The National Australia Bank has announced it will axe up to 2500 jobs over this financial year.

• Saudi Arabia is postponing the "Future Investment Initiative" conference, which was set for later this month.
• The announcement came as fighting has renewed between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia.
• The conference, which was set to return Wall Street titans to Riyadh, will now take place next year.

Saudi Arabia has postponed a gathering of Wall Street titans as instability spreads across the Middle East amid the US-Iran War.

On Monday, Princess Maha Bint Mishari Al Saud announced that officials were postponing the Future Investment Initiative, which was scheduled for October 26 through the 29th until next year.

"This decision comes from a deep commitment to our partners, members, speakers, and delegates," Princess Maha said in a statement. "Because this is our landmark tenth edition, we want to ensure it delivers the full scale, extraordinary quality, and unforgettable impact that our community has come to expect and truly deserves."

The postponement comes after a recent attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, which left at least 13 people dead, the Associated Press reported. Before the announcement, CNBC reported that some delegates were prepared to land in Bahrain and then drive around five hours to Riyadh.

The conference, which has become a major gathering since its launch in 2017, was set to feature the likes of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

"We will announce the new 2027 dates very soon," the statement said.

Houthi rebels have attacked Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as an informal 2022 truce between the two sides deteriorated amid the US-Iran War. In 2015, Saudi Arabia began a bombing campaign against the rebels after they seized Sanaa, Yemen's capital.

Rep. Max Miller argues that housing shortages in rural Ohio hinder economic development and calls for federal support to ensure workers can afford to live in their communities.

With Republicans seen as less likely to hold their majority in the House, the party is focusing more on the battle for the Senate, where it is vastly outspending Democrats on ads.

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index declined on Monday, shedding 66.15 points, or 0.65 percent, to close at 10,123.62. Trading turnover reached SR3.56 billion ($945.9 million), with approximately 302.1 million shares changing hands. Market breadth was negative, with 200 stocks declining and 63 advancing, according to Saudi Exchange data. The Kingdom’s parallel market, Nomu, fell 218.82 points, or 0.99 percent, to 21,967.64. The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index lost 9.14 points, or 0.66 percent,

It’s Oct. 19 — 15 days from the midterms. Here’s the state of play.

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A horror story in eight words: Private equity just invested in my favorite BLANK.

"PE ruins everything" is a well-worn trope, but it's not unearned.

Private-equity investors have a history of stripping companies for parts and saddling them with debt, leaving customers wondering what happened to the product they once loved.

So it wasn't surprising that some fans of Los Tacos No. 1, an NYC Tijuana-style taco chain, feared a new PE investment would ultimately ruin things.

Christian Pineda, the chain's CEO and cofounder, told BI's Martina Nacach Cowan Ros that he's determined not to let that happen, and that "private equity is not always bad."

Ironically, the visceral reaction was exactly why TSG Consumer, which also backs Crumbl and Dutch Bros Coffee, was interested in the taco joint in the first place. TSG executive Colin Welch told Martina that Los Tacos No. 1 has a "cultlike following," and the company needs to "show those skeptics that it's going to be exactly the same."

Before you roll your eyes, there's a recent example of a largely positive PE-backed story in the restaurant industry. Blackstone spent two years turning founder-run Jersey Mike's into an IPO-ready company.

While the PE firm took big steps to professionalize the 51-year-old sandwich shop, it didn't touch portion sizes or suppliers. And Blackstone also established a shared ownership plan allowing Jersey Mike's employees to cash in on this summer's IPO.

It hasn't all been a fairy tale. The company opened below its IPO price of $23 — never a good sign — and is currently trading around $18 per share.

You might not like private equity, but it could be your only option.

Los Tacos No. 1 spent 13 years growing to 10 spots across Manhattan and an additional sister location, Los Mariscos. Further expansion in such an expensive city is difficult enough. Add in the rising cost of goods like beef, limes, and avocados, and growth plans become even harder to achieve.

There are other ways to raise capital outside PE, but they aren't pretty these days.

The lending market remains a disaster. The possibility of at least one more rate hike before the end of the year means borrowing costs aren't likely to drop anytime soon.

And the public market isn't too inviting. The heavy focus on AI means anyone who isn't a major player in that space risks being ignored by investors. Even the biggest names in AI, like OpenAI, aren't rushing to go public.

This isn't about defending private equity. (God knows it has enough money to do that itself.) It's just showing the economic and market environments have limited a lot of companies' choices.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s investment funds would need to disclose more details on payouts, holdings and property revenues under proposals aimed at improving transparency across the sector. The Capital Market Authority is considering requiring funds to explain the sources of cash distributions, including income from investments and capital gains realized through asset sales. Quarterly statements would detail funds’ 10 largest investments, identifying asset types, counterparties and each holding’s sh

It’s Oct. 19 — 15 days from the midterms. Here’s the state of play.

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RIYADH: Dubai’s real gross domestic product totalled approximately 473 billion dirhams ($129 billion) in the first half of 2026, down 2.3 percent year on year, official data showed. GDP at current prices reached 505 billion dirhams, up 0.2 percent, according to data from the Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment at Digital Dubai, as reported by the Emirates News Agency, or WAM. The financial and insurance activities sector recorded real growth of 8.8 percent, with value added reaching 65.9 b

Getting it wrong can mean paying unnecessary tax, facing unexpected reporting obligations, or attracting attention from the tax authorities. Some British expatriates assume they remain taxable only in the UK

The post Are you paying tax in the right country? appeared first on Portugal Resident.

• Berkshire Hathaway is set to invest $330 million in Bending Spoons, adding to its previous $600 million.
• Warren Buffett's storied conglomerate is poised to hold a 4% stake in the owner of AOL and Vimeo.
• Berkshire's wager is a surprise, but there's some DNA in common with Bending Spoons.

Berkshire Hathaway's latest bet isn't a no-brainer or a head-scratcher; it's somewhere in between.

What's the deal?

Berkshire — which has seen Warren Buffett retire as CEO and chairman since the turn of the year — has agreed to invest $330 million in Bending Spoons, on top of a $600 million injection when the Italian tech conglomerate went public in July, giving the Nebraska behemoth a 4% stake.

Bending Spoons disclosed Berkshire's backing in a press release on Wednesday, catapulting its stock up nearly 50% over two days, a phenomenon known as the "Buffett effect." The stock fell on Friday, but still ended the week more than 20% above Monday's opening price.

Berkshire has agreed to buy 10 million shares for $33 each, around a 13% discount to Bending Spoons' closing price of $38 on Tuesday, the day before the deal was announced.

CEO and cofounder Luca Ferrari described Berkshire in the press release as "among the finest and most respected capital allocators in the world," and a "longstanding inspiration" for Bending Spoons.

Neither company responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.

What is Bending Spoons?

Bending Spoons acquires digital businesses, transforms and optimizes them to increase profits, then reinvests those earnings in further acquisitions.

It has been pursuing that strategy for more than a decade and has never sold a material business. Its acquisitions to date include AOL, Evernote, Vimeo, Eventbrite, and WeTransfer.

Ferrari's company said in the press release that it "strives to envision the most successful version of an acquired business," then works to close the gap between that vision and reality "as quickly and completely as possible."

Bending Spoons said that typically involves "deep" transformation such as "reorganizing teams, overhauling technology, redesigning user interfaces, accelerating product development, and enhancing marketing and monetization," often with a good dose of AI.

Ferrari gave the example of Evernote on a recent episode of the "Joys of Compounding" podcast.

He said the business had around 350 employees when Bending Spoons acquired it at the start of 2023. That shrank to roughly 60 within 12 to 18 months, and now it's being run by around 20 people.

Yet Ferrari said Evernote "launched by far the biggest update to the product in maybe a decade" this spring.

Why is Berkshire's investment a surprise?

First and foremost, Bending Spoons is a tech conglomerate, and Berkshire has eschewed tech for most of its history with a few big exceptions, namely Apple and Alphabet.

That's because Buffett is a bargain hunter who likes to invest with a "margin of safety" in case something goes wrong, and tries to stay within his "circle of competence," only buying into what he deeply understands.

Tech companies have rarely been a good fit for his approach, as they typically have lofty valuations, unpredictable outlooks, and complex products and services.

Indeed, Bending Spoons generated 32 cents in earnings per share last year. Berkshire is paying more than 100 times that per share in the coming private placement.

It's true that Bending Spoons is growing fast, with revenue surging 126% year-on-year to $704 million in the second quarter and adjusted operating income jumping 150% to $381 million. Few, however, would consider the stock a bargain from a fundamental perspective.

Berkshire is also famously a hands-off acquirer, offering founders the opportunity to cash out while continuing to run their businesses as they see fit. In contrast, a core aspect of Bending Spoons' strategy is revamping its acquisitions.

How does the deal make sense?

Berkshire and Bending Spoons have similarities as well as differences.

Both are decentralized conglomerates that buy businesses not to flip them, but to own them for the long term. Berkshire is a web of largely autonomous companies, including GEICO, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, Pilot Travel Centers, and BNSF Railway. It has long offered a permanent home to the businesses it buys.

Bending Spoons has positioned itself as a forever owner, too, emulating Berkshire's approach of taking the cash generated by a subsidiary like See's Candies and using it to acquire more businesses.

Ferrari said in his recent podcast interview that Bending Spoons has fostered a culture of caring deeply about the company, and doesn't centralize decision-making in part because that "deprives people of that precious sense of ownership."

Buffett famously wrote "An Owner's Manual" for Berkshire shareholders. He's championed that mindset by keeping more than 99% of his net worth in Berkshire stock, and encouraging the company's other executives and directors to have skin in the game too.

Ferrari also said on the podcast that he has a "pathological love of learning" across different domains. That echoes Buffett's boundless curiosity and the late Charlie Munger's insatiable appetite for knowledge. Buffett's longtime business partner studied architecture, physics, history, meteorology, psychology, law, and, of course, investing, among other subjects.

Beyond their similar philosophies, it's worth noting that investing less than $1 billion into Bending Spoons isn't a huge deal for Berkshire. It has a $1.1 trillion market capitalization, had a $365 billion cash pile at the end of June, and its biggest stock position was worth about $66 billion at that time.

What's the takeaway?

The Bending Spoons deal could mark an evolution in Berkshire's investing style following Buffett's departure as CEO and chairman.

Berkshire hasn't commented on the purchase or on whether Buffett was involved. Its relatively small size could mean his remaining investment manager, Ted Weschler, was behind it.

Or it might be new CEO Greg Abel, who piled an additional $10 billion into Alphabet in a private placement this summer after consulting with Buffett.

Whoever was responsible, and whatever their reasons for investing, this will be an intriguing wager to watch for Berkshire followers.

RIYADH: Moody’s Ratings upgraded Egypt’s sovereign credit rating to B3 from Caa1, citing improved public finances, stronger revenue collection and economic reforms that have helped put government debt and interest burdens on a declining path. The agency maintained a positive outlook, reflecting the potential for further improvement in the country’s debt burden and borrowing costs. The upgrade, announced on Oct. 16, applies to the government’s long-term local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings

As the U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion during Donald Trump's second term, critics warned that escalating interest payments and inflation are eroding public services and devaluing the dollar.

Demand shocks in Asia or supply disruptions in the Middle East directly affect American farmers. 

Sex, video games and grandparents on the campaign trail.

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• Harvard's endowment returned a five-year high of 27.1% in the 12 months to June 30, besting the S&P 500.
• The Ivy League college counted a $2.2 billion SpaceX stake as its top Q2 portfolio holding by far.
• Harvard's endowment grew to almost $68 billion after accounting for taxes, gifts, and distributions.

Harvard University delivered its best investment return in five years as its bet on SpaceX boosted its stock portfolio.

The elite college's endowment returned 27.1% in the fiscal year ended June 30, its annual financial report revealed on Thursday. That comfortably outpaced the benchmark S&P 500's 22.3% total return over the same period.

After accounting for taxes, distributions, and gifts, Harvard's endowment grew by $11 billion to nearly $68 billion.

Harvard Management Company's stake in Elon Musk's maker of Starship rockets, Starlink satellites, and AI chatbot Grok was worth $2.2 billion at the end of June, per its second-quarter portfolio disclosure.

SpaceX was its number-one holding, more than six times more valuable than its second-biggest position, a sub-$350 million stake in Taiwan Semiconductor.

Its next-largest positions — each worth over $150 million — were Cerebras, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia. Its 19 holdings at the end of June were together worth about $4.3 billion, more than double the portfolio's $1.8 billion value three months earlier.

Harvard said the strong performance of its endowment, which is nearly 400 years old and comprises about 15,000 individual funds, helped it weather the "abrupt termination of federal research grants" by the Trump administration.

It's worth noting that 13-F portfolio disclosures are a snapshot of a fund's US stock holdings on a certain date. They don't include foreign-listed stocks, non-stock assets like bonds or real estate, private investments, or stocks sold short.

Harvard said that as of June 30, 14% of its endowment was invested in public equities, 29% in hedge funds, 46% in private equity, 4% in real estate, and the balance elsewhere.

Harvard declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

SpaceX's valuation has whipsawed since the aerospace company went public on June 12. Its market capitalization topped $2.4 trillion on June 20, then tanked to $1.4 trillion by August 1, and has since rallied to around $2 trillion.

Musk's company posted a 92% year-on-year revenue jump for the quarter ended June, helping narrow its net loss from $1 billion to $541 million.

The world's richest man recently posted on X that he sees a path for SpaceX to be worth "orders of magnitude more than the current Earth economy," implying its stock could rise at least 6,000-fold to $12 quadrillion over time.

He later clarified that wasn't a "statement of extreme confidence," but he believes the probability of achieving that valuation is "not zero." On October 14, he said he expects SpaceX to be worth more than $100 trillion in the next 10 years.

Harvard is one of several shareholders to reveal a sizable stake in SpaceX. Google parent Alphabet reported a roughly 4% stake valued at $94 billion as of the end of June. Longtime Musk associate Peter Thiel disclosed a 3.2% position worth $73 billion held by his Founders Fund and related entities. AI chipmaker Nvidia has a $21 billion stake.

This year’s midterm elections are a test of whether a party can be a success and a failure at the same time.

"Without a determined European Union capable of making strong decisions Putin would have gone much further by now," Zelensky said, before calling on the bloc to double down on its support.

Republicans are frustrated that the public has such a sour view of the economy, especially when growth is accelerating and we may be on the cusp of what some are calling America’s economic “golden age.” Rising prices are the ongoing problem, and the most recent inflation readings did nothing to turn around voters’ gloom. A hotter-then-expected…