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People of all ages are more than willing to speak about fraudulent behaviour with their families to build awareness about this nefarious activity – except when they are the victim.

Despite Australia’s largest writer of annuities delivering strong interim earnings and increasing the dividend by 12 per cent, investors still pushed the share price down – sharply.

The giant insurer’s share price has been on a roll for the past year – to the extent of largely being unaffected by the ex-cyclone that lashed south-east Queensland and northern NSW earlier this month.

The government’s decision to invest $20 million to assist with funding for locally made IV fluids should be a blueprint for a similar approach to pain killers.

The West Australian conglomerate bucked weaker consumer sentiment in the first half of the 2025 financial year to notch a $1.5 billion after-tax profit. For shareholders, there was a 4.4 per cent lift in the fully franked payout to 95 cents.

Investors dined out on a higher interim payout from the supermarket giant, and with the economy picking up it should make for a compelling second half. The flies in the ointment are a ACCC report due to be handed down soon and politicians who opt for “supermarket bashing”.

The employee services and fleet solutions provider’s 2024 financial year scorecard was up to scratch. So, with shareholders well rewarded via a 48.5-cent payout, it’s somewhat perplexing why the share price is lagging.

The telecommunications giant remains confident of maintaining market dominance, building on its business momentum, strong cost controls and disciplined capital management. The competition is not sitting still, however, with Optus and TPG now sharing their regional networks.

The COVID share price implosion aside, the toll-road group is still failing to excite the share market. While new projects in Melbourne and the US might stir some interest, ongoing toll negotiations with the NSW government are casting a pall over the share price.

The retirement specialist and digital bank is prioritising growth over capital returns to shareholders. While that might be the right long-term strategy, investors are less than impressed in the short term.

With the Magnificent 7 leading the charge, the S&P500 index took all before it last year. A repeat performance is not out of the question, but it could be prudent to look for investment opportunities in other overseas markets.

The country’s biggest winemaker is making a fair fist of growing its luxury wine brand Penfolds, aided, in no small part, by China’s decision to lift tariffs. It now needs to sell its low-cost brands – quickly.