Markets And Commodities

Hancock Prospecting

Videos

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Gina Rinehart & Dawn Fraser Speeches - AOC & QLD Premier's Welcome Home Dinner

Gina Rinehart gifts Pauline Hanson a bulldozer in Bush Summit stunt - June 18, 2026 (Sky News Australia)

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part VI

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Saturday Night Fever" (The Bee Gees)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"True Blue" (John Williamson)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"Judas" (FOZZY)
"He's a Rebel" (The Crystals) ; Media dedication to Killer Kross
"Neva Play" (Megan Thee Stallion)
"It's Good News Week" (Hedgehoppers Anonymous)
"Canary In A Coal Mine" (The Police)
"Crash" (The Human League)
"It's All About The Money" (Jimmy Hart and JJ Maguire)
"The Winner Takes It All" (ABBA)
"Under Pressure" (David Bowie and Queen)
"Man In Black" (Johnny Cash)
"I See Red" (Split Enz)
"Iron Man" (Black Sabbath)

Google AI Getting Results From Numerous Websites, Platforms, et al; Media Man and associates enjoy lift in SEO, GEO, Top 10 catergories

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn Has Big loss to CM Punk Monday Night in Chi-Town! See WWE YouTube for backstage Zayn break down!

WWE SmackDown: CM Punk buzz is here. OK, USA

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring; Target Brock Lesnar

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC! Rhodes and Punk vs Gunther and Zayn!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT: The Don Still Rules; EVIL On The Hunt; Nattie Eyes Shades Of Gray Women's Champ; Gray wins! Road To Heatwave 2026!

Google Cloud Summit Took Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!; Google Disrupts! ; Australian Market Warmish To Google AI, Overall Products And Services; Team Alphabet! Google Summits Prep Potential Employees Or Contract Placements?! Motivates Go-Getters To Sign With The Big G! Webby's Still Buzzing! Google Clound edits Media Man highlight photos and videos.

Google Says Again To "Make Useful Content For Humans"

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under; Rio Tinto and BHP shines most of time!

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Internet Media Biz: General Public Sees Through Slop Websites; Well Established Website Portals Win!

Aussie Media Karl Continues To Take The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch; UK Piers Broadcast Delivers And Dishes Up News; Team KK Enjoying Early Success! One Nation UK Media Blitz!

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time; Indy Podcast Tag Team Biz Plan Green Lit; Domain's Of Truth Secured. Let's F'N Go!

Aussie Truth Tellers In Vogue

WWE SmackDown: CM Punk Buzz; You're WWE Champ?! Ricky Saints buzz, Williams vs Hayes. Corbin! Gunther gets physical with WWE SM GM Nick Aldis!

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! Brock-Togon! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Most: Road To UFC 329; WWE RAW - CM Punk def Sami Zayn: Tick Tok! Baron Corbin returns and out-tricks Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes!

WWE RAW- CM Punk def Zayn - WWE Title - Fresh Victory On RAW. Chicago! "Ma Baker" (Boney M.) "The Meanest Cat"! Zayn goes nuts backstage post loss. Captured on film! WWE YouTube pumping with heat and buzz! Emotion sells! Health and well-being check buzz per WWE SmackDown call to Nick Aldis!

Australian Media Community Says Goodbye To "The Human Headline" Derryn Hinch; RIP Legend

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 11

Markets

After The Bell

ASX 200 futures up 3 points: 8741

AUD flat at US69.41¢

Bitcoin $64,103.21 +0.17%

Wall St:
Dow +0.3%
S&P +0.8%
Nasdaq +1.3%

VIX -1.0 to 15.84
Gold +1.1% to $US4,123.64 an ounce
Brent oil -2.6% at $US76.02 a barrel
Iron ore -0.3% at $US98.70 a ton

10-year yield:
US 4.53%
Australia 4.87%

News Lead Up

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.6939 USD (up $0.0009 USD)
Iron Ore: $98.70 USD (down $0.55 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $71.77 USD (down $2.99 USD)
Gold Price: $4,123.44 USD (up $48.03 USD)
Copper Price: $6.2495 USD (up $0.1320 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,487.41 (up 139.02 points)

News

Miners, Rio drag ASX lower; FDC soars 12pc on debut
The Australian sharemarket declined for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing down 22.60 points at 8762.50. Investors were unnerved by the renewal of conflict in the Middle East, although oil steadied after jumping more than five per cent on Wednesday. FDC Consolidated jumped 12 per cent to $3.37 after it debuted on the ASX at an IPO price of $3 and Santos was up by two per cent to $7.65, but Rio Tinto fell by 3.3 per cent to $158.52 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock. (RMS). (Media Man: Again, play the long game to win).

News Lead Up

48 Hours Ago

ASX pares losses as Iran strikes fuel oil surge

The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Wednesday, in response to new US airstrikes on Iran that could jeopardise the peace process. The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.02 per cent to close at 8,785.1 points, although it was down 1.4 per cent early in the session. BHP fell 2.3 per cent to $57.51, Telstra was three per cent lower at $4.92 in response to a mobile network outage, and WiseTech Global shed 7.3 per cent to finish at $34.65. However, Santos rose 5.8 per cent to $7.20 and the ANZ Bank added 1.2 per cent to close at $35.87.

News Lead Up (Australia)

AI jitters hit ASX miners; bank stocks jump

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Tuesday, with a sell-off in South Korea and renewed tensions in the Middle East weighing on investor sentiment; the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.03 per cent to close at 8,803.9 points. BHP was down 1.9 per cent at $58.87, Santos shed 1.5 per cent to end the session at $7.09 and The A2 Milk Company fell 4.4 per cent to $7.37. However, WiseTech Global rose 5.7 per cent to $37.37 and Westpac rose 2.4 per cent to $36.16. (RMS)

(Media Man Peg-On: Pop Culture):

"No Milk Today"

Herman's Hermits
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yW-n0DJFalY&list=RDyW-n0DJFalY&start_radio=1

"Old and Wise"

The Alan Parsons Project
https://youtube.com/watch?v=FDlDKvidYbk&list=RDFDlDKvidYbk&start_radio=1

News Media/Sports Media

Foxtel goes global to fund record NRL deal

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys says the National Rugby League's new seven-year broadcasting rights deal will "future proof" the game. He adds that the record $5.3bn deal will allow the NRL to grow both in Australia and internationally. Incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment have retained the rights; every match in the regular season and the finals will be televised by Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service, while Nine will show three matches per week and have exclusive rights to the NRL grand final and the State of Origin series. New Zealand pay-TV network Sky is also included in the deal. The NRL and Foxtel owner DAZN will establish a revenue-sharing deal which is aimed at launching the league in new markets. (RMS)

News Lead Up

Pop Culture/Pro Wrestling

60 Hours Ago

Hulk Hogan's Shocking Heel Turn Launches nWo 30 Years Ago

On July 7, 1996, at WCW's Bash at the Beach, Hogan betrayed his teammates during a six-man tag match against Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, forming the New World Order and declaring it wrestling's future. Fans threw trash and one even jumped the barricade in outrage as boos filled the Ocean Center. The turn fueled WCW Nitro's 83-week ratings dominance over WWF Raw, sparked the Monday Night Wars, and reshaped wrestling with edgier storylines and the Attitude Era. (Media Man Peg-On): The legend of Hulk Hogan and the nWo will live forever!

News

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $64,119.36 +0.19%

Dogecoin: $0.07425 +0.45%

XRP: $1.1038 -0.32%

News

Shares (Friday: USA)

TKO (WWE, UFC etc) Looking For Another Lift Before Or After The Bell; Give another 12 hours + to win! Road 2 SummerSlam; Road to UFC 329 on July 11 (Las Vegas, USA)

TKO Holdings
$184.40
-3.78 -2.01%

*balls softer again overnight. Paul Heyman mastermind to be put to test with TKO beancounters again?! 'What's Your Hussle' launches via Looking4Larry. UFC's Dana White looking for a run for his money. Did CM Punk victory over Sami Zayn help lift the share price? Not in last 48 hours. At least for a day, but now down again! It's free to ask about these things! MGM Casino Live campaign overall success! Red and Black winning!? Punk wears Bret "Hitman" Hart colours in winning effort of Zayn. Bring on WWE SummerSlam: Feel The Heat. Keep Saudi and MI on US soil happy to get a lift? Ramp merch. Stockmarket hausen! CM Punk GTS victory help give a merch element lift?! It appears so! Punk buzz. Zami goes nuts and breaks down after Punk loss, captured on film! UFC 329 Mystic Mac buzz! Against All Odds! Mac may help share lift with a strong weekend showing. Team McGregor.

Alphabet Inc Class A
$357.18
-1.71 -0.48%

*another mild Alphabet dip overnight. Alpha seeks to be bullish again! Webby's who are Google Friendly and Google AI Search Friendly playing the long game!

Netflix
$73.37
-2.10 -2.78%

*John Cena's reps for Little Brother seen this?! Enjoyed bump brother! Now dipped again! Wainting to bump back up againt brother! Netflix looks to slam naysayers!

Paramount Skydance Corp
$9.41
+0.080 +0.86%

*Para up overnight. One of only a few streamers who finished the week stronger, with all the others above in a weeker position than start of the week! Para bouncing back like a UFC world champ. Looking for a win via ground and pound like McGregor knows a thing of two about .. lead up to this weekend! Comon's Mystic McGregor Magic In Motion. Make a comeback victory for UFC and Parra! Less than 48 hour To Mystic Mac Return To Octagon! Needed and got a kick along of share price to lift streaming partner! Team Media Man McGregor: Against All Odds! Like Rocky, Rambo and The Terminator, Paramount Will Be Back .. just in perfect time right Arnie! Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 or T-800 !

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'

Google Arts & Culture wins Media Man 'Art and Creative' Website Of The Month

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

Jan-March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films.

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.
Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'; Runner-up: LinkedIn

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

God def Devil
The Vision def Street Profits - Rematch - Texas Tornado
Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs The Judgement Day
Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
CM def Zayn
Kross Cult vs Zayn Z's
Priest vs Mr AAA
El Grande Americano vs Bronco Nima
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Rhea Ripley vs Blackheart
Conor McGregor vs critics
Kross Club vs NWO
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Grey vs Nattie - WWE NXT
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!
Higher Power vs The Darkness
Zayn vs Kross
Priest vs Vikingo
Pro Surfers vs Free Surfers
Neo vs Agent Smith
Mr Cash vs Mr Dotcom
Money INC vs Money Machine: Special Ref: IRS

Best Quotes

"Business is like baking a cake. You have to have all of the right ingredients" Elon Musk, X Corp

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"He lied to a whole country and he's still got his job" Karl Stefanovic

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything" Mark Twain

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it" Ray Bradbury

"Gold is the money of kings" Norm Franz

"If you show me someone who's afraid of failure, I'll show you someone who is not a groundbreaking, innovative pioneer of a certain industry" Paul Heyman

"It's the beauty of WWE. We use all our platforms to cross-promote each other and vice versa" Triple H

"That's Life" Derryn Hinch

"Keep going and going" Sylvester Stallone

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part III

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Big Wednesday" movie theme (The South Swell)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"True Blue" (John Williamson)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"Judas" (FOZZY)
"He's a Rebel" (The Crystals) ; Media dedication to Killer Kross
"Neva Play" (Megan Thee Stallion)
"It's Good News Week" (Hedgehoppers Anonymous)
"Canary In A Coal Mine" (The Police)
"Crash" (The Human League)
"It's All About The Money" (Jimmy Hart and JJ Maguire)
"The Winner Takes It All" (ABBA)
"Under Pressure" (David Bowie and Queen)
"Man In Black" (Johnny Cash)
"I See Red" (Split Enz)

Google AI Getting Results From Numerous Websites, Platforms, et al; Media Man and associates enjoy lift in SEO, GEO, Top 10 catergories

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn Has Big loss to CM Punk Monday Night in Chi-Town!

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring; Target Brock Lesnar

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT: The Don Still Rules; EVIL On The Hunt; Nattie Eyes Shades Of Gray Women's Champ; Road To Heatwave 2026!

Google Cloud Summit Took Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!; Google Disrupts! ; Australian Market Warmish To Google AI, Overall Products And Services; Team Alphabet! Google Summits Prep Potential Employees Or Contact Placements?! Motivates Go-Getters To Sign With The Big G!

Google Says Again To "Make Useful Content For Humans"

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under; Rio Tinto and BHP shines most of time!

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Internet Media Biz: General Public Sees Through Sop Websites; Well Established Website Portals Win!

Aussie Media Karl Takes The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch; UK Piers Broadcast Delivers And Dishes Up News; Team KK Enjoying Early Success!

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time; Indy Podcast Tag Team Biz Plan Green Lit; Domain's Of Truth Secured. Let's F'N Go!

Aussie Truth Tellers In Vogue

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! Brock-Togon! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Most: Road To UFC 329; WWE RAW - CM Punk def Sami Zayn: Tick Tok!

WWE RAW- CM Punk def Zayn - WWE Title - Fresh Victory Tonight! Chicago! "Ma Baker" (Boney M.) "The Meanest Cat"!

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 8

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 39 points/0.4%: 8743

Bitcoin $62,751.73 -0.47%

Wall St:
Dow -0.3%
S&P -0.5%
Nasdaq -1.2%

VIX +0.56 to 16.13
Gold -1.4% to $US4106.24 an ounce
Brent oil +5.5% to $US75.96 a barrel
Iron ore -0.4% to $US97.85 a tonne

10-year yield:
US 4.55%
Australia 4.82%

News

Numbers Double Check

July 8

Australian Dollar: $0.6920 USD (down $0.0032 USD) Iron Ore: $97.85 USD (down $0.55 USD) Oil Price
(West Texas): $72.20 USD (up $3.52 USD)
Gold Price: $4,105.73 USD (down $59.23 USD)
Copper Price: $6.1820 USD (down $0.0675 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,925.15 (down 130.76 points)

News (Australia)

AI jitters hit ASX miners; bank stocks jump

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Tuesday, with a sell-off in South Korea and renewed tensions in the Middle East weighing on investor sentiment; the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.03 per cent to close at 8,803.9 points. BHP was down 1.9 per cent at $58.87, Santos shed 1.5 per cent to end the session at $7.09 and The A2 Milk Company fell 4.4 per cent to $7.37. However, WiseTech Global rose 5.7 per cent to $37.37 and Westpac rose 2.4 per cent to $36.16. (RMS)

(Media Man Peg-On: Pop Culture):

"No Milk Today"

Herman's Hermits
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yW-n0DJFalY&list=RDyW-n0DJFalY&start_radio=1

"Old and Wise"

The Alan Parsons Project
https://youtube.com/watch?v=FDlDKvidYbk&list=RDFDlDKvidYbk&start_radio=1

News Media/Sports Media

Foxtel goes global to fund record NRL deal

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys says the National Rugby League's new seven-year broadcasting rights deal will "future proof" the game. He adds that the record $5.3bn deal will allow the NRL to grow both in Australia and internationally. Incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment have retained the rights; every match in the regular season and the finals will be televised by Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service, while Nine will show three matches per week and have exclusive rights to the NRL grand final and the State of Origin series. New Zealand pay-TV network Sky is also included in the deal. The NRL and Foxtel owner DAZN will establish a revenue-sharing deal which is aimed at launching the league in new markets. (RMS)

News

Pop Culture/Pro Wrestling

Hulk Hogan's Shocking Heel Turn Launches nWo 30 Years Ago

On July 7, 1996, at WCW's Bash at the Beach, Hogan betrayed his teammates during a six-man tag match against Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, forming the New World Order and declaring it wrestling's future. Fans threw trash and one even jumped the barricade in outrage as boos filled the Ocean Center. The turn fueled WCW Nitro's 83-week ratings dominance over WWF Raw, sparked the Monday Night Wars, and reshaped wrestling with edgier storylines and the Attitude Era. (Media Man Peg-On): The legend of Hulk Hogan and the nWo will live forever!

News

Just six of this year's IPOs are in the green

There have been mixed fortunes for the 17 companies that have listed on the Australian stock exchange so far in 2026. One-third of these stocks are now more than 20 per cent below their IPO price, and just six are currently trading above their price on debut. Resources stocks in particular have underperformed, with gold plays such as Unity Metals, Valiant Gold and MB Gold being amongst the hardest hit. Meanwhile, stocks that have remained above their IPO price include SkinKandy, Boresight and KTEK Aerosystems. (RMS)

News

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $62,751.73 -0.47%

Dogecoin: $0.07246 -2.89%

XRP: $1.0935 -2.58%

News Lead Up

(ICYMI)

Media/Sports

NRL rights deal delivers blow to Stan

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys has declined to comment on media reports which ha ve suggested that the NRL's next broadcasting rights deal will be worth about $700m a year. The reports claimed that incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment will pay around $500m and $150m a year respectively, while a New Zealand network will pay $50m to broadcast the Warriors' matches. This would value the seven-year deal at around $5bn, exceeding the AFL's current rights deal. Nine is expected to retain the rights to three NRL matches per week, as well as finals, the grand final and State of Origin matches; however, Nine had initially pushed for the rights to all NRL matches, including streaming rights via Stan Sport. (RMS)

News

Shares

TKO (WWE, UFC etc) Looking For (And Gets) Another Lift Before Or After The Bell; Road 2 SummerSlam;

TKO Holdings
$193.58
+1.28 +0.67%

*balls harden up overnight. Paul Heyman mastermind to be put to test with TKO beancounters?! Did CM Punk victory over Sami Zayn help lift the share price overnight? It's free to ask! MGM Casino Live campaign overall success! Red and Black winning!? Punk wears Bret "Hitman" Hart colours in winning effort of Zayn. Bring on WWE SummerSlam: Feel The Heat. Keep Saudi and MI on US soil happy to get a lift. Ramp merch. Stockmarket hausen! Will CM Punk GTS victory help give a merch element lift?! It appears so! Punk buzz. UFC 329 Mystic Mac buzz! Against All Odds!

Alphabet Inc Class A
$367.03
+0.57 +0.16%

*modest Alphabet gains overnight. Alpha bullish again! Webby's who are Google Friendly and Google AI Search Friendly rejoice!

Netflix
$76.18
+0.16 +0.21%

*John Cena's reps for Little Brother seen this?! Enjoyed bump brother! Now bumped back up again overnight brother! Netflix slams naysayers!

Paramount Skydance Corp
$9.94
-0.15 -1.49%

*Para struck back like a UFC world champ, and then took a few hits and a ground and pound like McGregor knows a thing of two about. Comon's Mystic McGregor Magic In Motion. Make a comeback victory for UFC and Parra! Less than a week To Mystic Mac Return To Octagon! Needs a kick along of share price to lift streaming partner! Team Media Man McGregor: Against All Odds! Like Rocky, Rambo and The Terminator, Paramount Will Be Back .. right Arnie! Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 or T-800 !

News

News Lead Up (Aust)

(ICYMI)

Gina Rinehart bets $1.4 billion on Musk with record SpaceX stake

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought a $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) stake in rocket and satellite company SpaceX. It represents Hancock Prospecting's biggest investment outside of iron ore, with Rinehart claiming that the Elon Musk-owned company is a further example of "why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy".

Hancock Prospecting's investment in SpaceX adds to a portfolio that includes stakes in Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals and Tesla. (RMS). (Media Man Peg-On): Let's Go Team Gina w Musk. To The Moon, Mars and Beyond! Fish 'N Chips Rocket Express! : ) Islands In The Stream! Aussie Barbarella meets Gold movie and Mission To Mars. The Galaxy is your Oyster. Take off down under in Australia maties! Time for a new captain in Canberra right Peter Gravy. Getting inside here ... Operation Golden Red Fish meets Rocket Man and Mrs Miner. Winning! Gonzo Truth News!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House and beyond!

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

Jan-March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'; Runner-up: LinkedIn

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

God def Devil
The Vision def Street Profits - Rematch - Texas Tornado
Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
CM Punk def Zayn
Kross Cult vs Zayn Z's
Priest vs Mr AAA
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Conor McGregor vs critics
Kross Club vs NWO
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Grey vs Nattie - WWE NXT
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT (Great American Bash)
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!
Higher Power vs The Darkness
Zayn vs Kross
Priest vs Vikingo
Pro Surfers vs Free Surfers
Neo vs Agent Smith

Best Quotes

"Business is like baking a cake. You have to have all of the right ingredients" Elon Musk, X Corp

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"He lied to a whole country and he's still got his job" Karl Stefanovic

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything" Mark Twain

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it" Ray Bradbury

"Gold is the money of kings" Norm Franz

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part I

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

July 6, 2026

"Monday, Monday" *The Mamas & the Papas)
"Manic Monday" (The Bangles)
"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"Big Wednesday" movie theme (The South Swell)
"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & the Papas)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"Judas" (FOZZY)
"He's a Rebel" (The Crystals) ; Media dedication to Killer Kross
"Neva Play" (Megan Thee Stallion)
"It's Good News Week" (Hedgehoppers Anonymous)
"Canary In A Coal Mine" (The Police)

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn New WWE Champ: Wins Big In Riyadh, Saudi

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring; Target Brock Lesnar

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT Great American Bash: Fallout: The Don Retains Gold; EVIL On The Hunt; Nattie Eyes Shades Of Gray Women's Champ; Road To Heatwave 2026!

Google Cloud Summit Takes Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!; Google Disrupts Aussie Newsrooms! ; Australian Market Warmish To Google AI, Overall Products And Services; Team Alphabet! Google Summits Prep Potential Employees Or Contact Placements?! Motivates Go-Getters To Sign With The Big G!

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under; Rio Tinto shines

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Aussie Media Karl Takes The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch; UK Piers Broadcast Delivers And Dishes Up News

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time; Indy Podcast Tag Team Biz Plan Green Lit; Domain's Of Truth Secured. Let's F'N Go!

Aussie Truth Tellers In And Around Media vs Corp Media Liars

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Most: Road To UFC 329; WWE Night Of Champions: Sami Zayn Gets WWE Gold In Saudi: 20 years in the making!

WWE RAW- Zayn vs Rhodes - WWE Title - Tonight! Chicago! "Ma Baker" (Boney M.) "The Meanest Cat"!

WWE SmackDown - Vikingo vs Rey Fenix: Battle Of Luchas! - AAA Cruiserweight Title Match! Fenix wins!

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 6

Markets

ASX futures down 35 points/0.2%: 8794
AUD +0.03% at US69.42¢

Bitcoin $63,405.41 +1.20%

Dow +1.1%
S&P +0.1%
Nasdaq -0.8%
Gold +1.3% at $US4176.94 an ounce
Brent oil +0.4% at $US72.10 a barrel
Iron ore -0.2% at $US98.10 a ton

News

Numbers Lead Up

July 3

Australian Dollar: $0.6932 USD (up $0.0016 USD)
Iron Ore): $98.10 USD (down $0.35 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $68.78 USD (up $0.32 USD)
Gold Price: $4,175.07 USD (up $52.35 USD)
Copper Price): $6.2240 USD (up $0.0500 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,900.07 (unchanged - public holiday)

News (Australia)

ASX traders prepare for inside look at Warsh's Fed

Futures pricing suggests that Australian equities will shed about 0.2 per cent when the market opens on Monday. The upcoming release of the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting will be a key focus for local investors in coming days, given the dearth of new Australian economic data this week. Meanwhile, opinion is divided as to whether the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will increase official interest rates on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.37 per cent to 8,844.4 points on Friday. (RMS)

News

Microsoft play puts heat on AI giants

News Corporation and the Guardian have previously struck global deals with OpenAI for some access to their content. However, Nine Entertainment's deal with Microsoft - which allows the latter's Copilot artificial intelligence platform to use content from Nine's mastheads in search results - is the first time a major Australian news publisher has signed a local licensing arrangement for its copyrighted material with a global technology company. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission's former chairman Rod Sims says Nine's deal will set an important precedent, and shows that the nation's Australia's copyright laws are "fit for purpose". (RMS)

News

Just six of this year's IPOs are in the green

There have been mixed fortunes for the 17 companies that have listed on the Australian stock exchange so far in 2026. One-third of these stocks are now more than 20 per cent below their IPO price, and just six are currently trading above their price on debut. Resources stocks in particular have underperformed, with gold plays such as Unity Metals, Valiant Gold and MB Gold being amongst the hardest hit. Meanwhile, stocks that have remained above their IPO price include SkinKandy, Boresight and KTEK Aerosystems. (RMS)

News Lead Up

Oil stocks and Rinehart-backed miner tipped to rebound

Sharemarket investors' traditional end-of-financial-year tax-lossing selling has become more complicated in 2026 due to the federal government's capital gains tax changes. ETF Shares' chief investment officer David Tuckwell says Arafura Rare Earths could benefit from a rebound at the start of the new financial year, given that the stock has shed about 15 per cent so far in 2026. Hailey Kim from Wilson Asset Management in turn favours packaging group Amcor, while Hugh Dive from Atlas Funds Management says oil and gas producers Santos and Woodside Energy have been oversold in the wake of peace talks in the Middle East. (RMS)

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $63,509.77 +1.36%

Dogecoin: $0.07784 +2.72%

XRP: $1.1491 +1.29%

News Lead Up

Media

Nine in rush to tie up Stefanovic's successor after being caught short

Nine Network insiders contend that there is no rush to appoint a permanent replacement for Karl Stefanovic as co-host of the 'Today' breakfast show. Nine will trial a number of potential replacements. (Media Man Peg-On): Trial on the way! Trial by Media! The play on words works, does it not?!

News

Media/Sports

NRL rights deal delivers blow to Stan

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys has declined to comment on media reports which ha ve suggested that the NRL's next broadcasting rights deal will be worth about $700m a year. The reports claimed that incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment will pay around $500m and $150m a year respectively, while a New Zealand network will pay $50m to broadcast the Warriors' matches. This would value the seven-year deal at around $5bn, exceeding the AFL's current rights deal. Nine is expected to retain the rights to three NRL matches per week, as well as finals, the grand final and State of Origin matches; however, Nine had initially pushed for the rights to all NRL matches, including streaming rights via Stan Sport. (RMS)

News

Shares

TKO (WWE, UFC etc) Looking For A Lift Before Bell; Road 2 SummerSlam

TKO Holdings
$194.42
-8.01 -3.06%

*balls softer overnight. Paul Heyman mastermind to be put to test with TKO beancounters?! MGM Casino Live campaign overall success! Red and Black winning!? Bring on WWE SummerSlam: Feel The Heat. Keep Saudi and MI on US soil happy to get a lift on NYSE. Ramp merch. Stockmarket hausen!

Alphabet Inc Class A
$359.91
-0.30 -0.36%

Netflix
$77.65
+3.46 +4.55%

*John Cena's reps for Little Brother seen this?! Enjoy bump brother!

Paramount Skydance Corp
$10.37
+0.22 +2.16%

*Para strikes back like a UFC world champ! Mystic McGregory Magic In Motion Already? 1 Week To Mystic Mac Return To Octagon! Nick kick along of share price for streaming partner! Team Media Man McGregor: Against All Odds!

News

Pop Culture

GTA VI Pre-Orders Launch Worldwide with Record Hype

The game launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with the standard edition at $79.99 and Ultimate Edition at $99.99 offering exclusive vehicles, weapons, and shops like tattoo parlors. Digital buyers get a free month of GTA+ and retro packs, while physical copies ship with download codes, drawing complaints from collectors. Early sales show PS5 leading Xbox 6-to-1, with unconfirmed reports of 39 million pre-orders and $3 billion in revenue, building on GTA V's 200 million copies sold. (Media Man Peg-On): The hype is real. Revved up for the mean streets of GTA.

News Lead Up (Aust)

News (Aust)

(ICYMI)

Gina Rinehart bets $1.4 billion on Musk with record SpaceX stake

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought a $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) stake in rocket and satellite company SpaceX. It represents Hancock Prospecting's biggest investment outside of iron ore, with Rinehart claiming that the Elon Musk-owned company is a further example of "why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy".
Hancock Prospecting's investment in SpaceX adds to a portfolio that includes stakes in Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals and Tesla. (RMS). (Media Man Peg-On): Let's Go Team Gina w Musk. To The Moon, Mars and Beyond! Fish 'N Chips Rocket Express! : ) Islands In The Stream! Aussie Barbarella meets Gold movie and Mission To Mars. The Galaxy is your Oyster. Take off down under in Australia maties! Time for a new captain in Canberra right Peter Gravy. Getting inside here ... Operation Golden Red Fish meets Rocket Man and Mrs Miner. Winning! Gonzo Truth News!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House and beyond!

News

(ICYMI)

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

Hancock Prospecting wins 'Mining Co Of The Month' award; Runner-up: Rio Tinto

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

Jan-March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

X wins Media Man 'Platform Of The Month'; Runner-up: LinkedIn

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
Kross Cult vs Zayn Z's
Priest vs Mr AAA
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Conor McGregor vs critics
Kross Club vs NWO
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Grey vs Nattie - WWE NXT
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT (Great American Bash)
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!
Higher Power vs The Darkness
Zayn vs Kross
Priest vs Vikingo
Pro Surfers vs Free Surfers
Neo vs Agent Smith

Best Quotes

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"He lied to a whole country and he's still got his job" Karl Stefanovic

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything" Mark Twain

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it" Ray Bradbury

"Gold is the money of kings" Norm Franz

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part V

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

"Friday" (Rebecca Black)
"Friday Night's Alright For Fighting" (Elton John)
"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Thursday's Child" (David Bowie)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"Big Wednesday" movie theme (The South Swell)
"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & the Papas)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"Judas" (FOZZY)
"He's a Rebel" (The Crystals) ; Media dedication to Killer Kross
"Neva Play" (Megan Thee Stallion)

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn New WWE Champ: Wins Big In Riyadh, Saudi

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring; Target Brock Lesnar

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT Great American Bash: Fallout: The Don Retains Gold; EVIL On The Hunt; Nattie Eyes Shades Of Gray Women's Champ

Google Cloud Summit Takes Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!; Google Disrupts Aussie Newsrooms! ; Australian Market Warmish To Google AI, Overall Products And Services; Team Alphabet!

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under; Rio Tinto shines

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Aussie Media Karl Takes The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch; UK Piers Broadcast Delivers And Dishes Up News

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time; Indy Podcast Tag Team Biz Plan Green Lit; Domain's Of Truth Secured

Aussie Truth Tellers In And Around Media vs Corp Media Liars

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Mostl: Road To UFC 329; WWE Night Of Champions: Sami Zayn Gets WWE Gold In Saudi: 20 years in the making!

WWE SmackDown - Vikingo vs Rey Fenix: Battle Of Luchas! - AAA Cruiserweight Title Match!

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 3

Markets

ASX 200 futures up 52 points/0.6%: 8762.

AUD +0.4% to US69.22¢

Bitcoin $61,640.98 +1.99%

Wall Street:
Dow +1.1%
S&P +0.00%
Nasdaq -0.8%

VIX -0.44 to 16.15
Gold +2.2% to $US4119.99 an ounce
Brent oil +0.03% to $US71.59 a barrel
Iron ore +0.9% to $US98.45 a ton

10-year yield:
US 4.48%
Australia 4.82%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.6916 USD (up $0.0026 USD)
Iron Ore): $98.45 USD (up $0.55 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $68.46 USD (up $0.37 USD)
Gold Price: $4,122.72 USD (up $91.52 USD)
Copper Price (CME): $6.1740 USD (up $0.0180 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,900.07 (up 594.83 points)

News (Australia)

ASX sideways as NAB rallies; Origin drops

The Australian sharemarket edged higher on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.018 per cent to close at 8,724.5 points. Northern Star Resources was up 5.6 per cent at $19.83, National Australia Bank rose 3.8 per cent to $38.41 and Electro Optic Systems advanced 2.5 per cent to $10.01. However, BHP was down 0.6 per cent at $59.57, Origin Energy shed 5.4 per cent to ended the session at $10.48 and Woodside Energy fell 1.3 per cent to $28.03. (RMS)

News

Just six of this year's IPOs are in the green

There have been mixed fortunes for the 17 companies that have listed on the Australian stock exchange so far in 2026. One-third of these stocks are now more than 20 per cent below their IPO price, and just six are currently trading above their price on debut. Resources stocks in particular have underperformed, with gold plays such as Unity Metals, Valiant Gold and MB Gold being amongst the hardest hit. Meanwhile, stocks that have remained above their IPO price include SkinKandy, Boresight and KTEK Aerosystems. (RMS)

News Lead Up

Oil stocks and Rinehart-backed miner tipped to rebound

Sharemarket investors' traditional end-of-financial-year tax-lossing selling has become more complicated in 2026 due to the federal government's capital gains tax changes. ETF Shares' chief investment officer David Tuckwell says Arafura Rare Earths could benefit from a rebound at the start of the new financial year, given that the stock has shed about 15 per cent so far in 2026. Hailey Kim from Wilson Asset Management in turn favours packaging group Amcor, while Hugh Dive from Atlas Funds Management says oil and gas producers Santos and Woodside Energy have been oversold in the wake of peace talks in the Middle East. (RMS)

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $61,640.98 +1.99%

Dogecoin: $0.07490 +3.22%

XRP: $1.0956 +3.75%

News Lead Up

Media

Nine in rush to tie up Stefanovic's successor after being caught short

Nine Network insiders contend that there is no rush to appoint a permanent replacement for Karl Stefanovic as co-host of the 'Today' breakfast show. Nine will trial a number of potential replacements. (Media Man Peg-On): Trial on the way! Trial by Media! The play on words works, does it not?!

News

Media/Sports

NRL rights deal delivers blow to Stan

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys has declined to comment on media reports which ha ve suggested that the NRL's next broadcasting rights deal will be worth about $700m a year. The reports claimed that incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment will pay around $500m and $150m a year respectively, while a New Zealand network will pay $50m to broadcast the Warriors' matches. This would value the seven-year deal at around $5bn, exceeding the AFL's current rights deal. Nine is expected to retain the rights to three NRL matches per week, as well as finals, the grand final and State of Origin matches; however, Nine had initially pushed for the rights to all NRL matches, including streaming rights via Stan Sport. (RMS)

News Lead Up (Australia)

Today show host Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine after Tommy Robinson podcast fallout

Nine Entertainment's senior executives held a series of crisis meetings yesterday to discuss the future of veteran TV personality Karl Stefanovic. The co-host of breakfast show Today has caused consternation within Nine's executive ranks since the launch of his self-titled podcast show, which is produced independently of Nine; however, while he was cleared to proceed with the podcast earlier in 2026, this week's interview with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson was deemed to have been inappropriate. Nine is believed to have decided to terminate Stefanovic's contract and will negotiate an exit deal, amid concerns that Today may face advertiser boycott in the wake of the Robinson interview. (Media Man Peg-On); Got to be more to this story. Truth tellers can upset and unsettle the establishment! Ex journo says and knows!!!!

News

Shares

TKO Holdings
$194.42
-8.01 -3.06%

*balls softer overnight. Paul Heyman mastermind to be put to test with TKO beancounters?! MGM Casino Live campaign overall success! Red and Black winning!? Bring on WWE SummerSlam: Feel The Heat. Keep Saudi and MI on US soil happy to get a lift on NYSE. Ramp merch. Stockmarket hausen!

Alphabet Inc Class A
$359.91
-0.30 -0.36%

Netflix
$77.65
+3.46 +4.55%

*John Cena's reps for Little Brother seen this?! Enjoy bump brother!

Paramount Skydance Corp
$10.37
+0.22 +2.16%

*Para strikes back like a UFC world champ! Mystic McGregory Magic In Motion Already? 1 Week To Mystic Mac Return To Octagon! Nick kick along of share price for streaming partner! Team Media Man McGregor: Against All Odds!

News

Pop Culture

GTA VI Pre-Orders Launch Worldwide with Record Hype

The game launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with the standard edition at $79.99 and Ultimate Edition at $99.99 offering exclusive vehicles, weapons, and shops like tattoo parlors. Digital buyers get a free month of GTA+ and retro packs, while physical copies ship with download codes, drawing complaints from collectors. Early sales show PS5 leading Xbox 6-to-1, with unconfirmed reports of 39 million pre-orders and $3 billion in revenue, building on GTA V's 200 million copies sold. (Media Man Peg-On): The hype is real. Revved up for the mean streets of GTA.

News Lead Up (Aust)

News (Aust)

(ICYMI)

Gina Rinehart bets $1.4 billion on Musk with record SpaceX stake

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought a $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) stake in rocket and satellite company SpaceX. It represents Hancock Prospecting's biggest investment outside of iron ore, with Rinehart claiming that the Elon Musk-owned company is a further example of "why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy".

Hancock Prospecting's investment in SpaceX adds to a portfolio that includes stakes in Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals and Tesla. (RMS). (Media Man Peg-On): Let's Go Team Gina w Musk. To The Moon, Mars and Beyond! Fish 'N Chips Rocket Express! : ) Islands In The Stream! Aussie Barbarella meets Gold movie and Mission To Mars. The Galaxy is your Oyster. Take off down under in Australia maties! Time for a new captain in Canberra right Peter Gravy. Getting inside here ... Operation Golden Red Fish meets Rocket Man and Mrs Miner. Winning! Gonzo Truth News!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House and beyond!

News

(ICYMI)

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

Hancock Prospecting wins 'Mining Co Of The Month' award; Runner-up: Rio Tinto

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

January and March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

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Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Conor McGregor vs critics
Kross Club vs NWO
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Grey vs Nattie - WWE NXT
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT (Great American Bash)
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!
Higher Power vs The Darkness
Zayn vs Kross
Priest vs Vikingo
Pro Surfers vs Free Surfers
Neo vs Agent Smith

Best Quotes

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"He lied to a whole country and he's still got his job" Karl Stefanovic

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything" Mark Twain

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it" Ray Bradbury

"Gold is the money of kings" Norm Franz

"Why not me" Sami Zayn

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part IV

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Thursday's Child" (David Bowie)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"Big Wednesday" movie theme (The South Swell)
"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & the Papas)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)
"Judas" (FOZZY)

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn New WWE Champ: Wins Big In Riyadh, Saudi

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring; Target Brock Lesnar

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT Great American Bash: Fallout: The Don Retains Gold; EVIL On The Hunt

Google Cloud Summit Takes Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!; Google Disrupts Aussie Newsrooms!

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under; Rio Tinto shines

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Aussie Media Karl Takes The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time

Aussie Truth Tellers In And Around Media vs Corp Media Liars

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Mostl: Road To UFC 329; WWE Night Of Champions: Sami Zayn Gets WWE Gold In Saudi: 20 years in the making!

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 2

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 23 points/0.3%: 8687

AUD -0.4% to US68.92¢

Bitcoin $59,690.93 +2.05%

Wall Street:
Dow -0.03%
S&P -0.2%
Nasdaq -0.7%

VIX +0.14 to 16.59
Gold +0.7% to $US4035.05 an ounce
Brent oil -2.5% to $US71.12 a barrel
Iron ore -1.1% to $US97.90 a ton
10-year yield: US 4.48% Australia 4.78%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.6890 USD (down $0.0030 USD) Iron Ore: $97.90 USD (down $0.90 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $68.09 USD (down $1.94 USD) Gold Price: $4,031.20 USD (up $24.09 USD)
Copper Price: $6.1560 USD (down $0.0910 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,305.24 (down 13.96 points)

News (Australia)

Banks drag ASX lower; Perpetual soars 17pc

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.6 per cent to close at 8,722.9 points. The banking sector was sold down in response to data showing that house prices fell by 0.4 per cent nationally in June, with the ANZ Bank retreating 2.4 per cent to end the session at $34.47. Coles Group was down 4.2 per cent at $23.35, while Alcoa fell 6.7 per cent to $72.18. However, Perpetual rose 16.8 per cent to $18.10 in response to media reports of a takeover bid, and IperionX was up 5.9 per cent at $4.32. (RMS)

News

Just six of this year's IPOs are in the green

There have been mixed fortunes for the 17 companies that have listed on the Australian stock exchange so far in 2026. One-third of these stocks are now more than 20 per cent below their IPO price, and just six are currently trading above their price on debut. Resources stocks in particular have underperformed, with gold plays such as Unity Metals, Valiant Gold and MB Gold being amongst the hardest hit. Meanwhile, stocks that have remained above their IPO price include SkinKandy, Boresight and KTEK Aerosystems. (RMS)

News Lead Up

Oil stocks and Rinehart-backed miner tipped to rebound

Sharemarket investors' traditional end-of-financial-year tax-lossing selling has become more complicated in 2026 due to the federal government's capital gains tax changes. ETF Shares' chief investment officer David Tuckwell says Arafura Rare Earths could benefit from a rebound at the start of the new financial year, given that the stock has shed about 15 per cent so far in 2026. Hailey Kim from Wilson Asset Management in turn favours packaging group Amcor, while Hugh Dive from Atlas Funds Management says oil and gas producers Santos and Woodside Energy have been oversold in the wake of peace talks in the Middle East. (RMS)

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $59,690.93 +2.05%

Dogecoin: $0.07184 +0.23%

XRP: $1.0434 +0.59%

News Lead Up

Media

Nine in rush to tie up Stefanovic's successor after being caught short

Nine Network insiders contend that there is no rush to appoint a permanent replacement for Karl Stefanovic as co-host of the 'Today' breakfast show. Nine will trial a number of potential replacements.

News

Media/Sports

NRL rights deal delivers blow to Stan

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys has declined to comment on media reports which ha ve suggested that the NRL's next broadcasting rights deal will be worth about $700m a year. The reports claimed that incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment will pay around $500m and $150m a year respectively, while a New Zealand network will pay $50m to broadcast the Warriors' matches. This would value the seven-year deal at around $5bn, exceeding the AFL's current rights deal. Nine is expected to retain the rights to three NRL matches per week, as well as finals, the grand final and State of Origin matches; however, Nine had initially pushed for the rights to all NRL matches, including streaming rights via Stan Sport. (RMS)

News Lead Up (Australia)

Today show host Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine after Tommy Robinson podcast fallout

Nine Entertainment's senior executives held a series of crisis meetings yesterday to discuss the future of veteran TV personality Karl Stefanovic. The co-host of breakfast show Today has caused consternation within Nine's executive ranks since the launch of his self-titled podcast show, which is produced independently of Nine; however, while he was cleared to proceed with the podcast earlier in 2026, this week's interview with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson was deemed to have been inappropriate. Nine is believed to have decided to terminate Stefanovic's contract and will negotiate an exit deal, amid concerns that Today may face advertiser boycott in the wake of the Robinson interview. (Media Man Peg-On); Got to be more to this story. Truth tellers can upset and unsettle the establishment! Ex journo says and knows!!!!

News

Mining (Aust)

Iluka signs $220m rare earths deal

Perth-based Ilula Resources has secured its first offtake agreement for light and heavy rare earths to be produced at its Eneabba refinery in Western Australia. Iluka will supply neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to a "globally recognised" car maker. The offtake agreement is initially for 1,200 tonnes of the rare earth oxides over four years; it will account for about 10 per cent of Iluka's expected production at the Eneabba refinery over this period. Iluka will receive a minimum price for the rare earth oxides, although it has not disclosed this price or identified the customer. (RMS) (Media Man Peg-On): More good news for Australian mining hey Gina at Hancock Prospecting. Friendly comp and mining wars for greater good. One Nation!

News

Shares

TKO Holdings
$202.43
+0.12 +0.56%

*balls harden up overnight. Brock Lesnar F5'ing naysayers. Paul Heyman mastermind on and off camera! MGM Casino Live campaign overall success! Red and Black winning!

Alphabet Inc Class A
$361.21
+3.81 +1.07%

Netflix
$74.19
+2.79 +3.91%

Paramount Skydance Corp
$10.17
+3.14 +3.14%

*Para strikes back like a UFC world champ!

News

Pop Culture

GTA VI Pre-Orders Launch Worldwide with Record Hype

The game launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with the standard edition at $79.99 and Ultimate Edition at $99.99 offering exclusive vehicles, weapons, and shops like tattoo parlors. Digital buyers get a free month of GTA+ and retro packs, while physical copies ship with download codes, drawing complaints from collectors. Early sales show PS5 leading Xbox 6-to-1, with unconfirmed reports of 39 million pre-orders and $3 billion in revenue, building on GTA V's 200 million copies sold. (Media Man Peg-On): The hype is real. Revved up for the mean streets of GTA.

News Lead Up (Aust)

News (Aust)

(ICYMI)

Gina Rinehart bets $1.4 billion on Musk with record SpaceX stake

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought a $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) stake in rocket and satellite company SpaceX. It represents Hancock Prospecting's biggest investment outside of iron ore, with Rinehart claiming that the Elon Musk-owned company is a further example of "why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy".

Hancock Prospecting's investment in SpaceX adds to a portfolio that includes stakes in Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals and Tesla. (RMS). (Media Man Peg-On): Let's Go Team Gina w Musk. To The Moon, Mars and Beyond! Fish 'N Chips Rocket Express! : ) Islands In The Stream! Aussie Barbarella meets Gold movie and Mission To Mars. The Galaxy is your Oyster. Take off down under in Australia maties! Time for a new captain in Canberra right Peter Gravy. Getting inside here ... Operation Golden Red Fish meets Rocket Man and Mrs Miner. Winning! Gonzo Truth News!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House and beyond!

News

(ICYMI)

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

Hancock Prospecting wins 'Mining Co Of The Month' award; Runner-up: Rio Tinto

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

January and March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Conor McGregor vs critics
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Grey vs Nattie - WWE NXT
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT (Great American Bash)
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!
Higher Power vs The Darkness

Best Quotes

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"Free, truly independent" Karl Stefanovic

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything" Mark Twain

"If you don't like what you're doing, then don't do it" Ray Bradbury

"Gold is the money of kings" Norm Franz

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part III

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"Big Wednesday" movie theme (The South Swell)
"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & the Papas)
"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)
"Hail to the Chief" (All The President's Men movie)
"Down Under" (Men at Work)
"Y.M.C.A" (Villiage People)
"Advance Australia Fair" National anthem of Australia (Peter Dodds McCormick)
"Great Southern Land" (Icehouse)
"Free Bird" (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
"Hell's Bells" (AC/DC)
"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

WWE Night Of Champions: King And Queen Of The Ring. He or she who owns the gold makes the rules! Sami Zayn New WWE Champ: Wins Big In Riyadh, Saudi

Oba Femi Is WWE King Of The Ring

Road To WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (New York, MSG) July 18; Danhausen Is Poster Child of NYC!

It's good to be King Of Content; King Kyle Media Connection: One Nation Australia

WWE NXT Great American Bash: Fallout: The Don Retains Gold; EVIL On The Hunt

Google Cloud Summit Takes Over Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia; Google A.I Sports!

Hancock Prospecting and X Corp/SpaceX Big Favs Of Aussie's Down Under

Aussie Politics: Battle Of The Billionaires: Team Bulldozer: Pauline/Musk with Reinhart vs Team Albo. Who Will Survive? And New?

Aussie Media Karl Takes The Beef To Nine; One Nation Australia Pauline Extends Olive Branch

Aussie King Kyle Fan Of One Nation; Right Man, Right Placel Right On Time

Aussie Truth Tellers In And Around Media vs Corp Media Liars

Road To WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins. Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE Hell In A Cell! UFC Freedom 250: Fallout; Big Thumbs Up From Mostl: Road To UFC 329; WWE Night Of Champions: Sami Zayn Gets WWE Gold In Saudi: 20 years in the making!

Past, Present And Future

July 2026

July 1

Markets

ASX 200 futures up 8 points/+0.1%: 8784

AUD +0.5% to US69.20¢

Bitcoin $59,147.86 -0.43%

Wall Street:
Dow +0.3%
S&P +0.8%
Nasdaq +1.5%

VIX -1.20 to 16.45
Gold -0.1% to $US4011.24 an ounce
Brent oil -0.3% to $US72.92 a barrel
Iron ore +0.1% to $US98.95 a ton

10-year yield:
US 4.47%
Australia 4.72%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.6920 USD (up $0.0037 USD)
Iron Ore: $98.95 USD (up $0.10 USD)
Iron Ore: $98.80 USD (up $0.11 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $70.03 USD (down $0.45 USD)
Gold Price: $4,007.11 USD (down $9.43 USD)
Copper Price: $6.2470 USD (up $0.0725 USD)
Dow Jones: 52,319.20 (up 136.46 points)

News (Australia)

ASX falls as funds rebalance; gold stocks drop

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Tuesday, and end-of-financial-year portfolio rebalancing by institutional investors; the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent to close at 8,778.7 points. Rio Tinto fell 0.9 per cent to $172.51, Collins Foods was down 2.5 per cent at $8.15 and Mirvac ended the session 2.6 per cent lower at $1.72. However, Megaport was up 6.4 per cent at $21.58 and Euroz Hartleys rose eight per cent to $1.35. The ASX 200 gained 0.5 per cent in June, and 2.8 per cent in the year to 30 June. (RMS)

News Lead Up

Oil stocks and Rinehart-backed miner tipped to rebound

Sharemarket investors' traditional end-of-financial-year tax-lossing selling has become more complicated in 2026 due to the federal government's capital gains tax changes. ETF Shares' chief investment officer David Tuckwell says Arafura Rare Earths could benefit from a rebound at the start of the new financial year, given that the stock has shed about 15 per cent so far in 2026. Hailey Kim from Wilson Asset Management in turn favours packaging group Amcor, while Hugh Dive from Atlas Funds Management says oil and gas producers Santos and Woodside Energy have been oversold in the wake of peace talks in the Middle East. (RMS)

Cryptos:

Bitcoin $59,226 -0.37%

Dogecoin: $0.07230 +0.05%

XRP: $1.0484 +0.52%

News

Media

Nine in rush to tie up Stefanovic's successor after being caught short

Nine Network insiders contend that there is no rush to appoint a permanent replacement for Karl Stefanovic as co-host of the 'Today' breakfast show. Nine will trial a number of potential replacements.

News

Media/Sports

NRL rights deal delivers blow to Stan

The Australian Rugby League Commission's chairman Peter V'landys has declined to comment on media reports which ha ve suggested that the NRL's next broadcasting rights deal will be worth about $700m a year. The reports claimed that incumbent broadcasters Foxtel and Nine Entertainment will pay around $500m and $150m a year respectively, while a New Zealand network will pay $50m to broadcast the Warriors' matches. This would value the seven-year deal at around $5bn, exceeding the AFL's current rights deal. Nine is expected to retain the rights to three NRL matches per week, as well as finals, the grand final and State of Origin matches; however, Nine had initially pushed for the rights to all NRL matches, including streaming rights via Stan Sport. (RMS)

News Lead Up (Australia)

Today show host Karl Stefanovic to leave Nine after Tommy Robinson podcast fallout

Nine Entertainment's senior executives held a series of crisis meetings yesterday to discuss the future of veteran TV personality Karl Stefanovic. The co-host of breakfast show Today has caused consternation within Nine's executive ranks since the launch of his self-titled podcast show, which is produced independently of Nine; however, while he was cleared to proceed with the podcast earlier in 2026, this week's interview with far-right British activist Tommy Robinson was deemed to have been inappropriate. Nine is believed to have decided to terminate Stefanovic's contract and will negotiate an exit deal, amid concerns that Today may face advertiser boycott in the wake of the Robinson interview. (Media Man Peg-On); Got to be more to this story. Truth tellers can upset and unsettle the establishment! Ex journo says and knows!!!!

News

Mining (Aust)

Iluka signs $220m rare earths deal

Perth-based Ilula Resources has secured its first offtake agreement for light and heavy rare earths to be produced at its Eneabba refinery in Western Australia. Iluka will supply neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium to a "globally recognised" car maker. The offtake agreement is initially for 1,200 tonnes of the rare earth oxides over four years; it will account for about 10 per cent of Iluka's expected production at the Eneabba refinery over this period. Iluka will receive a minimum price for the rare earth oxides, although it has not disclosed this price or identified the customer. (RMS) (Media Man Peg-On): More good news for Australian mining hey Gina at Hancock Prospecting. Friendly comp and mining wars for greater good. One Nation!

News Lead Up (Aust/Int)

June 22

Wall St buys into News succession

The majority of the Murdoch family-owned News Corporation's value can be attributed to its 61 per cent stake in real estate classifieds company REA. For the last decade, its REA stake has accounted for an average of 65 per cent of News Corp's market value, but REA's share price has dropped 47 per cent from its 52-week high on 20 August last year, causing the value of News Corp's stake to fall by almost $10 billion. REA's decline means that the sharemarket is now ascribing value to the rest of the News Corp empire, with analysts most excited about its Dow Jones unit. It seems that the so-called Murdoch discount may be narrowing, but it "is alive and well", with the question being if the next generation of the family is "sufficiently motivated to get rid of it". (RMS). (Media Man Peg-One): The first generation makes it, the 2nd generation spends it, the 3rd generation loses it?!

Shares

TKO Holdings
$201.31
-10.31 -4.87%
*balls softer overnight. Don't tell Brock Lesnar or his advocate Paul Heyman that! Looking4Larry may need a stock lifter campaign?! MGM Casino Live on steriods approach?!

Alphabet Inc Class A
$357.37
+3.72 +1.05%

Netflix
$71.40
-2.38 -3.23%

Paramount Skydance Corp
$9.86
+0.040 -0.41%

News

Pop Culture

GTA VI Pre-Orders Launch Worldwide with Record Hype

The game launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with the standard edition at $79.99 and Ultimate Edition at $99.99 offering exclusive vehicles, weapons, and shops like tattoo parlors. Digital buyers get a free month of GTA+ and retro packs, while physical copies ship with download codes, drawing complaints from collectors. Early sales show PS5 leading Xbox 6-to-1, with unconfirmed reports of 39 million pre-orders and $3 billion in revenue, building on GTA V's 200 million copies sold. (Media Man Peg-On): The hype is real. Revved up for the mean streets of GTA.

News Lead Up (Aust)

News (Aust)

(ICYMI)

Gina Rinehart bets $1.4 billion on Musk with record SpaceX stake

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting has bought a $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) stake in rocket and satellite company SpaceX. It represents Hancock Prospecting's biggest investment outside of iron ore, with Rinehart claiming that the Elon Musk-owned company is a further example of "why the world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less bureaucracy".

Hancock Prospecting's investment in SpaceX adds to a portfolio that includes stakes in Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals and Tesla. (RMS). (Media Man Peg-On): Let's Go Team Gina w Musk. To The Moon, Mars and Beyond! Fish 'N Chips Rocket Express! : ) Islands In The Stream! Aussie Barbarella meets Gold movie and Mission To Mars. The Galaxy is your Oyster. Take off down under in Australia maties! Time for a new captain in Canberra right Peter Gravy. Getting inside here ... Operation Golden Red Fish meets Rocket Man and Mrs Miner. Winning! Gonzo Truth News!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House and beyond!

News

(ICYMI)

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

Hancock Prospecting wins 'Mining Co Of The Month' award; Runner-up: Rio Tinto

News

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

Google wins Media Man 'Search Engine Of Month'

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

January and March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Netflix wins Media Man 'Streaming Service Of The Month' award; Runner-up: YouTube

News

Pop Culture Dream Matches: Fantasy Booking

Media Man Series

Team Trump def Team Left
Dana White def Naysayers
Sydney Sweeney def critics
Pauline Hanson def critics
Aussie Monos vs Aussie Multis
SpaceX def everyone
Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi - WWE SummerSlam
Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - WWE SummerSlam
Mr NXT vs Mr AEW
Mr AAA vs Mr AEW
Conor McGregor vs critics
Sten Lee (Marvel) vs DC Comics (Team Warner)
Mr Netflix vs Mr Paramount
Mr YouTube vs Mr Rumble
Mr Meta vs Mr Bluesky
Mr Crypto vs Mr NWO
Mr Toyota vs Mr Porsche
Mr Citizen Journalism vs Mr Newspaper Rag
Tony D'Angelo vs Mr EVIL - NXT (Great American Bash) - June 28
Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker - WWE Night of Champions - June 27
WWE vs everyone - WWE Satuday Night's Main Event - July 18 - Madison Square Garden, NYC
Aussie Karl and Aussie Kyle vs Nine and Mainstream
Zayn and Jimmy Uso vs IWC?!

Best Quotes

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never really been that good at cutting promos. That's why I've got Paul Heyman" Brock Lesnar

"Just in any job, if you want to get ahead, take shorter lunch breaks, be happy to stay later, do the work, and finish it off well" Gina Rinehart

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't" Fred Schebesta

"Free, truly independent" Karl Stefanovic

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition! Part I

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

Spread The Risk!

Before The Bell

"Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)

"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)

"Monday, Monday" (The Mamas & The Papas)

Road To WWE Night Of Champions

Road To UFC Freedom 250: Fallout

Past, Present And Future

June 2026

June 15

Markets

Australian Dollar: $0.7038 USD (down $0.0006 USD)
Iron Ore: $101.50 USD (down $0.15 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $84.88 USD (down $1.56 USD)
Gold Price: $4,210.90 USD (down $0.01 USD)
Copper Price: $6.4740 USD (up $0.0825 USD)
Dow Jones: 51,202.26 (up 353.51 points)

Bitcoin: $65,698.40 - 2.04%

Dogecoin $0.08839 +1.48%

XRP $1.1807 +3.15%

Shares

TKO Holdings
$203.36
-10.34 -4.84%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$359.68
+1.91 +0.53%

Paramount Skydance Corp
$10.47
-0.020 -0.19%

News (Australia)

Scepticsm on Trump's Iran call keeps lid on ASX

Futures pricing suggests that Australian equities will gain about 0.4 per cent when the market opens on Monday Wall Street is also expected to rise amid growing hopes for a peace deal in the Middle East; however, Stephen Miller from GSFM says financial markets are still facing headwinds, noting that the crude oil price is unlikely to return to pre-war levels. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the US Federal Reserve are both expected to leave official interest rates on hold this week. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.9 per cent to 8,804 points on Friday. (RMS)

News Lead Up (Australia)

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Thursday, after the US launched further attacks on Iran; the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.2 per cent to close at 8,633.2 points, having reached an intra-day low of 8,555.3. Ora Banda Mining was down 6.4 per cent at $1.02, NextDC fell 4.2 per cent to $14.50 and Westpac shed 2.6 per cent to end the session at $34.50. However, Karoon Energy rose 4.6 per cent to $2.05 and CSL was up 4.2 per cent at $107.23. (RMS)

News Lead Up

(ICYMI)

SpaceX IPO Nears, Pushing Elon Musk Toward Trillionaire Status

SpaceX plans to price shares at $135 each on Thursday, valuing the company at $1.77 trillion and raising up to $75 billion in the largest IPO ever, with trading possibly starting Friday on Nasdaq under SPCX. Musk's 42% stake would be worth $740 billion to $866 billion, combined with his $300 billion-plus Tesla holdings pushing his net worth over $1 trillion according to Forbes and Bloomberg estimates. Prediction markets give 96% odds he'll be the first trillionaire by year-end, amid X users celebrating employee windfalls and free markets while others decry economic inequality, with jokes about Musk's riches flying alongside analyst cautions on risks. (Media Man Peg-On): To the Moon, Mars and Beyond. Real Life Iron Man Musk firing on all cylinders. Investors getting stars in their eyes?! Record Breaking Rocket Man!?

News

News Lead Up

(ICYMI)

Gold News

Gold: has it bottomed out at $4,300

Gold is trying to find a bottom, bracing for the US CPI release

China continues to buy gold for the 19th consecutive month

The US dollar retreated after Israel and Iran announced a ceasefire. Donald Trump urged them not to shoot at each other. Nevertheless, the adversaries reserve the right to resume hostilities, keeping tensions high in the Middle East, which supports the greenback as a safe-haven asset.

Investors are fixated on Donald Trump’s determination to strike a deal with Tehran at any cost and are using the positive news to buy EURUSD. However, according to BMO Capital Markets, headlines are noise, whilst regime change is the signal. Oil prices will not collapse following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and high US inflation is set to persist for some time. The new administration will force the Fed to raise rates and make the US dollar the favourite in the forex market. The firm recommends buying the greenback against the euro, the pound and the yen.

This reasoning holds. With low unemployment and a tight labour market, any acceleration in US economic growth will lead to higher wages. This will push consumer prices upwards and prompt the Fed to tighten monetary policy. The federal funds rate could be raised even now. Inflation has long exceeded the 2% target, and the labour market is at its strongest since 2024.

The prospect of the Fed moving towards monetary tightening, combined with rising oil prices due to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, has pushed gold back to levels seen at the start of 2026. The precious metal has wiped out all its gains this year due to the strengthening US dollar and rising Treasury bond yields.

Even active buying by central banks is failing to help gold bulls. The People’s Bank of China increased its reserves by 320,000 ounces in May, having purchased gold continuously for 19 months. This is the longest such streak since 2015, when regular publication of these statistics began.

The next test for gold will be the May US inflation report. Consumer prices are expected to rise from 3.8% to 4.2%, and core CPI from 2.8% to 2.9%. Such trends will increase the likelihood of the Fed tightening monetary policy and put pressure on gold.

Summary: Gold is under pressure from a strong dollar and expectations of accelerating US inflation. Even Chinese buying is not helping: the increased likelihood of a Fed rate hike is heightening the risks of a decline. (FxPro)

News

Sports/Gaming

(ICYMI)

Kristen Foxen Wins Sixth WSOP Bracelet and $1.77 Million in High Roller

The Canadian pro topped Galen Hall heads-up in the $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed event at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, earning a career-high $1,773,083 and pushing her total live earnings over $20.7 million. Hall took second for $1,182,050, with Biao Ding third at $819,504; the final table included Joey Weissman, Ignacio Moron, and others. Foxen's six bracelets now match an elite group of 11 players—twice as many as any other woman—and peers like Patrick Leonard hail her as possibly the best No-Limit Hold'em player in WSOP history. (Media Man Peg-On): Sport, Gambling or both?!

News

Danhausen Claims 7x WWE Grand Slam After Pinning Miz Seven Times

During WWE's Summer Tour stops in Strasbourg, Lisbon, Madrid, Bologna, and Rome from June 2-6, Danhausen racked up clean wins over Miz at non-televised events. He based his bold claim on Miz's real Grand Slam status, prompting fans to joke he's actually 14x and cheer him as the GOAT. While some critics want more TV time, supporters point to his merch success, sold-out crowds, and house show dominance. (Media Man Peg-On): News Hausen, Media Hausen. X News Grand Slam. Danhausen def AEW curse?! Danhausen in New York Knicks good books!

News

Saudi Arabia step up push for direct flights to Australia

Australian cattle exporters have had to contend with limited access to air freight to countries in the Persian Gulf region since the Iran war began, as well as higher frieght costs. However, Saudia Cargo will shortly commence direct flights to Avalon Airport in Victoria and the Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport in Queensland. Australia Saudi Business Council chairman Sam Jamsheedi says this will allow fresh meat from Australia to arrive in Saudi Arabia within 14 hours. He adds that negotiations have commenced for Riyadh Airlines to begin premium passenger flights on Australia-Middle East routes, in competition with established rivals Emirates and Qatar Airlines. (Media Man Peg On): Aussie beef may be the best in the world. Saudi knows quality. Take it to the bank! Aussie lamb takes a back seat?! Don't start us on Kangaroo!

News

(ICYMI)

(Aust)

News

Mining: Australia

Mining giants fuel surge in renewables financing

Construction of 2.6 gigawatts of solar energy projects has begun in Australia since the start of 2026. Data from consulting firm Rystad Energy shows that nearly 95 per cent of these projects feature a storage battery. Factors such as the falling cost of batteries has boosted investment in solar projects, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue have also ramped up spending on such projects to supply energy to their operations in Australia. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the 'green' energy rollout is putting downward pressure on electricity prices. (RMS) (Media Man Peg On): Developing situation!

Invest/gamble at own risk!

News Lead Up

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin is losing the confidence of major holders

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has been rapidly shrinking since the start of the new week, falling by 5% to $2.38 trillion, its lowest level since early April. It appears that confidence in the prospects of cryptocurrency has fallen sharply following reports of a largely symbolic BTC sale from Strategy’s balance sheet, which may be followed by more active selling from other holders. We also cannot rule out an ‘Iranian connection’, as reports of seizures of Iranian cryptocurrency undermine the notion of anonymity and untraceability that has long underpinned the crypto market. The solid performance of supposedly anonymous coins fits neatly into this hypothesis. Thus, over the past 24 hours, the top performers have been NEAR Protocol (+14.8%), Internet Computer (+10.2%) and Zcash (+5%). The three worst performers are Stellar (-13.2%), Basic Attention Token (-10%) and Bitcoin (-4.3%).

Bitcoin is accelerating its decline, having fallen to $69K, even though it started the week just above $74K. As expected, the drop below the 50-day moving average a week ago followed more than a week of selling pressure at that level. Technically, the leading cryptocurrency faces relatively few obstacles on its way down to the $65-66K range, but further down, longer-term support may come into play, having halted the decline in February and March.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global investment in crypto funds fell by $1.671 billion last week, marking the largest outflow since January. Investments in Bitcoin fell by $1.438 billion (the largest outflow from BTC this year), in Ethereum by $257 million, in Solana by $1 million, and in Sui by $1 million. Investments in altcoins rose by $20 million in XRP, $11 million in Hyperliquid, and $8 million in Near.

Sentiment towards Bitcoin on social media has reached its most positive level since the start of the year, despite the crypto market’s decline in May, Santiment notes. In the past, such surges in optimism have often coincided with local highs in the asset’s price.

Strategy has sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022. Last week, 32 BTC were sold for approximately $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per coin. The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, which had previously promised never to sell the asset, will use the proceeds to pay dividends on preference shares.

As a result of the latest adjustment, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose by 1.72% to 138.96 T. The figure has returned to its April highs.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has renamed the cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON) to Gram (GRAM), describing the rebranding as a return to its roots. The blockchain will retain the name TON (The Open Network). No action is required from token holders.

Summary: Bitcoin accelerated its decline towards $69K amid a record outflow from crypto funds and Strategy’s first BTC sale since 2022, heightening fears among large holders. (FxPro)

(Media Man Peg-On): Invest/gamble at own risk!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a fun and friendly way. Road To The White House?!
News

Streaming/Netflix

Netflix Greenlights War Machine Sequel After Massive Hit

The sci-fi action film War Machine, directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Alan Ritchson, launched on Netflix March 6, 2026, and racked up 39.3 million views in three days.

News

(ICYMI)

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

January and March

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.
As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore

Terry Steyner: Susannah York

Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland

Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman

Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn

These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in

'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago

The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)

Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are

Gold (gold)

Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

WWE wins 'Wrestling Promotion Of the Month' award; Runner-up: Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide

Best Quotes

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

Media Man

Mining/Energy/Resources/Biz/Markets/Pop Culture

The Business Of Everything Edition!

Sin City Sydney Australia, Wall Street, New York, and Beyond The Black Stump

Digital Bush Telegraph

Past. Present And Future

June 2026

June 3

Markets

ASX 200 futures are pointing up 38 points or 0.4 per cent to 8789.

AUD +0.3% to US71.81¢

Bitcoin $66,667.53 -6.48%

Wall St:

Dow +0.5%
S&P +0.1%
Nasdaq +0.03%

VIX -0.28 to 15.77
Gold +0.1% to $US4488.86 an ounce
Brent oil +0.9% to $US95.79 a barrel
Iron ore +0.5% to $US105.10 a ton

10-year yield:
US 4.44%
Australia 4.88%

Shares

TKO Holdings
$204.59
-3.82 -1.84%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$361.85
-14.52 -3.86%

News

Markets

Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7180 USD (up $0.0025 USD)

Iron Ore: $105.10 USD (up $0.70 USD)

Oil Price (West Texas): $93.39 USD (up $0.88 USD)

Gold Price : $4,488.92 USD (up $3.96 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $6.6775 USD (up $0.1105 USD)

Dow Jones: 51,307.79 (up 228.91 points)

News

ASX dips on Iran doubts and retail sell-off

The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 easing 0.1 per cent to close at 8,724.4 points; the benchmark index had shed more than 1.2 per cent earlier in the trading session. The latest minimum wage ruling weighed on retailer and shopping centre owners, with JB Hi-Fi down 5.4 per cent at $71.05 and Vicinity Centres shedding four per cent to close at $2.42. However, BHP rose 1.4 per cent to a new high of $63.37 and WiseTech Global was up 7.9 per cent at $42.23. (RMS)

News

Mining: Australia

Mining giants fuel surge in renewables financing

Construction of 2.6 gigawatts of solar energy projects has begun in Australia since the start of 2026. Data from consulting firm Rystad Energy shows that nearly 95 per cent of these projects feature a storage battery. Factors such as the falling cost of batteries has boosted investment in solar projects, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue have also ramped up spending on such projects to supply energy to their operations in Australia. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says the 'green' energy rollout is putting downward pressure on electricity prices.

News

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin is losing the confidence of major holders

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has been rapidly shrinking since the start of the new week, falling by 5% to $2.38 trillion, its lowest level since early April. It appears that confidence in the prospects of cryptocurrency has fallen sharply following reports of a largely symbolic BTC sale from Strategy’s balance sheet, which may be followed by more active selling from other holders. We also cannot rule out an ‘Iranian connection’, as reports of seizures of Iranian cryptocurrency undermine the notion of anonymity and untraceability that has long underpinned the crypto market. The solid performance of supposedly anonymous coins fits neatly into this hypothesis. Thus, over the past 24 hours, the top performers have been NEAR Protocol (+14.8%), Internet Computer (+10.2%) and Zcash (+5%). The three worst performers are Stellar (-13.2%), Basic Attention Token (-10%) and Bitcoin (-4.3%).

Bitcoin is accelerating its decline, having fallen to $69K, even though it started the week just above $74K. As expected, the drop below the 50-day moving average a week ago followed more than a week of selling pressure at that level. Technically, the leading cryptocurrency faces relatively few obstacles on its way down to the $65-66K range, but further down, longer-term support may come into play, having halted the decline in February and March.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global investment in crypto funds fell by $1.671 billion last week, marking the largest outflow since January. Investments in Bitcoin fell by $1.438 billion (the largest outflow from BTC this year), in Ethereum by $257 million, in Solana by $1 million, and in Sui by $1 million. Investments in altcoins rose by $20 million in XRP, $11 million in Hyperliquid, and $8 million in Near.

Sentiment towards Bitcoin on social media has reached its most positive level since the start of the year, despite the crypto market’s decline in May, Santiment notes. In the past, such surges in optimism have often coincided with local highs in the asset’s price.

Strategy has sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022. Last week, 32 BTC were sold for approximately $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per coin. The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, which had previously promised never to sell the asset, will use the proceeds to pay dividends on preference shares.

As a result of the latest adjustment, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose by 1.72% to 138.96 T. The figure has returned to its April highs.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has renamed the cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON) to Gram (GRAM), describing the rebranding as a return to its roots. The blockchain will retain the name TON (The Open Network). No action is required from token holders.

Summary: Bitcoin accelerated its decline towards $69K amid a record outflow from crypto funds and Strategy’s first BTC sale since 2022, heightening fears among large holders. (FxPro)

News

The dollar is back in the game

Rumours of a breakdown in negotiations have reignited investor interest in the US dollar.

The risk of further currency interventions is mounting along with USDJPY.

The US dollar rose by 0.4% on Monday following reports that Iran intended to walk away from negotiations with the US. Tehran’s threat sent oil prices soaring and reignited investor interest in safe-haven assets. Strong macroeconomic data also favoured the bulls on the USD index. However, in the absence of further escalation, the DXY gave back some of its gains, stabilising at 99, roughly in the middle of the range seen over the past two weeks.

The ISM manufacturing business activity index exceeded forecasts, rising to 54, its highest level since May 2022. The Purchasing Managers’ Index has remained in expansionary territory above 50 for the fifth consecutive month, indicating the sector’s strength.

The price component of the PMI fell in May compared with April.

The strength of the US economy allows the Fed to adopt a wait-and-see approach. The futures market puts the odds of the federal funds rate remaining unchanged in 2026 at 51%, with a 49% probability of a hike. According to Rabobank, such assessments suggest limited upside potential for the EURUSD. Two ECB hikes are already priced into the euro exchange rate. However, the longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the more pain the eurozone economy will suffer.

Until now, the markets have been optimistic about the US-Iran deal. However, a partial escalation of the conflict, along with rumours that Tehran is withdrawing from the negotiations, is making investors nervous. What if the current dialogue with the Islamic Republic ends the same way as all the previous ones, i.e., in failure?

As the USDJPY moves higher, the intensity of the government’s verbal interventions is increasing. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama is using the same rhetoric she used ahead of the previous currency market intervention. She asserts that the authorities are ready to take appropriate measures at any time, as necessary. Tokyo is in close contact with Washington regarding the situation in the Forex market.

Japan holds colossal foreign exchange reserves of $1.17 trillion, which, according to Goldman Sachs, would allow it to intervene in the market at least 30 times. However, a significant portion of these reserves consists of US Treasury bonds, the sale of which would raise their yields and is therefore not welcomed by the US Treasury.

Summary: Rumours of a breakdown in US-Iran negotiations supported the dollar, while strong US data boosted demand. Rising USDJPY increases the risk of currency intervention in Japan. (FxPro)

News

Pop Culture

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Sets February 2027 Release

Crystal Dynamics revealed Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis during PlayStation's State of Play, locking in a February 12, 2027 launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. The trailer showcases puzzle-filled ruins, raptor battles, and a nod to the 1996 original's Scion quest, blending nostalgia with modern traversal and combat. Pre-orders are open now, with Standard at $59.99 and Deluxe at $69.99 offering early access and extras like exclusive outfits. (Media Man Peg-On): The Legend Lives On!

News

Gaming/UFC

EA Sports UFC 6 Revives Open Weight Class Selection for Ranked Matches

EA Sports UFC 6 restores open weight class selection in Prospect ranked ladder placement matches, letting players choose divisions freely just weeks before the June 19 launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The feature, a hit in the first three games, was dropped in UFC 4 and 5 for rotating classes but returns alongside revamped fighter ratings and Flow State perks to mix up matchups. Streamers like Liam Healy hail it as a game-changer, though some note potential matchmaking issues in lighter divisions and lament the lack of PC support at launch. (Media Man Peg-On): The best of both worlds. Ground and pound and strike action. Take down your gaming store today, in a food and friendly way. Road To The White House?!

News

Streaming/Netflix

Netflix Greenlights War Machine Sequel After Massive Hit

The sci-fi action film War Machine, directed by Patrick Hughes and starring Alan Ritchson, launched on Netflix March 6, 2026, and racked up 39.3 million views in three days, topping charts in 93 countries for a total of 139 million views. Its success prompted a quick sequel greenlight, with Hughes returning to direct and co-write alongside James Beaufort. Ritchson is expected to reprise his role as the battle-hardened engineer, building on the gritty thrills that blended military realism with Predator-style action. (Media Man Peg-On): The Big N on fire. Going all guns blazzing. Netflix for the win!

News

Lucha Libre

Chad Gable Unmasks in Epic AAA Mask vs. Mask Win for Ludwig Kaiser

On May 30 at AAA's Noche de los Grandes in Arena Monterrey, WWE's Ludwig Kaiser, as fan-favorite El Grande Americano, defeated the Original version in a 33-minute brutal match filled with suplexes, ankle locks, and chair shots, pinning with his running headbutt. The reveal showed Chad Gable underneath, who graciously handed over his mask and promised a return. The bout earned massive praise, including Dave Meltzer calling it Gable's career-best and JBL naming him the world's top wrestler, plus over 2 million YouTube views and top ratings from fans and insiders. (Media Man Peg-On): An al time classic. Legendary!

News Flasback

January 2026

Sports Business

Banks called for tennis overhaul

The Professional Tennis Players Association is seeking advice from investment banks and other financial advisory firms on the creation of a new structure for professional tennis. The PTPA is proposing a structure that would involve three tiers, with the first, to be known as the Pinnacle Tour, to include 16 of the sport's most prestigious events including the grand slams. As part of the new structure, players would be guaranteed minimum levels of compensation, including $US1 million ($1.5 million) for those ranked in the top 100, while Tennis Australia has indicated it is supportive of the PTPA's plans (RMS)

News Flashback

January 2026

Sports Business

Tennis fans back AO's bold vision to revolutionise sport

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has outlined a vision for the Australian Open that includes drone-powered food and drink services and no match officials on court. His plans are part of Tennis Australia's goal of maintaining the Open's status as the biggest of the four grand slams by attendance, with more than 1.2 million attending last year's event. Most fans attending the Open are supportive of Tiley's vision, although some are worried it might be getting too big for its own good. Graham Bradley, who is a former director of Tennis Australia, says that "we don't apologise for the fact that we're in the entertainment business, as well as the sporting business". (RMS)

News

News

Heavy Industry News

Mack Trucks wins Media Man 'Truck Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Caterpillar wins Media Man 'Heavy Equipment Manufacturer Of The Month' award

Bingo Industries wins Media Man 'Construction Brand Of The Month' award

Elders wins Media Man 'Agribusiness Of The Month' award

Landman wins Media Man 'Streaming Series Of The Month' award (Oil/mining industry based story via Paramount Plus)

News

Gold Movie

Gold is a 2016 American epic crime drama film directed by Stephen Gaghan and written by Patrick Massett and John Zinman. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Édgar Ramírez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Craig T. Nelson, Stacy Keach and Bruce Greenwood. The film is loosely based on the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia; however, for legal reasons and to enhance the appeal of the film, character names and story details were changed.

Trailer

Gold (YouTube Movies and TV)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yc0S96OZhi0

Gold is the epic tale of one man's pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Kenny Wells, a modern day prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street. The film is inspired by a true story.

News Flashback

Early 2026

Streaming Wars

The "Streaming Wars" refers to the intense competition among digital media platforms to dominate the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market by capturing and retaining global audiences.

As of early 2026, the landscape has shifted from a period of rapid expansion into a phase of major consolidation and a focus on profitability over subscriber volume.

The "Winner" and Current State (2026)

Netflix Dominance: Industry analysts increasingly cite Netflix as the victor. In January 2026, Netflix reported 18% year-over-year revenue growth and is currently pursuing a high-stakes $83 billion all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets (including HBO/Max).

The "Big 3": Despite fierce competition, the market is primarily dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+.

YouTube's Rise: Some experts argue YouTube is the true winner of the broader attention economy, surpassing traditional streaming services in total viewership by pivoting back to user-generated content.

Key Strategies in 2026

Consolidation: Smaller or struggling services are being shuttered or merged. For example, Disney recently shut down Hulu as a standalone service.

Monetization Shifts: Platforms have moved away from "growth at all costs" to strategies like password-sharing crackdowns, ad-supported tiers, and price hikes.

Live Sports & Events: Services are increasingly bidding on live sports rights (e.g., Netflix hosting WWE's Raw starting in 2025) to differentiate their offerings.

Bundling: To combat "subscription fatigue," platforms are forming strategic partnerships with telecommunications companies and banks to offer bundled service hubs.

Consumer Impact

Price Hikes: Many consumers are canceling services due to rising costs; over 40% of Americans cited price as their primary reason for unsubscribing in late 2025.

Resurgence of Piracy: Fragmented content and high costs have led to a significant comeback for pirate sites, which some users now find more comprehensive than paid services.

"South Park: The Streaming Wars": The term was popularized in mainstream culture by a 2-part South Park special released on Paramount+ in 2022, which satirized the industry's aggressive competition.

News/Profile

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd (HPPL) is a privately owned Australian mineral exploration and agriculture company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. As of 2026, it is recognized as one of the most successful private companies in Australian history.

Leadership and Ownership

Executive Chairwoman: Gina Rinehart AO, who has led the company since 1992.

CEO: Garry Korte.

Ownership: The company is owned by Gina Rinehart (76.6%) and the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust (23.4%).

Major Mining Operations

The company has transitioned from a prospecting firm into a major global miner, with primary interests in the Pilbara region:

Roy Hill: A flagship mega-project and Australia’s largest single iron ore mine, producing 60–70 million tonnes annually.

Hope Downs: A 50/50 joint venture with Rio Tinto, comprising four open-pit mines with a capacity of approximately 47Mtpa.

Atlas Iron: Acquired in 2018, it operates the Mount Webber, Sanjiv Ridge, and Miralga Creek mines.

Hancock Iron Ore: A new entity formed in July 2025 to consolidate Roy Hill and Atlas Iron operations.

Diversification and Strategic Investments

Under Rinehart’s leadership, the company has expanded significantly into other sectors:

Agriculture: Hancock is Australia's second-largest beef producer, owning over 25 properties including the iconic S. Kidman & Co. It also owns 50% of Bannister Downs Dairy.

Critical Minerals: Major stakes in lithium (Liontown Resources, Azure Minerals, Vulcan Energy) and rare earths (Arafura Rare Earths, MP Materials, Lynas Rare Earths).

Energy: Significant interests in oil and gas through Warrego Energy and Senex Energy.

International Ventures: In January 2026, the company signed a gold exploration license agreement with Saudi Arabia's state-owned miner, Ma’aden.

Current Events (January 2026)

Australia Day Sponsorship: The company is the principal partner for the 2026 Hancock Prospecting Australia Day celebrations in Perth.

Helipad Proposal: In December 2025, the City of Perth refused the company's proposal to build a helipad at its West Perth headquarters.

Financial Performance: For the 2025 fiscal year, the company reported a profit of AU$3.08 billion.

History

The company was founded on November 25, 1955, by Lang Hancock, who is credited with discovering the world's largest iron ore deposit in 1952. When Gina Rinehart took over following his death in 1992, the company was in a precarious financial state with significant debt.

News

Gold (1974)

Gold is a 1974 British action-thriller directed by Peter R. Hunt, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York. Based on the 1970 novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith, the film is set in the South African goldfields and follows a conspiracy by a global syndicate to manipulate the price of gold by sabotaging a rich mine.

Plot: Rod Slater (Moore), a newly appointed general manager, is manipulated by his boss, Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), into drilling through a protective barrier into a subterranean lake. This is intended to flood the mine, causing a global gold shortage and driving up prices for a greedy cabal.

Production Controversy: The film was controversially shot on location in South Africa during the apartheid era. This led to a "black ban" by British film unions, though some crew members defied it to work on the production.

James Bond Connection: Many crew members were veterans of the James Bond franchise, including director Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), editor John Glen, and title designer Maurice Binder.

Accolades: The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Wherever Love Takes Me," composed by Elmer Bernstein and sung by Maureen McGovern.

Cast & Crew

Rod Slater: Roger Moore
Terry Steyner: Susannah York
Hurry Hirschfeld: Ray Milland
Manfred Steyner: Bradford Dillman
Farrell: John Gielgud

Director: Peter R. Hunt

Music: Elmer Bernstein

Availability in 2026

As of 2026, the film is available through several formats and platforms:

Streaming: Accessible on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku devices.

Physical Media: High-definition restorations are available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber and 88 Films

News

Pop Culture

"Gold" (Spandau Ballet)

"Gold" is a signature 1983 hit by the British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp.

Lyrics

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here, I could have sworn These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh, but I'm proud of you, but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Thank you for coming home I'm sorry that the chairs are all worn I left them here I could have sworn
These are my salad days Slowly being eaten away Just another play for today Oh but I'm proud of you but I'm proud of you

Nothing left to make me feel small Luck has left me standing so tall

Gold (gold)
Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in
'Cause you are
Gold (gold)
Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

Oh after the rush has gone I hope you find a little more time Remember we were partners in crime It's only two years ago
The man with the suit and the face You knew that he was there on the case Now he's in love with you he's in love with you

My love is like a high prison wall But you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)
Always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are
Gold (gold)
Glad that you're bound to return There's something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'

My love is like a high prison wall And you could leave me standing so tall

Gold (gold)
Oh always believe in your soul You've got the power to know You're indestructible Always believe in 'Cause you are
Gold (gold)
Glad that you're bound to return Something I could have learned You're indestructible Always believin'
Songwriter: Gary James Kemp

Spandau Ballet - Gold (HD Remastered)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ntG50eXbBtc

Official video of Spandau Ballet performing 'Gold' from their 1983 third album 'True'.

Gary Kemp wrote both the music and lyrics; the song was produced by the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. The music video was filmed on location in Carmona, Spain and directed by Brian Duffy. The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles. Some parts of the music video were also filmed in Leighton House, which was also used in the video for "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers.

Spandau Ballet are one of Britain’s great iconic bands having sold over 25 million records, scored numerous multi-platinum albums and amassed 23 hit singles across the globe since their humble beginnings as a group of friends with dreams of stardom in the late 1970s. It wasn’t long before they became fully-fledged members of the iconic Blitz Club scene and established themselves as one of the super-groups of the 80s.

The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble.

Spandau Ballet’s hits include Gold, True, To Cut A Long Story Short, Through The Barricades and many more.

News

The Australian Financial Review wins Media Man 'Newspaper Of The Month' award

Roy Morgan wins Media Man 'News Services Business Of The Month' award

Sky News Australia wins Media Man 'Australian Media Outlet Of The Month' award

Media Man

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

June 1, 2026

Wall Street, New York - Sin City, Sydney, Australia

"The Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)

Big Week In Store For Markets, Streaming Biz, Combat Sports; Ripple Effect! Bulls vs Bears continued

UFC Macau Very Solid, WWE Clash In Italy: Strong Show and Lucha Libre Noche de Los Grandes Over-delivers with Mask vs Mask Modern Classic/Match Of The Year Contender!

WWE RAW Upcoming: Clash In Italy Aftermath and Road To UFC Freedom 250; Wrestling With Numbers And Creative

WWE's Logan Paul

"Logan Paul knows better than anyone, this ain't ballet" Paul Heyman, re Paul injury

Digital Bush Telegraph

Australia and Wall St Continues To Ring Bells

Markets

June 1 (Aust)

ASX futures down 13 points or 0.2%: 8737

AUD +0.1% at US71.70¢

Bitcoin $73,108.05 -1.16%

Dow +0.7%
S&P +0.2%
Nasdaq +0.2%
Gold +1.0% to $US4540.26 an ounce
Brent oil -1.7% at $US91.12 a barrel
Iron ore -0.1% at $US105.20 a ton

News (Australia)

Australian Dollar: $0.7168 USD (up $0.0005 USD)
Iron Ore: $105.20 USD (down $0.10 USD)
Iron Ore : $105.15 USD (up $0.07 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $87.36 USD (down $1.36 USD)
Gold Price : $4,539.76 USD (up $43.78 USD)
Copper Price): $6.3940 USD (down $0.0275 USD)
Dow Jones: 51,032.46 (up 363.49 points)

News

ASX eyes lower open as investors await RBA speeches

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 Index indicate a 0.1 per cent fall on Monday, following the strongest rally in nearly two months on Friday. The week ahead will see a number of speeches from senior Reserve Bank officials, with investors hoping they will provide a view as to the interest rate outlook, while 'stop-start' efforts by Iran and the US and Washington to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will again continue to dominate the market outlook. (RMS)

News

Advertising/Media/Sports/Betting

'Immoral': Labor gambling ad limits rubbished

The federal government has been attacked for not implementing key recommendations of an inquiry into sports wagering advertising; the inquiry was led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy and called for a total ban on gambling advertising. New draft laws released by the government on Friday call for gambling advertisements to be limited to three per hour, but they will still be allowed after 8.30pm. Prominent anti-gambling advocate Tim Costello says the idea that all children will be in bed by that time during the weekend when a sporting event is on defies logic. He says the government should resist claims that a ban on gambling ads will hurt free-to-air TV, with Costello claiming that it will soon end as a result of competition from streaming, and to that to allow it to operate a little longer so that children can be groomed by gambling ads is "immoral". (RMS)

News

Industry/Resources (Australia)

Bidders for Whyalla steelworks offer a stark choice of global experience versus local ambition

A consortium led by Matt Latimore's M Resources and Indian firm Jindal Steel and Power are the two final short-listed bidders for Whyalla steelworks, although BlueScope still retains the right to make a last-minute bid. Jindal can claim to have an advantage over Latimer in terms of its experience in running and operating steel mills, although M Resources will likely acquire that expertise via potential future consortium partners POSCO and JSW Steel. Jindal does not have a very good record in Australia, with its only major local operation having been Wollongong Resources, which operated coal mines at Russell Vale and Wongawilli. Both mines were mothballed in early 2024, with the loss of more than 200 jobs, after safety regulators ordered the closure of the Russell Vale mine after five underground fires in just a short periof of time. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Gaming/Tech Biz

Pokies company Ainsworth writes off $13.2m investment in alleged 'pyramid scheme'

Australian poker machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology has lost a $13.2 million investment in an Argentinian fintech company called Wenance, with the company having been declared bankrupt. Its CEO Alejandro Muszak was arrested in 2024 amid fraud allegations facing Wenance, while there are claims that it operated a Ponzi scheme. With Ainsworth Game Technology having recently forecast a profit before tax of just $1m for the six months ending 30 June, the news that it has lost its $13.2 million investment in Wenance is unlikely to please its shareholders. (RMS)

Cryptos

XRP $1.3079 -2.10

DOGE $0.09976 -0.99%

Bitcoin Cash $292.91 -4.10

News

Gold News

Again, technical factors are saving gold from the drop

Gold fell below $4,400, reaching levels last seen during the prolonged March decline. At its intraday low, the price dipped below the 200-day moving average. Buyers have repeatedly stepped in around this level over the past three years. The last week of May was no exception. Beyond purely technical factors, the precious metal was supported by positive signals from the US-Iran front and an encouraging equity market rally, which boosted risk appetite.

The key difference between the current rally from $4,400 to levels above $4,500 and the one in March is that gold no longer appears heavily oversold, and market conditions appear much more balanced. A break below this level could open the way to the $4,000–$4,100 range. However, if selling pressure intensifies, the decline could prove much deeper, down to $3,400.

Although we find it hard to believe in the sustainability of the current rebound, it is still worth acknowledging that the market may get stuck near current levels, gathering strength after the downward momentum, which could take anywhere from a couple of days to a week. An even more optimistic – and even less likely – scenario involves a bullish breakout above the 50-day moving average at $4,630, which would put an end to the recent months' downtrend and restore a long-term bullish bias. (FxPro)

News Lead Up

The crypto market is juggling altcoins

Market Overview

The crypto market remains stagnant, stuck at $2.57T and hovering around the 50-day moving average, awaiting further signals. The crypto market’s overall sideways movement looks like a juggling act for mid-tier altcoins: one after another takes the lead. Among the most popular coins over the last 24 hours are NEAR Protocol (+14%), The Graph (+5.6%) and Toncoin (+4.5%). The underperformers were Zcash (-5.9%), Dash (-4.1%) and Uniswap (-3.1%).

Bitcoin rose to $77.8K at the end of the day on Monday, but by the start of trading in Europe, it was trading $1,000 lower. The coin is finding support near the upward-sloping 50-day moving average. Earlier in May, the 200-day moving average briefly acted as strong resistance. If current trends continue, these lines will cross in just a couple of weeks, forming a golden cross, a strong bullish signal. But even before that, we may see a breakout of one of the key moving averages, the outcome of which will determine the trajectory of Bitcoin and the entire crypto market for the coming weeks.

News Background

Institutional investors have withdrawn $1.74 billion from Bitcoin ETFs over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, retail traders are increasing their leverage in anticipation of a reversal in the BTC price. In the past, such a combination has repeatedly resulted in severe waves of liquidations, warns CryptoOnchain.

Current Ethereum levels are suitable for building long-term positions, according to MN Trading founder Michael van de Poppe. In his view, the asset remains a crucial infrastructure element of the on-chain ecosystem, despite lagging the market in recent months due to macroeconomic factors.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of options on a Bitcoin index calculated based on BTC prices across multiple exchanges. This is the first such instrument on US stock exchanges currently; only options linked to the value of spot crypto ETF shares are traded there.

Strategy skipped its weekly Bitcoin purchase last week, instead buying back $1.5 billion of its own convertible bonds. The company’s founder, Michael Saylor, publicly revealed for the first time the tactic that Strategy has been using for five years. (FxPro)

News Lead Up

May 25

Bitcoin is shy to move up, but refuses to fall

Market Overview

The crypto market continues to fluctuate, returning for the third time this week to market capitalisation levels around $2.57T, although at the end of last week it dipped to $2.5T following an earlier surge to $2.7T in May. Over the past 24 hours, the top-performing coins have been Near Protocol (+7.3%), Internet Computer (+4.1%) and Toncoin (+3.4%). Uniswap has seen the biggest decline, falling by 1.6%, whilst Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin have each lost 1%.

Bitcoin fell to $74.3K on Saturday but was trading just above $77K by Monday. Its price movements remain very subdued, with no sharp spikes, and it continues to lag behind stock indices, which are climbing towards all-time highs. On the other hand, the trend of buying on dips is also clearly continuing. The 50-day moving average remains a support level, but buyers are wary of accelerating their purchases. They are likely somewhat put off by the lack of a ‘final capitulation’ in the leading cryptocurrency, which could have brought the bear market to an end.

News Background

Outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued for a second week, following six weeks of inflows. According to SoSoValue, net weekly outflows from spot BTC ETFs rose to $1.26 billion, hitting their highest level since late January. Total inflows since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 have fallen to $57.08 billion (-2.2% for the week).

Outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs have also persisted for two consecutive weeks. Net weekly outflows from ETH ETFs fell by $216 million. Total net inflows since the ETF's launch in July 2024 have fallen to $11.62 billion (-1.8% week-on-week).

Weakening retail demand and outflows from crypto ETFs could be a ‘contrarian indicator’ signalling a buy signal for Bitcoin, according to Santiment.

Bitcoin miners remain cautious and are not yet showing confidence that the bear market phase is over, CryptoQuant notes. Miners continue to reduce their reserves of the leading cryptocurrency, as they do not yet see sufficient grounds for active BTC purchases.

The media corporation Trump Media and Technology Group transferred 2,650 bitcoins from the project’s crypto wallet to the http://Crypto.com exchange. The transaction suggests a desire to sell BTC, Arkham Intelligence speculated. The deal will be a loss-maker, as the average purchase price of the coins exceeded $118K.

Billionaire Mark Cuban has sold 80% of his bitcoin holdings and stated that he has lost faith in bitcoin as a safe-haven asset. According to him, he continues to hold Ethereum, placing more trust in this altcoin than in BTC. (FxPro)

News (120 + Hours Ago)

Silver And Gold

Silver caught in a price trap

After a long period of calm, volatility has returned to the silver market. Silver surged to a two-month high, rallying more than 20% from its May lows in just a week. However, concerns over tighter monetary policy and rising bond yields have since put pressure on prices.

Of course, the current fluctuations cannot be compared to what we saw in January, when a 35% drop occurred in a single day. Investors felt that the rally had gone too far. However, the situation does not yet look like a classic bubble burst, as silver prices are still 130% higher than a year ago, which is suppressing global demand. UBS estimates a 50 million-ounce decline this year, allowing the bank to lower its price forecast from $100 to $85 per ounce by the end of the second quarter.

High prices are forcing not only jewellers but also industrialists to seek alternatives for silver. There has been some success in replacing it with copper in the manufacture of solar panels. This sector accounts for a fifth of global supply. Due to the fall in global demand, the 46.3-million-ounce deficit forecast by the Silver Institute for 2026 may prove smaller, putting pressure on the price per ounce.

Silver is also facing weaker investment demand. Rising global bond yields and a stronger US dollar are putting pressure on the metal. UBS reports that speculative interest has fallen sharply, while silver ETF holdings have dropped by 70 million ounces since the start of the year, to 794 million ounces.

De-escalation in the Middle East could turn the tables. Oil, the US dollar and Treasury yields would fall, which would be positive for silver. However, as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, it remains under pressure.

The silver market is relatively small compared to gold, which makes it more vulnerable to speculative trading. This often leads to sharper price moves in both directions. (FxPro)

News

(ICYMI)

Conor McGregor Rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329

UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena headlines with this welterweight rematch during International Fight Week, airing live on Paramount+. McGregor, 22-6 and last fighting in 2021 after a tibia fracture, meets Holloway, 27-9, in his welterweight debut—the ex-featherweight champ aiming to make a statement. Trash talk flew fast: McGregor promised to 'son' Holloway again, while 'Blessed' fired back demanding respect on his name. Early odds favor Holloway at -500 amid McGregor's ring rust.

The Lead Up

TKO Neg With Talent/Wrestling With Numbers And Contracts; If The New Price Is Right Mr Wrestling and Ms Wrestling; Mr Corbin aka Mr Lucky enjoying strong buzz: Join the dots; Mr Kross Of WSW and MLW Enjoys Strong Mega Buzz In Australia and Globally: World Series Wrestling, Belt Collector! WSW YouTube Is Updated!

UFC MMA and U.S Admin Mix It Up With Fighters Visiting White House; Patriots Well Received In And Around Oval Office; Present Trump Gets Welcome Image Revamp Of Sorts; Keeping The Wars In The Octagon!

Legendary WWE Tag team Rumored To Return To Roster; No Names/Spoilers - Join The Dots .. And You Can't Beat That ... Ok, Not . S.A.W.F.T ... Hard On The Mic + +

Red Turns To Green And Gold!

News Flashback

Netflix MMA Debut Peaks at 11.6 Million U.S. Viewers with Rousey Win

On May 16 at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, MVP's triple-main-event card averaged 9.3 million U.S. viewers and peaked at 11.6 million during Rousey's featherweight submission over Carano, topping the prior MMA high from 2011. Other highlights included Mike Perry's corner-stoppage win over Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou's first-round knockout of Philipe Lins, drawing star power from fighters like Rousey and Ngannou. Promoters Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian celebrated the global reach and 410 million social impressions, though podcaster Brendan Schaub questioned the figures and off-cage drama saw Claressa Shields banned after a VIP-area altercation with Alycia Baumgardner. (Media Man Peg-On): Are the numbers and biz model sustainable? Perhaps only if Netflix keeps green lighting them. Is there a return on investment if you are Netflix? Insiders and outsiders continue to debate broadcast!

News

Pop Culture Ref: "The Wall Street Shuffle" (10 cc)

LinkedIn b2b Business Continues To Lift For Media Man Group and Associates

News (ICYMI)

Dana White, UFC Power, Makes Front Cover Of Time: The Promoter!

Alphabet/Google Cracks TIME 100 Cover; Positive Buzz

Beast Industries aka MrBeast TIME Top 100 Influencer;

Post Buzz Continues For TIME Media Darlings

TKO/WWE In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offer Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; Counter Punch by some competitors; WWE RAW: Clash In Italy Fallout and Road To UFC Freedom 250

TKO Prez Mark Shapiro Admits Back To Back WrestleMania's In Sin City Las Vegas May Have Been Mistake; Will Return To City To City Strategy, No Repeat City's For WrestleMania In Future

TKO's LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz; Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Search Engine Journal LinkedIn; Rio Tinto (Mining) Strong LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz

News

WWE's Danhausen Offers Mega Exposure To Rootless Coffee And WWE Merch; Number 3 Best Seller Of WWE Merch With Human Monies; Danhausen ESPN News! Very Nice!

Media Man LinkedIn and X Up; WWE Clash In Italy Aftermath To Hit WWE RAW and Road To UFC Freedom 250

Google/Alphabet: Bullish!

May 31, 2026 (U.S)

Markets

Coffee 265.60 -8.65

Cocoa 3823.00 -176

Sillicon 8620.00 +205.00

Silver 75.755 +0.501

Beef 349.70 +0.45

World Container Index 2800.00 +88.00

Newsfeed

News Lead Up

248 + Hours Ago

BTC/Cryptos

Bitcoin hits the pause button at $80K

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has stalled at around $2.70 trillion, reflecting Bitcoin’s indecision around $80,000. At the same time, risk aversion is mounting in global markets, which can be easily linked to profit-taking following the rally and the US dollar's upward momentum. Among the top coins, the leaders over the past day were Theta (+8.5%), Toncoin (+4.9%) and NEAR Protocol (+2.1%). The underperformers were Dash (-4.2%), Official Trump (-3.5%) and Zcash (-3.5%). Full coverage via FxPro. (FxPro). (Media Man Peg-On): Can we call Michael Saylor the "King Of Bulls". Awesome PR machine and LinkedIn buzz. Join the dots!

News

Media Man with Cafe News Media Watercooler

Beer killer? Rise of the vodka RTD

Gold Coast-based drinks maker Hard Fizz emerged at around the time of the pandemic, while the ready-to-drink canned beverage market boomed after the pandemic. Hard Fizz originally focused on alcoholic seltzer drinks, but it is now switching to vodka-based canned drinks, with CEO Wade Tiller saying the change is because you are more limited with flavour when you use seltzer. Hard Fizz's seltzer sales have slumped over the past year, at a time when there is a broader consumer shift to RTDs, while vodka-based light RTDs account for 75 per cent of Australian RTD sales. (RMS)

News

oOh!media rejects $770m offer, triggers bidding war

The board of listed outdoor advertising group oOh!media has advised that it is open to further takeover approaches after spurning two suitors. The company has indicated that it assessed both offers and deemed that neither reflected its intrinsic value. US-based private equity firm I Squared Capital had offered $1.45 per share, valuing its bid at $770m; it had trumped a previous offer from Pacific Equity Partners of $1.40 per share. Brian Han from Morningstar says the rejection of both offers means that oOh!media's directors have effectively put up a 'for auction' sign. (RMS)

News

Current

Shares

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$205.18
+2.31 +2.31%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$376.43
-2.51%

Meta Platforms Inc
$632.51
-0.44%

Netflix Inc
$86.02
-0.39%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$101.22
-0.32%

MGM Resorts International
$43.67 +1.72%

NVIDIA Corp
$211.14
-1.45%

News

(ICYMI)

Wrestling/WWE/Combat Sports

Logan Paul Reveals Gnarly Scar After Triceps Tear in WWE Title Defense

During Saturday Night's Main Event, Paul and Austin Theory defended their championships against the Street Profits when Paul tore his triceps on a dive from Angelo Dawkins. WWE confirmed the injury on Raw, with a six-month recovery timeline, though Paul joked he'd return in weeks fueled by his PRIME shake. He underwent surgery soon after, posting graphic operating room selfies and calling the scar an 'uncrustable' edge, earning praise for his toughness from fans and wrestlers alike. (Media Man Peg On): Much respect to LP. The wrestlers wrestlers, akin to the late, great, Harley Race. LP to return with a veneange. Austin Theory and Bron keeping The Vision flag aloft. Dawkins Dawg may get bit?! LP bite worse than considerable bark. Size of the fight in the dog, right creative mastermind Michael Hayes.

News

Roman Reigns Retains Title in Brutal Tribal Combat at WWE Clash in Italy

WWE's first show in Italy drew 12,000 fans on May 31, with most champions holding strong in five title matches streamed on Netflix and ESPN. Cody Rhodes pinned Gunther amid controversy over a foot on the ropes, Rhea Ripley beat Jade Cargill after Charlotte Flair's help and dedicated the win to her Italian grandparents, Brock Lesnar returned to crush Oba Femi, and rising star Sol Ruca upset Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental title. The main event saw Reigns outlast Fatu in a 27-minute no-DQ war, followed by a tense staredown with Rhodes.

News

(ICYMI)

MGM Vegas

Heyman Hustle/Paul Heyman - Live At MGM

News

Heyman’s involvement ties into his Looking4Larry Agency’s creative work and a broader MGM Studios partnershipMGM Live is the new entertainment/content brand for MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas properties. It launched on Instagram with a debut reel featuring Paul Heyman and UFC President Dana White together at an EZ Baccarat table at the Live at Park MGM venue on the Las Vegas.

This marks a notable crossover, as UFC and WWE are both under TKO Group Holdings. Park MGM has hosted WWE events (like the 2026 Hall of Fame) and UFC PPVs.

Heyman shot disruptive/late-night content there during WrestleMania week, including:His TikTok debut from Park MGM (talking about Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania, etc.).

"Heyman on Heyman" interview with his son Jacob for HeymanHustleTV. Multiple Instagram/TikTok reels embracing his "King of New York (and everywhere else)" persona while promoting MGM.

News

Big Tech

(ICYMI)

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026 Earnings Beating Expectations

Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% to $20 billion.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by 39-40% Azure growth.

Amazon reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and EPS of $10.44 above estimates.

News

(Rey Mysterio is new AAA GM); JBL May Challenge!

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

Mask vs Mask. El Grande Americano's Make History In Mexico May 30, 2026; Match Of The Year Buzz!

Sports News Lead

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again; SS King Of Division, Substance And Hype; Yan UFC Bonus; Dana White Inks McGregor for UFC 329; Road To UFC Freedom 250

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black-ish Friday again?

WWE RAW Upcoming: WWE Clash In Italy Fallout!

Road To WWE Money In The Bank (for some)

Google/Alphabet vs The Others

X vs The Others

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

News

Media Man Group Weekly Series

Pop Culture Dream Matches

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar - Rematch - Clash in Italy - Future Rubber Match?! WWE SummerSlam?

New Blood vs New Day vs Old News

GCW Bloodspot vs The Others

MGM Wrestling vs Atlantic City

Mr UFC vs Upstart MMA's

Bam Bam vs Time

Mankind vs IWC

UFC vs Outlaw Mud Shows

MVP vs Weekend Warriors

WBD Wrestling vs Own Goal

Mr Dingo Driver vs Dingo Warrior

New School vs Old School

Paul Heyman and Son and MGM Gamification vs others!

PopWrecked vs Karen

Studio97 vs others: Catfight Rules!

FHM vs MAXIM

x AI vs others!

T. Abbott (Aust) and P. Hanson vs Wokes

Rousey and Gina vs Critics

Ali vs self

The Man In The Arena vs self

Netflix vs Paramount Plus vs YouTube - 3 Way Dance! Special Ref: Easy E. Share The Love!

Ultra A.I vs Human Full Bloods

Extreme Swimming vs Traditional Swimming

Ex Machina vs Cave Man

Rudos vs Technicos (Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide)

Killer Kross vs All; KK The Belt Collector!

Mr News vs Mr VOX *That's with a V, not FOX)!

FOX vs The Hare: Fox And The Hound! Re-match. NYC Rules!

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't know" Anon/Mr Crypto Castle

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"The consumer and fans decide what and who is the best" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"More often than not it pays to be Google friendly" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group (repeated at Google Search Central Live, Sydney, Australia)

Media Man

Markets

June 1, 2026

ASX futures down 13 points or 0.2% to 8737 near 6am AEST
AUD +0.1% at US71.70¢
Bitcoin -0.7% to $US73,427
Dow +0.7% S&P +0.2% Nasdaq +0.2%
Gold +1.0% to $US4540.26 an ounce
Brent oil -1.7% at $US91.12 a barrel
Iron ore -0.1% at $US105.20 a tonne

Markets

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Australian Dollar: $0.7168 USD (up $0.0005 USD)
Iron Ore Jun Spot Price (SGX): $105.20 USD (down $0.10 USD)
Iron Ore Jul Spot Price (SGX): $105.15 USD (up $0.07 USD)
Oil Price (WTI): $87.36 USD (down $1.36 USD)
Gold Price : $4,539.76 USD (up $43.78 USD)
Copper Price (CME): $6.3940 USD (down $0.0275 USD)
Bitcoin: $73,609.98 USD (down 0.35% in last 24 hours)
Dow Jones: 51,032.46 (up 363.49 points on Thursday's close)

ASX eyes lower open as investors await RBA speeches

Futures for the S&P/ASX 200 Index indicate a 0.1 per cent fall on Monday, following the strongest rally in nearly two months on Friday. The week ahead will see a number of speeches from senior Reserve Bank officials, with investors hoping they will provide a view as to the interest rate outlook, while 'stop-start' efforts by Iran and the US and Washington to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will again continue to dominate the market outlook. (RMS)

The Lead Up

May 29, 2026

Market highlights
ASX 200 futures are up 54 points or +0.6 per cent to 8677.

All US prices near 4.25pm New York time:

AUD +0.3% to US71.63¢
Bitcoin -2.1% to $US73,490.82
Wall St: Dow flat S&P +0.6% Nasdaq +0.9%
VIX down 0.67 to 15.62
Gold +1.0% to $US4496.53an ounce
Brent oil -0.5% to $US93.80 a barrel
Iron ore +0.1% to $US105.30 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.46% Australia 4.89%

(Roy Morgan Summary)

Australian Dollar: $0.7163 USD (up $0.0026 USD)
Iron Ore Jun Spot Price (SGX): $105.30 USD (up $0.30 USD)
Oil Price (WTI): $88.72 USD (down $0.72 USD)
Gold Price : $4,495.98 USD (up $38.95 USD)
Copper Price (CME): $6.4215 USD (up $0.0865 USD)
Bitcoin: $73,470.66 USD (down 2.12% in last 24 hours)
Dow Jones: 50,668.97 at 4.47pm NY time (up 24.69 points on yesterday's close)

ASX falls 1.4pc in $45b wipeout after Mid-East escalation

The Australian sharemarket fell sharply on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 down 124.80 points to 8592.90. The slump was on the back of renewed clashes between the US and Iran, ending hopes of an peace deal in the near future. Oil jumped 3.1 per cent to $US97.20 a barrel, while nine of the 11 index sectors finished in the red. Gold mining companies struggled, with Genesis Minerals down 10.2 per cent to $5.57 and Regis Resources falling 7.9 per cent to $5.87, while Wesfarmers rose 1.2 per cent to $78.48 and James Hardie was up 3.3 per cent to $30.95 (RMS)

May 28m 2026

News

Stock markets keep rising, but momentum slows

Dollar

The dollar regained ground as the fragile truce between the US and Iran appeared increasingly unstable. The dollar index moved back towards its April highs, recovering losses seen after the first signs of compromise between the two sides.

However, investors still seem to be betting on de-escalation whenever tensions begin to ease. That is an important signal for those who believe the market often prices in the most likely outcome.

At the same time, rising US Treasury yields remain a concern. Government bonds continue to face selling pressure, with few signs of a reversal in what is often called the “smart money” market. Despite higher yields making bonds more attractive, demand for the dollar remains limited.

Indices

The S&P 500 has once again reached fresh all-time highs and is on track for a ninth consecutive week of gains. The duration, stability, and strength of this rally have only been seen a handful of times over the past 70 years.

From a contrarian perspective, the market may now be approaching a strong risk-reward setup, as some investors are likely to begin taking profits ahead of the holiday season. At the same time, historical data from similar periods suggests the index could still deliver above-average gains over the next 12 months.

Short-term pullback, long-term upside? Markets may be hinting at exactly that, though certainty never exists.

Gold

Gold has fallen back below $4,400, returning to levels last seen during March’s extended lows. The pressure comes from easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, combined with the declining appeal of non-yielding assets amid rising government bond yields.

The metal is now testing its 200-day moving average, a level where buyers have repeatedly stepped in over the past three years, including during the sharp intraday sell-off in March.

The key difference this time is that gold no longer looks heavily oversold, with market conditions appearing far more balanced. A break below this level could open the door towards the $4,000-$4,100 area, but if selling pressure accelerates, the decline could go much deeper. But who knows where the real bottom might be?

Crypto

The crypto market is accelerating to the downside as the month comes to an end, continuing the weakness that began in May after Bitcoin failed to hold above $82,000. The latest sell-off suggests this may no longer be just a correction after April’s rally, but the start of a deeper bearish phase.

Unless buyers step back in soon, Bitcoin could drift back towards the $65,000 area seen earlier this year.

Ethereum has also dropped below $2,000 and is once again testing a major long-term support level. The concern is that when support is tested too often, buyers can start to lose confidence.

That matters because Ethereum often acts as an early signal for broader market sentiment and can sometimes hint at Bitcoin’s next move.

What next?

The coming week will be packed with economic data, as is often the case at the start of the month, with attention building towards Friday’s NFP.

On Monday, markets will focus on the ISM Manufacturing Index, which measures activity in the manufacturing sector. Traders will also be watching the price component closely after it jumped to a four-year high last month, driven mainly by rising oil prices.

On Tuesday, the eurozone releases preliminary May inflation data. Inflation has already climbed back to 3%, increasing expectations that the ECB could raise rates again in June.

Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls will likely be the key event of the week. The previous reading showed job growth of 115,000, relatively weak by historical standards but still broadly in line with recent labour market trends. (FxPro)

News

May 28, 2026

The crypto market has broken through a key support level

Market Overview

The crypto market has lost around 3.5%, falling to a market capitalisation of $2.44 trillion and sharply breaking through the local support level seen in recent weeks. Technically, this is a worrying sign, as the market has fallen below the 50-day moving average, which could herald further sell-offs. The nearest potential stop is not before $2.30T. In a falling market, Stellar (+14.6%) and Basic Attention Token (+1.5%) stand out, but the third-ranked altcoin, BNB, has lost 3% over the past 24 hours. The worst performers among the most popular were Internet Computer (-9.6%), Zcash (-8.7%) and Dash (-8.7%).

Bitcoin has plummeted to $73K, a level not seen since mid-April. The bearish signal from the previous day, with the price falling below the 50-day moving average, is confirmed by market dynamics, which show that selling pressure on the leading cryptocurrency is intensifying. This suggests the broader bearish trend, represented by the declining 200-day moving average, is once again dominating the shorter-term upward momentum reflected by the 50-day MA. The outcome was not a foregone conclusion, but it seems the time for a long-term bull market has not yet come.

Ethereum has fallen below $2,000, a psychologically significant round figure. Having begun its decline in early May, the second-largest coin has wiped out its April gains and once again finds itself near a multi-year support line, from which ETH rebounded at the start of the year and in April last year.

News Background

An unknown trader sold BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF shares on Tuesday for a massive $1.3 billion, Galaxy Digital notes. This led to a sharp drop in Bitcoin below $76,000. Outflows from US Bitcoin ETFs have continued for seven consecutive trading sessions and remain the main threat to the leading cryptocurrency, Wintermute notes.

Bitcoin has entered a high-risk zone amid mounting selling pressure and escalating international tensions, investment firm Swissblock notes. A further negative factor has been the decline in interest in spot Bitcoin ETFs.

“Ethereum evangelist” David Hoffman has sold all his holdings of the second-largest cryptocurrency and no longer expects it to grow significantly. In his view, ETH has failed to become the universal asset that many supporters of the project had hoped for. Meanwhile, the bulk of revenue has shifted to second-layer networks.

BitMine made the largest Ethereum purchase of the year last week. The company increased its holdings by 111,942 ETH, worth over $237 million. BitMine’s reserves exceeded 5.39 million ETH, that is 4.47% of the Ethereum supply. The company’s CEO, Tom Lee, described the fall of ETH below $2,200 as an ‘attractive opportunity’ to build up positions.

NEAR Protocol (NEAR), a layer-one blockchain positioning itself as the “blockchain for artificial intelligence”, has surged by 100% over the past month. The rally coincided with the announcement of a series of blockchain updates on privacy, cross-chain transfers, AI user data protection, and network scaling.

Summary: The crypto market lost 3.5% and broke key support: BTC fell to $73K, and ETH fell below $2,000. The pressure is being exacerbated by outflows from ETFs and rising market risks. (FxPro)

News

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

May 28, 2026

Wall Street, New York - Sydney, Australia

Ready For The Weekend

"I've Got Friday On My Mind" (The Easybeats)

"Saturday Night's Are For Fighting" (Elton John)

"The Wall Street Shuffle" (10cc)

Big Week In Store For Markets, Streaming Biz, Combat Sports; Ripple Effect! Bulls vs Bears continued

UFC Macau, WWE Clash In Italy and Lucha Libre Noche de Los Grandes This Weekend: TKO Weekend!

Road To WWE Clash In Italy and UFC Freedom 250; Wrestling With Numbers And Creative; UFC Macau This Weekend

WWE's Logan Paul

"Logan Paul knows better than anyone, this ain't ballet" Paul Heyman, re Paul injury

Digital Bush Telegraph

Australia and Wall St Continues To Ring Bells

Markets

May 28 (Aust)
May 27 (Wall St, New York)

ASX 200 futures down 38 points/-0.4 per cent: 8703

AUD flat to 71.40 US¢

Bitcoin $72,977.75 -3.30%

Wall St:
Dow +0.4%
S&P flat
Nasdaq +0.1%

VIX down 0.72 to 16.29
Gold flat to $US4452.75 an ounce
Brent oil -4.6% to $US95.00 a barrel
Iron ore flat to $US105 a ton

10-year yield:
US 4.48%
Australia 4.85%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7137 USD (down $0.0030 USD)
Iron Ore: $105.00 USD (closed for public holiday)
Oil Price (West Texas): $89.44 USD (down $4.17 USD)
Gold Price : $4,456.13 USD (down $51.34 USD)
Copper Price: $6.3350 USD (down $0.0895 USD)
Dow Jones: 50,644.28 (up 182.60 points)

News (Australia)

May 28

ASX rallies on CPI data as tech, miners climb

The Australian sharemarket finished in positive territory on Wednesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing up 59.90 points at 8717.70. Investors were buoyed by the news that the latest headline inflation figures were lower than expected, boosting the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets. The figures helped interest-rate sensitive tech stocks, with Megaport up 8.6 per cent to $14.98 and NextDC rising 3.8 per cent to $15.20, while mining stocks were boosted by strong copper and aluminium prices, with South32 up 3.5 per cent at $4.79 and BHP advancing 1.5 per cent to $61.28. (Roy Morgan Summary)

News

Gaming/Tech Biz

Pokies company Ainsworth writes off $13.2m investment in alleged 'pyramid scheme'

Australian poker machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology has lost a $13.2 million investment in an Argentinian fintech company called Wenance, with the company having been declared bankrupt. Its CEO Alejandro Muszak was arrested in 2024 amid fraud allegations facing Wenance, while there are claims that it operated a Ponzi scheme. With Ainsworth Game Technology having recently forecast a profit before tax of just $1m for the six months ending 30 June, the news that it has lost its $13.2 million investment in Wenance is unlikely to please its shareholders. (RMS)

Cryptos

XRP $1.2746 -3.92

DOGE $0.09773 -3.64%

Bitcoin Cash $330.76 -3.345

News

A.I News (Aust)

WiseTech's move to replace staff with AI triggers threats made against CEO Zubin Appoo

WiseTech Global CEO Zubin Appoo has previously announced plans to lay off about 30 per cent of the logistics software's firm's staff, with it being understood that the lay-off process as far as its Australian staff are concerned began on Monday. The lay-offs appear to have led to an employee to have made threats against Appoo, with police believed to be investigating violent threats allegedly made against him, along with "offensive comments" about his family, with the threats believed to have come from an Australian employee. Appoo had said when announcing the redundancies in February that AI was "going to be the biggest unlocker of productivity for business", while WiseTech founder and executive chairman Richard White has commented that an AI agent "never goes to sleep, never complains, never asks for a pay rise, doesn't go on holidays, works 24/7". (RMS)

News Lead Up

The crypto market is juggling altcoins

Market Overview

The crypto market remains stagnant, stuck at $2.57T and hovering around the 50-day moving average, awaiting further signals. The crypto market’s overall sideways movement looks like a juggling act for mid-tier altcoins: one after another takes the lead. Among the most popular coins over the last 24 hours are NEAR Protocol (+14%), The Graph (+5.6%) and Toncoin (+4.5%). The underperformers were Zcash (-5.9%), Dash (-4.1%) and Uniswap (-3.1%).

Bitcoin rose to $77.8K at the end of the day on Monday, but by the start of trading in Europe, it was trading $1,000 lower. The coin is finding support near the upward-sloping 50-day moving average. Earlier in May, the 200-day moving average briefly acted as strong resistance. If current trends continue, these lines will cross in just a couple of weeks, forming a golden cross, a strong bullish signal. But even before that, we may see a breakout of one of the key moving averages, the outcome of which will determine the trajectory of Bitcoin and the entire crypto market for the coming weeks.

News Background

Institutional investors have withdrawn $1.74 billion from Bitcoin ETFs over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, retail traders are increasing their leverage in anticipation of a reversal in the BTC price. In the past, such a combination has repeatedly resulted in severe waves of liquidations, warns CryptoOnchain.

Current Ethereum levels are suitable for building long-term positions, according to MN Trading founder Michael van de Poppe. In his view, the asset remains a crucial infrastructure element of the on-chain ecosystem, despite lagging the market in recent months due to macroeconomic factors.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of options on a Bitcoin index calculated based on BTC prices across multiple exchanges. This is the first such instrument on US stock exchanges currently; only options linked to the value of spot crypto ETF shares are traded there.

Strategy skipped its weekly Bitcoin purchase last week, instead buying back $1.5 billion of its own convertible bonds. The company’s founder, Michael Saylor, publicly revealed for the first time the tactic that Strategy has been using for five years. (FxPro)

News

May 25

Bitcoin is shy to move up, but refuses to fall

Market Overview

The crypto market continues to fluctuate, returning for the third time this week to market capitalisation levels around $2.57T, although at the end of last week it dipped to $2.5T following an earlier surge to $2.7T in May. Over the past 24 hours, the top-performing coins have been Near Protocol (+7.3%), Internet Computer (+4.1%) and Toncoin (+3.4%). Uniswap has seen the biggest decline, falling by 1.6%, whilst Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin have each lost 1%.

Bitcoin fell to $74.3K on Saturday but was trading just above $77K by Monday. Its price movements remain very subdued, with no sharp spikes, and it continues to lag behind stock indices, which are climbing towards all-time highs. On the other hand, the trend of buying on dips is also clearly continuing. The 50-day moving average remains a support level, but buyers are wary of accelerating their purchases. They are likely somewhat put off by the lack of a ‘final capitulation’ in the leading cryptocurrency, which could have brought the bear market to an end.

News Background

Outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued for a second week, following six weeks of inflows. According to SoSoValue, net weekly outflows from spot BTC ETFs rose to $1.26 billion, hitting their highest level since late January. Total inflows since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 have fallen to $57.08 billion (-2.2% for the week).

Outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs have also persisted for two consecutive weeks. Net weekly outflows from ETH ETFs fell by $216 million. Total net inflows since the ETF's launch in July 2024 have fallen to $11.62 billion (-1.8% week-on-week).

Weakening retail demand and outflows from crypto ETFs could be a ‘contrarian indicator’ signalling a buy signal for Bitcoin, according to Santiment.

Bitcoin miners remain cautious and are not yet showing confidence that the bear market phase is over, CryptoQuant notes. Miners continue to reduce their reserves of the leading cryptocurrency, as they do not yet see sufficient grounds for active BTC purchases.

The media corporation Trump Media and Technology Group transferred 2,650 bitcoins from the project’s crypto wallet to the http://Crypto.com exchange. The transaction suggests a desire to sell BTC, Arkham Intelligence speculated. The deal will be a loss-maker, as the average purchase price of the coins exceeded $118K.

Billionaire Mark Cuban has sold 80% of his bitcoin holdings and stated that he has lost faith in bitcoin as a safe-haven asset. According to him, he continues to hold Ethereum, placing more trust in this altcoin than in BTC. (FxPro)

News Flashback/Lead Up

Media (Australia)

Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire sign with Kyle and Jackie O's old radio company and Nine

Eddie McGuire and Karl Stefanovic are to host a new program on the streaming platforms of Nine Entertainment and radio network Gold every Friday, with the program to be called 'The Long Weekend'. With Stefanovic being the host of Nine's 'Today' program and McGuire the former Collingwood Football Club president, the deal that sees them broadcast the new program is regarded as a 'coup' for Gold owner ARN, following the loss of its 'marquee' breakfast show hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. (RMS)

News (120 + Hours Ago)

Silver And Gold

Silver caught in a price trap

After a long period of calm, volatility has returned to the silver market. Silver surged to a two-month high, rallying more than 20% from its May lows in just a week. However, concerns over tighter monetary policy and rising bond yields have since put pressure on prices.

Of course, the current fluctuations cannot be compared to what we saw in January, when a 35% drop occurred in a single day. Investors felt that the rally had gone too far. However, the situation does not yet look like a classic bubble burst, as silver prices are still 130% higher than a year ago, which is suppressing global demand. UBS estimates a 50 million-ounce decline this year, allowing the bank to lower its price forecast from $100 to $85 per ounce by the end of the second quarter.

High prices are forcing not only jewellers but also industrialists to seek alternatives for silver. There has been some success in replacing it with copper in the manufacture of solar panels. This sector accounts for a fifth of global supply. Due to the fall in global demand, the 46.3-million-ounce deficit forecast by the Silver Institute for 2026 may prove smaller, putting pressure on the price per ounce.

Silver is also facing weaker investment demand. Rising global bond yields and a stronger US dollar are putting pressure on the metal. UBS reports that speculative interest has fallen sharply, while silver ETF holdings have dropped by 70 million ounces since the start of the year, to 794 million ounces.

De-escalation in the Middle East could turn the tables. Oil, the US dollar and Treasury yields would fall, which would be positive for silver. However, as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, it remains under pressure.

The silver market is relatively small compared to gold, which makes it more vulnerable to speculative trading. This often leads to sharper price moves in both directions. (FxPro)

News

(ICYMI)

Conor McGregor Rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329

UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena headlines with this welterweight rematch during International Fight Week, airing live on Paramount+. McGregor, 22-6 and last fighting in 2021 after a tibia fracture, meets Holloway, 27-9, in his welterweight debut—the ex-featherweight champ aiming to make a statement. Trash talk flew fast: McGregor promised to 'son' Holloway again, while 'Blessed' fired back demanding respect on his name. Early odds favor Holloway at -500 amid McGregor's ring rust.

The Lead Up

TKO Neg With Talent/Wrestling With Numbers And Contracts; If The New Price Is Right Mr Wrestling and Ms Wrestling; Mr Corbin aka Mr Lucky enjoying strong buzz: Join the dots; Mr Kross Of WSW and MLW Enjoys Strong Mega Buzz In Australia and Globally: World Series Wrestling, Belt Collector! WSW YouTube Is Updated!

UFC MMA and U.S Admin Mix It Up With Fighters Visiting White House; Patriots Well Received In And Around Oval Office; Present Trump Gets Welcome Image Revamp Of Sorts; Keeping The Wars In The Octagon!

Legendary WWE Tag team Rumored To Return To Roster; No Names/Spoilers - Join The Dots .. And You Can't Beat That ... Ok, Not . S.A.W.F.T ... Hard On The Mic + +

Red Turns To Green And Gold!

News Flashback

Netflix MMA Debut Peaks at 11.6 Million U.S. Viewers with Rousey Win

On May 16 at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, MVP's triple-main-event card averaged 9.3 million U.S. viewers and peaked at 11.6 million during Rousey's featherweight submission over Carano, topping the prior MMA high from 2011. Other highlights included Mike Perry's corner-stoppage win over Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou's first-round knockout of Philipe Lins, drawing star power from fighters like Rousey and Ngannou. Promoters Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian celebrated the global reach and 410 million social impressions, though podcaster Brendan Schaub questioned the figures and off-cage drama saw Claressa Shields banned after a VIP-area altercation with Alycia Baumgardner. (Media Man Peg-On): Are the numbers and biz model sustainable? Perhaps only if Netflix keeps green lighting them. Is there a return on investment if you are Netflix? Insiders and outsiders continue to debate broadcast!

News

Pop Culture Ref: "The Wall Street Shuffle" (10 cc)

LinkedIn b2b Business Continues To Lift For Media Man Group and Associates

News (ICYMI)

Dana White, UFC Power, Makes Front Cover Of Time: The Promoter!

Alphabet/Google Cracks TIME 100 Cover; Positive Buzz

Beast Industries aka MrBeast TIME Top 100 Influencer;

Post Buzz Continues For TIME Media Darlings

TKO/WWE In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offer Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; Counter Punch by some competitors; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and Road To UFC Freedom 250

TKO Prez Mark Shapiro Admits Back To Back WrestleMania's In Sin City Las Vegas May Have Been Mistake; Will Return To City To City Strategy, No Repeat City's For WrestleMania In Future

TKO's LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz; Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Search Engine Journal LinkedIn; Rio Tinto (Mining) Strong LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz

News

WWE's Danhausen Offers Mega Exposure To Rootless Coffee And WWE Merch; Number 3 Best Seller Of WWE Merch With Human Monies; Danhausen ESPN News! Very Nice!

Media Man LinkedIn and X Up; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and Road To UFC Freedom 250

Google/Alphabet: Bullish!

May 27, 2026 (U.S)

Markets

Coffee 269.85 -4.15

Cocoa 4140.00 -29

Sillicon 8380.00 +20.00

Silver 72.243 -2.04

Beef 348.30 +0.50

Newsfeed

News Lead Up

200 + Hours Ago

BTC/Cryptos

Bitcoin hits the pause button at $80K

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has stalled at around $2.70 trillion, reflecting Bitcoin’s indecision around $80,000. At the same time, risk aversion is mounting in global markets, which can be easily linked to profit-taking following the rally and the US dollar's upward momentum. Among the top coins, the leaders over the past day were Theta (+8.5%), Toncoin (+4.9%) and NEAR Protocol (+2.1%). The underperformers were Dash (-4.2%), Official Trump (-3.5%) and Zcash (-3.5%). Full coverage via FxPro. (FxPro). (Media Man Peg-On): Can we call Michael Saylor the "King Of Bulls". Awesome PR machine and LinkedIn buzz. Join the dots!

News

Media Man with Cafe News Media Watercooler

Beer killer? Rise of the vodka RTD

Gold Coast-based drinks maker Hard Fizz emerged at around the time of the pandemic, while the ready-to-drink canned beverage market boomed after the pandemic. Hard Fizz originally focused on alcoholic seltzer drinks, but it is now switching to vodka-based canned drinks, with CEO Wade Tiller saying the change is because you are more limited with flavour when you use seltzer. Hard Fizz's seltzer sales have slumped over the past year, at a time when there is a broader consumer shift to RTDs, while vodka-based light RTDs account for 75 per cent of Australian RTD sales. (RMS)

News

oOh!media rejects $770m offer, triggers bidding war

The board of listed outdoor advertising group oOh!media has advised that it is open to further takeover approaches after spurning two suitors. The company has indicated that it assessed both offers and deemed that neither reflected its intrinsic value. US-based private equity firm I Squared Capital had offered $1.45 per share, valuing its bid at $770m; it had trumped a previous offer from Pacific Equity Partners of $1.40 per share. Brian Han from Morningstar says the rejection of both offers means that oOh!media's directors have effectively put up a 'for auction' sign. (RMS)

News

AI News

The hidden expenses in banking's AI rollout

Tokens have been described as the hidden cost of using artificial intelligence, with tokens being a basic unit that measures how much data is being processed through autonomous AI models such as Anthropic's Claude. Westpac's CEO Anthony Miller told a recent investment banking conference that the bank was still in the process of working out how to disclose token use and productivity, with the cost of tokens depending on the model used. Noel Williams from PwC says the cost of tokens is definitely something that the big banks need to take into consideration, while Goldman Sachs analysts claimed recently that token consumption would increase 22-fold by 2030 and 55-fold by 2040. (RMS)

News

Current

Shares

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$187.64
-0.45 -0.24%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$388.83
-0.050 -0.013%

Meta Platforms Inc
$635.26
+22.91 +3.74%

Netflix Inc
$87.35
-0.33 -0.38%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$101.22
+3.35 +3.42%

MGM Resorts International
$41.95 +3.50 +9.10%

NVIDIA Corp
$212.60
-2.26 -1.05%

News

Wrestling/WWE/Combat Sports

Logan Paul Reveals Gnarly Scar After Triceps Tear in WWE Title Defense

During Saturday Night's Main Event, Paul and Austin Theory defended their championships against the Street Profits when Paul tore his triceps on a dive from Angelo Dawkins. WWE confirmed the injury on Raw, with a six-month recovery timeline, though Paul joked he'd return in weeks fueled by his PRIME shake. He underwent surgery soon after, posting graphic operating room selfies and calling the scar an 'uncrustable' edge, earning praise for his toughness from fans and wrestlers alike. (Media Man Peg On): Much respect to LP. The wrestlers wrestlers, akin to the late, great, Harley Race. LP to return with a veneange. Austin Theory and Bron keeping The Vision flag aloft. Dawkins Dawg may get bit?! LP bite worse than considerable bark. Size of the fight in the dog, right creative mastermind Michael Hayes.

News

(ICYMI)

MGM Vegas

Heyman Hustle/Paul Heyman - Live At MGM

News

Heyman’s involvement ties into his Looking4Larry Agency’s creative work and a broader MGM Studios partnershipMGM Live is the new entertainment/content brand for MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas properties. It launched on Instagram with a debut reel featuring Paul Heyman and UFC President Dana White together at an EZ Baccarat table at the Live at Park MGM venue on the Las Vegas.

This marks a notable crossover, as UFC and WWE are both under TKO Group Holdings. Park MGM has hosted WWE events (like the 2026 Hall of Fame) and UFC PPVs.

Heyman shot disruptive/late-night content there during WrestleMania week, including:His TikTok debut from Park MGM (talking about Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania, etc.).

"Heyman on Heyman" interview with his son Jacob for HeymanHustleTV. Multiple Instagram/TikTok reels embracing his "King of New York (and everywhere else)" persona while promoting MGM.

News

Big Tech

(ICYMI)

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026 Earnings Beating Expectations

Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% to $20 billion.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by 39-40% Azure growth.

Amazon reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and EPS of $10.44 above estimates.

News Lead Up

Media (Aust)

May 22

James Murdoch gets Rupert's old New York mag in $419m Vox deal

James Murdoch has purchased roughly half of Vox Media in a deal reportedly worth $US300 million ($419 million). It is the first big purchase by James Murdoch since he 'cashed out' his $US1.1 billion share of the Murdoch family business in a 2025 settlement that ended a acrimonious succession dispute, with James Murdoch being the youngest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Vox Media's assets include 'New York' magazine, which his father owned from 1976 to 1991, along with a podcast network that includes shows such as 'Where Should We Begin?' (RMS)

Media Man (Anti Peg-On): Succession?!? May be interesting lunch or dinner banter. Boar On The Floor? If you can make it in New York and/or Sydhey, you can make it anywhere?!

News

May 25

(Rey Mysterio is new AAA GM); JBL May Challenge!

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

Mask vs Mask. This Weekend. El Grande Americano's! May 30, 2026

Sports News Lead

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again; SS King Of Division, Substance And Hype; Yan UFC Bonus; Dana White Inks McGregor for UFC 329; UFC Macua This Weekend! May 30

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black-ish Friday again?

Road To WWE Clash In Italy

Road To WWE Money In The Bank (for some)

Google/Alphabet vs The Others

X vs The Others

WWE Management And Wrestlers Bullish; Wrestling and Boxing; WrestleMania Not Returning To Vegas For Long Time After Repeat Let Down

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

News

Media Man Group Weekly Series

Pop Culture Dream Matches

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar - Rematch - Clash in Italy

New Blood vs New Day vs Old News

GCW Bloodspot vs The Others

MGM Wrestling vs Atlantic City

Mr UFC vs Upstart MMA's

Bam Bam vs Time

Mankind vs IWC

UFC vs Outlaw Mud Shows

MVP vs Weekend Warriors

WBD Wrestling vs Own Goal

Mr Dingo Driver vs Dingo Warrior

New School vs Old School

Paul Heyman and Son and MGM Gamification vs others!

PopWrecked vs Karen

Studio97 vs others: Catfight Rules!

FHM vs MAXIM

Danhausen and Minihuasen vs Fraxiom

x AI vs others!

T. Abbott (Aust) and P. Hanson vs Wokes

Rousey and Gina vs Critics

Ali vs self

The Man In The Arena vs self

Netflix vs Paramount Plus vs YouTube - 3 Way Dance! Special Ref: Easy E. Share The Love!

Ultra A.I vs Human Full Bloods

Extreme Swimming vs Traditional Swimming

Ex Machina vs Cave Man

Rudos vs Technicos (Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide)

Killer Kross vs All; KK The Belt Collector!

Mr News vs Mr VOX *That's with a V, not FOX)!

FOX vs The Hare: Fox And The Hound! Re-match. NYC Rules!

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't know" Anon/Mr Crypto Castle

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"The consumer and fans decide what and who is the best" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"More often than not it pays to be Google friendly" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group (repeated at Google Search Central Live, Sydney, Australia)

Media Man

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

May 26, 2026

Wall Street, New York - Sydney, Australia

Big Week In Store For Markets, Streaming Biz, Combat Sports; Ripple Effect! Bulls vs Bears continued

Road To WWE Clash In Italy and UFC Freedom 250; Wrestling With Numbers And Creative

Digital Bush Telegraph

Australia and Wall St Continues To Ring Bells

Markets

ASX 200 futures down 3 points: 8677

AUD 71.70US¢

Bitcoin - $75,647.14 -1.26%

Wall St:
Dow -0.2%
S&P +0.6%
Nasdaq +1.2%

VIX up 0.42 to 17.01
Gold -1.4% to $US4507.390 an ounce
Brent oil +3.5% to $US99.53 a barrel
Iron ore -1.6% to $US105.00 a ton

10-year yield: US 4.50% Australia 4.91%

News

Numbers Double Check

Australian Dollar: $0.7167 USD (down $0.0006 USD)
Iron Ore: $105.00 USD (down $1.75 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $93.61 USD (up $3.31 USD)
Gold Price : $4,507.47 USD (down $62.85 USD)
Copper Price: $6.4245 USD (down $0.0455 USD)
Dow Jones: 50,461.68 (down 118.02 points)

News (Australia)

May 27

Shares drop after US strikes on Iran; ASX Ltd suffers worst day ever

The Australian sharemarket fell on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 finishing down 34.20 points at 8657.8, with oil rising again on the back of US strikes on Iran that dampened optimism about a possible peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the rise in the price of oil, energy stocks declined, with Santos 0.9 per down cent to $7.87 and Woodside Energy retreating 0.1 per cent to $30.72. Meanwhile, ASX Ltd had its worst day ever, with the market exchange operator down 13.2 per cent to $51.03 after it advised that its cost base and capital spending outlook for FY 2026-27 would rise about 20 per cent on further technology investment. (RMS)

News

Gaming/Tech Biz

Pokies company Ainsworth writes off $13.2m investment in alleged 'pyramid scheme'

Australian poker machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology has lost a $13.2 million investment in an Argentinian fintech company called Wenance, with the company having been declared bankrupt. Its CEO Alejandro Muszak was arrested in 2024 amid fraud allegations facing Wenance, while there are claims that it operated a Ponzi scheme. With Ainsworth Game Technology having recently forecast a profit before tax of just $1m for the six months ending 30 June, the news that it has lost its $13.2 million investment in Wenance is unlikely to please its shareholders. (RMS)

Cryptos

XRP $1.3247 -0.75%

DOGE $0.1020 +0.20%

Bitcoin Cash $344.16 -0.68%

News

A.I News (Aust)

WiseTech's move to replace staff with AI triggers threats made against CEO Zubin Appoo

WiseTech Global CEO Zubin Appoo has previously announced plans to lay off about 30 per cent of the logistics software's firm's staff, with it being understood that the lay-off process as far as its Australian staff are concerned began on Monday. The lay-offs appear to have led to an employee to have made threats against Appoo, with police believed to be investigating violent threats allegedly made against him, along with "offensive comments" about his family, with the threats believed to have come from an Australian employee. Appoo had said when announcing the redundancies in February that AI was "going to be the biggest unlocker of productivity for business", while WiseTech founder and executive chairman Richard White has commented that an AI agent "never goes to sleep, never complains, never asks for a pay rise, doesn't go on holidays, works 24/7". (RMS)

News

The crypto market is juggling altcoins

Market Overview

The crypto market remains stagnant, stuck at $2.57T and hovering around the 50-day moving average, awaiting further signals. The crypto market’s overall sideways movement looks like a juggling act for mid-tier altcoins: one after another takes the lead. Among the most popular coins over the last 24 hours are NEAR Protocol (+14%), The Graph (+5.6%) and Toncoin (+4.5%). The underperformers were Zcash (-5.9%), Dash (-4.1%) and Uniswap (-3.1%).

Bitcoin rose to $77.8K at the end of the day on Monday, but by the start of trading in Europe, it was trading $1,000 lower. The coin is finding support near the upward-sloping 50-day moving average. Earlier in May, the 200-day moving average briefly acted as strong resistance. If current trends continue, these lines will cross in just a couple of weeks, forming a golden cross, a strong bullish signal. But even before that, we may see a breakout of one of the key moving averages, the outcome of which will determine the trajectory of Bitcoin and the entire crypto market for the coming weeks.

News Background

Institutional investors have withdrawn $1.74 billion from Bitcoin ETFs over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, retail traders are increasing their leverage in anticipation of a reversal in the BTC price. In the past, such a combination has repeatedly resulted in severe waves of liquidations, warns CryptoOnchain.

Current Ethereum levels are suitable for building long-term positions, according to MN Trading founder Michael van de Poppe. In his view, the asset remains a crucial infrastructure element of the on-chain ecosystem, despite lagging the market in recent months due to macroeconomic factors.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of options on a Bitcoin index calculated based on BTC prices across multiple exchanges. This is the first such instrument on US stock exchanges currently; only options linked to the value of spot crypto ETF shares are traded there.

Strategy skipped its weekly Bitcoin purchase last week, instead buying back $1.5 billion of its own convertible bonds. The company’s founder, Michael Saylor, publicly revealed for the first time the tactic that Strategy has been using for five years. (FxPro)

May 25

Bitcoin is shy to move up, but refuses to fall

Market Overview

The crypto market continues to fluctuate, returning for the third time this week to market capitalisation levels around $2.57T, although at the end of last week it dipped to $2.5T following an earlier surge to $2.7T in May. Over the past 24 hours, the top-performing coins have been Near Protocol (+7.3%), Internet Computer (+4.1%) and Toncoin (+3.4%). Uniswap has seen the biggest decline, falling by 1.6%, whilst Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin have each lost 1%.

Bitcoin fell to $74.3K on Saturday but was trading just above $77K by Monday. Its price movements remain very subdued, with no sharp spikes, and it continues to lag behind stock indices, which are climbing towards all-time highs. On the other hand, the trend of buying on dips is also clearly continuing. The 50-day moving average remains a support level, but buyers are wary of accelerating their purchases. They are likely somewhat put off by the lack of a ‘final capitulation’ in the leading cryptocurrency, which could have brought the bear market to an end.

News Background

Outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs have continued for a second week, following six weeks of inflows. According to SoSoValue, net weekly outflows from spot BTC ETFs rose to $1.26 billion, hitting their highest level since late January. Total inflows since the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 have fallen to $57.08 billion (-2.2% for the week).

Outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs have also persisted for two consecutive weeks. Net weekly outflows from ETH ETFs fell by $216 million. Total net inflows since the ETF's launch in July 2024 have fallen to $11.62 billion (-1.8% week-on-week).

Weakening retail demand and outflows from crypto ETFs could be a ‘contrarian indicator’ signalling a buy signal for Bitcoin, according to Santiment.

Bitcoin miners remain cautious and are not yet showing confidence that the bear market phase is over, CryptoQuant notes. Miners continue to reduce their reserves of the leading cryptocurrency, as they do not yet see sufficient grounds for active BTC purchases.

The media corporation Trump Media and Technology Group transferred 2,650 bitcoins from the project’s crypto wallet to the http://Crypto.com exchange. The transaction suggests a desire to sell BTC, Arkham Intelligence speculated. The deal will be a loss-maker, as the average purchase price of the coins exceeded $118K.

Billionaire Mark Cuban has sold 80% of his bitcoin holdings and stated that he has lost faith in bitcoin as a safe-haven asset. According to him, he continues to hold Ethereum, placing more trust in this altcoin than in BTC. (FxPro)

News Flashback/Lead Up

Media (Australia)

Karl Stefanovic and Eddie McGuire sign with Kyle and Jackie O's old radio company and Nine

Eddie McGuire and Karl Stefanovic are to host a new program on the streaming platforms of Nine Entertainment and radio network Gold every Friday, with the program to be called 'The Long Weekend'. With Stefanovic being the host of Nine's 'Today' program and McGuire the former Collingwood Football Club president, the deal that sees them broadcast the new program is regarded as a 'coup' for Gold owner ARN, following the loss of its 'marquee' breakfast show hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson. (RMS)

News (100 + Hours Ago)

Silver And Gold

Silver caught in a price trap

After a long period of calm, volatility has returned to the silver market. Silver surged to a two-month high, rallying more than 20% from its May lows in just a week. However, concerns over tighter monetary policy and rising bond yields have since put pressure on prices.

Of course, the current fluctuations cannot be compared to what we saw in January, when a 35% drop occurred in a single day. Investors felt that the rally had gone too far. However, the situation does not yet look like a classic bubble burst, as silver prices are still 130% higher than a year ago, which is suppressing global demand. UBS estimates a 50 million-ounce decline this year, allowing the bank to lower its price forecast from $100 to $85 per ounce by the end of the second quarter.

High prices are forcing not only jewellers but also industrialists to seek alternatives for silver. There has been some success in replacing it with copper in the manufacture of solar panels. This sector accounts for a fifth of global supply. Due to the fall in global demand, the 46.3-million-ounce deficit forecast by the Silver Institute for 2026 may prove smaller, putting pressure on the price per ounce.

Silver is also facing weaker investment demand. Rising global bond yields and a stronger US dollar are putting pressure on the metal. UBS reports that speculative interest has fallen sharply, while silver ETF holdings have dropped by 70 million ounces since the start of the year, to 794 million ounces.

De-escalation in the Middle East could turn the tables. Oil, the US dollar and Treasury yields would fall, which would be positive for silver. However, as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, it remains under pressure.

The silver market is relatively small compared to gold, which makes it more vulnerable to speculative trading. This often leads to sharper price moves in both directions. (FxPro)

News

(ICYMI)

Conor McGregor Rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329

UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena headlines with this welterweight rematch during International Fight Week, airing live on Paramount+. McGregor, 22-6 and last fighting in 2021 after a tibia fracture, meets Holloway, 27-9, in his welterweight debut—the ex-featherweight champ aiming to make a statement. Trash talk flew fast: McGregor promised to 'son' Holloway again, while 'Blessed' fired back demanding respect on his name. Early odds favor Holloway at -500 amid McGregor's ring rust.

The Lead Up

TKO Neg With Talent/Wrestling With Numbers And Contracts; If The New Price Is Right Mr Wrestling and Ms Wrestling; Mr Corbin aka Mr Lucky enjoying strong buzz: Join the dots; Mr Kross Of WSW and MLW Enjoys Strong Mega Buzz In Australia and Globally: World Series Wrestling, Belt Collector! WSW YouTube Is Updated!

UFC MMA and U.S Admin Mix It Up With Fighters Visiting White House; Patriots Well Received In And Around Oval Office; Present Trump Gets Welcome Image Revamp Of Sorts; Keeping The Wars In The Octagon!

Legendary WWE Tagteam Rumored To Return To Roster; No Names/Spoilers - Join The Dots .. And You Can't Beat That ... Ok, Not . S.A.W.F.T ... Hard On The Mic + +

Red Turns To Green And Gold!

News Flashback

Netflix MMA Debut Peaks at 11.6 Million U.S. Viewers with Rousey Win

On May 16 at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome, MVP's triple-main-event card averaged 9.3 million U.S. viewers and peaked at 11.6 million during Rousey's featherweight submission over Carano, topping the prior MMA high from 2011. Other highlights included Mike Perry's corner-stoppage win over Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou's first-round knockout of Philipe Lins, drawing star power from fighters like Rousey and Ngannou. Promoters Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian celebrated the global reach and 410 million social impressions, though podcaster Brendan Schaub questioned the figures and off-cage drama saw Claressa Shields banned after a VIP-area altercation with Alycia Baumgardner. (Media Man Peg-On): Are the numbers and biz model sustainable? Perhaps only if Netflix keeps green lighting them. Is there a return on investment if you are Netflix? Insiders and outsiders continue to debate broadcast!

News

Pop Culture Ref: "The Wall Street Shuffle" (10 cc)

LinkedIn b2b Business Continues To Lift For Media Man Group and Associates

News (ICYMI)

Alphabet/Google Cracks TIME 100 Cover; Positive Buzz

Beast Industries aka MrBeast TIME Top 100 Influencer;

Post Buzz Continues For TIME Media Darlings

TKO/WWE In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offer Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; Counter Punch by some competitors; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and Road To UFC Freedom 250

TKO Prez Mark Shapiro Admits Back To Back WrestleMania's In Sin City Las Vegas May Have Been Mistake; Will Return To City To City Strategy, No Repeat City's For WrestleMania In Future

TKO's LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz; Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Search Engine Journal LinkedIn; Rio Tinto (Mining) Strong LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz

News

WWE's Danhausen Offers Mega Exposure To Rootless Coffee And WWE Merch; Number 3 Best Seller Of WWE Merch With Human Monies; Danhausen ESPN News! Very Nice!

Media Man LinkedIn and X Up; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and Road To UFC Freedom 250

Google/Alphabet: Bullish!

May 25, 2026 (U.S)

Markets

Coffee 274.00 +1.65

Cocoa 41.69.00 +373.00

Sillicon 8430 +20.00

Silver 76815 -0.14

Beef 347.80

Newsfeed

News Lead Up

200 + Hours Ago

BTC/Cryptos

Bitcoin hits the pause button at $80K

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has stalled at around $2.70 trillion, reflecting Bitcoin’s indecision around $80,000. At the same time, risk aversion is mounting in global markets, which can be easily linked to profit-taking following the rally and the US dollar's upward momentum. Among the top coins, the leaders over the past day were Theta (+8.5%), Toncoin (+4.9%) and NEAR Protocol (+2.1%). The underperformers were Dash (-4.2%), Official Trump (-3.5%) and Zcash (-3.5%). Full coverage via FxPro. (FxPro). (Media Man Peg-On): Can we call Michael Saylor the "King Of Bulls". Awesome PR machine and LinkedIn buzz. Join the dots!

News

Media Man with Cafe News Media Watercooler

Beer killer? Rise of the vodka RTD

Gold Coast-based drinks maker Hard Fizz emerged at around the time of the pandemic, while the ready-to-drink canned beverage market boomed after the pandemic. Hard Fizz originally focused on alcoholic seltzer drinks, but it is now switching to vodka-based canned drinks, with CEO Wade Tiller saying the change is because you are more limited with flavour when you use seltzer. Hard Fizz's seltzer sales have slumped over the past year, at a time when there is a broader consumer shift to RTDs, while vodka-based light RTDs account for 75 per cent of Australian RTD sales. (RMS)

News

oOh!media rejects $770m offer, triggers bidding war

The board of listed outdoor advertising group oOh!media has advised that it is open to further takeover approaches after spurning two suitors. The company has indicated that it assessed both offers and deemed that neither reflected its intrinsic value. US-based private equity firm I Squared Capital had offered $1.45 per share, valuing its bid at $770m; it had trumped a previous offer from Pacific Equity Partners of $1.40 per share. Brian Han from Morningstar says the rejection of both offers means that oOh!media's directors have effectively put up a 'for auction' sign. (RMS)

News

AI News

The hidden expenses in banking's AI rollout

Tokens have been described as the hidden cost of using artificial intelligence, with tokens being a basic unit that measures how much data is being processed through autonomous AI models such as Anthropic's Claude. Westpac's CEO Anthony Miller told a recent investment banking conference that the bank was still in the process of working out how to disclose token use and productivity, with the cost of tokens depending on the model used. Noel Williams from PwC says the cost of tokens is definitely something that the big banks need to take into consideration, while Goldman Sachs analysts claimed recently that token consumption would increase 22-fold by 2030 and 55-fold by 2040. (RMS)

News

Shares

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$188.09
-3.41 -1.78%
Lead Up
$191.50 -0.13 -0.068%
After hours: $191.50 flat

Alphabet Inc Class A
$388.88
+5.91 +1.54%
Lead up
$382.97
-4.69 -1.21%

Meta Platforms Inc
$612.34
+2.08 +0.34%
Lead Up
$610.26
+2.88 +0.47%

Netflix Inc
$87.68
-0.92 -1.04%
Lead Up
$88.60
-0.70 -0.78%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$97.87
+0.63 +0.65%
Lead Up
$97.24
-1.30 -1.32%

MGM Resorts International
$38.45
+0.050 +0.13%
Lead Up
$38.40
+0.74 +1.96%

NVIDIA Corp
$214.86
-0.47 -0.22%
Lead Up
$215.33
-4.18 -1.90%

News

(ICYMI)

MGM Vegas

Heyman Hustle/Paul Heyman - Live At MGM

News

Heyman’s involvement ties into his Looking4Larry Agency’s creative work and a broader MGM Studios partnershipMGM Live is the new entertainment/content brand for MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas properties. It launched on Instagram with a debut reel featuring Paul Heyman and UFC President Dana White together at an EZ Baccarat table at the Live at Park MGM venue on the Las Vegas.

This marks a notable crossover, as UFC and WWE are both under TKO Group Holdings. Park MGM has hosted WWE events (like the 2026 Hall of Fame) and UFC PPVs.

Heyman shot disruptive/late-night content there during WrestleMania week, including:His TikTok debut from Park MGM (talking about Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania, etc.).

"Heyman on Heyman" interview with his son Jacob for HeymanHustleTV. Multiple Instagram/TikTok reels embracing his "King of New York (and everywhere else)" persona while promoting MGM.

News

Big Tech

(ICYMI)

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026 Earnings Beating Expectations

Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% to $20 billion.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by 39-40% Azure growth.

Amazon reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and EPS of $10.44 above estimates.

News Lead Up

Media (Aust)

May 22

James Murdoch gets Rupert's old New York mag in $419m Vox deal

James Murdoch has purchased roughly half of Vox Media in a deal reportedly worth $US300 million ($419 million). It is the first big purchase by James Murdoch since he 'cashed out' his $US1.1 billion share of the Murdoch family business in a 2025 settlement that ended a acrimonious succession dispute, with James Murdoch being the youngest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Vox Media's assets include 'New York' magazine, which his father owned from 1976 to 1991, along with a podcast network that includes shows such as 'Where Should We Begin?' (RMS)

Media Man (Anti Peg-On): Succession?!? May be interesting lunch or dinner banter. Boar On The Floor? If you can make it in New York and/or Sydhey, you can make it anywhere?!

News

Sports Biz (Aust)

AFL star set to make more money from one game than he earns in a year

Collingwood player Scott Pendlebury will break the record for the most number of games played by an VFL/AFL player when he lines up against the West Coast Eagles this weekend. Collingwood and the AFL have approved a special commercial arrangement for Pendlebury that will enable him to 'capture' 100 per cent of a vast array of merchandise created for the occasion, rather than the usual 65 per cent player cut. It has been estimated that Pendlebury could make more than $500,000 from the event, which is more than his annual salary, while he is currently involved in a legal battle with his former manager Jason Sourasis, with Pendlebury claiming Sourasis took $2.6 million from his accounts over an extended period "without his knowledge". (RMS)

News

May 25

(Rey Mysterio is new AAA GM); JBL May Challenge!

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

News Flashback

AAA Announces New General Manager Reveal on May 23

On the April 25 episode of AAA on Fox, President Marisela Peña announced that Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide will get a new General Manager, with the live reveal set for May 23 in Mexico City. This follows her son Dorian Roldán's recent plea for the role, which she decided to open to other candidates after careful thought. Fans are speculating on names like Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, or even The Undertaker, amid AAA's growth since WWE's majority stake acquisition last April and its new Fox broadcasts blending lucha action with WWE polish. (Media Man Peg-On): Ariba. Triple A has massive influence from The Undertaker, and it's paying off as far as entertainment value for fans and in other creative and business ways from what we see and hear. Can see Danhausen in Triple A also? Lucha Hausen! And Vice City Rocks!

News Lead

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again; SS King Of Division, Substance And Hype; Yan UFC Bonus; Dana White Inks McGregor for UFC 329

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black-ish Friday again?

Road To WWE Clash In Italy

Road To WWE Money In The Bank (for some)

Google/Alphabet vs The Others

X vs The Others

WWE Management And Wrestlers Bullish; Wrestling and Boxing; WrestleMania Not Returning To Vegas For Long Time After Repeat Let Down

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

News

Media Man Group Weekly Series

Pop Culture Dream Matches

Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar - Rematch - Clash in Italy

New Blood vs New Day vs Old News

GCW Bloodspot vs The Others

MGM Wrestling vs Atlantic City

Mr UFC vs Upstart MMA's

Bam Bam vs Time

Mankind vs IWC

UFC vs Outlaw Mud Shows

MVP vs Weekend Warriors

WBD Wrestling vs Own Goal

Mr Dingo Driver vs Dingo Warrior

New School vs Old School

Paul Heyman and Son and MGM Gamification vs others!

PopWrecked vs Karen

Studio97 vs others: Catfight Rules!

FHM vs MAXIM

Danhausen and Minihuasen vs Fraxiom

x AI vs others!

T. Abbott (Aust) and P. Hanson vs Wokes

Rousey and Gina vs Critics

Ali vs self

The Man In The Arena vs self

Netflix vs Paramount Plus vs YouTube - 3 Way Dance! Special Ref: Easy E. Share The Love!

Ultra A.I vs Human Full Bloods

Extreme Swimming vs Traditional Swimming

Ex Machina vs Cave Man

Rudos vs Technicos (Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide)

Killer Kross vs All; KK The Belt Collector!

Mr News vs Mr VOX *That's with a V, not FOX)!

FOX vs The Hare: Fox And The Hound! Re-match. NYC Rules!

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"I've never met a currency I didn't like" JBL

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't know" Anon/Mr Crypto Castle

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"The consumer and fans decide what and who is the best" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"More often than not it pays to be Google friendly" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group (repeated at Google Search Central Live, Sydney, Australia)

Media Man

Markets, Cryptos and Culture

May 18, 2026

Sydney, Australia to Wall Street, New York

Digital Bush Telegraph

Australia Continues To Ring Bells

Markets

Australian Dollar: $0.7142 USD (down $0.0078 USD)
Iron Ore: $109.35 USD (down $1.55 USD)
Oil Price (West Texas): $105.42 USD (up $3.40 USD)
Gold Price : $4,540.49 USD (down $110.35 USD)
Copper Price: $6.2895 USD (down $0.2905 USD)
Dow Jones: 49,526.17 (down 537.29)

Bitcoin $76,849 -1.66%

News

May 18

ASX to dip as Nvidia earnings, rate fears loom over markets

The S&P/ASX 200 is expected to open slightly lower on Monday, after the futures index pointed to a 0.1 per cent fall. The predicted decline comes after investors took profits on semiconductor and tech companies on Wall Street on Friday, with the profit-taking coming after a weeks-long, record-setting rally. As far as the week ahead is concerned, investors will be waiting on earnings results from chip maker Nvidia, along with a speech from Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Sarah Hunter on Tuesday, with it marking the first public commentary from the RBA since it increased the cash rate for the third time this year, to 4.35 per cent, on 5 May; the RBA's minutes from that decision will also be released on Tuesday. (ABIX)

News

Conor McGregor Rematches Max Holloway at UFC 329

UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena headlines with this welterweight rematch during International Fight Week, airing live on Paramount+. McGregor, 22-6 and last fighting in 2021 after a tibia fracture, meets Holloway, 27-9, in his welterweight debut—the ex-featherweight champ aiming to make a statement. Trash talk flew fast: McGregor promised to 'son' Holloway again, while 'Blessed' fired back demanding respect on his name. Early odds favor Holloway at -500 amid McGregor's ring rust.

The Lead Up

TKO Neg With Talent/Wrestling With Numbers And Contracts; If The New Price Is Right Mr Wrestling and Ms Wrestling

UFC MMA and U.S Admin Mix It Up With Fighters Visiting White House; Patriots Well Received In And Around Oval Office; Present Trump Gets Welcome Image Revamp Of Sorts; Keeping The Wars In The Octagon!

Red Turns To Green And Gold!

Pop Culture Ref: "The Wall Street Shuffle" (10 cc)

LinkedIn b2b Business Continues To Lift For Media Man Group and Associates

Media And Broadcasting Legend Ted Turner Dies (May 6); 100s Of Tributes Globally; Media, Entertainment And Sports Business World Pays Tribute; Turner Company Helped 1000s Globally In Career And Business

News

(ICYMI)

Pop Culture

Mortal Kombat II Scores $63 Million Opening Weekend

The R-rated Mortal Kombat II, directed by Simon McQuoid and produced by James Wan, opened on May 8 with $40 million domestically and $23 million internationally, totaling $63 million despite landing second to The Devil Wears Prada 2. Returning stars like Ludi Lin as Liu Kang joined Karl Urban's cocky Johnny Cage to face Shao Kahn in a tournament drawn from Mortal Kombat 9 and 11, earning mixed critic scores of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes but a roaring 90% audience approval. Pro gamer SonicFox called it 'peak holy fucking shit 10/10,' praising Urban's performance, with strong IMAX sales and gamer buzz pointing to solid legs ahead. (Media Man: Peg-On): Much stronger buzz and reviews than the original.

News (ICYMI)

Alphabet/Google Cracks TIME 100 Cover; Positive Buzz

Beast Industries aka MrBeast TIME Top 100 Influencer;

Post Buzz Continues For TIME Media Darlings

TKO/WWE In And Out Of The Ring Continues; Up and Down Cycle; TKO's Nick Khan Offer Positive Vibes To US Admin Re Ali Act Amendment; Counter Punch by some competitors; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and WWE SNME

TKO's LinkedIn Continues To Enjoy Strong News Media Buzz; Google LinkedIn Numbers Up; Search Engine Journal LinkedIn; Rio Tinto (Mining) Strong LinkedIn Media Vibes And Buzz

News

Trump Concludes China Summit with Xi on Trade and Iran

Over two days starting May 13, 2026, Trump and Xi discussed stabilizing trade amid tariffs, keeping the Strait of Hormuz open amid the Iran war, and Taiwan tensions, with no major deals but agreements on Boeing jet purchases and no Chinese military aid to Iran. Trump highlighted the U.S. business leaders' presence to foster deals, while Xi praised America's patriotic revival and warned against mishandling Taiwan. The summit featured grand ceremonies like a state banquet and Temple of Heaven visit, though a photo of the all-male delegations drew criticism over optics. (Media Man: Win-Win?)

News

WWE's Danhausen Offers Mega Exposure To Rootless Coffee And WWE Merch; Number 3 Best Seller Of WWE Merch With Human Monies; Danhausen ESPN News! Very Nice!

Media Man LinkedIn and X Up; Road To WWE Clash In Italy and WWE SNME

Google/Alphabet Earnings Ultra Bullish

May 18, 2026

(Sydney, Australia To Wall Street, New York)

Markets

Coffee 266.90 -8.80

Cocoa 4002.00 -187.00

Sillicon 8330.00 -20.00

Silver 75.050 +0.245

Newsfeed

May 13

Culture/WWE NXT

Naraku Crushes Lince Dorado in Dominant WWE NXT Debut

The 39-year-old Japanese powerhouse, formerly EVIL in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and an ex-IWGP Heavyweight Champion, signed with WWE in April and debuted Tuesday on NXT airing on The CW. After vignettes and a chilling promo revealing his hellish new name, Naraku grabbed a quick win over Dorado, then snarled into the mic: "NARAKU is not a man of honor. I am pure EVIL!" His intact NJPW gimmick and House of Torture flair drew fan buzz, with eyes now on NXT Champion Tony D'Angelo as the King of Darkness eyes gold. (Media Man Peg-On): In Australia WWE NXT airs on Netflix. Highlights via the official WWE YouTube channel.

News

Pop Culture/WWE

Randy Orton's WrestleMania 41 Card Sells for $42,100 Record Price

The one-of-a-kind card from Topps' 2025 Royalty WWE set features a patch from Orton's WrestleMania 41 match in Las Vegas, signed with 'WM#20' and 'The Viper.' It shattered records by doubling the prior No. 2 WWE card sale, beating out a Steve Austin 1/1, after Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns bid nearly $40,000 before losing in the final seconds. Orton reacted by promising the winner his WM41 throwback gear—he still has his iconic 2004 SummerSlam trunks from becoming WWE's youngest world champion at age 24. (Media Man Peg-On): Some collectors making an RKO killing. Punt kick to a real job! Coiled up big ballers!

News Lead Up

60 + Hours Ago

BTC/Cryptos

Bitcoin hits the pause button at $80K

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has stalled at around $2.70 trillion, reflecting Bitcoin’s indecision around $80,000. At the same time, risk aversion is mounting in global markets, which can be easily linked to profit-taking following the rally and the US dollar's upward momentum. Among the top coins, the leaders over the past day were Theta (+8.5%), Toncoin (+4.9%) and NEAR Protocol (+2.1%). The underperformers were Dash (-4.2%), Official Trump (-3.5%) and Zcash (-3.5%).

The sentiment index has settled just below the midpoint of the range, recording readings of 47, 48 and 49 over the last three days. At the same time, we continue to note how difficult it is for the crypto market to consolidate at the upper end of the spectrum, which indicates a predominance of bears.

Bitcoin points to much the same thing, having lost its upward momentum as it approached the 200-day moving average. Although this line is trending downwards, the market has failed to break through it for the past six days. On the other hand, as the decline is quite modest, it resembles nothing more than a breather following a rally, leaving a strong chance of growth resuming.

News Background

According to CoinShares, global investments in crypto funds rose by $858 million last week. Investments in Bitcoin increased by $706 million, in Ethereum by $77 million, in Solana by $48 million, and in XRP by $40 million. Outflows from Bitcoin short positions totalling $14 million marked the largest of the year.

Investments rose amid a compromise on stablecoin yields under the CLARITY Act. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to consider the bill next week, CoinShares notes.

Strategy acquired 535 BTC for $43 million last week — at an average price of $80,340 per coin. The week before, the company skipped its weekly BTC purchase ahead of its quarterly report. Strategy now holds 818,869 BTC, purchased for $61.86 billion at an average price of $75,540 per Bitcoin.

Strategy will continue to build up its reserves of the leading cryptocurrency. At the same time, the volume of purchases will significantly exceed any potential sales, stated the company’s founder, Michael Saylor. According to him, it is important to remain a ‘net buyer’ and end each year with more coins than at the start.

Jordi Visser, founder of 22V Research, has increased his investment in Ethereum. In his view, this year will see the start of mass asset tokenisation, which will form the basis for payments by AI agents. For autonomous transactions, they will need digital assets such as Ethereum or stablecoins. (FxPro). (Media Man Peg-On): Can we call Michael Saylor the "King Of Bulls". Awesome PR machine and LinkedIn buzz. Join the dots!

News

Media Man with Cafe News Media Watercooler

Beer killer? Rise of the vodka RTD

Gold Coast-based drinks maker Hard Fizz emerged at around the time of the pandemic, while the ready-to-drink canned beverage market boomed after the pandemic. Hard Fizz originally focused on alcoholic seltzer drinks, but it is now switching to vodka-based canned drinks, with CEO Wade Tiller saying the change is because you are more limited with flavour when you use seltzer. Hard Fizz's seltzer sales have slumped over the past year, at a time when there is a broader consumer shift to RTDs, while vodka-based light RTDs account for 75 per cent of Australian RTD sales. (RMS)

News

oOh!media rejects $770m offer, triggers bidding war

The board of listed outdoor advertising group oOh!media has advised that it is open to further takeover approaches after spurning two suitors. The company has indicated that it assessed both offers and deemed that neither reflected its intrinsic value. US-based private equity firm I Squared Capital had offered $1.45 per share, valuing its bid at $770m; it had trumped a previous offer from Pacific Equity Partners of $1.40 per share. Brian Han from Morningstar says the rejection of both offers means that oOh!media's directors have effectively put up a 'for auction' sign. (RMS)

News

AI News

The hidden expenses in banking's AI rollout

Tokens have been described as the hidden cost of using artificial intelligence, with tokens being a basic unit that measures how much data is being processed through autonomous AI models such as Anthropic's Claude. Westpac's CEO Anthony Miller told a recent investment banking conference that the bank was still in the process of working out how to disclose token use and productivity, with the cost of tokens depending on the model used. Noel Williams from PwC says the cost of tokens is definitely something that the big banks need to take into consideration, while Goldman Sachs analysts claimed recently that token consumption would increase 22-fold by 2030 and 55-fold by 2040. (RMS)

News Lead Up

144 + Hours Ago

Cryptos

Altcoins are surging amid a steady rise in BTC price

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has risen by 0.75% over the past 24 hours, reaching $2.69 trillion. The top three performers are Zcash (+29%), Toncoin (+23%) and Filecoin (+16%). The underperformers are Ethereum (-0.4%), Algorand (-0.5%) and Basic Attention Token (-4.6%).

Bitcoin is approaching $81.5K, continuing its movement within an upward channel and hitting new highs since February. This positive momentum can easily be linked to the continued rise in stock indices, which is boosting risk appetite and bringing a more significant technical battle into view. The leading cryptocurrency is approaching its 200-day moving average (currently at $83.3K); a firm consolidation above this level would be a further sign of bullish dominance. We saw the first such sign – consolidation above the 50-day moving average – exactly one month ago. It is quite likely that, as Bitcoin approaches $83K, a short-term profit-taking phase awaits, allowing some of the gains to be taken.

The performance of altcoins clearly shows how BTC’s steady growth is encouraging increased risk-taking. First Toncoin, and today Zcash, have gained nearly 30% over the past 24 hours. The latter has been rising every day since 3 April, gaining 80% during this period; it was one of the first major cryptocurrencies to climb out of the slump at the end of January and reach highs last seen in November of last year. The key pivot zone in 2018 and 2025, near $800, looks well within reach in the coming days.

News Background

The total USDT market capitalisation has increased by $5.9 billion over the last 60 days, whereas prior to March, the market was losing around $2 billion monthly, notes analyst Darkfost. The inflow of capital into the crypto market is boosting asset values.

Morgan Stanley suggests that US banks may be able to hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets in the future, despite current regulatory barriers. The bank recently launched a Bitcoin-based exchange-traded product (ETP). Later this year, Morgan Stanley will launch spot trading in cryptocurrency on its Wealth platform.

The international payment system Western Union has launched its own stablecoin, USDPT, on the Solana blockchain. Integration with SOL will allow the company to speed up settlements and move away from traditional interbank systems, which are prone to delays.

BitMine has increased its Ethereum reserves to $13 billion, purchasing over 100,000 ETH for the third week in a row. The company’s reserves have reached 5,180,131 ETH, or 4.29% of the Ethereum supply.

Toncoin (TON) jumped by 45% amid fee reductions and the reorganisation of TON. Pavel Durov announced that Telegram would take over management of the TON crypto project from the current operator, the TON Foundation. The entrepreneur promised to reduce fees on the TON network sixfold and turn the eponymous token into a mass-market product.

News

Advertising expectations and experience: Australians have their say about AI

The second wave of Ad Standards' Community Sentiment Tracker, which was conducted by Roy Morgan, has found that 72% of Australians are concerned about the use of AI-generated content in advertising, particularly its potential to mislead or deceive people with unrealistic or fake content. Around half are also worried that the use of AI could reduce authenticity and creativity in advertising and promote unrealistic body or beauty standards. Australians believe AI-generated content is already widely used in advertising, with more than half saying that it is used very often (21%) or often (37%). Despite this, confidence in recognising AI-generated content remains low, with one in five Australians saying they are not at all confident they could identify when AI-generated content has been used in an ad. Some 64% of Australians believe it should always be necessary to disclose when advertising contains AI-generated content. The Ad Standards-Roy Morgan Community Sentiment Tracker Survey was conducted online with a cross-section of 1,000 Australians aged 18+ between 19 February and 2 March 2026. (Roy Morgan)

News

Sports/Media/Broadasting

Seven boss flags interest in NRL

Southern Cross Media Group's CEO Rohan Lund has indicated that the Seven Network owner could potentially bid for the NRL's broadcasting rights. Lund says media companies like Seven have an important role in helping audiences and partners to connect with their sports teams. He adds that Seven could be interested in the annual State of Origin series in particular. The Nine Network's current free-to-air rights deal for the NRL expires next year, and the NRL aims to finalise its next deal by the end of July. (RMS)

News

Shares

TKO Group Holdings Inc
$190.07
-1.26
The Lead Up
$192.50
+8.80 +4.79%

Alphabet Inc Class A
$396.78
+1.07
The Lead Up
$401.07
-1.55 -0.38%

Meta Platforms Inc
$614,23
-0.68
The Lead Up
$618.43
+1.80 +0.29%

Netflix Inc
+0.092
The Lead Up
$86.94
-0.62 -0.71%

Wynn Resorts Ltd
$95.42
-0.010
The Lead Up
$95.43
-0.78 -0.81%

MGM Resorts International
$36.97
+0.43
The Lead Up
$36.81
-0.60 -1.60%

News

(ICYMI)

MGM Vegas

Heyman Hustle/Paul Heyman - Live At MGM

News

Heyman’s involvement ties into his Looking4Larry Agency’s creative work and a broader MGM Studios partnershipMGM Live is the new entertainment/content brand for MGM Resorts International’s Las Vegas properties. It launched on Instagram with a debut reel featuring Paul Heyman and UFC President Dana White together at an EZ Baccarat table at the Live at Park MGM venue on the Las Vegas.

This marks a notable crossover, as UFC and WWE are both under TKO Group Holdings. Park MGM has hosted WWE events (like the 2026 Hall of Fame) and UFC PPVs.

Heyman shot disruptive/late-night content there during WrestleMania week, including:His TikTok debut from Park MGM (talking about Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania, etc.).

"Heyman on Heyman" interview with his son Jacob for HeymanHustleTV. Multiple Instagram/TikTok reels embracing his "King of New York (and everywhere else)" persona while promoting MGM.
News

Pop Culture/WWE

Danhausen Reopens Cameo for Sports Curses and Uncurses

The Metro Detroit wrestler, now with WWE, offers personalized videos for around $125 to curse or uncursed sports teams, just as NBA playoffs heat up. A Knicks fan's uncursing video preceded their 140-89 Game 6 blowout over the Hawks, sparking requests from Chiefs, Nets, Panthers, Cavs, Bears, Arsenal, Ferrari, and Jets fans. His 'very nice, very evil' persona has fans half-jokingly linking his hexes to real results, with Cameo now swamped and unavailable. (Media Man Peg-On: You are not cursed, and you are on Media Man!

News

Big Tech

(ICYMI)

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Report Q1 2026 Earnings Beating Expectations

Alphabet reported Q1 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion and EPS of $5.11, surpassing estimates, with Google Cloud revenue up 63% to $20 billion.

Microsoft reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $82.89 billion and EPS of $4.27, beating expectations, driven by 39-40% Azure growth.

Amazon reported Q1 2026 revenue of $181.5 billion and EPS of $2.78 exceeding forecasts, with AWS up 28%, while Meta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $56.3 billion and EPS of $10.44 above estimates.

News

News Lead Up

144 approx Hours Ago

Bitcoin has begun hunting down short sellers

Market Overview

The crypto market capitalisation has continued to hit new highs since early February, reaching $2.67 trillion. This time, the movement was not uniform, consisting of individual surges led by Toncoin (+29%), followed by Algorand (+4.5%) and Basic Attention Token (+4%). The underperformers include Dash (-5.5%), Aptos (-2.1%) and VeChain (-1.6%).

The sentiment index has reached 50, the midpoint of the indicator’s range, where it last stood on 17 January. The market is approaching a significant turning point. Since last October, there have been only brief surges in sentiment to higher levels, but these have provided excellent opportunities for bears to sell at higher prices.

Although Bitcoin faced some pressure midday on Monday, it overcame it on Tuesday, reaching $81K and gaining 1.3% for the day, though, by and large, it covered this ground in just the last 4 hours. We attribute this rally to short squeezes, as the rise occurred during the period of the most aggressive movements ahead of the start of active trading in Asia, when liquidity is at its lowest. Meanwhile, on the stock markets, there was only a slight pullback following the downward momentum. In any case, on the daily charts, Bitcoin is recording its sixth bullish candle, and the entire April uptrend now fits within a new upward channel, with the upper boundary currently at the 200-day moving average.

News Background

The Capriole investment fund has noted a sharp rise in demand for Bitcoin from major players. Institutional investors are buying up more than 500% of the daily mining output of the leading cryptocurrency every day. Historically, such a supply shortage has led to a 24% rise in BTC over the following month.

Bitcoin appears poised for an upward surge. A break above $80K opens up the possibility of reaching $86K–$88K in the coming period, notes MN Trading founder Michael van de Poppe.

Following the latest adjustment, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has fallen by 2.3% to 132.47 T. According to Glassnode, the network’s average hash rate, smoothed by a 7-day moving average, stands at around 955 EH/s.

Senators Tom Tillis and Angela Olsbrooks have reached a compromise regarding stablecoin yields in the CLARITY Act. This bill regulating the US crypto market may be considered by the Senate Banking Committee in the week following 11 May. (FxPro)

News

Pop Culture/Lucha Libre

AAA Announces New General Manager Reveal on May 23

On the April 25 episode of AAA on Fox, President Marisela Peña announced that Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide will get a new General Manager, with the live reveal set for May 23 in Mexico City. This follows her son Dorian Roldán's recent plea for the role, which she decided to open to other candidates after careful thought. Fans are speculating on names like Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio, or even The Undertaker, amid AAA's growth since WWE's majority stake acquisition last April and its new Fox broadcasts blending lucha action with WWE polish. (Media Man Peg-On): Ariba. Triple A has massive influence from The Undertaker, and it's paying off as far as entertainment value for fans and in other creative and business ways from what we see and hear. Can see see Danhausen in Triple H also? Lucha Hausen! And Vice City Rocks!

News Lead

UFC - MMA Building Stars Again; SS King Of Division, Substance And Hype; Yan UFC Bonus; Dan Inks McGregor for UFC 329

New York Kind Of Feeling

US Stocks - Black Friday aftermath

Road To WWE Clash In Italy and WWE SNME

WWE Management And Wrestlers Bullish; Wrestling and Boxing

Sports Biz Event Tickets And Merch Drive

Danhausen Lifts WWE Merch Hausen

News

Media Man Group Weekly Series

Pop Culture Dream Matches

New Blood vs New Day vs Old News

GCW Bloodspot vs The Others

MGM Wrestling vs Atlantic City

Mr UFC vs Numerous Mainstream Media

Bam Bam vs Father Time

UFC vs Outlaw Mud Shows

MVP vs Weekend Warriors

WBD Wrestling vs Own Goal

Mr Dingo Driver vs Naysayers

New School vs Old School

Paul Heyman and Son and MGM Gamification vs others!

PopWrecked vs Karen

Studio97 vs others: Catfight Rules!

Danhausen and Minihuasen def Bully Ray and Easy E

Oba Femi vs Lockeroom

x AI vs others!

T. Abbott (Aust) vs Wokes

Rousey vs self

Rousey and Gina vs Critics

Ali vs self

The Man In The Arena vs self

Netflix vs Paramount Plus vs YouTube - 3 Way Dance! Special Ref: Easy E. Share The Love! Enough For The Big 3!

Ultra A.I vs Human Full Bloods

Ex Machina vs Cave Man

Rudos vs Technicos (Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide)

Killer Kross vs All; KK The Belt Collector!

News

Best Quotes Of The Day

"What's your hustle" Paul Heyman

"Everyone you meet knows something you don't know" Anon

"An investment in ones self is always the best bet" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

"The consumer and fans decide what and who is the best" Greg Tingle, Media Man Group

Media Man

UAE Online News

News

Hotel, Casino and Resort News: UAE

June - July 2024

Wynn positioning itself as ‘best-in-class’ in free cash flow margin as it funds UAE project, analyst says

Wynn Resorts is well positioned to fund its integrated resort project in the United Arab Emirates and position itself as the “best-in-class” in free cash flow margin in global gaming, according to note to investors from CBRE Credit Research Director Colin Mansfield. CBRE estimates Wynn Al Marjan Island will be de-leveraging to Wynn on a pro forma basis relative to its 2026 estimates, declining to about 4.2x gross lease-adjusted leverage at project maturity.

News Feature

The First Casino Near Dubai Sparks a New Gold Rush

Four artificial islands in the Persian Gulf sat mostly empty for the past decade. Now, every lot is sold and cranes are everywhere.

Barely a year after Las Vegas casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd. announced plans for a $4 billion resort in the United Arab Emirates, the area is crawling with construction workers erecting five-star resorts, shops and $7 million villas in what developers expect will become a major tourist hotspot.

Before that deal, the artificial Marjan islands off the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, or RAK, had spent most of the past decade as a lost opportunity, a 2.7 square-kilometer (1 square mile) white elephant largely unused after a $1 billion football-themed resort and related Real Madrid academy was scrapped for the site.

These days, every lot is sold and cranes are rising faster than the morning desert heat. Hoardings around construction sites are plastered with signs advertising the coming homes. At least 20 developers have projects in various stages of design and construction on the islands, said Abdulla Al Abdouli, chief executive officer of the state entity that developed them. He expects most projects to be completed within just six years.

The new construction will cost billions of dollars, he says. But even he’s not sure exactly how many.

Anticipating the rush of new visitors, the emirate’s small international airport is planning to build a new terminal to boost capacity to 2 million passengers a year by 2027, almost triple the some 700,000 travellers anticipated this year. About one-third of the world’s population lives within a four-hour flight.

Ras Al Khaimah, which means the head of the tent in Arabic, has a 40 mile coastline on the Persian Gulf and until now has largely catered to Russian tourists looking for a cheaper alternative to Dubai. The Marjan islands, roughly half the size of Dubai’s famous Palm Jumeirah, were completed in 2013.

On the island where Wynn is building its planned casino and resort, activity is going full speed. A dozen cranes hover over what’s to be among the company’s largest developments, at 1,500 rooms. Access to the island is restricted only to workers until the site opens to the public in 2027.

“The Wynn casino and resort has been a game changer for Marjan,” said Khalid Bin Kalban, the CEO of Dubai Investments PJSC, which is building a hotel and a residential community there. “Everyone is there in anticipation that RAK’s tourism will grow rapidly with the casino. It’s about the gaming, the shows, the hotels. You’re essentially bringing a mini-Vegas to Ras Al Khaimah.”

The introduction of casinos would be a step change for the UAE, where gambling is prohibited under Islam and is illegal in the country: Offenders can be fined or sentenced to two years in prison — or both. No casinos exist in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, although they can be found in Lebanon and Egypt. The UAE has created an authority to provide a framework for legalized gaming, although no laws legalizing it have been passed so far.

It took decades to make Las Vegas what it is today, but officials here are thinking more ambitiously.

Marjan, the owner of the islands, is looking to build about 9,000 hotel rooms and a similar number of homes to add to the existing properties. The islands currently host six hotels with a total of 3,052 rooms along with around 3,000 apartments, many of which are serviced, including JW Marriott and Rixos. Las Vegas has almost 155,000 hotel rooms; some 10% of that total will exist here within a generation.

But for the emirate, which welcomed 1.2 million visitors last year, the existing supply sharply lags demand, said Al Abdouli, the CEO of Marjan. With about 8,000 rooms, the opportunity for developers is there to grow the market and attract new visitors, he added.

“Marjan Island is different from the daily hustle and bustle of being in downtown Dubai or Abu Dhabi,” said Al Abdouli. “It’s a getaway. Many of the visitors come from other parts of the UAE for staycations. There are mountainous areas for hiking, biking, triathlons and beaches. But the Wynn resort will be a catalyst like no other in the UAE.”

Prices have exploded, and for the lucky few who bought early the returns have been spectacular. Bin Kalban said prices per square foot not long ago were 300 dirhams ($82), but now you can’t find anything below 800 dirhams.

At the moment Ras Al Khaimah has 12 hotels in the planning stage along with seven in construction, according to CoStar, a London-based provider of real estate data and analytics.

The broader emirate of Ras Al Khaimah today has an old Arabia vibe, mainly a vast expanse of red sand dunes with sparse vegetation. It’s a far cry from Dubai’s skyscrapers and traffic jams some 70 miles down the road.

In the race to develop tourism destinations, Ras Al Khaimah has an advantage over Saudi Arabia. Alcohol is legal, and scores of Russian and Chinese tourists already visit the emirate, despite the limited number of hotels. The casino will help attract the gamblers but will also lure families looking for a slice of Vegas in the desert — without the trans-Atlantic flight.

Still, for Ras Al Khaimah to become a sustainable destination, more investment is needed in the area’s infrastructure, along with restaurants and retail, to support a steady stream of visitors.

“There’s a plethora of different things that are required,” said Philip Barnes, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotels & Resorts. “That’s why I think when people are looking at tourism or hotels, you’ve got to look at big picture. Where do you want to be and where do you have the infrastructure? It’s great to get into a destination that is developing because it allows you to get a foothold. But you’ve got to be cognizant of the development” of facilities and supporting infrastructure, he added.

There are no public transport options, for example, to visit the Marjan islands from Dubai.

“Las Vegas, contrary to what most people think, is not about gambling, it’s about conventions,” he said. “The Sphere, this new concert arena that they’ve opened, drives traffic into that city because they bring big names in with big impact on the economy. It’s not just about the people coming in for the concert, it’s the hotels, it’s the restaurants, it’s the retail. When you’re looking at tourism as a whole you have to understand the whole picture.”

Even without that, developers are racing to complete property as soon as they can. A typical four-bed villa on the island costs 6 million dirhams ($1.6 million), while top-end luxury houses here can reach 40 million.

Emaar Properties PJSC, developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, is building luxury apartments and townhouses, with its marketing touting its site near the upcoming casino. The Address Residences, starting at 1.8 million dirhams, will include apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms and the community will include gyms, pools and restaurants on the island’s sandy white beaches.

Abu Dhabi’s largest developer tied up with international luxury beach club, Nikki Beach, to develop three branded residential buildings, and the first batch of 570 homes was sold within hours amid strong demand from overseas and expatriate residents. Another development, Rosso Bay Residences, has also been sold in an emirate that’s trying to lure the wealthy with various plans.

Abu Dhabi National Hotels last year started building a 1,000-room luxury resort on 1 million square feet of land that’s set to be completed next year. A US-based private developer, WOW Properties, has broken ground on 474 homes to be serviced by JW Marriott, along with a 264-room hotel at a total cost of 4.8 billion dirhams. And Britain’s Aston Martin has partnered with Saudi Arabian developer Dar Global to design the interiors of luxury homes that are part of a $250 million beachfront residential community to be completed by 2028.

The momentum of so many developers building at once is going to “create more and more synergies,” Bhupender Patel, co-CEO of WOW Resorts, said in an interview. “The whole market’s about to take off like you’ve never seen a market take off in this part of the world.” (Wires, AI News)

Gaming, Hotel, Casino and Sports News: USA

July 2024

American Gaming Association announces 2024 Gaming Hall of Fame inductees

The American Gaming Association Wednesday announced the Gaming Hall of Fame Class of 2024, honoring three individuals for their contributions to the industry. The new members are: Jim Allen, Hard Rock International Chairman, Seminole Gaming CEO, and former chairman of the AGA. Alan Feldman, UNLV International Gaming Institute Director of Strategic Initiatives and Distinguished Fellow in Responsible Gaming, and a former executive with MGM Resorts International. Debi Nutton, Everi Holdings Board Member, executive coach-consultant, and former casino operations executive. (CDC, AI News, Wires)

News

Las Vegas: Downtown Grand hotel-casino seeks buyer

A downtown Las Vegas hotel-casino is looking for a buyer. Downtown Grand, the 1,124-room property one block north of the Fremont Street pedestrian mall, is on the market, multiple industry sources confirmed. The property is owned by real estate investment firm CIM Group and operated by Fifth Street Gaming, a Las Vegas-based operator whose portfolio includes the Silver Nugget and Ojos Locos Sports Cantina and Casino in North Las Vegas and the Golden Tiki restaurant in Chinatown. Fifth Street Gaming and the property’s agent...did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday.

News

New Jersey fines DraftKings $100K for reporting inaccurate sports betting data to the state

In one of the most sternly worded rebukes they have ever issued, New Jersey gambling regulators have fined DraftKings $100,000 for reporting inaccurate sports betting data to the state, which it called “unacceptable conduct” that demonstrated weaknesses in the company’s business abilities. The errors resulted in regulators having to post corrected financial data for several months, something that had not happened in 13 years. The mistakes involved overstating the amount of money wagered on multi-tiered bets, or parlays, and understating other categories of wagers.

News

Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe hotel renovations set to begin

The Golden Nugget Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino is moving ahead with major renovations under its new owner, billionaire Tilman Fertitta. Last August, Feritta’s Golden Landry’s LLC and GN NV Holdings acquired the Hard Rock Lake Tahoe from Paragon Gaming with cash, then rebranded it. Fertitta’s attorney Sonia Vermeys with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck told the Nevada Gaming Control Board Wednesday that the her client had always intended to finance the transaction. In December, the owner of the land entered into a term-loan agreement with Deutsche Bank.

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Bermuda regulator’s reports show efforts to resolve casino industry roadblock

Failed efforts by the Bermuda Gaming Commission to solve the banking issues that have held up the launch of a casino industry are described in newly released annual reports. David Burt, the Premier, finally tabled the publicly funded regulator’s reports for 2020 to 2023 in the House of Assembly last Friday, after falling behind in sharing them with taxpayers. They shed some light on how the commission has tried to get banks to handle casino transactions — a necessity for the sector to get up and running — but even the most recent report, for 2022-23, is out of date.

News

Bally’s Chicago secures casino financing, unveils new hotel design

One week after taking possession of the Freedom Center printing plant, Bally’s has secured the needed financing to supplant it with a $1.7 billion Chicago casino complex on the 30-acre site in River West. Bally’s announced a deal Friday with Gaming and Leisure Properties, a Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust, to provide $940 million to fund the construction of the permanent casino. In addition, Bally’s has also finalized redesign of its planned 500-room hotel tower, which has been shifted from north of the casino to the south to avoid damaging city water pipes along the Chicago River, pending approval from the city’s planning department.

News

Walmart is preparing major push into lottery sector

At its annual summit in early April, retail giant Walmart convened various lottery industry vendors and suppliers and revealed, more or less: Walmart is preparing a push from lottery bystander to active participant and competitor, with plans to launch an app that it may eventually equip with iLottery capabilities. The message was conveyed in meetings with the likes of IGT, Scientific Games, NeoPollard, and others currently working with the retail behemoth. Walmart representatives unveiled a slogan aimed at the lottery industry, “Be in it to Win it,” according to presentation materials from the Bentonville, Arkansas summit that were reviewed by Lottery Geeks.

News

Colorado: RCI Hospitality pulls casino license applications in Colorado

Entertainment company RCI Hospitality Holdings has withdrawn its applications to operate casinos from the Colorado Division of Gaming. The company, known for operating strip clubs and nightclubs like Rick’s Cabaret and restaurants like Bombshells Restaurant and Bar, also disclosed its intention to develop its share buyback program. The decision follows the NASDAQ-listed company’s acquisition of three properties in Central City for potential casino developments, which will not proceed as planned. The company also intends to sell other properties that are no longer required, including a 20,000-square-foot building and another site initially intended for a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot development.

News

Las Vegas: Tropicana operators take the next step toward implosion

The Tropicana is one step closer to coming down, after property operators submitted a commercial implosion permit application with Clark County officials on Thursday. A permit application shows Bally’s Corp., operators of the former Rat Pack-era resort, want to implode a 22-story concrete tower and a 22-story steel tower in a “single explosive event.” A spokesperson for Bally’s said the company is still expecting an October implosion. No other details were available. The company tasked with the implosion will be Controlled Demolition Inc., according to the application. (CDC, AI News, Wires)

Horizon: An American Saga | Get Tickets Now Trailer
https://youtube.com/watch?v=rLaYzHhHdok&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Pictures

The west is calling. Get your tickets to experience #HorizonAmericanSaga, only in theaters June 28

Horizon: An American Saga | Trailer 1
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YYsReoZMj1k&t=3s&ab_channel=WarnerBros.Pictures

This Summer the American Saga begins. Horizon: An American Saga - Only in Theaters June 28 #Horizonamericansaga

Academy Award-winning visionary filmmaker Kevin Costner directs New Line Cinema’s vast “Horizon: An American Saga” Chapters One and Two, a multi-faceted chronicle covering the Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West.

A story of America too big for one film, this true cinematic event also stars Costner, who co-writes with Jon Baird (“The Explorers Guild”) and produces through his Territory Pictures.

In the great tradition of Warner Bros. Pictures’ iconic Westerns, “Horizon: An American Saga” explores the lure of the Old West and how it was won—and lost—through the blood, sweat and tears of many.

Spanning the four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, Costner’s ambitious cinematic adventure will take audiences on an emotional journey across a country at war with itself, experienced through the lens of families, friends and foes all attempting to discover what it truly means to be the United States of America.

Costner stars alongside an impressive ensemble cast that includes Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, Owen Crow Shoe, Tatanka Means, Ella Hunt, Tim Guinee, Danny Huston, Colin Cunningham, Scott Haze, Tom Payne, Abbey Lee, Michael Rooker, Will Patton, Georgia MacPhail, Douglas Smith, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alejandro Edda, Wasé Winyan Chief, Michael Anganaro, Angus Macfadyen, Jon Beavers, Alex Nibley, Kathleen Quinlan, Etienne Kellici, Amos Jason Charging Cloud, Bodhi Okuma Linton, Gregory Cruz, James Russo, Jeff Fahey, David O’Hara, Chris Conner, Leroy M. Silva, Bernardo Velasco, Tom Everett, Glynn Turman, Giovanni Ribisi and more.

Costner returns to directing for the first time since his 2003 critically acclaimed hit “Open Range,” and revisits Civil War-era America, the setting for his 1990 blockbuster and directorial debut, “Dances with Wolves,” which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

He produces alongside Howard Kaplan and Mark Gillard, with Danny Peykoff, Robert Scannell, Armyan Bernstein, Charlie Lyons, Barry Berg and Rod Lake executive producing.

Costner is joined behind the camera by director of photography J. Michael Muro (“Billionaire Boys Club,” “Parker”), production designer Derek R. Hill (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “The Magnificent Seven”), editor Miklos Wright (“For All Mankind,” “Open Range”) and costume designer Lisa Lovaas (“Ambulance,” “Transformers: The Last Knight”).

The music is by Oscar nominee John Debney (“The Passion of the Christ,” “The Greatest Showman”).

A New Line Cinema presentation of a Territory Pictures production, “Horizon: An American Saga” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

The films will be released in theaters nationwide, the first on June 28, 2024, the second on August 16, 2024. (Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Media Man: Huge thumbs up.

Media Man

OpenAI introduced a long-form question-answering AI called ChatGPT that answers complex questions conversationally.

It’s a revolutionary technology because it’s trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question.

Many users are awed at its ability to provide human-quality responses, inspiring the feeling that it may eventually have the power to disrupt how humans interact with computers and change how information is retrieved.

What Is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a large language model chatbot developed by OpenAI based on GPT-3.5. It has a remarkable ability to interact in conversational dialogue form and provide responses that can appear surprisingly human.

Large language models perform the task of predicting the next word in a series of words.

Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) is an additional layer of training that uses human feedback to help ChatGPT learn the ability to follow directions and generate responses that are satisfactory to humans.

ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) ] is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022. It is built on top of OpenAI's GPT-3 family of large language models, and is fine-tuned (an approach to transfer learning) with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.

ChatGPT was launched as a prototype on November 30, 2022, and quickly garnered attention for its detailed responses and articulate answers across many domains of knowledge. Its uneven factual accuracy was identified as a significant drawback. Following the release of ChatGPT, OpenAI was reportedly valued at $29 billion. (Wikipedia)

OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company conducts research in the field of AI with the stated goal of promoting and developing friendly AI in a way that benefits humanity as a whole. The organization was founded in San Francisco in late 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others, who collectively pledged US$1 billion. Musk resigned from the board in February 2018 but remained a donor. In 2019, OpenAI LP received a US$1 billion investment from Microsoft and Matthew Brown Companies. OpenAI is headquartered at the Pioneer Building in Mission District, San Francisco. (Wikipedia)

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News

Can movie theatres and online streaming live side by side?

It’s been a tough time for movie theatres around the world with a number of factors contributing to the decline in the number of people heading to the cinema to watch movies. In a world that is embracing digital technologies, the movie industry is in danger of getting left behind unless they quickly embrace the technologies available that will get people excited to return to movie theatres and get the enjoyment of the cinema experience once again.

The rise of the video game industry

Whilst there are plenty of factors that are influencing people’s decision to visit the cinema, there is no doubt that the rapid rise of the online video game industry is a large contributing factor. People are starting to look elsewhere for their entertainment and online video gaming provides a lower-cost alternative to a trip to the cinema.

A report by MarketWatch in 2020 found that the video game industry is now bigger than the sports and movie industry combined. Just take a minute to digest that. Bigger than movies and sports - that’s big.

The news outlet reported that global video game revenue is expected to increase 20% in 2020, making $179.7 billion, according to data from IDC.

The biggest gain is expected to come from mobile gaming, according to the news outlet, which is expected to surge 24% to $87.7 billion. Part of this is due to China recently lifting a ban on gaming consoles.

Game console revenue is expected to soar to $52.5 billion this year, while PC and Mac games are expected to make $39.5 billion.

In their most recent report, MarketWatch reported that whilst overall revenue was expected to grow by 11% in 2021 to $251.39 billion, the forecast for 2022 is just a 2% growth and a flattening out of that rapid growth over the past two years.

Is this a potential opportunity for cinemas to reclaim some of that lost audience share?

Early signs look good for cinemas in 2022

If the latest movie releases in 2022 are anything to go by, it looks as though the movie theatre industry is not ready to give up just yet. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the biggest grossing movie of the past two years, grossing over $US1 billion ($1.38b) in the first two weekends. It is the second-fastest film ever to reach the $1 billion mark and suggests that this could be a big year for cinema-goers.

Following in its footsteps is another 2022 release, The Matrix Resurrections, a movie that grossed $US12 million in its opening weekend.

Whilst this is a great start to the New Year for movie theatres around the world, it remains to be seen whether this is a trend that continues throughout the year. With a number of high profile movies due for release in 2022, this could be a time for cinemas to really cash in.

The impact of streaming and long-form content

It is unlikely that cinemas will have it all their own way in 2022. Whilst it is great to see people returning to movie theatres to watch the latest releases on the big screen, there is no question that home viewing is here to stay.

As more studios and media distributors are developing their own direct-to-consumer streaming services, this starts to eat into the revenue of major studios.

Studios derive almost half of their revenues from theatrical releases. Although the average number of movie tickets purchased by Americans each year has declined from 4.2 in 2009 to 3.4 in 2019 (Source: Deloitte), studio revenues are driven more by box office tickets now than they were 20 years ago.

Streaming is having the biggest impact on people going to the movies. As televisions have improved, where you can now watch movies at home in 4K high-definition on screens with sizes up to 100”, with surround sound, people have become more willing to wait for the latest release movies to become available on streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Stan.

Another major impact on the cinema industry is the consumer switch to long-form content in the form of series. Many people feel there is more depth to a series that contains anywhere from six episodes upwards. Game of Thrones was one of the groundbreaking series to really capture the audience’s attention, however, there are so many amazing series now that it is becoming more difficult for movies to compete with the depth and the character development that a series can bring.

Huge series like Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and more recently, Succession, have really captured the attention of audiences around the world and this is something movie producers need to consider.

The entertainment factor

It’s not just video games and streaming that are competing for people’s attention. Another industry embracing technology is the online casino and betting sector. Here, we have seen huge advancements in the way people are able to game online. One company leading the way in the sector is Betway, “Developed by our exceptionally talented people, Betway creates market-leading, cutting-edge interactive gaming experiences. We bring people closer to the action – putting them at the centre, making them feel a part of it.”

From the introduction of in-game betting to the development of new and exciting interactive games, these online gaming sites are leading the way when it comes to embracing new technologies that can lead to better experiences for customers.

The movie industry is at a real crossroads. With competition coming from every direction within the entertainment industry, studios and distributors need to find a way to either a) get more people back into movie theatres or b) look at alternative ways to ensure that movies can compete with online gaming, live sports streaming and online casinos for a share of customer eyeballs.

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