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Wraps & Blogs

Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: US$100 oil spooks the week in business
Brent crude crossed the century mark for the first time in years, Iran's new Supreme Leader made clear Hormuz was staying closed, United States payrolls fell off a cliff, and the AI industry spent most of the week negotiating who was actually allowed to work for the Pentagon. Bonkers. Move over Jason Vorhees, this Friday the 13th could be the scariest one yet… All the top moves, shakes, and drone strike wakes from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (13 March 2026).MondayThe week arrived carrying the weight of a war now entering its second week and a labour market update that made uncomfortable reading for the Fed. U.S. payrolls fell by 92,000 in February, with unemployment climbing to 4.4% - the softest jobs number in some time and a sharp contrast to the resilience the labour market had been showing through most of 2025. Whether the conflict in the Gulf was already feeding through to hiring decisions or whether the result reflects deeper pre-existing softness in the U.S. economy is a question nobody can answer cleanly yet. American consumers pulled back in February as well, with retail sales falling 0.2% - a result that, alongside the payrolls print, suggests the pre-war
Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Oil spills across the week in business
The week the Middle East changed shape, a closed strait rattled every commodity desk on the planet, and Kevin Warsh got the Fed job - if he can actually get through the door. All the top moves, shakes, and shipping lane straits from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (6 March 2026).MondayThe week opened under the shadow of events that had already unfolded over the weekend. U.S. and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday, striking Iranian nuclear and military sites and killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the process. The 86-year-old had led Iran since 1989, and his death - confirmed by state media on Sunday - plunged the country into its deepest crisis since the 1979 revolution. Iran's Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, missile strikes hit U.S. military assets across the Gulf, and Tehran responded with attacks on Israel. Russia and China condemned the operation, Turkey called it a clear violation of international law, and Trump posted on Truth Social that the bombing would continue until he achieved, in his words, "peace throughout the Middle East and, indeed, the world" - which is one way to frame it. Energy markets moved imme
Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Tariffs rip into the week in business
The week that gave investors a Supreme Court ruling, Nvidia's biggest quarter on record, and a global debt figure that would make even the most bullish bond manager check the exits. All the top moves, shakes, and red-hot takes from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (28 February 2026).MondayThe week opened with the biggest political and economic story of 2026 so far. The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a 6-3 ruling finding the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorise import tariffs, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that the statute cannot bear the weight the White House placed on it. Before Trump, no president had ever tried. The court's conservative majority splintered on the question - Roberts was joined by all three liberal justices and two colleagues, with Justices Thomas, Kavanaugh and Alito dissenting. Markets rallied on the news. They then watched Trump respond within hours: invoking a separate 1970s statute, a new 10% global tariff was signed effective from 24 February, running for 150 days through to late July. The refund question on duties already collected under IEEPA - potentially more than $160 billion - was referred to the low
Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Business gongs to copper, Iran this week
A seismic shift in mining economics, a nuclear standoff that briefly shut one of the world's busiest oil arteries, and an AI spending cycle that continues to defy gravity were the flavours of the week in business. All the top moves, shakes, and mounting stakes from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (13 February, 2026). Check out the rest of the week's circus below:MondayThe European Central Bank extended its euro liquidity backstop globally, widening swap lines as a buffer against dollar funding stress - a procedural move, but a telling one for anyone tracking central bank risk appetite. U.S. consumer prices came in at 2.4%, below forecasts, handing the Fed a touch more room to manoeuvre heading into a data-heavy week. Australia locked in A$3.9 billion for the AUKUS submarine shipyard - one of the heftiest single defence infrastructure commitments in the country's history. Baidu folded OpenClaw into its 700 million-user search platform, handing the tool distribution that most Western AI products can only dream about. Iran put energy and mining concessions on the table ahead of nuclear talks in Geneva - an early read on what Tehran's opening position might look like if
Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Credit where it's due this week in business
As credit markets absorbed the largest tech bond sale in a generation, BYD took a legal sledgehammer to United States tariff law, the SaaS sector's bleeding showed no signs of clotting, and Anthropic became the world's third most valuable private company at US$380 billion. The throughline this week was capital - who has it, who's borrowing it, who's burning it, and who's about to lose it to an AI agent. All the top moves, shakes, and loan payment breaks from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (13 February, 2026). Get your wallets ready.MondayU.S. consumer sentiment edged up to a six-month high of 57.3, beating forecasts of 55.0, though the improvement was driven by wealthy portfolios rather than any broad-based optimism, with the index still down from 64.7 year-over-year. The long-running Glencore-Rio Tinto combination continued to haunt the mining sector, with the deal looking as dead as ever, SpaceX IPO speculation around timing and valuation heated up, and Anthropic took aim at OpenAI as the AI ads war intensified. American Airlines' turnaround isn't taking off, Hims & Hers pulled its copycat pill on threats of legal action, and the U.S. and India reached an interim tr

Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Left at the altar again this business week
Between Monday and Friday, markets absorbed Trump's Fed pick, a historic precious metals meltdown, US$200 billion in fresh tech spending commitments, and warnings from Ray Dalio that the world is teetering on the edge of financial warfare. Fiscal dominance is no longer theoretical - it's the operating assumption for anyone with a balance sheet to protect. All the top moves, shakes, and asset management rakes from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (6 February, 2026). Hold on tight.MondayMarkets got their first proper scare on Monday when Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve after Jerome Powell's term expires in May. The announcement triggered an instant repricing across metals markets, with silver plunging 33% in what became its steepest single-day drop since 1980. Warsh's reputation as a hawk who backs central bank independence sent leveraged longs scrambling for exits, before exchanges poured petrol on the fire by hiking margin requirements mid-collapse. Silver crashed from above US$120/oz to $76 as the CME forced traders to post far more capital to maintain positions - a move that echoed the response that crushed the Hunt Brothers' silver c
Wraps & Blogs
Earnings season blog: Alphabet, Uber, and more
Re-live our live blog coverage of earnings season! This is the time of year when publicly traded companies report their financial results, giving investors and analysts a glimpse into their performance and future outlook. We'll bring you real-time updates, analysis, and commentary on the latest earnings reports from major companies across various sectors. Stay tuned as we break down the numbers and provide insights into what these results mean for the market. ______________________________________________________________________________________Summary Eli Lilly soars on weight loss drug revenueQualcomm issues weak guidance amid memory shortageAlphabet forecasts massive capital expendituresUber beats revenue estimates despite income hitNovo Nordisk shares plummet as it projects drop in salesThe New York Times Company's profits and expenses both riseSony lifts its guidance_______________________________________________________________________________________ 8:53 am (AEDT): Good morning! Harlan Ockey here to walk you through the day's earnings. Starting off on the NYSE, Eli Lilly (LLY) surged past estimates as revenue for its weight loss medications continued to rise. Total revenue was up 43% year-over-year to US
Wraps & Blogs
Azzet Unpacked: Earnings dominate the week in business
Global markets navigated a week shaped by shifting rate expectations, geopolitical manoeuvring and a heavy slate of corporate earnings, with investors balancing resilient company performance against rising macro and policy risks. All the top moves, shakes, and red-hot takes from Azzet's editorial team are right here in your weekly business wrap every Friday (30 January, 2026). Monday was quiet due to a public holiday in Australia, but the rest of the week more than made up for it:Commodities, chips and geopolitics set the toneTrading resumed on Tuesday with a strong focus on resources and strategic supply chains. Optimism around the longer-term commodities cycle resurfaced amid renewed investor appetite for materials tied to electrification and energy transition themes. That theme dovetailed with a surge in interest in critical minerals, underlining Washington’s push to secure domestic supply. Energy markets added to inflation concerns, with energy prices spiking as a severe winter storm swept across the United States, triggering widespread energy disruptions. In technology, the AI arms race remained central as Microsoft revealed Maia 200 AI chips, showcasing the group’s push to deepen in-house silicon capabilities, wh
Wraps & Blogs
Earnings season blog: Apple, Visa, and more
Re-live our live blog coverage of earnings season! This is the time of year when publicly traded companies report their financial results, giving investors and analysts a glimpse into their performance and future outlook. We'll bring you real-time updates, analysis, and commentary on the latest earnings reports from major companies across various sectors. Stay tuned as we break down the numbers and provide insights into what these results mean for the market. ______________________________________________________________________________________Summary Visa, Mastercard both beat on strong cross-border volumesApple busts records with growth in iPhone salesComcast posts mixed results, broadband customers fallCaterpillar exceeds estimates, flags tariff hitSAP shares plummet as cloud growth slowsSandisk shares soar on sales spikeRoyal Caribbean surges on high guidance_______________________________________________________________________________________ 8:54 am (AEDT): Good morning and happy Friday! Harlan Ockey here to walk you through the day's earnings. Starting off on the NYSE, Visa (V) beat revenue estimates for a fourth consecutive quarter, driven by a surge in cross-border volumes. Revenue was up 15% to US$10