It’s Wednesday, the 8th of October 2025. Federal parliament is back in session, and day one was dominated by the second anniversary of the Hamas terror attack into Israel, and the triple-zero system outages over the past month. There was also debate over the environment, defence pacts, and electric vehicles, as well as announcements about the Nobel Prize, consumer sentiment, ASIC onCboe, and more.
Gold and Bitcoin have become unlikely allies, both trading around record levels as investors retreat from hard currencies.
Consumer sentiment has tumbled for a second month in a row and is now back to the level it was when the RBA started cutting interest rates earlier this year.
ASIC has approved alternative exchange Cboe’s application to provide a listing market in Australia, a move which increases direct competition for share market floats with the ASX.
Australia is the world's biggest goat meat exporter, selling more than $350 million worth each year, but is one of the smallest consumers of the food. That is because Australians are among the least likely in the world to eat goat.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year has been awarded for discoveries that explain how the immune system attacks hostile infections, but not the body's own cells.
Fear-o-meter
The world has turned totally on its head when Bitcoin is considered a safe-haven asset. But that is what’s happening.
Investors are staying away from hard currencies. The euro is under renewed pressure after the new French prime minister resigned after just 24 hours in the job, providing yet another political crisis for that country.
The yen tumbled this week after pro-stimulus Sanae Takaichi was set to become the country’s new PM. And the US dollar remains under pressure – it’s down 30 per cent against Bitcoin this year – as the US government shutdown drags on.
On top of it all, the US, Japan and Europe have massive debt levels, and that’s not helping sentiment towards the major currencies.
So, investors are piling into gold, silver and …. Bitcoin. All are trading near record highs. It is a very odd world.
Business By Numbers
The top 3 numbers to know for the week, brought to you by Xero
US$4,000 an ounce: where the value of gold is heading.
30 per cent: the appreciation in the value of Bitcoin this year.
$350 million: the annual value of goat meat exports from Australia.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On how the Government's housing schemes could effect the market:
"These are pure demand-side measures and they tend to be quite popular, particularly the expanded deposit guarantee… that doesn't have any income assessments, has unlimited places and has seen a significant rise in the maximum caps… It won't be too long, I think, before the most desirable suburbs breach those pricing caps, and we'll probably see demand just gradually rippling a little bit further afield or maybe even towards the apartment sector."
