Good morning. In case you missed it last week, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has resigned after reports of three extramarital affairs, including one with a woman US intelligence says was feeding information to Beijing, leaving the world's most valuable chipmaker scrambling for a replacement.
Australian super funds may hold roughly 1% of the nation's $4.5 trillion in retirement savings in Nvidia through global share allocations, though diversification across thousands of holdings means no single fund is overexposed.
The board has named CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent leader, with Donald Trump publicly pushing for former Apple chief Tim Cook to take the job.
All the headlines and more below...
AUCTION CLEARANCES PLUNGE TO 44%, LOWEST SINCE APRIL 2020 LOCKDOWNS
Sydney's preliminary clearance rate fell to 48.1%, slipping below 50% for the first time this spring, while Melbourne dropped to 47.8%, its weakest result since September 2021. Brisbane recorded 25.3%, Adelaide 41.3% and Canberra 34.9%.
The number of auctions scheduled across the capitals has fallen 41% below the level a year ago, yet fewer than half are still selling. Sydney property prices have fallen 10.1% between their February peak and the end of October. The Commonwealth Bank expects the correction will strip 15% from capital city house prices by the time it bottoms some time next year. The downturn follows 5 interest rate increases since February and Labor's changes to tax concessions announced in the May budget.
Agents say open home attendance and bidding activity remain weak. The sellers finding success are those meeting the market with realistic pricing from the outset rather than testing higher expectations.
AUSTRALIAN NEWS
Regional Australian housing values fell 3.1% from their peak while capital city prices dropped 8.1%, as cheaper regional hubs like Wagga attracted city migrants and faced tight housing supply. LINK
ATO reported record $62.2B in collectable tax debts as 1.35M small businesses owed $40.7B amid cash-flow pressures and director penalty notices surged to 71,491. AFR
Australia’s major banks reported rising mortgage arrears, especially among small business owners, as recent RBA interest rate hikes begin to bite and economists warn of tougher credit conditions ahead. LINK
The federal government reported that Australia's illicit tobacco market shrank from 5,972 tonnes to an estimated 5,893 tonnes after a crackdown that seized 730 tonnes in 3 months. LINK
Third Hemisphere found CBA ranked highest and ANZ lagged among major banks in AI-generated personal lending recommendations, as ING and fintechs outperformed NAB, Westpac, Macquarie and ANZ on reputation. AFR
ACCC WILL MONITOR PRICING OF MILK, BREAD, COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE UNDER AUSTRALIA'S NEW PRICE-GOUGING LAWS
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will examine the retail margin on 8 product categories. The categories include milk, bread rolls, chocolate, coffee, potatoes, limes, bone-in chicken and kitchen sponges. The examination is part of legislation that took effect in July 2026. The laws prohibit retailers with annual revenue over $30B from charging prices deemed excessive when compared with the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin. Only Coles and Woolworths currently meet that threshold.
The ACCC selected the focus products based on consumer and supplier reports, whether the product is essential or discretionary, and pricing and margin data from FY25 and FY26. The 8 categories represent more than 1,000 individual items stocked across the chains. ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said a product's inclusion does not mean the watchdog currently considers margins unreasonable, only that pricing warrants closer examination.
The ACCC's first compliance report under the legislation is due early next year. The watchdog's final supermarket sector inquiry, published last year, found no evidence of price-gouging by either chain.
THE INSIDE TRACK
Bupa is cutting 5% of its overall Bupa Digital workforce, with 20% of the impacts in Australia and about one fifth of Digital roles being moved to the Bupa Capability Centre in India. LINK
Qantas and Accenture are already advertising India-based roles replacing Qantas employees before consultation, with some staff seeing their own jobs advertised and Qantas asking Accenture to remove some postings. LINK
Aveo is offshoring its AR team with colleagues expected to train their replacements and village finance team roles downgraded and expected to teach Claude how to replace them. LINK
Origin Energy has axed a bunch of staff from the renewables team. LINK
Heard something at work? Redundancies, offshoring, an email that should not have gone out. Tell us what’s happening at your company.
COMPANY NEWS
CBA chief Matt Comyn defended a $68M goodwill payment after charging $270M in fees to 2.2M low-income customers, while NAB boss Andrew Irvine outlined $169M in staff underpayments and 2,500 job cuts. LINK
A Qantas Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that was struck by lightning on October 30 remained grounded in Melbourne almost 2 weeks later as engineers inspected and repaired significant fuselage skin damage. LINK
Hard Rated lifted annual sales about 20% to more than $600M as it attracted more middle-aged drinkers, with people aged 35-54 now making up 39% of customers. AFR
Grill’d and Craveable Brands reported wider and ongoing net losses as rising wages, food and property costs outweighed higher sales in a flat, highly competitive fast-food market. AFR
CBA lifted its advertising spend in Australian media by 40% after 18 months of trials showed local news partnerships deliver stronger commercial outcomes than global digital platforms. AUS
Accent Group reported like-for-like retail sales fell 3.9% in the first 19 weeks of FY27 as higher interest rates and weak consumer confidence hit footwear spending. LINK
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CHART OF THE DAY
European Christmas traditions made limited inroads elsewhere
Germany and France each top 46%, while the United States trails well behind the rest at just 13%.
ONE MORE SCROLL
Odd Pick: Bridget Burns sets her 12th world record running a half-marathon in construction gear.
Draft Pick: Australia crushes New Zealand to win the Rugby League World Cup again.
Doctor’s Pick: Millions of Ebola dollars missing with staff unpaid while virus spreads, charity says.
TRIVIA
Which letter does not appear in any US state name?
Answer below
ANSWER
Q
