Latest / What the Flux / Coles' major cuts | Armaguard battle to keep cash around | Trump's tariffs upend markets

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Coles' major cuts | Armaguard battle to keep cash around | Trump's tariffs upend markets · What the Flux

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is what the Flux. I'm Brett and I'm Justin
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: and it's Wednesday, the fifth of February.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Josie Boy. We know the famous saying is time in
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: the market as opposed to timing the market, but you
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: still don't want to miss time the markets. Australian super
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: invested five hundred million dollars into Nvidia in the three
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: months to December twenty twenty four, just before in Video's
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: seventeen percent crash following the release of Deep Seek AI.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Not ideal timing at all, but man, man, let me
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: tell you what is good timing. Our latest academy for
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: February Shifting your Money Mindset. This one is all about
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  Speaker 1: starting off the new year on a high by creating
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: a positive money mindset because it is the foundation of
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: financial success. We're talking about ditching limiting beliefs, boosting your confidence,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: and building a better relationship with money. So Flux down.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Make sure to check out the Flux Academy in the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: fus out.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Three prizeworthy stories today, Josie Boy, Let's do it for
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  Speaker 2: our first. Coles is planning to aggressively reduce the number
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  Speaker 2: of products on its shelves to drive higher profits.
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  Speaker 1: Sounds like Coles is doing a major cleanup on Aisle
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  Speaker 1: five B man, So what is the story here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, juzziboy, we know that Coles is the second largest
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  Speaker 2: supermarket chain in Australia behind Woollys.
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  Speaker 1: And together they are a behemoth. They have sixty five
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  Speaker 1: percent share of the grocery market.
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  Speaker 2: But for the last few months, Coles has been working
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  Speaker 2: with external consultants on a strategy to simplify its range.
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  Speaker 1: And an man, let's be honest, Simplify is just a
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  Speaker 1: fancy term for cutting its range by ten percent.
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  Speaker 2: And juzzy boy, why are they cutting their range?
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  Speaker 1: Well, the theory goes like this, fewer products on the
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  Speaker 1: shelves equals more sales for the ones that actually remain
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  Speaker 1: on the shelf.
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  Speaker 2: Reminds me a bit of the Alder model.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, stick to a smaller range, sell more of each item,
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  Speaker 1: and then Coles can negotiate better deals with each of
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  Speaker 1: the suppliers.
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  Speaker 2: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 1: Product rationalization is when a retailer cuts down the number
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  Speaker 1: of products that it sells.
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  Speaker 2: And these rationalizations are often positioned as a positive for customers.
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  Speaker 1: By simplifying their offering, we're enhancing the customer experienced.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we don't really need thirteen table salts, which
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  Speaker 2: is just adding to decision fatigue.
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  Speaker 1: And be man Out has proven that a simple range
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  Speaker 1: with cheap prices can actually work. Yep.
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  Speaker 2: Audi has around eighteen hundred items in their supermarkets compared
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  Speaker 2: to Coal's twenty thousand items. Be man the primary goal
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  Speaker 2: of a product rationalization is almost always to improve profitability.
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  Speaker 2: By reducing its range, coals can simplify the management of
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  Speaker 2: their warehouses and it also means they can negotiate better
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  Speaker 2: bulk pricing with suppliers. But as the way under the surface,
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  Speaker 2: it's also a way for coals to give a not
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  Speaker 2: so subtle hint to suppliers.
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  Speaker 1: If you want to keep your products stocked on our shelves,
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  Speaker 1: you need to be more competitive on pricing.
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  Speaker 2: And this allows coals to improve margins without directly threatening
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  Speaker 2: each individual supplier.
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  Speaker 1: So it'll be interesting to see how the ah Triple
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  Speaker 1: See and the Senate look at this one. For our
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  Speaker 1: second story armor guard, the Aussie cash handling Company is
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  Speaker 1: in danger of collapsing once again, meaning coins and notes
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  Speaker 1: in Australia are under threat. He low sock draws and
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  Speaker 1: matrostash are popular once again, So tell me what's going
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  Speaker 1: on here.
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  Speaker 2: So Armaguard was founded in nineteen thirty eight, back when
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  Speaker 2: cash was most certainly King Queen and also Jack.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Armaguard specialized in transferring money from banks to ATMs,
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  Speaker 1: to retailers and back and forth.
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  Speaker 2: And you don't want to mess with these cash handlers.
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  Speaker 1: Nope, but Beman. Last year you may remember that a
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  Speaker 1: group of banks had to throw Armaguard a fifty million
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  Speaker 1: dollar lifeline just to keep them afloat.
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  Speaker 2: And now less than twelve months later, Armaguard is back
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  Speaker 2: cap in hand asking for more help. The problem is
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  Speaker 2: cash isn't exactly King Queen or Jack anymore. Yep. Less
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  Speaker 2: cash in circulation means less need for cash services.
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  Speaker 1: And Armaguard's revenue is drying up faster than a forgotten
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  Speaker 1: ATM receipt, and that's raising a major question.
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  Speaker 2: If Australia's last big cash transporter folds, what happens to
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  Speaker 2: this cash economy?
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  Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 2: Being a monopoly usually means you've got the market all
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  Speaker 2: to yourself, but if your industry is dying or dead,
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  Speaker 2: there isn't much room to move be Man, Armaguard is.
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  Speaker 1: The last major player standing in the cash handle industry
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  Speaker 1: after it already acquired its rival cross a Goore in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, and that means it has no other
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  Speaker 1: potential companies to acquire or partner with and share costs
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  Speaker 1: and be man. With demand for cash handling services declining,
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  Speaker 1: their options are narrowing well.
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  Speaker 2: Option one would be find a way to cut more
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  Speaker 2: costs or increase prices.
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  Speaker 1: Which looks hard at this point yep. Option two, get
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  Speaker 1: another financial bailout from the banks.
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  Speaker 2: Option three just completely shut down and say goodbye to
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  Speaker 2: money circulation in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, be man. The RBA data shows that in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two only thirteen percent of transactions were made
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  Speaker 1: in cash, and that was down.
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  Speaker 2: From seventy percent in two thousand and seven. And if
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  Speaker 2: Armagard doesn't exist, the banks and RBA risk a complete
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  Speaker 2: collapse of our cash infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: So be man. Armagad survival isn't just a problem for Armaguard,
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  Speaker 1: but the broader banking system.
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  Speaker 2: For our third and final story, Donald J. Trump has
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  Speaker 2: sent the share market into a spin after announcing the
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  Speaker 2: rollout of tariffs on goods from the US's top three
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  Speaker 2: trading partners.
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  Speaker 1: Geez, these tariffs were saved by the belboe b man,
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  Speaker 1: So tell me what is going on here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, as part of Trump's selection campaign, he had promised
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  Speaker 2: to stem the flow of illegal migration as well as drugs, and.
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  Speaker 1: He targeted three countries in particular. We'd be talking Canada,
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  Speaker 1: We'd be talking Mexico and China as well, and Trump
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  Speaker 1: would be man that if they didn't tighten their borders
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  Speaker 1: and reduce the flow of drugs into the US, he
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  Speaker 1: would impose major tariffs twenty five percent tariffs on the
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  Speaker 1: goods from Mexico and Canada, ten percent tariff on goods
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  Speaker 1: from China. And given the US does two point one
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  Speaker 1: trillion US dollars worth of annual commerce with just these
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  Speaker 1: three countries, the markets were shoogarth for dazibweight.
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  Speaker 2: Trump has now agreed to pause these tariffs with Mexico
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  Speaker 2: and Canada for thirty days.
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  Speaker 1: After they committed to putting ten thousand officers on the borders.
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  Speaker 2: Crisis averted for now, but dazibait the trade war may
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  Speaker 2: still happen.
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  Speaker 1: So what is the key learning here?
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  Speaker 2: A trade war is like an economic hug of war
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  Speaker 2: where countries slap tariffs on each other's goods.
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  Speaker 1: And for those playing at home, tariffs are taxes on imports.
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  Speaker 2: You put a tax on our goods coming into your country,
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  Speaker 2: well will put even bigger tacks on your goods coming
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  Speaker 2: into our country.
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  Speaker 1: And they man, this can grow and grow and grow
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  Speaker 1: until it gets out of hand.
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  Speaker 2: Markets don't like uncertainty. So when Trump announced tariffs on China, Canada,
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  Speaker 2: and Mexico, investors well and truly panic.
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  Speaker 1: And when these tariffs looked like they were going to
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  Speaker 1: be rolled out, we saw the US market fall by
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  Speaker 1: more than two.
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  Speaker 2: Percent, Bitcoin fell by more than eight percent, and.
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  Speaker 1: Even the ASX got hit with around fifty billion dollars wide.
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  Speaker 2: And does it way. Over the past thirty years or so,
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  Speaker 2: many of the developed economies around the world have removed
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  Speaker 2: tariffs to basically encourage free trade between nations.
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  Speaker 1: And the man. Although there's a temporary pause on these
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  Speaker 1: tariffs right now, Trump could be bringing back the tariffs
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  Speaker 1: and trade wars in a very big way. Fox Am,
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  Speaker 1: if you've ever said to yourself or your friend or
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: your partner finances and not for me, I'm just not
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the finance person, then you need to start on the
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Flux Academy this month, which is all out shifting your
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: money mindset. So check out the Academy which helps you
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: ditch limiting beliefs and boost your confidence around money and
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: stay for the prizes. Download the Flux out and check
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: out the Academy this month. Thanks for listening and we'll
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: see you on Friday