Equity Mates Investing Podcast

We’re just over halfway through the year, which means it’s time to check the scoreboard. Bryce, Ren, Ally and Betashares’ Cam Gleeson reveal how their $25,000 portfolios are tracking, unpack their latest trades and confront an uncomfortable question: is all that stock picking actually adding value? From Asian tech and cybersecurity to copper, uranium and momentum stocks, there are plenty of lessons on timing, conviction and the dangers of overtrading.

In this episode:
00:00 Who’s winning the portfolio challenge?
02:03 A volatile few months for markets
02:37 Cam’s trades and the cost of overtrading
04:46 Ren doubles down on tech
08:09 Ally goes all-in on momentum
11:03 Bryce’s no-trade strategy pays off
13:52 Can anyone beat DHHF?
14:31 The final stretch of the challenge

Stocks & ETFs Mentioned: Betashares Diversified All Growth ETF (ASX: DHHF), Deep Yellow (ASX: DYL), REA Group (ASX: REA), Karoon Energy (ASX: KAR), Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC), Betashares Emerging Markets Equity ETF (ASX: BEMG), Betashares Wealth Builder Diversified All Growth Geared Complex ETF (ASX: GHHF), Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK), Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ), Betashares Global Energy Companies ETF (ASX: FUEL), Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS), Life360 (ASX: 360), Betashares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA), Betashares S&P/ASX Australian Technology ETF (ASX: DRGN), Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX: TLX), 4DMedical (ASX: 4DX), NEXTDC (ASX: NXT), Webjet Group (ASX: WJL), Megaport (ASX: MP1), Altria Group (NYSE: MO), Plato Global Alpha Fund, Pro Medicus (ASX: PME), Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG), BHP Group (ASX: BHP), Betashares Energy Transition Metals ETF (ASX: WIRE), Betashares Japan ETF Currency Hedged (ASX: HJPN)

Betashares Capital Ltd (ABN 78 139 566 868 AFSL 341181) is the issuer of the Betashares Funds, as well as Betashares Invest, the IDPS-like scheme available via Betashares Direct. Read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination, available at www.betashares.com.au, before making an investment decision. This information is general in nature and doesn’t take into account any person’s financial objectives, situation or needs. You should consider its appropriateness taking into account such factors and seek professional financial advice. Customers are not permitted to participate in more than one Betashares offer, promotion or incentive at the same time. If you are currently participating in, or have accepted, any other Betashares offer, you will not be eligible for this offer unless expressly stated otherwise. The $25 will expire in 60 days from receipt if not used to make an investment. T&Cs available here: https://www.betashares.com.au/campaigns/2026-q3-equity-mates

———

Want to get involved in the podcast? Record a voice note or send us a message

And come and join the conversation in the Equity Mates Facebook Discussion Group.

———

Want more Equity Mates? Across books, podcasts, video and email, however you want to learn about investing – we’ve got you covered.

Keep up with the news moving markets with our daily newsletter and podcast (Apple | Spotify)

We’re particularly excited to share our latest show: Basis Points

Listen to the podcast (Apple | Spotify)

Watch on YouTube

Read the monthly email

———

Download our free Basics of ETF handbook
Or our free 4-step stock checklist
Find company information on TIKR
Research reports from Good Research
Track your portfolio with Sharesight

———

This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Markets around the world are hitting record highs and reporting season is delivering plenty for investors to unpack. Bryce & Ren break down results from some unassuming Aussie companies, ask whether the day or frequency of your dollar cost averaging actually matters, and explain how proposed capital gains tax changes could make record-keeping more complicated. Plus, Michael Burry is betting against the AI trade again. Should investors listen to the man who famously called the GFC?

00:00 Markets are hitting record highs
03:58 Australian reporting season: numbers that caught our eye
05:30 Nick Scali, ResMed and REA Group
14:04 Does the day you dollar cost average actually matter?
18:16 How often should you dollar cost average?
22:21 How will the CGT changes affect investors?
28:44 Michael Burry’s latest bets against AI
31:18 Why calling crashes is easier than making money

Stocks & ETFs Mentioned: Pinnacle Investment Management Group (ASX: PNI), CAR Group (ASX: CAR), Light & Wonder (ASX: LNW), James Hardie Industries (ASX: JHX), Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), BHP Group (ASX: BHP), Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR), Nick Scali (ASX: NCK), ResMed (ASX: RMD), REA Group (ASX: REA), CSL (ASX: CSL), Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT), PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ: SOXX), Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU), MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS), Fiserv (NYSE: FI), Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC)

Grab your FinFest tickets today: https://www.finfest.live/

———

Want to get involved in the podcast? Record a voice note or send us a message

And come and join the conversation in the Equity Mates Facebook Discussion Group.

———

Want more Equity Mates? Across books, podcasts, video and email, however you want to learn about investing – we’ve got you covered.
Keep up with the news moving markets with our daily newsletter and podcast (Apple | Spotify)
We’re particularly excited to share our latest show: Basis Points
Listen to the podcast (Apple | Spotify)
Watch on YouTube
Read the monthly email

———

Looking for some of our favourite research tools?
Download our free Basics of ETF handbook
Or our free 4-step stock checklist
Find company information on TIKR
Research reports from Good Research
Track your portfolio with Sharesight

———

This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Tech is spending at a scale we’ve never seen before to build the infrastructure behind AI, but investors are still trying to answer the trillion-dollar question: will the returns justify it? Alec is joined by T. Rowe Price portfolio specialist Sam Ruiz to unpack what earnings season has revealed, where the AI bottlenecks are shifting, and why the hardware supplying the boom may be an easier question to answer than picking the eventual AI winners.

In this episode:
00:00 Is the AI Boom Sustainable?
03:52 Big Tech’s Trillion-Dollar AI Bet
06:58 AI Revenue Is Surging
09:17 Who’s Funding the AI Boom?
12:19 The World Needs More Compute
15:55 Why AI Stocks Swing Wildly
20:01 Can AI Earnings Last?
24:37 China’s AI Threat
29:36 AI’s Battle for Your Ecosystem
33:10 Did Apple Miss AI?
37:40 Best Ways to Invest
42:35 Protecting Against an AI Bust

ETFs and stocks mentioned: Alphabet (GOOGL / GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), Oracle (ORCL), Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), Intel (INTC), SK Hynix (000660.KS), Samsung (005930.KS), Vertiv (VRT), Siemens (SIE / SIEGY), Caterpillar (CAT), Palantir (PLTR).

———

Want to get involved in the podcast? Record a voice note or send us a message

And come and join the conversation in the Equity Mates Facebook Discussion Group.

———

Want more Equity Mates? Across books, podcasts, video and email, however you want to learn about investing – we’ve got you covered.

Keep up with the news moving markets with our daily newsletter and podcast (Apple | Spotify)

We’re particularly excited to share our latest show: Basis Points

Listen to the podcast (Apple | Spotify)

Watch on YouTube

Read the monthly email

———

Looking for some of our favourite research tools?
Download our free Basics of ETF handbook
Or our free 4-step stock checklist
Find company information on TIKR
Research reports from Good Research
Track your portfolio with Sharesight

———

This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bryce is back from 5 weeks in Europe and markets have been anything but quiet. AI stocks plunged & rebounded, leverage wiped out some huge trades, Big Tech delivered monster earnings, and markets pushed back towards record highs despite a shaky macro backdrop. Back home, Australian property prices are finally softening…

In this episode:
00:00 - Bryce’s holiday recap & a wild month in markets
04:20 - The AI trade gets a reality check
08:48 - Leverage, margin calls & Leopold Aschenbrenner
12:30 - Is the AI spending boom sustainable?
14:48 - Earnings season delivers blockbuster numbers
21:46 - The companies crushing expectations
25:34 - Iran, inflation & the global macro picture
28:44 - Australia: rates, property prices & staying invested

Stocks & ETFs Mentioned: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), SpaceX, Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), GE Vernova (NYSE: GEV), MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI), Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), Betashares Global Banks ETF (ASX: BNKS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX)

Finfest 2026 Tickets still available, to secure yours head to https://equitymates.com/finfest-2026/

Check out our NEW SHOW: How I Got Started - https://equitymates.com/series/how-i-got-started/

+ Plus, check our our NEW CHANNEL: Equity Mates Explains - https://www.youtube.com/@EquityMatesExplains

———

Want to get involved in the podcast? Record a voice note or send us a message

And come and join the conversation in the Equity Mates Facebook Discussion Group.

———

Want more Equity Mates? Across books, podcasts, video and email, however you want to learn about investing – we’ve got you covered.

Keep up with the news moving markets with our daily newsletter and podcast (Apple | Spotify)

We’re particularly excited to share our latest show: Basis Points

Listen to the podcast (Apple | Spotify)

Watch on YouTube

Read the monthly email

———

Looking for some of our favourite research tools?
Download our free Basics of ETF handbook
Or our free 4-step stock checklist
Find company information on TIKR
Research reports from Good Research
Track your portfolio with Sharesight

———

This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Tech is pouring unprecedented amounts of capital into AI infrastructure, but is it a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity or the beginning of an expensive arms race? Loftus Peak CIO Alex Pollak joins Ren to unpack why hyperscalers continue to spend despite growing bond market concerns, whether AI models will become commoditised, and how investors should think about semiconductors, disruption and portfolio construction as the AI race evolves.

In this episode:
00:00 – Has AI moved beyond the bubble debate?
03:03 – Why semiconductor stocks are falling despite record AI spending
09:10 – The bond market, debt and funding the AI buildout
14:31 – Will AI models commoditise or remain valuable?
21:01 – The AI arms race and the prisoner's dilemma
24:43 – Meta, Oracle and the next phase of AI infrastructure
27:12 – How Loftus Peak is managing disruption investing today
34:38 – Beyond AI: biotech, batteries and the next wave of disruption

Stocks & ETFs Mentioned: Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), OpenAI, Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), AMD (NASDAQ: AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), ASML (NASDAQ: ASML), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), SpaceX, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), CATL, Walmart (NYSE: WMT), John Deere (NYSE: DE)

This episode has been sponsored by Loftus Peak - https://www.loftuspeak.com.au/
Support from partners like Loftus Peak help us keep all our content free.
If you want to learn more about Loftus Peak’s Global Disruption active ETF (ASX: LPGD) head here: https://www.loftuspeak.com.au/loftus-peak-global-disruption-active-etf/

———

Want to get involved in the podcast? Record a voice note or send us a message

And come and join the conversation in the Equity Mates Facebook Discussion Group.

———

Want more Equity Mates? Across books, podcasts, video and email, however you want to learn about investing – we’ve got you covered.

Keep up with the news moving markets with our daily newsletter and podcast (Apple | Spotify)

We’re particularly excited to share our latest show: Basis Points

Listen to the podcast (Apple | Spotify)

Watch on YouTube

Read the monthly email

———

Looking for some of our favourite research tools?
Download our free Basics of ETF handbook
Or our free 4-step stock checklist
Find company information on TIKR
Research reports from Good Research
Track your portfolio with Sharesight

———

This podcast is intended for education and entertainment purposes only. Any advice is general advice and has not taken into account your personal financial circumstances. Before acting on general advice, you should consider if it is relevant to your needs. If unsure, speak to a financial professional. The host of this podcast and their guests may have positions in the companies mentioned. Equity Mates Media is part of the Betashares Group but maintains editorial independence and operates under Australian Financial Services licence 540697.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.