Valter Pinto

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Intelligent Bio Solutions fireside chat. Thank you all for joining us today. My name is Valter Pinto, Managing Director at KCSA Strategic Communications. And today, I’m joined by Harry Simeonidis, President and CEO; and Peter Passaris, Vice President of Product Development. Earlier this month, the company submitted its 510(k) premarket notification package to the FDA for its intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System, seeking clearance from the FDA to enter the U.S. market.

We’re hosting today’s call for management to have an opportunity to provide investors with more detail as to where we stand in the FDA process, more information regarding the data submitted to the FDA and provide a look ahead as to what to expect next. Before we begin, quickly, I’d like to remind everyone that statements made during today’s fireside chat may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. For a detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties in the company’s business, I refer you to the company’s reports filed periodically with the SEC, including its annual report on Form 10-K and for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, and the investor materials under the company’s Investor Relations website.

The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. I want to thank

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It’s entirely possible other governments have been the victim of rogue AI agents.

Former Australian government cybersecurity adviser Alastair MacGibbon told the BBC he’d heard whispers that several others have been notified of similar recent breaches by OpenAI agents.

“Some have chosen to not be public – that’s every government’s choice on how it wants to handle these things,” the CyberCX chief strategy officer said. “The [Australian] government chose a time to release this to gain maximum publicity which is their wont to do.”

Revealing a data breach can of course be a risky strategy for governments – it leaves them vulnerable to criticism that their security systems aren’t up to scratch. But the fact that no sensitive information was leaked put Australia in a stronger position to use the incident.

“Nobody has died,” says the University of Queensland’s associate professor Michael Noetel, who studies AI risks. “This is another canary in the coal mine. This sort of loss-of-control incident, even though it’s minor now, is what CEOs are worried about getting worse over time.”

Though Australia has made a name for itself by taking a stand against social media companies, taking up the AI mantle now is another way for Australia to rein in big tech, says Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University in Perth.

“It’s impossible to say for sure, but it seems incredibly likely that this was very carefully planned.”

SYDNEY — Sydney-based financial planning and accounting firm AGS Financial Group has completed the full acquisition of Hartley Financial and Tax & Wealth, expanding its regional footprint and absorbing established advisory talent amid tightening competition across Australia’s wealth management industry.

The strategic acquisition adds approximately $2.6 million in annual revenue to AGS Group. The deal integrates Hartley’s established client base and operations across three physical office locations—two in New South Wales and one in Victoria—into AGS’s broader multidisciplinary service network.

Geographic Expansion and Talent Acquisition Rationale

The acquisition provides AGS Financial Group with immediate physical hubs in markets where the firm already maintained client relationships and prospective leads but lacked local operational facilities. Under the integration structure, Hartley’s offices in Picton and Sutherland in New South Wales, as well as Parkdale in Victoria, will join AGS’s existing office network spanning North Sydney, Norwest, Hurstville, Miranda, South Melbourne, and Brisbane.

To streamline operations following the transaction, Hartley’s former Mascot office in New South Wales was closed, with existing clients redirected to nearby branches in Picton and Sutherland or offered continuous digital service options. Founder David Hartley is staying involved through the transition phase to ensure operational continuity for long-standing clients.

“What attracted us to Hartley was that we didn’t need to change how they work to make this fit,” stated Paul Bolstad, Chief Executive Officer of AGS Financial Group, regarding the transaction. “They run the same integrated model we do, with planning, tax, accounting, and lending under one roof, and they hold the same values. Their focus has never been the single transaction, it’s the end outcome and the relationship behind it.”

Navigating Post-Royal Commission Talent Shortages

Beyond physical expansion, the acquisition directly addresses structural talent shortages across the Australian financial advice sector. Industry-wide regulatory reforms introduced following the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation, and Financial Services Industry led to elevated professional standards and education requirements, resulting in a contracting pool of qualified financial planners nationwide.

While AGS actively cultivates new advisory talent internally, acquiring established firms allows wealth managers to rapidly expand professional capacity without incurring extended recruitment timelines. By bringing Hartley’s experienced advisers, brokers, and tax specialists into its corporate structure, AGS expands its client servicing capacity while maintaining operational efficiency.

The transition updates the licensing framework for Hartley’s wealth management practice, bringing financial advice operations under AGS’s primary license as an Authorised Representative of Akumin Financial Planning. Meanwhile, Hartley’s existing client base gains access to specialized AGS practice areas, including comprehensive retirement modeling, aged care strategy, estate planning, and self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) administration.

Strategic Objectives Driving the Acquisition

• Absorbing experienced financial advisers, mortgage brokers, and accountants to mitigate industry-wide talent shortages following regulatory reforms.
• Securing established physical office locations in Picton, Sutherland, and Parkdale to support existing local client leads and regional market presence.
• Consolidating operational back-office functions while integrating specialized advisory services across SMSF administration, aged care planning, and risk management.

Industry Outlook and Wealth Management Consolidation

The transaction highlights an ongoing wave of corporate consolidation across Australia’s mid-tier wealth management and accounting sectors. As compliance overheads rise and client demand for multidisciplinary wealth solutions grows, integrated advisory firms are increasingly leveraging mergers and acquisitions to achieve operational scale.

As integration proceeds, market analysts expect mid-sized advisory groups to continue acquiring independent boutique practices. By pairing localized client service models with centralized compliance, lending, and tax infrastructure, consolidated wealth management firms aim to capture greater market share across competitive regional demographics.

Record-high diesel prices are squeezing American farmers during harvest season, raising the risk that higher production costs could eventually hit consumers at the grocery store.

Pivot Bio CEO Chris Abbott joined FOX Business’ Taylor Riggs on “Mornings with FOX Business” to discuss how rising diesel and fertilizer costs are pressuring farmers and threatening to push food prices higher.

Diesel prices have climbed to a national average of $6.51 per gallon as global supply disruptions tied to conflicts in Iran and Ukraine strain fuel markets. U.S. farmers depend heavily on diesel to run tractors, combines and other equipment, making the surge particularly painful during harvest season.

NATIONAL AVERAGE PRICE FOR DIESEL HITS NEW RECORD HIGH AMID IRAN CONFLICT

“If you think about the ripple effect of that, higher diesel and input costs mean the marginal acre may come out of production or the marginal investment doesn’t happen. And so you get lower yield. When you get a lower yield, you get [a] higher price. So it can be a vicious cycle as input costs rise very quickly,” Abbott said.

Abbott said stronger corn prices could encourage higher productivity and help soften the blow, but he warned the pressure may not disappear quickly.

“We certainly look like we’re facing higher food prices and higher protein prices for at least a year or so to come,” he said.

PETER SCHIFF PREDICTS ECONOMIC ‘DOWNTURN,’ HIGHER OIL PRICES: ‘I DON’T THINK IT’S OVER’

The fuel crunch is hitting an agricultural sector already facing elevated input costs. Abbott said fertilizer prices are also moving higher as growers begin making purchases for 2027, adding another layer of uncertainty for farm budgets.

“There’s no other solution for our farmers in the United States… We must get the cost of farming and the volatility down, full stop. You cannot argue that,” Abbott said. “And so you need new technology. You need new support programs for growers to adopt innovation, to take that cost down.”

A FRESH MIDTERM HEADACHE FOR THE GOP JUST HIT A NATIONAL RECORD

Abbott also expressed skepticism that short-term restrictions on diesel exports would solve the underlying problem, arguing that fuel operates in a global market and temporary supply controls would do little to address the structural pressures facing producers.

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Curbing the federal government’s roughly $2 trillion budget deficit would help reduce the affordability challenges American households are facing, a new analysis finds.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) published a report on Wednesday detailing how reducing the federal budget deficit over both the near- and long-term could improve affordability issues for Americans through fiscal policy changes involving tax and spending policies.

CRFB finds that reducing the deficit can provide an affordability boost by tempering inflation, lowering interest rates, reducing cost pressures stemming from government policies, boosting private investment and preventing future affordability crises that could be caused by the insolvency of Social Security and Medicare.

“Fiscal policy alone cannot solve all affordability challenges,” CRFB noted, adding that monetary policy, regulation, plus policies related to housing, trade, foreign, labor and education are also significant factors, including at the state and local level. “But responsible fiscal policy can play an important role.”

FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT REACHES $2T IN FIRST 11 MONTHS OF FISCAL YEAR 2026, CBO REPORTS

“Conversely, expansionary fiscal policy – attempts to ease affordability concerns with subsidies, tax cuts, or spending measures financed by borrowed funds – is likely to worsen affordability challenges over time by boosting inflation, interest rates, and the cost of what is being subsidized,” the group wrote.

CRFB said that fiscal policies geared toward deficit reduction, such as higher taxes or limited federal spending and transfers from the government to households, reduce excessive consumer spending and inflationary pressures facing households.

Reducing inflation, which has been above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target for five-and-a-half years and is currently about 3.4% year over year, can also give the central bank room to lower short-term interest rates.

“Deficit reduction lowers interest rates through two channels. First, lower deficits reduce inflationary pressure and thus make it easier for the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates (or reduce the need for the Fed to increase interest rates). Second, a lower stock of debt reduces the interest rates the Treasury needs to offer on long-term debt in order to attract buyers,” the report said.

US NATIONAL DEBT HITS $40 TRILLION MILESTONE FOR FIRST TIME EVER

CRFB noted that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that every 1 percentage point reduction in debt-to-GDP ratio lowers interest rates by about 2 basis points. That means current interest rates are about 1.5 percentage points higher than they would be if the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio was still at 2001 levels and hadn’t tripled in the last 25 years.

Healthcare costs are a key area where government reforms within programs like Medicare and Medicaid can reduce both costs to the government and consumers. For example, CRFB noted policies to lower drug prices, reduce overpayments, and reform provider payments can lower premiums and coinsurance costs for Medicare enrollees.

Lower federal deficits can also boost private investment, as CBO estimated that every dollar of federal borrowing “crowds out” about 33 cents of private investment – meaning firms invest less in areas that can boost productivity and workers’ wages.

CRFB noted CBO’s 2025 findings that stabilizing the debt as a share of GDP would boost real per-person income growth by one-tenth over the next three decades compared to their baseline and over 44% compared to a higher government debt scenario.

ONE TYPE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADJUSTMENT COULD CUT THE 75-YEAR SHORTFALL IN HALF

That would amount to income per person growing by $46,500 with debt stabilized, or $32,350 if the debt is rising rapidly – an increase of about $14,250 individually and nearly $36,000 per household if the debt is stabilized.

Cost reductions and new tax revenues to shore up the solvency of Social Security and Medicare would also help prevent an affordability crisis from hitting seniors, who would face immediate benefit cuts if the trust funds that help finance those programs are depleted in the next decade as they’re currently projected to.

Social Security is facing an estimated 22% shortfall in 2032 when its trust fund reaches its projected depletion, which would trigger an automatic 22% cut for beneficiaries – roughly $500 per month in current monthly benefits.

CRFB added that deficit reduction could help the U.S. better prepare itself for future recessions, which can cause affordability challenges due to higher unemployment and slower income growth as well as higher government spending on relief programs. It can also stave off a future fiscal crisis caused by excessive growth in the national debt.

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“Responsible deficit reduction is not just an abstract concern for fiscal policymakers focused on bringing spending and revenue in line; it is one of the most powerful levers policymakers have to make daily life more affordable for American families,” CRFB said.

The 2025 multibagger pack has split sharply in 2026. Some of last year’s biggest winners have continued to deliver strong gains, while others have collapsed, showing how quickly momentum trades can turn once the market mood changes. Data for 15 stocks that more than doubled in 2025 shows that eight are still positive in 2026, while seven have slipped into the red.

Cupid has gained another 149% in 2026 after surging 583% in 2025, while Blue Pearl Agriventures has crashed 92% this year after rising 564% last year. The sharp divergence shows that a multibagger return in one year does not automatically protect investors in the next. In several cases, the biggest winners of 2025 have become the biggest losers of 2026.

Cupid is the strongest continuation trade in the list. The stock had rallied 583% in 2025 and has gained another 149% in 2026 so far. SML Mahindra has also extended its rally, rising 69% this year after a 183% gain in 2025.

Apollo Micro Systems, Gabriel India, Axiscades Technologies and Lumax Auto Technologies have also stayed in favour. Apollo Micro Systems is up 50% in 2026 after gaining 136% last year. Gabriel India has advanced 46% after a 113% rise in 2025, while Axiscades Technologies is up 43% after rising 112% last year. Lumax Auto Technologies has gained 37% this year after a 139% rally in 2025.

Aditya Birla Capital and Jayaswal Neco Industries have managed to stay positive, but only modestly. Aditya Birla Capital is up 11% in 2026 after rising 101% in 2025. Jayaswal Neco has gained just 3% this year after a 124% gain last year.

The pressure is more visible in the rest of the pack. Hindustan Copper has slipped 2% in 2026 after a 109.16% rise in 2025. L&T Finance is down 4% after gaining 133% last year. Force Motors, which had rallied 216% in 2025, has fallen 16% in 2026.
The biggest reversals have come from the most dramatic 2025 winners. Midwest Energy, which had surged 4,284% in 2025, is down 27% in 2026. Ashapura Minechem has fallen 39% after a 125% gain last year.Also Read: Chasing IPO debut highs? All 10 listing multibaggers of last 2 years bleed negative returns

Elitecon International and Blue Pearl Agriventures have seen the steepest fall. Elitecon had jumped 881% in 2025, but crashed 91% in 2026. Blue Pearl Agriventures, which gained 564% last year, is down 91% this year.

The data reveals that buying after a stock has already multiplied can work only if earnings, valuations and liquidity continue to support the move. Once the market turns cautious, the same stocks can fall faster because expectations are already stretched.

The split also shows that the market is becoming more selective. Stocks with stronger business momentum or sector tailwinds have held up. Those that ran far ahead of fundamentals have corrected sharply.

What’s ahead for Indian markets

The near-term backdrop is not easy for high-momentum stocks. Global cues have turned more challenging after the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike, with higher US bond yields, a stronger dollar, firm crude prices and pressure on the rupee becoming key variables for emerging markets.

Sachin Shah, Executive Director and Fund Manager at Emkay Investment Managers, said the Fed’s latest rate hike may have been largely expected, but the impact on India goes beyond the 25-basis-point move.

“For Indian equities, the bigger transmission channels could be US bond yields, the dollar, crude oil and the rupee — and the way these four variables interact could determine the next leg for markets,” Shah said.

He said elevated US Treasury yields, a stronger dollar, higher crude prices and the rupee near record lows have changed the risk-reward equation for global investors allocating money to emerging markets.

“At the same time, higher US yields are making fixed income increasingly competitive with equities for global capital,” Shah said.

Data: Ritesh Presswala

Disclosure: This article has been written by Podishetti Akash, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Podishetti Akash and her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.