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Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'News Outlet Of The Month' award again

Crypto, Fintech, Markets, News and Politics via Media Man

March 12/13, 2025

The crypto bounces back from extreme fear

Market picture

The cryptocurrency market bounced 2% in the last 24 hours to $2.67 trillion. So far, the situation looks like a small rebound after the collapse. We should not talk about the beginning of recovery as long as the market is below its 200-day moving average of $2.83 trillion.

Sentiment in the crypto market has shifted from dread to fear at 34. The indicator was last higher more than three weeks ago, indicating that now is a good time to buy. However, it's worth paying attention to the nervous stock market before considering investments in more volatile cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin was climbing above $83,000 on Tuesday, hitting resistance in the form of the 200-day moving average. If a long-term trend line is repurposed as resistance, that's a worrisome bearish fact.

Ethereum ended Tuesday with growth and was trading near $1900 at the start of Wednesday, but this is a timid rebound within the steep peak the coin has been in since February 24th and the broader downtrend of the past three months.

News Background

CryptoQuant states a sharp drop in open interest in Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, suggesting a ‘leverage washout’ and a chance of market stabilisation. The Kobeissi Letter admits a wave of short position unwinding in risk assets after extreme fear levels are reached.

Clearstream, the post-trading arm of Deutsche Börse, will offer cryptocurrency settlement and custody services to institutional clients as early as next month, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum. It then plans to add support for other cryptocurrencies and services for staking, lending and brokerage.

Glassnode notes that Solana fell below its realised price of $134 for the first time in three years. The metrics show the average cost for investors to purchase the coin.

According to Arkham Intelligence, on 11 March, bankrupt exchange Mt. Gox transferred 11,501 BTC (~$905 million) to an unknown address. Mt. Gox-related addresses hold a total of 35,915 BTC worth $2.89bn. (FxPro)

News

SEC vs Ripple Case: Negotiations Underway for Settlement

Recent developments indicate that the legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could be nearing a conclusion. Reports suggest that Ripple's legal team is currently negotiating more favorable terms related to a $125 million fine and an injunction on XRP sales to institutional investors. The anticipation of a settlement has led to increased interest and speculation within the cryptocurrency community regarding the outcome and its potential impact on XRP. (Grok)

News

U.S. Plans Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Acquisition

Senator Cynthia Lummis has reintroduced the BITCOIN Act, which proposes that the United States government purchase one million Bitcoins over five years to create a strategic reserve. This legislative move reflects a growing acknowledgment of Bitcoin as a digital asset for national economic strategy, garnering support from both traditional financial sectors and cryptocurrency advocates. Alongside this, there is an ongoing debate about the implications, risks, and potential benefits of such a reserve. (Grok)

News

Trump's Crypto Banking Deregulation

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to sign an executive order that would reverse regulations set by the Biden administration aimed at restricting banking activities for cryptocurrency firms. This move could impact how crypto companies interact with the Federal Reserve, potentially leading to greater integration of cryptocurrencies within the traditional financial system. (Grok)

News

Rumble's Strategic Bitcoin Acquisition

Rumble, a video platform and competitor to YouTube, has announced the purchase of 188 Bitcoins for approximately $17.1 million. This acquisition is part of Rumble's strategy to integrate Bitcoin into its treasury management, aiming to hedge against inflation and participate in the growing trend of corporate cryptocurrency adoption. The move reflects a broader acceptance of Bitcoin as a legitimate financial asset among companies. (Grok)

News

Trump Predicts Market Surge Amid Economic Indicators

President Trump has publicly stated his belief that the U.S. financial markets are poised for significant growth, making his comments at an event with business leaders. This optimistic forecast follows recent economic indicators showing inflation cooling to levels not seen in years, despite mixed responses from markets regarding Trump's economic policies including tariffs. (Grok)

News

Ethereum's Lowest BTC Ratio Since 2020 Triggers Liquidation Risk

The Ethereum Foundation faces potential liquidation of over $100 million in assets if Ethereum's price drops to $1,100, amidst a historic low in the ETH/BTC trading ratio not seen since May 2020. This financial maneuver is part of Ethereum's strategy to manage its treasury through decentralized finance (DeFi), highlighting both the risks and innovative approaches to crypto-asset management in a volatile market. (Grok)

News

Gold funds burst out of the blocks in 2025 as returns rocket

Australian gold funds are shaping up for a bumper year as mining companies start to capitalise on record prices, helping the stocks to finally catch up to the performance of the precious metal.

Portfolio managers were left frustrated last year after a jump in production costs held back ASX-listed gold producers from riding the rally in the spot prices to record levels. The VanEck Gold Miners exchange-traded fund climbed nearly 20 per cent in 2024 versus a 38 per cent rally for the gold price in Australian dollars.

But easing cost inflation that has plagued the mining sector for the last three years and an ongoing surge in prices has seen the trend reverse course. VanEck’s Gold Miners ETF is up 17 per cent already this year while the Aussie dollar spot price has climbed 6.3 per cent.

Local fund managers are bullish that gold has much further to run after the US dollar price climbed above $US2942 an ounce for the first time and the Australian dollar gold price breached $4500 an ounce.

Victor Smorgon Partners’ Resource Gold Fund returned a chunky 13.3 per cent in January and portfolio manager Cameron Judd believes the valuations of ASX gold stocks still don’t reflect the outlook for the yellow metal.

“Gold’s performance in times of uncertainty or crisis could see it push towards $US3600,” Mr Judd said. “Despite the strong gold price performance and fundamentals supporting further appreciation, gold miners are trading at discounted valuations on the ASX.”

Wall Street’s biggest banks believe a $US3000 price tag is imminent. Citi said it was possible within the next three months, while JPMorgan has a year-end target of $US3150. Bank of America said on Thursday that gold could reach $US3500 an ounce if investment demand rises 10 per cent this year.

The unprecedented surge in the gold price has been fuelled by investors seeking safe haven assets as US President Donald Trump unleashes aggressive trade and geopolitical policies. There are fears the president will accelerate inflation, forcing central banks to raise rates in a way that damages global growth.

Victor Smorgon’s top holdings include ASX-listed Vault Minerals and the world’s largest gold miner, US-based Newmont, which recently acquired Newcrest. The fund also owns Australia’s biggest gold miner Northern Star, which agreed to buy rival De Grey in a $5 billion deal. (AFR) *Full article and coverag via subscription to The Australian Financial Review.

News

Australia

Northern Star paying top dollar for gold rival

Northern Star has offered $5 billion to buy De Grey Mining, with De Grey shareholders to vote on the offer on 16 April. De Grey is the company behind the Hemi gold prospect in Western Australia, which is thought to hold at least 11 million ounces of gold and which is slated to produce 530,000 ounces annually in its first decade of operation. KPMG, which was engaged to provide an independent assessment of Northern Star's offer, has valued DeGrey at between $4 billion and $4.79 billion, inclusive of a premium for control. It concludes that the offer is "fair and reasonable and therefore is in the best interests of De Grey shareholders, in the absence of a superior proposal". (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

March 12, 2025

Crypto market tumbles after stocks

Market picture

Crypto market capitalisation has been falling to $2.5 trillion following the rumbling fall of the US stock market. It is dipping below the peaks of early 2024 and late 2021. Previously, a similar decline would complete a corrective pullback, attracting buyers. However, the chances of such an outcome are now lower than in previous years due to the powerful influence of traditional financial companies, which has strengthened the link between the crypto market and stock dynamics.

For now, though, we can argue that there is less terror in crypto. The Fear and Greed Index is at 24 (+4 points for the day), while the low point was a week earlier at 10.

Bitcoin slipped towards $76.5K in the early hours of Tuesday but has popped above $80K at the time of writing, approaching Monday’s consolidation levels. A bearish pattern persists on the daily timeframes, which suggests a strengthening sell-off after a failure under the 200-day moving average. The scenario of a pullback to the $70-74K area still looks the most probable for us. This is all the truer as the consolidation and rebound in early March has taken the short-term oversold stance out of the market.

Ethereum is trying to find a pivot point after falling towards $1750 at the start of Tuesday. These were the lowest values in the last 17 months. On weekly timeframes, the RSI oscillator hit its lowest point since mid-2022 - near the bottom of the bear market. Does this signify an opportunity for the recklessly bold or a breakdown in the leading altcoin? We will find out in the coming days.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global crypto fund investments fell by $876 million last week after record outflows of $2.911 billion a week earlier. Investments in Bitcoin fell by $756 million; in Ethereum, by $89 million. Investments in Solana rose by $16 million, in XRP by $6 million, and in Sui by $3 million.

As a result of another recalculation, Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 1.43% to 112.15T. The growth did not compensate for a 3.15% drop two weeks ago. However, the figure came close to the all-time high of 114.17T reached in January.

Strategy (former MicroStrategy) intends to raise $21bn through the sale of preferred shares as part of its At-The-Market program. The proceeds will be used to buy Bitcoin and other corporate purposes. (FxPro)

News

March 11, 2025

US Senator And Congressman Introduce Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bills To Buy One Million BTC

Speaking at the “Bitcoin for America” summit, lawmakers announced their plans to create a federal bitcoin reserve that would see the U.S. buy one million BTC.

Today at the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s “Bitcoin for America” summit in Washington DC, U.S. Senator from Wyoming Cynthia Lummis announced that she is going to reintroduce her strategic Bitcoin reserve legislation in the Senate today.

“I am so pleased to announce that today I will be reintroducing The Bitcoin Act,” Senator Lummis stated. “And I’ll be joined here shortly by Senator Justice of West Virginia, who is one of the cosponsors. And we have several other additional cosponsors. And a lot of it is a result of the excitement that’s been building.” (Bitcoin Magazine). *Full article via Bitcoin Magazine

News

XRP wins Media Man 'Crypto Of The Month' award

News

Markets

Australian Dollar: $0.6317 USD (up $0.0020 USD)
Iron Ore Apr Spot Price (SGX): $100.60 USD (up $0.15 USD)
Oil (WTI): $67.70 USD (up $1.14 USD)
Gold: $2,931.74 USD (up $13.03 USD)
Copper (CME): $4.8425 USD (up $0.0500 USD)
Bitcoin: $82,880.91USD (up 0.32% in last 24 hours)
Dow Jones: 41,350.93 (down 82.55 points)

News

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

News Media

Australia

Peter Dutton More Crypto Friendly And Switched On Than Albanese (Media Man Group)

News

"Dutton A Genuine Contender" (Sky News Australia)

March 10, 2025

ASX futures are pointing up 69 points, or by 0.9 per cent, to 8011.

All US prices are as of 4.15pm Sunday in New York:

Bitcoin -3.7% to $US83,138
On Wall St: Dow +0.5% S&P +0.6% Nasdaq +0.7%
VIX -1.5 to 23.37
Gold -0.1% to $US2909.10 an ounce
Brent oil +1.3% to $US70.36 a barrel
Iron ore +0.3% to $US100.70 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.3% Australia 4.4%

January 10, 2025

ASX futures up 33 points or 0.4%

AUD -0.3% to 61.98 US cents
UK pound -0.4% to $US1.2309
Bitcoin -2.9% to $US91,275 at 7.23am AEDT
US markets closed for Jimmy Carter’s funeral
Stoxx 50 +0.4% FTSE +0.8% DAX -0.1% CAC +0.5%
Spot gold +0.3% to $US2671.00/oz at 1.55pm in New York
Brent crude +1.2% to $US77.08 a barrel
Iron ore +1% to $US97.40 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.69% Australia 4.48% Germany 2.56%
US prices as of 1.59pm in New York

News

TKO AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT EXPAND PARTNERSHIP TO BRING UFC AND WWE EVENTS TO PERTH
WWE to Take Over RAC Arena with a Premium Live Event,

Friday Night SmackDown, and Monday Night Raw

UFC to Return to Perth with Two Events, Including Blockbuster Pay-Per-View

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND NEW YORK, NY – TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), together with the Western Australian Government (WA Government), today announced an expansion of their partnership for Perth to host four additional UFC and WWE events through 2026.

In addition, under a previous agreement with the WA Government, RAC Arena will host one UFC FIGHT NIGHT later this year. In total, Perth will host five UFC and WWE events over the next two years.

Said the Hon. Roger Cook MLA, Premier of Western Australia, "The return of UFC and WWE in 2025 is a major coup for Western Australia, following the roaring success of UFC 284 and WWE Elimination Chamber that collectively injected nearly $50 million into our economy last year. Both UFC and WWE have proven to be huge drawcards with a dedicated fan base, and we expect to see thousands of out-of-state visitors travel to Perth to attend these blockbusters.

Added Peter Dropick, Executive Vice President, Event Development and Operations for TKO, “Perth is a world-class city, home to many passionate UFC and WWE fans, and we’re thrilled to expand this partnership with the WA Government. Perth’s tourism hospitality is second to none, and UFC and WWE will proudly showcase the city and its wonderful people to the world through our global broadcasts reaching more than one billion homes across 170 countries. We thank Premier Cook and the WA Government for making this possible.”

WWE’s return to Perth will feature a massive weekend takeover later this year across three nights at RAC Arena, featuring SmackDown®, a Premium Live Event, and Raw®. These events follow the incredible success of WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth in February 2024, which attracted more than 52,000 fans to Optus Stadium and marked WWE’s long-awaited return to Australia—a milestone the WA Government played a key role in bringing about.

In 2024, UFC and the WA Government announced an agreement to bring two events to Perth over two years. The first event, UFC® 305: DU PLESSIS vs. ADESANYA, was a record-breaking achievement, attracting a sold-out crowd of more than 14,000 fans and setting the mark for the highest-grossing event in RAC Arena history, breaking UFC’s own record set in 2023 with UFC® 284: MAKHACHEV vs. VOLKANOVSKI. The second event under this original agreement with the WA Government, UFC FIGHT NIGHT, will be held at RAC Arena later this year.

Details for all five upcoming UFC and WWE events at RAC Arena, including ticket on-sale dates, bout cards, and participating WWE Superstars, will be announced in the months ahead.

Fans interested in an exclusive WWE presale opportunity can register now at: wwe.com/WWEAustralia2025.

Likewise, UFC fans can visit ufc.com/perth to register for exclusive UFC presale opportunities.

VIP Experience packages for all these events will also be available via On Location, TKO’s Official VIP Experience Provider. These exclusive packages offer premium seating, VIP access to events, all-inclusive hospitality, meet-and-greets with athletes and WWE Superstars, and more. Additional information will be made available at onlocationexp.com/perth

###

About UFC®

UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 700 million fans and approximately 300 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world while broadcasting to over 950 million households across more than 170 countries. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 70 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC and @UFC on X, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok: @UFC.

About WWE

WWE® is an integrated media organization and the recognized global leader in sports entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live events, digital media, and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 1 billion households worldwide in more than 20 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, The CW, Sony India and Netflix. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to all premium live events, a variety of original programming and a massive video-on-demand library. Netflix is the exclusive home for WWE programming around the world, other than select international markets. WWE is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO). Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.

About TKO

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is a premium sports and entertainment company. 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. TKO is majority owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR), a global sports and entertainment company.

Pro Wrestling

August - September 2024

WWE Raw - Bronson Reed Destroys Seth Rollins with numerous Tsunami's on RAW

All Elite Wrestling - Kyle Fletcher gets a strong promotional push

WWE - Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest are now the Terror Twins; Target Judgment Day

WWE - Grayson Waller and Austin Theory continue to have miscommunications

WWE - Dakota Kai (New Zealand) continues to improve and impress

AEW - "Switchblade" Jay White remains one of the top workers in the promotion and world

Markets

January 4, 2025

ASX futures up 23 points or 0.3% near 8am AEDT

AUD +0.2% to 62.16 US cents

Bitcoin +1.2% to $US98,195 at 8.27am AEDT

On Wall St at 4pm: Dow +0.8% S&P +1.3% Nasdaq +1.8%

In New York: BHP -0.8% Rio -0.3% Atlassian +3.3%

Tesla +8.2% Apple -0.2% Nvidia +4.7% Microsoft +1.1%

Alphabet +1.3% Amazon +1.8% Meta +0.9%

Mara +14.1% MicroStrategy +13.2% Iren +8.4%

VIX -1.8 to 16.13 QQQ +1.6% TLT -0.3%

Stoxx 50 -0.9% FTSE -0.4% DAX -0.6% CAC -1.5%

Spot gold -0.7% to $US2639.37oz at 4.51pm in New York

Brent crude +0.9% to $US76.58 a barrel

Iron ore -2.6% to $US98.30 a tonne

10-year yield: US 4.60% Australia 4.38% Germany 2.42%

US prices as of 4.54pm in New York

Markets and Commodities

November 1, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6579 USD (up $0.0009 USD)

Iron Ore Nov Spot Price (SGX): $104.10 USD (up $0.30 USD)

Iron Ore Dec Spot Price (SGX): $103.80 USD (up $0.28 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $70.51 USD (up $1.57 USD)

Gold Price: $2,746.76 USD (down $38.62 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.3600 USD (up $0.0030 USD)

Bitcoin: $69,991.53 USD (down 2.58% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 41,763.46 at 4.09pm NY time (down378.08 points on yesterday's close)

Markets and Commodities

October 10, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6710 USD (down $0.0040 USD)

Iron Ore Nov Spot Price (SGX): $105.15 USD (unchanged - public holiday)

Oil Price (WTI): $73.36 USD (down $0.55 USD)

Gold Price: $2,607.14 USD (down $15.75 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.4080 USD (down 0.0605 USD)

Bitcoin: $60,908.07 USD (down 2.11% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 42,512.00 at 4.20pm NY time (up 431.63 points on yesterday's close)

Media Man is delighted to help assist Australian based pro wrestling promoters

New Japan Tamashii (Oceania)

Market, Commodities and Financial News Snapshot via Media Man

October 7, 2024

ASX futures up 26 points or 0.3% to 8215 near 6am AEST

AUD +0.1% to US68.01¢

Bitcoin +1.3% to $US62,692

US 10-year yield +13bp to 3.97%

Dow +0.8% S&P +0.9% Nasdaq +1.2%

FTSE flat DAX +0.6% CAC +0.9%

Gold -0.1% to $US2653.60 an ounce

Brent oil +0.6% to $US78.05 a barrel

Iron ore -0.3% to $US108.70 a tonne

Markets and Commodities

October 7, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6786 USD (down $.0054 USD)

Iron Ore Nov Spot Price (SGX): $108.70 USD (down $0.05 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $74.38 USD (up $0.67 USD)

Gold Price: $2,653.25 USD (down $2.79 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.5675 USD (up 0.0240 USD)

Bitcoin: $62,679.21USD (up 1.48% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 42,352.75 (up 341.16 points on Thursday's close)

Energy, Resources And Mining News: Australia

September 30, 2024

Exports shock on ore to hit $39bn

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to reveal a final budget surplus of $15.8bn for 2023-24; this is $6.4bn higher than was forecast in the budget on 14 May. Chalmers claims that Labor's second successive surplus is solely due to lower government spending. However, falling commodity prices are set to weigh on the budget bottom-line in coming years. Revised government forecasts show that resources and energy export earnings will fall to $372bn in 2024-25, compared with $415bn in 2023-24; the value of iron ore exports is forecast to fall to $107bn in 2024-25, down from $138bn in 2023-24. Nickel and lithium export earnings are also expected to fall sharply.

(Roy Morgan Australia)

News

Minister told ERA wouldn't sue over lease

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King moved to formally cancel Energy Resources of Australia's long-standing lease on the Jabiluka uranium deposit in late July. The Northern Territory government subsequently rejected ERA's application to renew the lease. It has been revealed that King's advisers had told her that ERA would be unlikely to pursue legal action if the Jabiluka lease was cancelled, given that major shareholder Rio Tinto opposes mining at Jabiluka without the consent of the traditional owners. ERA launched a Federal Court challenge to King's ruling in early August, claiming that it was denied procedural fairness.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Telco turned miner vies for desert gas

Australian-listed Jade Gas Holdings has a market capitalisation of about $70m. However, one broker has suggested that this could potentially rise to around $500m due to its coal-seam gas project in Mongolia. Jade Gas was initially listed on the ASX as a Telstra reseller called Westel Group, before transitioning to a resources group. Meanwhile, Jade Gas is under scrutiny for commissioning Hong Kong-based DWK to undertake a drilling program at its Mongolian tenements; it claimed that DWK had been drilling gas wells for a decade, but documents show that the company had not been registered when Jade announced the contract in June.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Federal police drop foreign bribery investigation into Australian miner

September 28, 2024
The Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into foreign bribery allegations against Sundance Resources in 2016. However, an AFP spokeswoman has advised that the probe has failed to yield sufficient admissable evidence to refer criminal proceedings to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The police investigation centred on allegations that Sundance had bribed government officials in the Republic of Congo between 2006 and 2008 in order to advance its Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore project. The investigation was complicated by the deaths of several Sundance executives in a plane crash in the Congo in 2010.

News

Prospector Mark Creasy wins support for Calidus Resources rescue

September 28, 2024
Creditors of Calidus Resources have backed a proposal from veteran prospector Mark Creasy to rescue the failed gold miner from administration. Creasy's proposal was supported by the majority of Calidus shareholders, and will result in his West Coast Lending assuming full ownership of Calidus. The deal with Creasy was backed after Calidus directors withdrew their support for an alternative proposal from Petra Capital. West Coast Lending, which is controlled by Creasy's Yandal Investments, aims to resume production at Calidus's Warrawoona gold mine in the Pilbara within months.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

De Grey quick to snuff out takeover speculation

September 28, 2024
De Grey Mining has dismissed recent media reports which suggested that the listed gold miner has received a buyout proposal from Canada-based Agnico Eagle. De Grey has advised that the article which appeared in The Australian is 'pure speculation'. De Grey owns the Hemi deposit in the Pilbara, and it aims to commence developing a gold mine at the site before the end of 2024. Agnico Eagle owns the Fosterville mine near Bendigo in Victoria, and there has been speculation in recent months that the company is keen to acquire assets in Western Australia.

News

Victorian gas projects approved

September 28, 2024

The federal government has approved two new gas production licences for Beach Energy near existing projects off the coast of Victoria. Resources Minister Madeleine King says gas produced at the Artisan and La Bella fields will be reserved solely for domestic use and will help to put downward pressure on gas prices in NSW and Victoria. The government's decision to approve the new licences has coincided with the release of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's latest gas inquiry report, which has warned that the east coast's gas supply surplus for the March 2025 quarter is likely to be significantly lower than was previously forecast.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Mining via Grok

Mining refers to the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, which can range from traditional minerals like gold, silver, coal, and iron to more modern interests like lithium for batteries or rare earth elements for technology. Here's a detailed look into the concept of mining:

Traditional Mining

Historical Context: Mining has been pivotal since ancient times, initially for materials like flint, ochre for body painting, and later for metals like copper, tin, and iron which ushered in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Process: Modern mining involves several steps: Exploration: Identifying potential deposits through geological surveys.
Feasibility Studies: Analyzing the economic viability of mining operations, including costs, market conditions, and environmental impact.
Extraction: Methods vary from open-pit mining for near-surface deposits to underground mining for deeper ores. Techniques include drilling, blasting, and mechanical extraction.
Processing: Ore is usually refined to extract the desired mineral, often involving crushing, grinding, and chemical processes.
Reclamation: After mining, efforts are made to restore the land, though this aspect has historically been controversial due to environmental impacts.

Environmental and Social Impact: Mining can lead to habitat destruction, pollution (e.g., acid mine drainage), and social displacement. However, it's also crucial for economic development in many regions, providing jobs and contributing to national economies.

Cryptocurrency Mining

Concept: In the context of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, mining does not involve physical digging but rather computational work. Here, miners validate transactions and add them to the blockchain, a public ledger of all transactions.

Process:
Transaction Verification: Miners collect transactions into blocks.
Proof of Work: Miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems (hashing), requiring significant computational power.
Block Creation: The first to solve the problem adds the new block to the blockchain, earning newly minted cryptocurrency and transaction fees as a reward.
Security: This process also secures the network against fraudulent transactions.

Energy Consumption: Cryptocurrency mining, especially for Bitcoin, has been criticized for its high energy consumption, leading to discussions on its environmental footprint.

Modern Innovations and Issues

Sustainable Practices: There's a push towards more sustainable mining practices, including the use of renewable energy for operations, better waste management, and rehabilitation of mined lands.

Critical Minerals: The demand for minerals essential for technology like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements has surged, highlighting new challenges in mining ethics, geopolitics of mineral supply, and the environmental impact.

Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): Often seen in developing countries, ASM provides livelihood but also poses significant health and environmental risks due to methods like mercury use in gold extraction.

Technological Advancements: From autonomous mining vehicles to drones for exploration, technology is transforming mining operations, making them safer, more efficient, and potentially less harmful to the environment.

Mining, in both its traditional and digital forms, remains a cornerstone of human civilization, supporting economic, technological, and societal development, while also presenting ongoing challenges regarding sustainability and ethics. (Grok)

Roy Morgan is a former Media Man 'News Outlet Of The Month' award winner

Markets And Commodities

August 19, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6665 USD (up $0.0055 USD)

Iron Ore Sep Spot Price (SGX): $92.30 USD (down $1.25 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $76.65 USD (down $1.46 USD)

Gold Price: $2,508.18 USD (up $51.88 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.1505 USD (up $0.0100 USD)

Bitcoin: $59,792.97 USD (up 0.64% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 440,659.76 (up 96.70 points on Thursday's close)

Media/Entertainment: Australia

TV Week Logie Awards 2024

Winners

Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television - Larry Emdur

Best Drama Program - RFDS, Seven Network

Best News or Public Affairs Presenter - Ally Langon, A Current Affair, Nine Network

Best Comedy Entertainment Program - Have You Been Paying Attention?, Network Ten

Best Lead Actor in a Drama - Felix Cameron, Boy Swallows Universe, Netflix

Beat Scripted Comedy Program - Utopia, ABC

Best Current Affairs Program - Australian Story, ABC

Best Lead Actress in a Drama - Deborah Mailman, Total Control, ABC

Best Sports Coverage - FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, Seven Network

Best Competition Reality Program - MasterChef Australia, Network 10

Best Factual or Documentary Program - John Farnham: Finding The Voice, Seven Network

Best Miniseries or Telemovie - Boy Swallows Universe, Netflix

Best News Coverage or Public Affairs Report - Ben Roberts-Smith: The Truth, 60 Minutes, Nine Network

Best Structured Program - Gogglebox Australia, Foxtel and Network 10

Best Lifestyle Program - Travel Guides, Nine Network

Bert Newtown Award for Most Popular Presenter - Larry Emdur, The Chase Australia and The Morning Show, Seven Network

Best Supporting Actor - Bryan Brown, Boy Swallows Universe

Best Lead Actor in a Comedy - Rob Sitch, Utopia, ABC

Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent - Felix Cameron, Boy Swallows Universe, Netflix

Best Supporting Actress - Sophie Wilde, Boy Swallows Universe, Netflix

Best Children's Program - Bluey, ABC

Best Entertainment Program - The Voice Australia, Seven Network

Best Lead Actress in a Comedy - Kitty Flanagan, Utopia, ABC

UFC 305

RAC Arena
Perth, Western Australia

Dricus du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya - Middleweight Title

Kai Kara-France vs Steve Erceg

Tai Tuivasa vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Mateusz Gamrot vs Dan Hooker

Li Jingliang vs Carlos Prates

Junior Tafa vs Valter Walker

Josh Culibao vs Ricardo Ramos

Casey O'Neill vs Tereza Bleda

Jack Jenkins vs Gavin Tucker

Tom Nolan vs Alex Reyes

Song Kenan vs Ricky Glenn

Stewart Nicoll vs Jesus Aguilar

*correct at time of publication

Videos

UFC 305 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 1
https://youtube.com/watch?v=bdtnIiKbMoA

Champ Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya train for their title bout; Steve Erceg walks his dog; Jairzinho Rozenstruik eats after training; Tai Tuivasa arrives in Perth; Carlos Prates hangs out with his mom; Kai Kara-France gets a haircut. (Credit: UFC)

UFC 305 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 2
https://youtube.com/watch?v=SExOmPWMKVU

Champ Dricus Du Plessis shows off his belt; The City Kickboxing team trains together; Mateusz Gamrot explores nature; Carlos Prates gets one last cardio session in at home; Steve Erceg hangs out with his parents; Tai Tuivasa has a hard workout session. (Credit: UFC)

UFC 305 Countdown - Du Plessis vs Adesanya
https://youtube.com/watch?v=wLfQ6aHxELY

The UFC 305 Countdown previews the intense rivalry between UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and former champ Israel Adesanya ahead of their historic main event, which marks the first time two African-born fighters battle for a UFC title. Don't miss the main card action that kicks off at 10pm ET / 7pm PT on Saturday August 17. (Credit: UFC)

"Cultural roots run deep for the people of Africa. The pride of the nation is echoed through its sporting culture. In recent years the rise of African fighters in the UFC has been clear and present" ... Narrator

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Media Man: Very solid card. History will be made. Pumped!

Mining, Energy and Resources: Australia and Oceania

August 9, 2024

News

Legal fees for BHP class action top $680m

Law firm Pogust Goodhead is representing about 600,000 participants in a class action over Brazil's Samarco iron ore tailings dam collapse in 2015. The firm estimates that its legal fees could be around Stg250m, while total legal fees arising from the case could exceed Stg350m. Documents filed with the UK's High Court show that BHP's share of the legal costs have been forecast at around Stg108m; however, this is just for the first stage of the trial, and BHP will face a further legal bill if the resources group is found liable for the disaster in Brazil. Samarco is a joint venture between BHP and Vale.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Win for Fortescue in private eye battle

Federal Court judge Brigitte Markovic has dismissed an application by Element Zero's founders to access the instructions that Fortescue gave to private investigators who had been hired to put them under surveillance. Fortescue alleges that its former employees Bart Kolodziejczyk, Bjorn Winther-Jensen and Michael Masterman used its intellectual property to develop Element Zero's rival green steel technology. Justice Markovic ruled that the instructions given to the private investigators are likely to be subject to legal professional privilege.

News

Creasy in talks for Macquarie's $148m debt at miner Calidus

Macquarie Bank has a four per cent stake in Calidus Resources, while it holds $148m of the failed gold producer's debt. Sources have indicated that Macquarie has finalised the terms of a deal to sell its Calidus loan at a price that is at or near its carrying value. The buyer of the debt is believed to be Yandal Investments, the private investment vehicle of Western Australian billionaire Mark Creasy. His deal to acquire Macquarie's debt could give Creasy an edge over other potential bidders for Calidus or its assets, which include the Warrawoona gold project and a 40 per cent stake in the Pirra lithium joint venture.

News

Win for Whitehaven, MACH as court rejects climate bid

The High Court has dismissed the Environment Council of Central Queensland's application for special leave to appeal the Federal Court's decision to allow two NSW coal mine extension projects to proceed. The court had ruled in May that federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had acted lawfully in handling the environmental approvals process for the Whitehaven Coal and MACH Energy projects. The ECCQ had initiated legal action against the proposed mine expansions in 2022.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Mining, Energy and Resources: Australia and Oceania

August 7, 2024

News

Liontown wants lithium breaks as prices teeter

Association of Mining & Exploration Companies CEO Warren Pearce says it is holding talks with the Western Australian government with regard to royalty relief for lithium producers. The price of spodumene has fallen to $US870 ($1,337) per tonne, and Liontown Resources CEO Tony Ottaviano contends that the government should intervene in order to avert a similar crisis to the rout that hit the nation's industry. He has also suggested that the federal government should expand its production tax credit scheme to include the upstream processing of spodumene.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

MinRes job cuts add to thousands lost in WA's mining sector route

A spokesman for Mineral Resources has confirmed that the iron ore and lithium producer will reduce its head count, although the bulk of the job cuts will be at its Perth head office. Mineral Resources has not disclosed the extent of the job losses, although it is believed to be about 100. The move follows the company's recent decision to mothball its high-cost iron ore mines in Western Australia's Yilgarn region and a delay in the expansion of the Wodgina lithium mine. WA's mining sector has already been hit by massive job losses in the nickel industry in 2024.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Iron ore 'must learn from nickel pain'

Dino Otranto, the CEO of Fortescue's mining arm, has warned that Australia risks missing out amid the global shift to 'green' steel'. He has called for increased collaboration between industry and government to ensure that the nation capitalises on the decarbonisation of the steel industry. He adds that the demise of Australia's nickel industry provides a timely warning for iron ore producers.

News

Jilted ERA heads to court over Jabiluka mine axing

Energy Resources of Australia wants the Federal Court to undertake a judicial review of the Northern Territory government's decision to not renew its mining lease for the Jabiluka uranium deposit. ERA contends that it was denied "procedural fairness and natural justice" in the decision to permanently ban mining at Jabiluka. Amongst other things, ERA has questioned the haste with which federal Resources Minister Madeleine King advised the NT government to reject an extension of the mining lease, which is slated to expire on 11 August.

News

Newmont fights $130m 'restructuring' tax bill

The Australian Taxation Office contends that Newmont Corporation owes it some $132.6m in capital gains tax liabilities arising from a restructuring in 2011. The tax dispute is believed to centre on Newmont's decision to consolidate ownership of its local mines under its Newmont Australia subsidiary; this included a transaction in which two of the mining giant's North American subsidiaries sold their holdings in Newmont Australia back to it. Newmont contends that the transfer was an internal restructure rather than a share sale, and it should therefore not attract capital gain taxes

News

Watchdog threatens 'critical' Browse

Woodside Energy's CEO Meg O'Neill has emphasised the importance of the company's Browse LNG project. She contends that Browse is the only gas field of sufficient size to meet the forecast demand for energy over the near-term. The Browse project's future is under scrutiny following a preliminary ruling from Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority that it presents a "unacceptable risk" to marine ecology. The EPA is expected to make a final recommendation on the project in 2025, although it can be overruled by the federal government. O'Neill has also defended Woodside's deal to acquire a low-carbon ammonia project in the US.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Media Man Int

Media Man Int X

Elon Musk’s X Files Antitrust Suit Against Global Advertising Alliance

August 6, 2024

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has launched a significant antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and several of its member companies, alleging an illegal ad boycott that targeted the platform. The lawsuit, filed in Texas, is aimed at GARM, its parent firm World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and members including CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever.

In an open letter to advertisers, X CEO Linda Yaccarino highlighted the reasons behind the lawsuit, stating that it was a direct response to GARM’s actions which allegedly cost the company billions of dollars. “This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions,” Yaccarino wrote. “The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars” per The New York Post.

The lawsuit is seeking trebled compensatory damages and injunctive relief, according to a complaint viewed by The New York Post. GARM, led by Robert Rakowitz, is an initiative of the WFA, which represents many of the world’s largest companies and ad organizations, including Disney and Coca-Cola. Its members control 90% of global marketing spending, nearly $1 trillion per year.

Yaccarino emphasized that the issue extends beyond financial damages. “This case is about more than damages — we have to fix a broken ecosystem that allows this illegal activity to occur,” she added.

According to The New York Post, the suit argues that the boycott undermined the marketplace of ideas by financially harming certain viewpoints over others. (Credit: PYMNTS)

Full article and coverage via PYMNTS

https://pymnts.com/cpi-posts/elon-musks-x-files-antitrust-suit-against-global-advertising-alliance/

PYMNTS is a former Media Man 'Business News Outlet Of The Month' award winner and finalist

News

Elon Musk takes GARM, several companies to court over alleged advertising boycott of X outlined in bombshell report

August 7, 2024

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has taken several companies and an advertising alliance to court over allegations of a "boycott" of X.

Elon Musk has waged “war” against advertisers as his social media platform X filed an antitrust lawsuit against a global ad alliance and several major companies, accusing them of illegally boycotting the site.

X filed a suit in a federal court in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and its members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever.

The suit comes after a report from the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee found GARM and its members “directly organised boycotts” and employed other indirect tactics to target disfavoured “platforms, content creators” and news organisations to demonetise them.

It alleges that GARM’s boycott led advertisers to pull money from X under the guise of “brand safety” concerns.

X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino argued this tactic hindered users on the social media platform from accessing a wide breadth of ideas by funding alternative viewpoints.

“The consequence - perhaps the intent - of this boycott was to seek to deprive X’s users, be they sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents or political and corporate leaders, of the Global Town Square,” she wrote.

“To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott.”

Mr Musk shared his colleague’s statement to the platform and boldly declared: “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.”

He later encouraged “any company who has been systematically boycotted” to file a suit.

Following his post, video sharing platform Rumble joined Mr Musk’s lawsuit, claiming it has also been impacted towards GARM’s alleged skew away from right wing voices and ideologies.

The platform announced its move on X where it accused GARM of being “a conspiracy to perpetrate an advertiser boycott of Rumble and others, and that's illegal”.

Since Musk took over the social media platform in October 2022, X has suffered a serious dive in ad dollars with the platform taking in US$2.5 billion in 2023, according to Bloomberg.

This was down from the US$1bn it was bringing in every quarter of 2022.

Musk triggered controversy again in November 2023 when he endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jewish communities push “hatred against whites”.

The X owner responded: “You have said the actual truth,” sparking an advertiser exodus that was reported to have lost the company as much as $75m, per The New York Times.

He made headlines again in the same month after blasting advertisers boycotting the social media platform, boldly declaring: “Go f**k yourself”.

“If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself. Go f**k yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is,” he said. (Sky News Australia)

Full article and coverage via Sky News Australia

https://www.skynews.com.au/business/media/elon-musk-takes-garm-several-companies-to-court-over-alleged-advertising-boycott-of-x-outlined-in-bombshell-report/news-story/7bac6243aada770042d14ca84afc23e7

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Market, Commodities and Financial News Snapshot via Media Man

August 7, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6520 USD (up $0.0024 USD)

Iron Ore Sep Spot Price (SGX): $102.85 USD (down $0.70 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $72.96 USD (down $1.02 USD)

Gold Price: $2,389.45 USD (down $19.96 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.0095 USD (up $0.0085 USD)

Bitcoin: $56,485.71 USD (up 3.10% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 38,997.66 at 5.02pm NY time (up 294.39 points on yesterday's close)

(Roy Morgan Summary)

The Australian Financial Review - Media and Marketing

News Corp puts Foxtel up for sale after asset review

By Sam Buckingham-Jones

August 9, 2024

News Corp, the publishing and broadcast giant controlled by the Murdoch family, has put its majority-owned Australian pay television platform Foxtel up for sale after a nine-month strategic review of its assets.

Outlining its financial results on Friday, News Corp said there was “third-party interest” in Foxtel, which owns a pay TV business, streaming services Binge and Kayo Sports, and aggregation platform Hubbl.

“We are confident in the company’s long-term prospects and are continuing to review our portfolio with a focus on maximising returns for shareholders,” News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said.

“That review has coincided recently with third-party interest in a potential transaction involving the Foxtel ... We are evaluating options for the business with our advisors in light of that external interest.”

News Corp owns 65 per cent of Foxtel, and Telstra owns the rest.

Foxtel has spent the past decade pivoting to the streaming era, building Kayo and Binge – which have much leaner profit margins – while preserving its legacy base of around 1 million subscribers who pay, on average, $90 a month. It has grown its total paying subscription base to 4.7 million people.

Any sale of Foxtel would have a flow-on effect on long-term content deals, multi-billion dollar sports rights packages, and more.

Mr Thomson told analysts that News Corp had a “significant overture that we are naturally assessing”, but declined to provide further details.

“We have full faith in the potential of Foxtel and the talented team at Foxtel,” he said. “On behalf of shareholders, we have to evaluate any interest … You’ll have to stay tuned. Not indefinitely, not perpetually, not ad infinitum.” (Credit: The Australian Financial Review) @FinancialReview

Full article via subscription to The Australian Financial Review

https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/news-corp-puts-foxtel-up-for-sale-20240809-p5k0yv

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(Roy Morgan Summary)

ASX to fall as investors await big tech earnings

July 22, 2024

Futures pricing suggests that Australian equities will shed about 0.8 per cent when the market opens on Monday, following a negative lead from Wall Street. A dearth of local economic data means that investors will be focused on offshore markets over the coming week; the quarterly reporting season in the US is likely to attract scrutiny, with two of the seven major technology companies set to release their latest financial results in coming days. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.8 per cent to 7,961.6 points on Friday.

(Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Lithium stocks targeted by short sellers

Australian Securities & Investments Commission data has revealed that seven companies on the ASX had more than 10 per cent of their shares reported as shorted as at 12 July, compared to just one in the previous year. Companies involved in the mining of lithium and other materials used in the manufacture of electric vehicles account for seven of the 10 most shorted stocks on the ASX, with 21.06 per cent of Pilbara Minerals shares reported as shorted. Oscar Oberg from Wilson Asset Management says Pilbara Minerals' reported short position is unheard of; he adds that Pilbara Minerals is being shorted because demand for electric vehicles is not as strong as had been forecast.

News

Mortgage cliff turns into a subsiding wave

PEXA Group's chief economist Julie Toth believes that the rush for Australians to refinance their mortgage loans has peaked. She adds that rather than a 'mortgage cliff', the nation has experienced only a 'wave' as borrowers have shifted their loans to variable interest rates after their fixed-loan period expired. Toth adds that there has been a slight increase in mortgage arrears and distressed sales in response to the Reserve Bank's aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle; she expects arrears to remain stable if there are no more interest rate increases.

News

CSR's insulation price rise 'could be gouging'

Insulation distributor Consolidated Energy alleges that building materials group CSR misused its market power to 'gouge' suppliers with huge increases in the price of insulation; it is seeking internal documents and board papers in order to prove its claim. Consolidated Energy is asking the Federal Court to grant its request that CSR be required to hand over information relating to price increases between June 2021 and June 2022; Consolidated Energy alleges that CSR was limiting supply to distributors and imposing big price increases in order to benefit its own business.

News

Coal boss: use gas to ease the transition

Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator has revealed that no renewable energy project that was in the commissioning stage reached full output in June. This was despite an increase in renewable energy projects being ready to come online, prompting calls from Delta Electricity CEO Richard Wrightson for gas to be included in the federal government's Capacity Investment Scheme. With Delta being the owner of the Vales Point coal plant in NSW, Wrightson says gas is the only technology available now that can solve the firming problem, but it is the only technology that is being supported by the government's scheme.

News

Fortescue now marching 'to the one beat'

July 20, 2024

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Andrew Forrest surprised investors at its 2020 AGM when he outlined a vision for the iron ore mining company that would see it become a green energy behemoth. He said Fortescue would be targeting production of as much as 235 gigawatts or renewable energy, more than five times the capacity of Australia's National Electricity Market at the time. However, Forrest has now conceded it cannot achieve its target of producing 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030 because of soaring energy costs, although he contends Fortescue's green energy dream is still alive. Fortescue will now bring its iron ore and green energy units back together, with Forrest saying that all of the company are "all marching in the same direction, to the same drum beat".

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Commodities News: Gold via Media Man and FxPro

July 7, 2024

Weakness in gold's growth

Gold has lost 0.9% since the start of Monday, almost back to the point where it was trading before the release of jobs data on Friday. Perhaps the very first market reaction to the data release highlighted the mindset of key market participants: they are ready to sell.

Gold has been on an upward trend since the last few days of June, leading the price up 4% to $2390 at its peak on Friday. This can largely be attributed to the dollar's 1% decline, as gold often moves with a higher amplitude.

Weak employment figures also pushed up the gold price on Friday, leading to a weaker dollar and bringing the start of rate cuts closer. However, we note the momentum of the 0.8% decline in gold in the first moments after publication.

The subsequent market reaction was a "worse is better" style: the weakness in the labour market increased expectations of a rate cut soon, which boosted risk appetite. But this is a very unsustainable play, as not all the negativity in the macro economy is disinflationary. Just the opposite, we saw confirmation of wage growth (4.1% y/y) above inflation (3.3% y/y). At the same time, the previous months' hiring figures were revised downward, and the unemployment rate reached a 31-month high.

Thus, the economic situation is deteriorating faster than inflation is slowing. A key rate cut, in this case, would be an attempt to support economic growth rather than remove excessive tightness in monetary policy. That is, the chances of a cut for "bad" reasons rather than good ones are growing, which is negative for risk appetite in the medium term.

On the charts, gold has so far hit resistance at $2390, which also caused a local reversal in April. Further improvement in risk appetite in global financial markets cannot be ruled out and may be helped by the reporting season. Gold's ability to gain strength above $2390 could serve as an important price signal, heralding a fresh assault on historical highs near $2450.

However, we see more chance of further pressure on the gold price. We see the 50-day moving average at $2340 as the first signalling point. If this line is stormed without bullish resistance, the price could quickly retreat to the $2300 area, which is crucial for determining the dynamics for the coming months. A fall below it would be seen as a break of the bullish trend since October when the Fed first signalled its willingness to cut rates.

Markets and Commodities

July 9, 2024

Australian Dollar: $0.6735 USD (down $0.0003 USD)

Iron Ore Aug Spot Price (SGX): $108.75 USD (down $1.50 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $82.30 USD (down $0.86 USD)

Gold Price: $2,358.93 USD (down $32.66 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.6035 USD (down $0.0645 USD)

Bitcoin: $56,215.84 USD (down 1.75% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 39,344.79 (down 31.08 points on Friday's close)

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Economic conditions (including inflation and prices) are the biggest challenge facing Australian farmers

A special Roy Morgan survey of Australian farmers shows a majority of farmers (57%) say the biggest challenge they are facing is economic conditions (including inflation/prices), up 8% points from a year ago and up a large 22% points from 2022.

In a clear second place is Government policy mentioned by 23% of farmers, almost doubling from a year ago (up 11% points from 2023) and up by 17% points from 2022. Over the last two years Government policy has increased from equal fifth to a clear second place in the list of challenges.

Staffing issues, including finding sufficient labour for their farms, are the third most prominent issue and mentioned by 18% of farmers as the biggest challenge they face, up 5% points from a year ago.

Filling out the top five issues were weather, mentioned by 16% of farmers, business viability, also at 16% and somewhat surprisingly, climate change, mentioned by only 7% of farmers and down from a year ago.

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Euro, Gold, Crypto and more via Media Man and FX Pro

A strong current account surplus may not help euro

The eurozone's current account surplus climbed to a six-month high of 31.9bn in December. Analysts, on average, had expected a decline to 20.3 bn from 22.5 bn the previous month. The current level was seen in the eurozone during the relatively benign pre-Covid period and sometime before Natural Gas prices spiked in the second half of 2021.

The normalisation of the surplus is good news for the single currency, as it means more net capital inflows into the region. But this growth has been fuelled by falling imports, which can be the result of lower commodity and energy prices (which is a very good thing), but also partly indicative of a slowdown in domestic demand. This threatens to translate into economic contraction in the coming months.

The euro area experienced periods of severe import contraction in late 2008 and early 2010, and in both cases, the economy experienced a severe downturn. Back in 2008, all this was accompanied by the collapse of the euro.

Gold

Gold rises but within a downward channel

Gold rallied for the fourth consecutive session to reach $2023, recovering almost all the losses suffered the week before on the back of the inflation report. Gold's ability to rally suggests continued domestic demand, as some investors are clearly rushing to buy back any losses.

At the same time, however, we note that since the beginning of the year, gold has been characterised by solid selloffs on the news, forming a smooth downtrend. In the context of this downtrend, a rise to $2040-2045, which is the upper boundary of the bearish range, looks quite acceptable.

The area around $2035 - the highs of two weeks ago - also appears to be a crucial intermediate level. Confident buying from this level would be the first important signal that the recent correction is over and that gold is ready to make a fresh assault on the highs.

Much more important, however, will be the behaviour of gold as it approaches the $2050 level, where the reversal of the decline in late January took place.

Consolidation at this level would confirm the breakdown of the downtrend and set the stage for a move towards $2100 and the subsequent renewal of historic highs.

However, as long as gold is trading within the downtrend, there is a greater chance of a breakdown or even an acceleration of the downtrend.

Among the fundamental factors, the potential for growth could be provided by the fall in the dollar if Fed officials show a softening of their position, bringing the start of interest rate cuts closer.

On the bearish side, equities could come under pressure following the optimistic rally in the tech giants and the news of a sharp slowdown in economic activity. We also do not rule out the possibility that the recent support measures for the Chinese stock market and property sector will cool demand for gold as a safe-haven for investors from that part of the world.

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Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal in a pure form. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals like copper and palladium, and mineral inclusions such as within pyrite. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides).

Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid), forming a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid alone, which dissolves silver and base metals, a property long used to refine gold and confirm the presence of gold in metallic substances, giving rise to the term 'acid test'. Gold dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold also dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, and as the gold acts simply as a solute, this is not a chemical reaction.

A relatively rare element,[6][7] gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy. Gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971.

In 2020, the world's largest gold producer was China, followed by Russia and Australia.[8] A total of around 201,296 tonnes of gold exists above ground, as of 2020.[9] This is equal to a cube with each side measuring roughly 21.7 meters (71 ft). The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments and 10% in industry.[10] Gold's high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, and conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion-resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices (its chief industrial use). Gold is also used in infrared shielding, production of colored glass, gold leafing, and tooth restoration. Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine. (Wikipedia)

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In economics, a commodity is an economic good or service that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.

The price of a commodity good is typically determined as a function of its market as a whole: well-established physical commodities have actively traded spot and derivative markets. The wide availability of commodities typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (such as brand name) other than price.

Most commodities are raw materials, basic resources, agricultural, or mining products, such as iron ore, sugar, or grains like rice and wheat. Commodities can also be mass-produced unspecialized products such as chemicals and computer memory.

Hard and soft commodities

Soft commodities are goods that are grown, such as wheat, or rice.

Hard commodities are mined. Examples include gold ,silver, helium, and oil.

Energy commodities include electricity, gas, coal and oil. Electricity has the particular characteristic that it is usually uneconomical to store, and must therefore be consumed as soon as it is produced.

(Wikipedia)

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A strong current account surplus may not help euro

Gold

Gold rises but within a downward channel

Much more important, however, will be the behaviour of gold as it approaches the $2050 level, where the reversal of the decline in late January took place.

Consolidation at this level would confirm the breakdown of the downtrend and set the stage for a move towards $2100 and the subsequent renewal of historic highs.

However, as long as gold is trading within the downtrend, there is a greater chance of a breakdown or even an acceleration of the downtrend.

Cryptocurrency

Crypto market growth halted amid capital inflows

Market picture

The crypto market has corrected 0.46% in the last 24 hours, fluctuating within a narrow range without a clear direction. Bitcoin is down 1% but up 3.7% over seven days, Ethereum is flat for the day but up 10.6% over the week. The top coins are mixed with BNB +2% and Solana -2.5%.

Bitcoin is currently drawing its fourth daily candle with opening and closing levels close to each other. Such sideways consolidations are characteristic of strong bull markets, as opposed to corrective pullbacks on smoother rallies.

Ethereum hit local highs on rumours of a positive regulatory decision before the end of March. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffarth bet 4 ETH that the SEC will not approve a spot Ethereum ETF next month.

According to data from CoinShares, investment in crypto funds rose by a record $2.452 billion last week, following inflows of $1.116 billion the previous week.
Bitcoin investments increased by $2.424 billion, Ethereum by $21 million, Cardano lost $6 million, and Solana lost $1.6 million.

Since the beginning of the year, crypto funds have seen inflows of an impressive $5.2 billion, with total AUM rising to $67 billion, the highest since December 2021.

News background

Bitcoin will see institutional support in the next three to six months, according to Coinbase. Bitcoin ETFs could eventually become a major competitor to gold funds.
According to IntoTheBlock, there is an 85% chance that Bitcoin will reach a new all-time high within the next six months. Five factors could contribute to this: the halving of the price, ETFs, monetary easing, the US election, and companies accumulating BTC as part of their treasuries.

Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, who has been living in Russia since 2013, called bitcoin the most significant achievement of the financial system in the entire existence of money and means of exchange.

Amberdata admitted that Ethereum will outpace Bitcoin in terms of growth due to more constructive deflationary policies. The supply of ETH has been decreasing since September 2022, thanks to the update of The Merge, as well as the implementation of a mechanism to burn part of the commissions. During this time, around 0.36 million ETH, or 0.3% of the total supply of 120 million coins, have been removed from circulation.

Via Roy Morgan Research and Media Man social media

Copper, gold, and Bitcoin rise; Iron ore and oil fall; ASX to fall in response to selling on Wall Street; US vetoes Arab-backed UN resolution demanding ceasefire in Gaza; Assange's lawyers warn that he risks 'flagrant denial of justice' if he is tried in US

Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

21 February 2024

Roy Morgan Summary

Australian Dollar: $0.6550 USD (up 0.0011 USD)
Iron Ore Mar Spot Price (SGX): $120.85 USD (down $6.40 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $78.27 USD (down $1.02 USD)

Gold Price: $2,024.37 USD (up $6.43 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $3.8595 (up $0.0465 USD)

Bitcoin: $52,059.35 (up 0.35% in last 24 hours)

New report reveals Roy Morgan is one of Australia's leading data companies - with in-depth information on millions of Australians based on their Helix Personas

Market Research Update

20 February 2024

Roy Morgan Summary

Roy Morgan leads the way as one of Australia's leading data companies. A special in-depth report into Australia's leading data companies interviewed Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine and Executive Chairman Gary Morgan about the role the company plays in compiling data and building profiles of different Australians. One of Roy Morgan's key products is 'Helix Personas' which profiles people under headings such as "young and platinum", "smart money", "cautious conservatives", "fair go", "working hard" and nearly 50 other personas. For example, the "young and platinum" group love their mobile devices and are "always on the hunt for the shiny, new and cool" and "making the rent". Their income is around the $64,000 a year mark and they can often be found "living a conventional life centred around family".

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine confirmed that the Helix Personas market segments are based on statistical information, not data from individual people. "It's totally ethical. Unlike Facebook or any of these things, it's not any particular individual", Roy Morgan's chief executive Michele Levine, said.: 38,582.12 at 3.22pm NY time (down 45.87 points on Friday's close)

Roy Morgan wins three-year contract to deliver domestic tourism statistics for Austrade

21 February 2024

Roy Morgan Summary

From 2025, Roy Morgan will provide Austrade with the world's best practice survey methodology, big data integration and modelling techniques to deliver accurate domestic tourism statistics. Roy Morgan has reimagined the future of domestic tourism statistics to move Austrade and its stakeholders to the forefront of tourism intelligence with a new platform that will drive the future of Australia's tourism industry, which is estimated to be worth in excess of $160 billion. Portia Morgan, the Head of Client Services at Roy Morgan, says that using face-to-face interviewing, which is the gold-standard for surveying the population, enhanced with big data and cutting-edge data science techniques, Roy Morgan will be delivering a future-proofed system that will be cost effective, reliable, and accurate. She adds that Roy Morgan has been delivering survey-based tourism insights via its Holiday Tracking Survey for 20+ years and the company is thrilled to be working with Austrade and the broader industry to provide a deeper of understanding of how many people are travelling, where they go, what they do and how they spend their valuable tourism dollars.

Anti-mining PM pushes BHP's cash offshore

Roy Morgan Summary

It is somewhat hypocritical of the federal government to flag possible support for Australia's nickel industry, given that Labor's anti-mining legislation may jeopardise the expansion of BHP's copper operations in South Australia. BHP is still likely to proceed with an expansion, but the previously touted investment of between $10bn and $15bn is now only a 50 per cent chance. The new labour laws in the government's industrial relations reforms mean that BHP is now more likely to redirect much of this capital investment to its criticals minerals projects in other countries; rival miner Rio Tinto is already doing this.

More than 2.7 million New Zealanders now read newspapers and magazine audiences surge to over 1.7 million

21 February 2024

Roy Morgan has released its readership results for New Zealand's newspapers and magazines for the 12 months to December 2023. The data shows that 2.73 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (64.4%) now read or access newspapers in an average 7-day period via print or online (website or app) platforms. In addition, 1.71 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (40.3%) read magazines, whether in print or online either via the web or an app. The New Zealand Herald is still the nation's most widely-read publication, with a total cross-platform audience of 1,720,000 in the 12 months to June 2023 - almost five times as many as the second placed Dominion Post with a readership of 341,000. Meanwhile, New Zealand's most widely read magazine is still the driving magazine AA Directions, which had an average issue readership of 379,000 during the year to December (an increase of 63,000 on a year ago).

These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source survey of 6,254 New Zealanders aged 14+ over the 12 months to December 2023.

New report reveals Roy Morgan is one of Australia's leading data companies - with in-depth information on millions of Australians based on their Helix Personas

Market Research Update

20 February 2024

Roy Morgan Summary

(Credit: Roy Morgan Research)

Roy Morgan Summary

One of Roy Morgan's key products is 'Helix Personas' which profiles people under headings such as "young and platinum", "smart money", "cautious conservatives", "fair go", "working hard" and nearly 50 other personas. For example, the "young and platinum" group love their mobile devices and are "always on the hunt for the shiny, new and cool" and "making the rent". Their income is around the $64,000 a year mark and they can often be found "living a conventional life centred around family". Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine confirmed that the Helix Personas market segments are based on statistical information, not data from individual people. "It's totally ethical. Unlike Facebook or any of these things, it's not any particular individual", Roy Morgan's chief executive Michele Levine, said.

(Credit: Roy Morgan Research)

Media Man

Warrner Bros

Profile

In 2010, the Warner Bros. Pictures Group broke the all-time industry worldwide box office record with receipts of $4.814 billion, which surpassed the prior record of $4.010 billion (set by the Studio in 2009). Warner Bros. also established a new industry benchmark for the international box office with a total of $2.93 billion (marking a record third time of crossing the $2 billion threshold) and retained its leading domestic box office ranking with receipts of $1.884 billion. 2010 also marked the 10th consecutive year Warner Bros. Pictures passed the billion dollar mark at both the domestic and international box offices. Warner Home Video was, once again, the industry’s leader, with an overall 20.6 percent marketshare in total DVD and Blu-ray sales. The companies comprising the Warner Bros. Television Group and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group remain category leaders, working across all platforms and outlets, and are trendsetters in the digital realm with video-on-demand (transaction and ad-supported), branded channels, original content, anti-piracy technology and broadband and wireless destinations.

The Warner Bros. Pictures Group brings together the Studio’s motion picture production, marketing and distribution operations into a single entity. The Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures International, was formed to streamline the Studio’s film production process and bring those businesses’ organizational structures in line with Warner Bros.’ television and home entertainment operations.

Warner Bros. Pictures produces and distributes a wide-ranging slate of some 18-22 films each year, employing a business paradigm that mitigates risk while maximizing productivity and capital. Warner Bros. Pictures either fully finances or co-finances the films it produces and maintains worldwide distribution rights. It also monetizes its distribution and marketing operations by distributing films that are totally financed and produced by third-parties. The Studio’s 2011 slate includes “Sucker Punch,” “The Hangover Part II,” “Green Lantern,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” “Happy Feet 2” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”

Warner Bros. Pictures International is a global leader in the marketing and distribution of feature films, operating offices in more than 30 countries and releasing films in over 120 international territories, either directly to theaters or in conjunction with partner companies and co-ventures.

New Line Cinema, part of Warner Bros. Entertainment since 2008, coordinates its development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs activities with Warner Bros. Pictures to maximize film performance and operating efficiencies. Highlights of New Line’s 2011 release slate, distributed by Warner Bros., include “Horrible Bosses,” “Final Destination 5,” “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” and “New Year’s Eve.”

The Warner Bros. Television Group oversees and grows the entire portfolio of Warner Bros.’ television businesses, including worldwide production, traditional and digital distribution, and broadcasting. In the traditional television arena, WBTVG produces primetime and cable (Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Television), first-run syndication (Telepictures Productions) and animated (Warner Bros. Animation) programming, which is distributed worldwide by two category-leading distribution arms/operations (Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution).

Among the primetime series produced by divisions of the Warner Bros. Television Group are “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Mentalist,” “Mike & Molly,” “Fringe,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Nikita,” “The Middle,” “Southland,” “The Closer,” “Rizzoli & Isles,” “Supernatural,” “The Bachelor,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew” and many more. Also produced by the company are first-run syndicated programs such as “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “TMZ” and “Extra,” among others, as well as animated shows “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated” and “Young Justice.”

WBTVG is an innovative leader in developing new business models for the evolving television landscape, including ad-supported video-on-demand, broadband and wireless, and has digital distribution agreements in place with all of the broadcast networks. Internationally, the Studio is one of the world’s largest distributors of feature films, television programs and animation to the worldwide television marketplace, licensing some 50,000 hours of television programming, including more than 6,000 feature films and 50 current series, dubbed or subtitled in more than 40 languages, to telecasters and cablecasters in more than 175 countries.

WBTVG provides original shortform programming for the broadband and wireless marketplace through its Studio 2.0 digital venture, and its digital media sales unit is devoted specifically to multiplatform domestic advertiser sales for both broadband and wireless. WBTVG continues its strategic expansion into digital production and distribution with the launch of several advertiser-supported entertainment destinations, including TheWB.com, a premium, video-on-demand interactive and personalized network and KidsWB.com, a premium destination built around youth-oriented immersive entertainment.

The final component of WBTVG is broadcasting: The CW Television Network, launched (in partnership with CBS) in September 2006 with quality, diverse programming, is targeted to the 18–34 audience.

Warner Bros. Animation’s combined classic and contemporary library currently boasts 14,000 animated episodes and shorts which air on domestic broadcast networks, as well as cable networks and in direct-to-video releases around the world. The classic library includes such brands as Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears as well as such beloved characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Taz, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Batman, Superman, the Flintstones, the Jetsons and Scooby-Doo.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video (Warner Home Video), digital distribution (Warner Bros. Digital Distribution), interactive entertainment/videogames (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment), direct-to-consumer production (Warner Premiere), technical operations (Warner Bros. Technical Operations) and anti-piracy (Warner Bros. Anti-Piracy Operations) businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. WBHEG is responsible for the global distribution of content through DVD, electronic sell-through and transactional VOD, and delivery of theatrical content to wireless and online channels. It is also a significant worldwide publisher for both internal and third party videogame titles.

In 2010, Warner Home Video dominated the U.S. market as the number one company in total sell-through video (DVD and Blu-ray combined) with 20.6% marketshare, theatrical catalog, TV on DVD, non-theatrical family and animation, Blu-ray and VOD. WHV has been the number one studio in overall DVD sales 14 consecutive years, and is also the leading studio in the international home video space.

With more than 3,700 active licensees worldwide, Warner Bros. Consumer Products licenses the rights to names, likenesses and logos for all of the intellectual properties in Warner Bros. Entertainment’s vast film and television library. With a global network of offices and agents in key regions throughout the world, including North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe, WBCP maintains an ongoing commitment to expand and build the power of its core brands’ recognition in the international marketplace through strong and creative merchandising, promotional marketing and retail programs.

DC Entertainment’s DC Comics has been in continuous publication for more than 60 years, and is the leading comic book publisher in the industry and the creator of some of the world’s most recognized icons. DC’s characters continue to headline blockbuster feature films, live-action and animated television series, direct-to-video releases, collectors’ books, online entertainment, digital publishing, countless licensing and marketing arrangements and, most recently, graphic novels. DC continues to attract new readers and fans all over the world with its signature characters Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Justice League leading the way.

Warner Bros. International Cinemas provides a true state-of-the-art movie experience to audiences in Japan with more than 60 multiplex cinemas and more than 600 screens internationally. One of the pioneers in multiplex development for the international marketplace, WBIC is continually exploring new markets for expansion. (Credit: Warner Bros. Entertainment)

Press Release

09 August 2010

MICROGAMING SET TO LAUNCH THE LORD OF THE RINGS™: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING ONLINE VIDEO SLOT GAME

First Title to Utilize Proprietary Cinematic Spins™ Technology Allowing Players to Experience the Film with Every Spin

ISLE OF MAN – Microgaming today announced the imminent launch of a new flagship game, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Online Video Slot Game. This slot game is the first to utilise Microgaming’s new Cinematic Spins™ technology, allowing gamers to see clips from the films with every spin.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a new online slot game that is part of a multi-year licensing agreement Microgaming signed with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution in 2009. The company is developing a series of cutting-edge, graphic rich video slots based on this popular movie trilogy and will use animation material, themes, and characters, from the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings™ motion pictures that include The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. These online slot games will be available to adults only in countries where online gaming is permitted.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is the first online video slot to use Microgaming’s Cinematic Spins™ state-of-the-art gaming technology. This allows movie clips to act as moving backgrounds behind the reels during spins providing players an unprecedented level of excitement and immersion.

Win sequences and expanding wilds also use cinematic clips, instead of traditional animated graphics. The slots feature famous scenes from the film including Ringwraiths during the attack at Weathertop, Balrog in the Mines of Moria, and Uruk-hai in the woods of Middle-earth. Players will also enjoy seeing characters from the films that include Frodo, Aragorn, Saruman and the deadly Black Riders.

Roger Raatgever, CEO Microgaming comments: “Microgaming has always been ahead of the curve with innovative offerings, but this game really does push the boundaries of what an online slot can do. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring looks and feels like an extension of the big screen film experience and we’re confident that our operators will see a great deal of demand from their players, when the game is released. This is an important deal for Microgaming and highlights our commitment to partner with the right brands, at the right time. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and well loved brands on the planet and we are excited about combining this widespread appeal with Microgaming’s groundbreaking software.”

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy generated $3 billion in worldwide box office receipts and was nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards®; of which they won 17, including Best Picture.

- Ends -
Notes to editors:
*Cinematic Spins is a trademark held by Microgaming

© 2010 New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.

For further information please contact:
Duncan Skehens / Laura Moss/ Lyndsay Haywood
Lansons Communications
020 7490 8828
DuncanS@lansons.com / LauraM@lansons.com / LyndsayH@lansons.com
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution

Peter Binazeski
818-977-5701
peter.binazeski@warnerbros.com
About Microgaming (www.microgaming.com)
Since the company developed the first true online Casino software over a decade ago, it has led the industry in providing innovative, reliable gaming solutions. Thanks to an unrivalled R&D programme, that averages 60 games per year and a unique ‘partnership’ approach to working with operators; Microgaming software powers over 160 market-leading online gaming sites.
The company’s front and back-end software supports multi-player, multi-language games - over 500 of them, all uniquely branded and provides platforms for land-based and wireless gaming. Microgaming powers the world’s largest Progressive Jackpot Network and has paid out over €265million. In May 2009 it created the biggest ever online jackpot winner with a single payment win of €6.37m.

As a founding member of eCOGRA, Microgaming is at the forefront of an initiative focused on setting the highest standards in the gaming industry, and leads in the areas of fair gaming, responsible operator conduct and player protection. Microgaming has been awarded eCOGRA’s Certified Software Seal following a rigorous onsite assessment to ensure that the development, implementation and maintenance of the software is representative of industry best practice standards Microgaming licensees are therefore eligible to apply for the eCOGRA Safe & Fair Seal.

About Warner Bros. Digital Distribution
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) manages Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group's (WBHEG) electronic distribution over existing, new and emerging digital platforms, including pay-per-view, electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, wireless and more. WBDD also oversees the WBHEG's worldwide digital strategy, partnerships in digital services and emerging new clients and business activities in the digital space.

News

2009

With Time Warner sitting on $7 billion in cash, the Marvel deal has ignited rumours of a second wave of consolidation in the media industry. Dream Works Animation, home of Shrek, is seen as a potential takeover candidate, as is MGM with its huge library of classic films. The games firms Electronic Arts and Take Two Interactive, with its Grand Theft Auto franchise, are also being touted as potential buys.

Profile

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.) is one of the world's largest producers of film and television entertainment.

It is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York City. Warner Bros. has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, TheWB.com and DC Comics. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.

Founded in 1918 by Jewish immigrants from Poland, Warner Bros. is the third-oldest American movie studio in continuous operation, after Paramount Pictures, founded in 1912 as Famous Players, and Universal Studios, also founded in 1912.