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TMGM has been named the Official Financial Online Trading Sponsor of BIGBANG 2026–2027 WORLD TOUR in Sydney, bringing together the Sydney-founded global broker and one of Asia’s most recognised music acts as BIGBANG celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Taking place at Accor Stadium on 31 October 2026, the Sydney concert forms part of BIGBANG’s first world tour since 2017. The tour marks two decades since the group’s debut and its return to major international stages across Asia, North America, Europe and Oceania.

The partnership marks an expansion of TMGM’s international sponsorship strategy into live entertainment. Since its founding in Sydney in 2013, TMGM has…

The day’s moves show the risk premium is being driven more by threats to infrastructure and shipping than by actual supply losses. Gulf export volumes are recovering, yet prices rose anyway. WTI outpacing Brent narrowed the spread between the two benchmarks, a sign that US crude is catching a bid as an alternative supply source. A sustained Brent price above $100 keeps the inflation pressure on central banks firmly in play, limiting the room for rate relief and weighing on fuel-importing currencies. In the near term, US inventory data and any confirmation of Russian diesel flows are the main counterweights to further escalation in the Gulf.

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Just out:

• Oil: Private survey of inventory shows a huge headline crude oil draw

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More Gulf oil…

A December dated call from a major bank gives traders something concrete to price, so expect merger speculation to feed directly into Tesla and SpaceX shares. How the two stocks react relative to each other matters more than the headline move. The share-swap ratio would decide which set of shareholders gains more, and Musk’s larger voting control at SpaceX raises the question of whether Tesla holders would get fair terms. Without confirmation from either company, the headline risks a sharp reversal if no announcement follows. Options activity in both names is likely to pick up as traders position for a possible pre-December catalyst.

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Merger talk between Musk’s two trillion-dollar companies has been building for months, and Barclays has…

US stocks closed lower Wednesday, with AI and semiconductor shares taking a particularly hard hit. The Nasdaq Composite recorded its worst day since July 23, while the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 posted their largest declines since July 29.

The hotter-than-expected CPI report provided an uncomfortable backdrop. Headline inflation rose 3.7% year over year versus 3.6% expected, keeping inflation and the Fed’s next move firmly in focus. Treasury yields moved sharply higher following the release, adding pressure on growth-stock valuations, but did move back lower off their highs as stocks retreated and they found a safe haven bid.  The 2 year is still 1.9 basis points higher at 4.812%, but the 10 year is trading down -1.9 basis points at 5.198%.…

With NAB, Westpac and consensus all at 20,000 and three major banks seeing unemployment at 4.6%, the bar for a surprise sits mainly in the jobless rate. A drop to 4.5% would revive the case for further RBA tightening and could support the Australian dollar and short-dated yields. A rise to 4.7% would push the other way, adding weight to the view that four hikes are already doing enough. NAB’s view that the cooling is supply-led also matters for rates: rising labour force participation eases wage pressure without signalling a hiring slump, which gives the RBA less reason to sound alarmed about growth.

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NAB thinks August’s jobless jump was partly a statistical quirk, but not enough of one to drag the rate back to 4.5% this month.

Summary:

The data focus is the labour marekt report for September in Australia. I'll have more to come on this separately, but for now, an earlier preview:

• Thursday’s jobs data is tipped to show unemployment steady at 4.6%, the highest since 2021

AUD remains captive to war developments, rising inflation in the US weighed on it overnight:

• investingLive Americas market news wrap: Hot CPI upends markets

Again, I'll have more to come on this separately. 

• US September CPI 3.7% vs 3.6% expected
• Canada August building permits rise 8.8% vs 2.0% expected
• Fed's Beige Book: Nine of 12 districts report growth as price pressures broaden
• Fed’s Goolsbee: CPI was discouraging, more bad months would be unacceptable

Markets:

• WTI crude oil up 98-cents to $95.12
• US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 5.19%
• Gold down $54 to $4103
• USD leads, GBP lags
• S&P 500 down 1.2%

The US CPI report threw gasoline on the debate about an October rate just as the Fed nears the blackout period. Market pricing now sits at 37% after briefly rising above 50% in the aftermath of the CPI report that was hot across the board. There were no big caveats in the data that was generally 0.1 pp above expectations. Comments from Goolsbee late in the…

• CPI data was ‘discouraging’
• Service inflation in CPI was a concern
• Key to focus on trend of inflation, not one report
• Hearing about cost and prices from contacts, not hearing about worries about recession
• Hopes energy will fade soon from inflation data
• The economy has work to do on the inflation side
• Is not a fan of telegraphing Fed moves ahead of meetings
• There is no ambiguity for Fed if economy is solid and inflation is high
• Fed must prevent the build up of overheating
• Is more optimistic about outlook relative to other Fed officials
• Evidence building inflation hasn’t been transitory amid continued shocks
• Need to keep a close eye on service sector inflation
• More bad months of inflation would be unacceptable
• Fed will get inflation back to 2%
• Doesn’t…

Gold buyers had their shot. Monday’s rebound stalled ahead of the familiar swing level near $4,226.81, and today the price has moved back below both its 100-hour and 200-hour moving averages. The focus has shifted from breaking resistance to defending support.

The fall has taken gold to $4073.49. The current price is at $4092, down around $68.83, or 1.65%. Last week’s low at $4,066.21 is now within reach. That is the next test for sellers, and a level where buyers can try to stall the decline with risk defined against it.

Buyers could not get through the swing ceiling

The $4,226.81 area has been a recurring decision level on the supplied chart, with reactions going back to June (see red numbered circles). More recently, it has acted as…

• Two districts reported moderate growth, three modest, four slight and three no change. In August, 10 grew and two were unchanged.
• Most districts reported little or no change in consumer spending.
• Employment was little changed: three districts saw modest gains, five slight and four no change.
• Three districts reported robust price growth, eight moderate and one modest.
• Four districts said the pace of price increases picked up.
• The outlook remains positive, but expectations are for slight growth, weighted toward manufacturing.

The October Beige Book shows an economy losing a step while inflation pressures intensify. The national summary dropped its headline characterization of activity entirely. August said activity “increased modestly”; this…

It's getting increasingly ugly in the stock market.

The S&P 500 is at the lows of the day, down 98 points to 7706. The 1.3% decline is the largest since late July and erases most of this month's gains. It's also a day with some wildly divergent fortunes.

The AI names and rate-sensitive names are both suffering while defensive stocks surge. Nvidia is lower by 3.2% as part of a broad selloff in chip and memory names that includes:

• AMD -5.6%
• Broadcom -3.1%
• Micron -3.2%
• Intel -4.1%
• Dell -11.9%

Other megacap tech names are also being hit by profit taking and AI worries.

• GOOGL -1.5%
•  MSFT -1.5%
• META -3.6%
• TSLA -2.2%
• ORCL -7.9%
• PANW -5.1%

Apple is bucking the trend with a 0.3% gain in a sign that it's increasingly seen as outside the tech bubble.

On the…

US stocks are lower, Treasury yields are higher, and oil prices are higher. That risk-off backdrop is weighing on Bitcoin. But for traders, the technical levels help answer the more practical questions: Who has control? Where is the risk? What needs to happen next?

The moving average gives traders a decision point

On the four-hour chart, Bitcoin fell below its 100-bar moving average on October 7. After finding support near $80,106 on October 8, the price rebounded but stalled against that moving average on October 12 and again today.

Why does that matter?

A moving average can act as support when the price is above it and resistance when the price is below it. In this case, the rebounds more recently in Bitcoin gave buyers opportunities to…