The Saturday Edition | 18 July 2026
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How did the hosts introduce the new Saturday Edition format and judging rules?
This is the Saturday edition of Fear and Greed, business news you can use. I'm Michael Thompson, and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael. Now, Sean, our Saturday show is getting a little bit of a shake-up, really. We've got new categories, some new rules, perhaps some tougher judging. It is still a competition, and so we are joined by a judge to pick a winner. Every week, that judge is our Fear and Greed colleague, Adam Lang. Adam, good morning. Good morning, Michael and Sean. Good morning.
Morning, Adam. At this point, we'd normally ask you what your criteria is, but the great thing about today's show is that Adam doesn't know what the shake-up is. So you can give us your criteria, but they could be well null and void by the end of the first category, to be perfectly honest. But- Look, where we stand today, what are you looking for at the moment?
Okay. Economic impact for the biggest story of the week or the most topical, your favorite song, right?
That one. Okay. That one's gone.
All right. Playing to my subjective bias for reform.
Definitely out. No, definitely out. Okay.
Melodrama. Melodrama. I'm guessing.
No, that's it. That's it. That's it.
Okay. And must it be topical and timely like it happened this week and be of interest?
Broadly, yes. Broadly, yes. I mean, you know. Traumatic pause. Sometimes, a little bit.
So really, as we've discussed, then the key criteria is now melodrama. Got it. This is good news. This is good news for me. We are losing listeners already. Let's go. So... The first category this week, Sean, is what really matters. So some of the stories this week that really, really matter. Maybe they just matter to us. Maybe they matter to the broader economy. Maybe they matter to everyone in the world. You go first on this one. Take it away. Okay.
I must say, when you told me what really matters, I kind of defined it slightly different to you, and it was more about – There's the headlines, like so mine's business confidence, consumer confidence, consumer confidence in the toilet, business confidence, not much better unless you're an AI data center person. But what really matters about that isn't really the top line numbers because you hear it all the time. What really matters is that it pretty much means we are in for sub 2% growth. We have inflation rising. We have the housing market joining consumer confidence in the toilet. Houston, we have a major problem here. We have an economy that is slowing. We have an inflation rate that is rising.
Housing is not going to save us. Commodity prices are off, so mining is not going to save us. The household spending index from the Commonwealth Bank this week came out. That's not real good either. Soggy is a good word for that one. We have a real problem going forward over the next six months. What really matters in the business and consumer confidence figures is what it means going forward. And that is this cost of living crisis isn't going away. We still could have higher interest rates. We've got some real economic problems. That's what really matters as per my definition.
Not much melodrama in that. You know what there was? There was an abundance of misery. You're starting us on a bit of a downer. Maybe I should have gone first and really just brought some. Hey, Michael, the consumer is down. They're a miserable bunch. I'm one of them. Led by you, king consumer. I'm a man of the people. Did you just steal my title? I did.
I did.
Feels like a coup. Look, the story to me, that is both the biggest story and then the one that really matters to everyone, to the economy, to business, to you, me, everyone, right? The Prime Minister announced this week the government's new AI policy. All right. The Office of AI that's going to be part of the Prime Minister's Department, development of national AI standards, new legislation to be introduced next year. Why this matters, right, is that it is a major, major reversal of where the government was previously heading. They were going to be kind of hands-off. And they had said, we are taking a hands-off approach.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
How did the hosts introduce the new Saturday Edition format and judging rules?
0:06–5:43
2
What are the economic risks highlighted by weak consumer and business confidence?
5:43–12:18
3
How will Australia’s new AI policy and copyright protections affect data centres and creators?
12:18–33:08
4
Is Bitcoin rallying again and what does that mean for investors?
33:08–33:53
Speakers
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