gatekeepers are trying to stop change
We can not wait, welcome to the blockchain

chorus

Welcome to the blockchain
Things are about to change
Open up the gates
Systems get replaced
Bitcoin
Decentralize the trust
Security, transparency
The network's run by us
Bitcoin

verse

Bitcoin is a decentralized ledger
And the currency is its first enterprise ever
Secured by the worldwide incentivized network
Can't be stolen or controlled by any sized effort
You can send it anywhere and instantly
No one can intervene, no third party in between
There's no counterfeiting
Algorithms control the outer limits of how many coins can get released
Programmable money, no government can seize it
Payments can be customized by sender and receiver
Contracts can be written cementing your agreements
With terms that can't be bent once you consent then it completes it
Autonomous businesses are possible
Where profit is distributed amongst those adopting it
Paradigm shift we must adjust to the ending
With the blockchain, bitcoin is just the beginning

chorus

Welcome to the blockchain
Things are about to change
Open up the gates
Systems get replaced
Bitcoin
Decentralize the trust
Security, transparency
The network's run by us
Bitcoin

bridge

Now that we got control
We're not gonna let it go
My people all around the globe
We gotta keep building, building, building
Now that we got control
We're not gonna let it go
My people all around the globe
We gotta keep building, building, building

chorus

Welcome to the blockchain
Things are about to change
Open up the gates
Systems get replaced
Bitcoin
Decentralize the trust
Security, transparency
The network's run by us
Bitcoin

Writer: Toby Ganger

News

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz

Rio Tinto dodges merger bullet

Rio Tinto has dodged two 'bullets' due to Glencore's rejection of a merger proposal: a possible BHP takeover bid and a dangerous acquisition. BHP looked closely at whether to bid for Rio Tinto if the latter announced a merger with Glencore. The two companies would make excellent merger partners; amongst others things, their staff and senior people have similar cultures, they are co-operating on future Australian iron ore projects and they are copper joint venture partners in Chile and the US. Meanwhile, there are significance cultural differences between Rio Tinto and Glencore; there is little doubt that Rio Tinto's CEO Simon Trott would have had doubts about a merger once he understood these cultural differences. (RMS)

News/Snapshot

Australian Mining

Global Commodity Rankings

Australia holds some of the world's largest reserves and is a leading producer of several key minerals.

#1 Producer: Iron Ore, Bauxite, Lithium, Rutile, and Zircon.

#1 Reserves: Iron Ore, Gold, Lead, Nickel, Rutile, Uranium, and Zinc.

#2 Producer: Gold, Alumina, and Manganese.

Key Mining Hubs & Major Projects

Western Australia: The nation's "engine room," producing 98% of Australia's iron ore and 60% of its gold. Major sites include the Pilbara (iron ore) and the Super Pit in Kalgoorlie (gold).

Queensland: A global leader in metallurgical coal (Bowen Basin) and silver/lead production (Cannington mine).

South Australia: Home to Olympic Dam, which contains the world's largest single uranium deposit and significant copper and gold reserves.

Major Players

The sector is dominated by several multinational giants and significant domestic players:

BHP: Often ranked as Australia's most valuable company; major interests in iron ore, copper, and coal.
Rio Tinto: A world leader in iron ore (Pilbara) and aluminum.

Fortescue (FMG): Primarily focused on iron ore and rapidly expanding into green energy.

Hancock Prospecting: Australia's largest private mining company, led by Gina Rinehart, the nation's wealthiest person.

South32: Spun out of BHP; manages a diversified portfolio including manganese, silver, and nickel.

2026 Trends & Developments

Critical Minerals Push: The government has introduced a $23 billion package to support domestic processing and manufacturing of critical minerals to reduce global reliance on single-country supply chains.

Uranium Rally: Prices exceeding US$100/lb have sparked renewed interest in Australian prospects like the Kalkaroo project.

M&A Activity: Major merger talks continue between giants like Rio Tinto and Glencore as they seek to consolidate copper exposure for the EV market.

Workforce Challenges: The Minerals Council of Australia is currently calling for migration reforms to address a significant "skills crunch" in the sector.

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

Media Man

Cryptocurrency, Finance and World

"Volatility is Satoshi’s gift to the faithful." - Michael Saylor

"Bitcoin is a tool for freeing humanity from oligarchs and tyrants, dressed up as a get-rich-quick scheme." — Naval Ravikant

"We have elected to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error." — Tyler Winklevoss

"You can't stop things like Bitcoin. It will be everywhere, and the world will have to readjust. World governments will have to readjust." — John McAfee

"Bitcoin is the most important invention in the history of the world since the Internet." — Roger Ver

"Cryptocurrency is such a powerful concept that it can almost overturn governments." — Charles Lee

"In the future, national currencies will become obsolete. Bitcoin will become the single global currency." — Jack Dorsey

"The future of finance is crypto, whether it’s in payments, contracts, or savings." — Changpeng Zhao

"Crypto offers freedom to the unbanked and hope to the underprivileged." — Elizabeth Stark

"The new frontier of innovation is in decentralization. Blockchain leads the charge." — Don Tapscott

"Digital currency is here to stay, and it’s only a matter of how long before governments embrace it." — Brad Garlinghouse

Pop Culture

Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

The Million Dollar Man vs IRS
Money INC vs Right To Censor
Santa vs Grinch
Bulls vs Bears
Crypto King vs Mr World Bank
Citizens vs NWO
Neo vs Agent Smith
John McAfee vs You Know Who!
TKO vs Naysayers
Jake Paul, Polymarket and BETR vs Naysayers
Pro Boxing vs Newspaper Reports
VKM vs The World
Paul Bros vs Mainstream Wokes
Mr X vs Mr Bluesky
Chris Jericho vs Dirtsheets
NFL vs everyone
Zuffa vs MVP
Netflix vs World
Meta vs Australia
White Light vs Dark Matter
Lexis King vs NIL's (WWE NXT)
Volk vs Naysayers (UFC: Sydney, Australia)
Brock Lesnar vs Everyone! (WWE Royal Rumble)
Roman Reigns vs CM Punk (WWE WrestleMania)
Green vs The Coal Miners Daughter
AC/DC vs Swifties
Triangle v World Bank
Sarah's Oil vs Big Oil
Mr X vs Mr VOX
Mr X vs Mr Platformer
Mr FOX vs Mr Vice
Fox And The Hound vs The View
The Masked Superstar vs Mr Jones
The Undertaker vs Mankind
UFC Legends vs Father Time
Vinnie Vegas and Oz vs Los Americanos
NXT GM vs The Don
Mr Moneymaker vs Mr Regulator
Mr Blockchain vs Mr EU
WWE Unreal vs The Old Guard
Reality TV vs John Pilger Type Journalism and Docos
Mr Real Deal vs Mr Grifter
Mr Truth vs Mr Shock Jock
Mr X vs Mr Bluesky: Rematch
WWE Wrestlers vs NFL Super Bowl Players
Logan Paul and Bad Bunny vs Jake Paul and The Don - Special ref: Damian Priest
Kelly Gang vs Snow White Clan
BKFC vs PFL vs ONE
Mr Sky vs Mr Vice
Marvel Universe vs DC Universe vs Monster Universe
Logan Paul vs Tom Brady
MMA vs Lucha Libre

Confirmed Matches To Happen:

Rousey vs Carano (Netflix) May 16
Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov (Netflix) April 11

Mining/Energy/Rare Earths/Biz/Culture/Politics: Australia, U.S and World

News

November 2025

Markets

Nov 19

Australian Dollar: $0.6520 USD (up 0.0040 USD)
Iron Ore: $104.45 USD (up $0.20 USD)
Oil: $60.87 USD (up $1.07 USD)
Gold: $4,069.77 USD (up $44.86 USD)
Copper: $4.9775 USD (down $0.0055 USD)
Bitcoin: $93,135.56 USD (up 1.46% in last 24 hours)
Dow Jones: 46,229.59 (down 360.65 points)

Bitcoin: (Near Live) $93,331.83 +1.13%

News

Heavy Industry Awards

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

News

Lithium giant's forecast hikes mining stocks

Chinese media outlet Cailian recently reported that Ganfeng Lithium chairman Li Liangbin has forecast that demand for lithium could rise by 30 per cent in 2026 and boost the price of the battery metal to around 200,000 yuan ($43,000) per tonne. Li's comments at an industry event have prompted a rally in the price of both lithium and the share prices of lithium producers; indeed, Australian lithium miners defied the downward trend on Tuesday, which saw the local bourse shed 1.9 per cent. (RMS)

News

Australian Mining News

Recent Developments (November 2025)

Market Debuts and Conferences: Red Mountain Mining (ASX: RMX) saw shares rise 36% on its OTCQB listing, highlighting US-Australia critical minerals ties. The company presents at the Virtual Investor Conference on November 19, focusing on antimony and rare earths projects.

Tech Advancements: Southern LiDAR's underground mapping tech is gaining traction for safety and efficiency in Australian mines.

Policy and Investment: A global mining giant committed AU$35M to NSW's zero-emissions steel demonstration plant, amid debates on taxpayer funding versus competitiveness against Chinese imports. Meanwhile, the Australian Mines and Services Handbook 2026 booking rush signals optimism.

Broader Discussions: Social media buzz includes critiques of environmental impacts (e.g., highway projects versus mining) and state rivalries, with Western Australia's mineral dominance contrasting Victoria's challenges.

News

Markets

S&P/ASX 200 846 9.10 -1.28%
S&P 500 6617.32 -0.83%
NIKKEI 48702.98 -3.22%
FTSE 9552.30 -1.27%
AUD/USD 65.06 +0.22%
GOLD 4067.32 +0.83%

News

Wyloo bets on nickel future as part of critical minerals boom

Wyloo's financial accounts show that it booked a $377.6m profit in 2024-25, after a massive impairment charge on its nickel assets resulted in a $352.8m loss for the previous financial year. The private company of Andrew and Nicola Forrest is continuing to explore for nickel near its mothballed mines in Western Australia, while it is also considering the construction of a nickel concentrator near Kambalda. Wyloo's CEO Luca Giacovazzi stated in its latest annual report that its future growth is likely to be on mining and selling nickel, while this focus is expected to be expanded to include rare earths. (RMS)

News

Nov 19

US fears, Nvidia nerves wipe $60b from ASX

The Australian sharemarket retreated on Tuesday, recording its biggest one-day fall since the Trump administration's 'liberation day' tariffs in April; the S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.9 per cent to close at 8,469.1 points. Tony Sycamore from IG says the local bourse was hit by a "perfect storm", with investors awaiting the release of Nvidia's latest financial results and US jobs data for September. BHP was down 3.7 per cent at $40.90, TechnologyOne ended the session 17.2 per cent lower at $29.26 and DroneShield fell 5.8 per cent to $2.45. Pilbara Minerals bucked the trend, rising 3.3 per cent to close at $4.09. (RMS)

Nov 18

ASX wipes out $60b in second-worst day this year

The Australian sharemarket suffered its second-biggest drop this year on Tuesday as investors erased $60 billion in value on growing anxiety about chip giant Nvidia’s upcoming results and concerns that interest rates in the US won’t fall soon. Losses accelerated in afternoon trading with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing down 167.3 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 8469.1, the lowest level since late June. It was the worst session since US President Donald Trump unleashed hefty tariffs early April.

Ownership of 'Solar Energy Systems' is on the rise

(Roy Morgan Summary)

New data from Roy Morgan shows that 32% of Australian households (more than 3.3 million) now have some form of solar energy system, such as a solar hot water system, a solar heated swimming pool or rooftop solar panels with or without battery systems. These figures include 27% of households with solar panels and 5% with both solar panels and storage batteries. Western Australians are leading the way in solar panel ownership (37%) along with South Australian households (also 37%), followed by Queensland (33%). Households in these States are more likely to have solar panels than an average Australian household. Meawhile, households in South Australia and the Northern Territory (Darwin and Alice Springs) have a higher take-up of solar batteries (9% and 7% of households, respectively) compared to the national average (5%). While ownership of solar power storage batteries is at a much lower rate compared to solar panels, the federal government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program is set to boost the future take-up of storage batteries nationwide. (RMS)

Nov 15

Make coal great again or China gets your data: Hanson

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will release details of the party's energy policy during the last parliamentary sitting week for 2025. However, Hanson contends that amongst other things Australia must withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and extend the operating lives of the nation's existing fleet of coal-fired power stations. Hansen has emphasised the importance of coal-fired power generation to data centres in Australia, warning that they will not be able to compete with China. Hanson adds that it "frightens the hell out of me" that China will dominate global data storage due to its lower electricity prices, which will be at least partly due to coal imported from Australia. (RMS)

News

Former Rio boss called to Mongolian probe

A Mongolian parliamentary inquiry into cost blowouts at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine was announced in September, with public hearings due to be held between December 8 and 12. Slated to be one of the world's top-five producers of copper by the end of the decade, the Oyu Tolgoi mine cost almost $US1.7 billion more than planned and took almost two years longer than expected to build. Former Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques is one of close to 300 witnesses called to appear before the inquiry, with Jacques having been CEO of Rio from 2016 to 2020. (Roy Morgan Summary)

Nov 14

BHP to learn class action fate for $72b Brazil dam disaster

The UK's High Court will shortly issue a ruling on whether BHP is legally for an iron ore tailings dam disaster in Brazil which killed 19 people and caused massive environmental damage in November 2015. The tailing dam was owned by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and iron ore rival Vale. Should BHP be found to be legally liable, individual claimants' eligibility for compensation and the size of any payouts will be determined in the next stage of the long-running case. BHP and Vale have already paid billions in compensation to people who were affected by the disaster. (RMS)

News

Fresh probe launched into MinRes, Ellison

It has been revealed that the Australian Taxation Office has launched a new investigation into Mineral Resources and its billionaire founder Chris Ellison. News of the investigation was revealed in a request sent by the ATO to the Federal Court in October for access to previously sealed documents that had been filed in the unfair dismissal case brought by MinRes' former procurement manager Steve Pigozzo in 2022. The new investigation will focus on how MinRes and Ellison calculated income and fringe benefit taxes, with the revelation regarding the new probe coming as MinRes prepares to hold its AGM next week, at which shareholders will be asked to approve a lucrative share options package for new chairman Malcolm Bundey. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Rio ends two-decade Serbia lithium mining dream as cost cuts bite

Rio Tinto has advised that its Jadar lithium project in Serbia has put in 'care and maintenance' mode. The company will cease undertaking environmental, heritage and geological surveys at the site in the Jadar Valley, four years after revealing plans to invest $US2.4bn ($3.7bn) on developing what it claimed would be the biggest lithium mine in Europe. There is growing competition for capital within Rio Tinto's lithium division, and its $10bn deal to acquire Arcadium Lithium earlier in 2025 added several mines that are already in production to its lithium portfolio. (RMS)

News

American activist claims IperionX more dud than minerals gem

Trading in the shares of Australian-listed IperionX were halted on Thursday, following the release of a report into the company by New York hedge fund Spruce Point Capital Management, which specialises in short-selling. With the US-based IperionX seeking to develop titanium extraction technology and having been backed by the Trump administration as part of its bid to secure domestic production of critical minerals, Spruce Point's report sought to raise doubt about IperionX's prospects. (RMS)

News

Biotech gets $20m in critical minerals push

US-based biotechnology firm Endolith has raised $US13.5m ($20.6m) via its initial round of venture funding, while it aims to raise an additional $3m in a second tranche. The start-up is developing technology that can be used to extract critical minerals such as copper from low-grade ore and waste rock that would be unprofitable to process using traditional methods. Endolith's technology uses microbes and artifical intelligence, and the company aims to commence real-world trials at a mine site within 6-12 months. (RMS)

News

Oversupply of oil could create glut of 4m barrels a day, says energy watchdog

The International Energy Agency has stated in its latest monthly report that the world is producing more oil than it needs, and that there could be a glut of 4m excess barrels a day entering the market by 2026. The IEA's warning has come in the same week that it issued its latest energy outlook report, which included a controversial scenario in which global oil demand would continue to grow until 2050. It had dropped the scenario in 2020 after it was accused of repeatedly criticised for underestimating the growth of renewable energy in its annual report, but returned the scenario to its outlook this year after calls from the White House to present a more optimistic view for the future of oil. (RMS)

News Lead Up

News

The cryptocurrency market is stagnating, lagging its competitors

Market Overview

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation has changed little over the past day, fluctuating around $3.5 trillion. The cryptocurrency fear index has fallen to 15, its lowest level since 4 March. Notably, the cryptocurrency market has been left out of the recent rally in precious metals and stock indices. If this is not an attempt by whales to lock in profits from the rally since April or even from the growth of the last two years, then it is an alarming signal of deep-seated risk aversion that is about to manifest itself in larger markets.

Bitcoin continues to struggle to remain within the bull market on weekly timeframes, trying to stay above the 50-week moving average. Last week's close was on the edge and attempts to develop an offensive this week are running into sell-offs, despite the favourable external backdrop. The previous such transition occurred at the end of 2021, and so far, everything aligns with the 4-year halving cycles that many were quick to dismiss.

News Background

Over the past three months, a clear break has occurred in the correlation between Bitcoin and the stock market. The S&P 500 stock index has risen 7% during this time, while BTC has lost 15%. Judging by four years of close correlation, it can be argued that Bitcoin is currently undervalued, according to Santiment.

Jan3 founder Samson Mow attributes Bitcoin's decline to a massive sell-off by investors who bought it over the past 12 to 18 months. They are rushing to lock in profits amid rumours of an imminent bearish trend in the crypto market.

The crypto market's growth phase is nearing its end, so it is time for investors to consider locking in profits and reducing the share of crypto assets in their portfolios, according to Morgan Stanley, which cites a four-year cycle that the cryptocurrency market has consistently followed since 2009.

The bitcoin mining industry is facing a difficult period due to growing competition and declining profitability, said MARA CEO Fred Thiel. According to him, only those miners who have access to cheap energy or new business models will survive.

According to SoSoValue, spot Solana ETFs in the US have attracted more than $350 million in 11 trading sessions. The steady inflow of funds into new SOL ETFs came as a surprise to the market. The results significantly exceeded initial conservative forecasts, according to LVRG Research.

Visa has unveiled a pilot project called Visa Direct, which allows US customers to make direct cross-border payments in USDC stablecoin to recipients' wallets. The initiative is aimed at content creators and freelancers.

The crypto industry is entering a new phase of capital raising. The launch of Coinbase's ICO platform is expected to be a key event in this trend, according to Bitwise. The exchange will select and launch one verified project per month. (FxPro)

News

The dollar emerging from the data fog

• The US government shutdown is over. • Central bank policy convergence helps EURUSD. • Political scandal causes the pound to fall. • Japan's currency interventions are ineffective The House of Representatives voted 222 to 209 to resume government operations. The president immediately signed the document. The record-long shutdown is over. This fact promises that the Fed and investors will soon begin to exit their positions. The president immediately signed the document. The record-breaking shutdown is over. This fact suggests that the Fed and investors will quickly start to emerge from the fog once statistics are published again, allowing them to make data-driven decisions. But will they like what they see when the picture becomes clearer?
Alternative sources show a slowdown in the US GDP. The IMF forecasts a decline in its growth rate from 2.8% to 2% in 2025. The eurozone, on the other hand, is expected to accelerate from 0.9% to 1.2%. At the same time, the Bank of France plans to raise its estimates for the country, despite the ongoing political turmoil. The narrowing divergence in economic growth argues in favour of maintaining the upward trend for EURUSD. The same can be said about monetary policy. The ECB has most likely ended its easing cycle, barring any major shocks. The federal funds rate is likely to continue falling amid a cooling US labour market and economy. The euro has advantages over the dollar. However, in the short term, mixed data could lead to mixed movements in EURUSD.

The conflict on Downing Street has allowed GBPUSD bears to launch a new attack. When Labour came to power in Britain in 2024, the pound gained preference thanks to hopes for political stability after constant ministerial changes under the Conservatives. However, since then, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ratings have been falling. Rumours of a plot to replace the leader have made investors nervous and prompted them to sell sterling. Doubts about the effectiveness of potential currency interventions continue to push the USDJPY pair higher. The current conditions differ from those of last year. Back then, Tokyo intervened in the FOREX market before raising the overnight rate. Now, Sanae Takaichi is sticking to a policy of fiscal and monetary stimulus. Any purchase of the yen will only have short-term success. In addition, it will require the expenditure of foreign exchange reserves. These are needed to make the investments in the US economy promised to Donald Trump. (FxPro)

News

Heavy Industry Awards

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

News

Media

Google Finance wins Media Man 'Business News Website Of The Month' award; Runner-up: Yahoo! Finance

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; YouTube and Paramount Plus are runner-ups! Strong mention: Tubi

News

Pop Culture News

Landman (Paramount Plus)

Plot

Set against the backdrop of the booming West Texas oilfields, Landman follows Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton), a crisis manager and landman for an independent oil company. Tommy navigates cutthroat deals, family tensions, and moral dilemmas while trying to keep his business afloat. The story kicks off with an investigation into a fatal accident involving an out-of-town lawyer, weaving in elements of drug cartels.

Landman is an American drama television series created by Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace, inspired by Wallace's podcast Boomtown. It explores the high-stakes world of the oil industry in West Texas, blending themes of fortune-seeking, corporate intrigue, and personal drama amid roughnecks, billionaires, and geopolitical shifts.

The series premiered on Paramount+ on November 17, 2024, and has been renewed for a second season.

Landman: Season 2. Trailer (Paramount Plus)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=mhzQawESdqg

"You think you understand how this business works, but you don't." Things are heating up in the final Landman trailer. Season 2 premieres November 16, 2025, only on Paramount+.

"Death and a Sunset"
November 16, 2025

"Sins of the Father"
November 23, 2025

"Almost a Home"
November 30, 2025

"Dancing Rainbows"
December 7, 2025

"The Pirate Dinner"
December 14, 2025

"Dark Night of the Soul"
December 21, 2025

"Forever Is an Instant"
December 28, 2025

"Handsome Touched Me"
January 4, 2026

"Plans, Tears and Sirens"
January 11, 2026

"Tragedy and Flies"
January 18, 2026

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News

Best Quotes

The best and biggest gold mine is in between your ears."

"You are a gold mine of potential power. You have to dig to find it and make it real."

"Your mind is like a gold mine, if you dig deep you will find something golden."

"Don't die without mining the gold in your mind."

"We're like goldfields. Until we dig deep to find what's inside us, our true potentials may be hidden forever."

"If you want to find gold, you've got to love the process of digging."

"Even if you're sitting on a gold mine, you still have to dig."

"Develop men the same way gold is mined"

"Don't go into the mine looking for dirt; instead, go in looking for the gold."

"A prospector's job is to remove dirt as quickly as possible"

"A prospector who analyses every speck of dirt won't find much gold"

"The world is sitting on a gold mine but knows it not." "Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold."

"All that is gold does not glitter."

"Gold is forever. It is beautiful, useful, and never wears out"

"Gold is the money of kings"

"Mining is the art of exploiting mineral deposits at a profit. An unprofitable mine is fit only for the sepulcher of a dead mule."

"Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold."

"True gold fears no fire."

"The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit."

"Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold."

"When taken for granted, gold in one's hand is sometimes considered like cheap copper – so are people."

Media Man

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Provider Of The Month' award; Runner-ups: X, Google News, Yahoo! Finance

Markets

Sports And Entertainment Mix

(Near Live)

September 26, 2025

Prepare For Opening Bell And Monday Madness!

TKO Group Holdings $199.04 +3.25 +(1.66%)

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) $1,210.61 +2.37 (+0.20%)

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) 113.47+0.48(+0.42%)

Paramount Skydance Corporation (PSKY) $18.92 -0.01 (-0.05%)

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) $19.51 -0.27 (-1.37%)

Formula One Group (FWONK) $104.93 +0.97+(0.93%)

Mixed Martial Arts Group Limited (MMA) $1.4800 -0.0200 (-1.33%)

NIKE, Inc. (NKE) $69.31 +0.07 +(0.10%)

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) $247.18 +0.61 (+0.25%)

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) $743.75 -5.16 (-0.69%)

Media Man Group: Medium bullish!

Casino/Gaming/Hotels

News, Background, Stockmarket

Markets/Trades: Near Live

September 26, 2025

New York, USA

MGM Resorts International $35.60 +1.12 +3.25%

Wynn Resorts Ltd $128.97 +3.13 +2.49%

Las Vegas Sands $54.01 +0.95 +1.79%

Boyd Gaming Corporation $85.94 +1.45 +1.72%

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. $27.04 +1.13 +4.36%

Red Rock Resorts, Inc. $61.73 +1.75 +2.92%

Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. $43.49 +0.59 +1.38%

PENN Entertainment, Inc. $19.80 +0.26 +1.33%

Light & Wonder, Inc. $84.96 +0.30 +0.35%

News Bonus

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) $178.19 +0.50 +0.28%

TKO Group $199.04 +3.25 +1.66%

Casino News

Casino: a public room or building where gambling games are played. "He was a keen gambler and often went to casinos". A facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions.

Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events. The term casino is of Italian origin, from the root word casa meaning "house." Originally, the term referred to a small country villa, summerhouse, or social club. During the 19th century, casino came to encompass other public buildings where pleasurable activities took place.

The precise origin of gambling is unknown, but it is believed to have existed in nearly every society in history. The first known European gambling house, the Ridotto, was established in Venice, Italy, in 1638 to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season. In the United States, early gambling establishments were known as saloons. In the early 20th century, gambling was outlawed in the U.S. by state legislation. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized in Nevada, leading to the rise of Las Vegas as a major gambling center. In 1976, New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, which is now the second-largest gambling city in the U.S.

Casinos offer a variety of games of chance, which in some cases involve an element of skill. Common games include craps, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and video poker. All casino games have a mathematically determined advantage for the house, known as the house edge, which ensures that the casino will make a profit in the long run. The percentage of funds returned to players as winnings is known as the payout. Slot machines have become one of the most popular forms of gambling in casinos. The design of a casino, including factors like sound, odour, and lighting, is often carefully controlled to encourage gambling.

News

WWE and UFC Themed Slot Games Continue To Build Upon Popularity; TKO Beancounters See Strong Merit; No Official Betting On TKO's/WWE Action Pro Wrestling Match Outcomes! UFC MMA Match Betting Remains Bullish! UFC themed 'The Smashing Machine' movie gets strong industry and fan reviews; UFC/MMA themed movie 'Brawler' still happening; Tipped to be a big hit in Vegas (Media Man Group/Casino News Media)

News

New York City's Casino License Race Heats Up:

Manhattan Proposals Rejected, Yonkers and Queens Advance

All three proposed casino projects in Manhattan have been voted down by local community committees, including the high-profile $11.2 billion Freedom Plaza bid near the UN headquarters, operated by Mohegan and developer Stefan Soloviev. This leaves no casino developments in Manhattan for now.

On a positive note, MGM Resorts' $2.3 billion expansion of Empire City Casino in Yonkers and Genting Group's $5.5 billion Resorts World upgrade in Queens received key approvals from advisory panels on September 25, moving them to the state licensing board. Developers are promising billions in community investments, jobs, and infrastructure to sway officials.

Social buzz: X users are debating the economic impact, with some calling it a win for suburban gambling hubs over urban congestion.

Michigan Cracks Down on Unlicensed Online Casinos

The Michigan Gaming Control Board issued cease-and-desist orders to eight unlicensed online operators targeting residents, emphasizing risks to player data and fair play. This aligns with broader U.S. enforcement trends under state laws like the Lawful Internet Gaming Act.

Boom in New Online and Sweepstakes Casinos for U.S. Players

September 2025 has seen a surge of fresh platforms, with experts ranking sites like Ignition, Jackbit, Wild io, BitStarz, and Rakebit for their fast payouts, crypto support, and bonuses up to $1,000 match + free spins. New sweepstakes options include LoneStar Casino (500+ games, 100K Gold Coins no-deposit bonus), Sixty6 (1,500 slots), and Rich Sweeps (5,000-game launch).

Standouts for social/sweepstakes play: GameDayZone (NFL-timed debut), Shuffle us (spin-off from Shuffle dotcome), and Sweeps Royal (mobile-first with generous promos). These focus on no-purchase entry, quick redemptions, and AI personalization.