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  • The smart way to make a $25,000 passive income from ASX shares

    Beautiful young couple enjoying in shopping, symbolising passive income.

    Passive income is one of the great Australian dreams.

    The idea of earning money while you sleep, or while you’re at the beach, on holiday, or simply enjoying life, is incredibly appealing.

    The good news is that creating a meaningful income stream isn’t about luck, shortcuts, or chasing risky high-yield stocks.

    It is about building a machine. A machine that starts small, grows quietly in the background, and eventually pays you more than your job ever did.

    So, how do you build a passive-income engine capable of generating $25,000 a year? Let’s break it down.

    Step 1: Taking the long road

    Unless you already have a $500,000 investment portfolio, you are going to have to take the long road when it comes to passive income.

    One mistake new investors make is trying to chase income immediately. Targeting only high-yield ASX shares early on usually means sacrificing long-term growth, and growth is what builds the capital base you will eventually draw income from.

    If your end goal is $25,000 a year, the first phase is all about compounding, not collecting dividends. That means focusing on high-quality, scalable businesses such as ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO), or WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).

    You’re not buying these for dividends today. You are buying them to grow the size of the portfolio that you will one day convert into income.

    Step 2: Know your target

    At a sustainable dividend yield of around 5%, earning $25,000 a year requires roughly $500,000 invested.

    That number may feel large, but you certainly can get there with a combination of time and capital.

    A portfolio compounding at 10% per annum, which is achievable over decades with a mix of ASX shares and ETFs, doubles roughly every seven years.

    And if you make additional contributions each month, it could double even quicker.

    For example, an investment of $1,000 a month into ASX shares, would grow to $500,000 in under 17 years with an average annual return of 10%.

    That’s how small investments become big ones.

    Step 3: Shifting to passive income

    Once your portfolio is approaching the half-million mark, you can begin gradually tilting toward dividend reliability. This is where the passive-income machine finally reveals itself.

    High-quality dividend payers such as APA Group (ASX: APA), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) can deliver consistent passive income without exposing you to excessive volatility.

    A mix of dividend-focused ETFs, such as the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY) or the Betashares S&P 500 Yield Maximiser Complex ETF (ASX: UMAX), could further diversify the income stream.

    Foolish takeaway

    Earning $25,000 a year in passive income isn’t about chasing big yields. It is about building a portfolio that grows large enough to produce big yields. Start with growth, stay consistent, let compounding do the heavy lifting, and transition to income when your foundation is solid.

    With patience, discipline, and the right strategy, it is simply a matter of time before you reach it.

    The post The smart way to make a $25,000 passive income from ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in APA Group right now?

    Before you buy APA Group shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and APA Group wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Goodman Group, ResMed, WiseTech Global, Woolworths Group, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Goodman Group, ResMed, Transurban Group, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group, BetaShares S&P 500 Yield Maximiser Fund, ResMed, Telstra Group, Transurban Group, WiseTech Global, Woolworths Group, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Goodman Group and Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • 3 Australian shares to buy and hold for 20 more years

    A woman wearing dark clothing and sporting a few tattoos and piercings holds a phone and a takeaway coffee cup as she strolls under the Sydney Harbour Bridge which looms in the background.

    Trying to predict what the share market will do next week is almost impossible. But looking out 20 years? That’s where long-term investors have the advantage.

    Instead of chasing short-term noise, you can focus on high-quality businesses with durable advantages, long growth runways, and the ability to keep compounding year after year.

    If you’re building a portfolio designed to stand the test of time, these three Australian shares could be top buy and hold candidates.

    Light & Wonder Inc. (ASX: LNW)

    Light & Wonder has transformed itself into one of the world’s most diversified and innovation-driven gaming companies. Its business spans land-based gaming machines, digital games, and online real-money gaming.

    What makes Light & Wonder so compelling for a 20-year horizon is its global footprint and deep library of intellectual property. The company continuously monetises successful franchises across physical casinos, mobile games, and digital platforms. As more jurisdictions legalise online gaming and digital entertainment continues to accelerate, Light & Wonder is positioned to capture a significant share of that shift.

    REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA)

    Another Australian share to buy and hold could be REA Group. It is one of the most dominant digital businesses in Australia. Its flagship platform, realestate.com.au, is effectively the default destination for property search, attracting enormous traffic that competitors have struggled to replicate. That dominance gives it significant pricing power, exceptional margins, and a strong moat built on network effects.

    With Australia’s population set to grow, housing demand remaining structurally high, and the digitalisation of property services continuing, REA’s long-term runway looks very attractive. The company is also expanding offshore and into adjacent areas such as mortgages, data services, and financial products, which is creating new revenue streams on top of its core listings business.

    For investors seeking a company that can keep compounding for decades, REA’s track record and market position make it one to consider.

    Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW)

    Finally, Temple & Webster could be an Australian share to buy and hold. Over the past decade, it has established itself as Australia’s leading online furniture and homewares retailer.

    The good news is that it is still very early in its growth journey. Despite years of strong expansion, online penetration in the furniture category remains low compared to other developed markets. This means the company still has a huge opportunity as more consumers shift online.

    So, with an enormous total addressable market, leadership position, and a proven ability to execute, Temple & Webster could look far larger in 20 years than it does today.

    The post 3 Australian shares to buy and hold for 20 more years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Light & Wonder Inc right now?

    Before you buy Light & Wonder Inc shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Light & Wonder Inc wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in REA Group and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Light & Wonder Inc and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Light & Wonder Inc and Temple & Webster Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • Could this undervalued ASX stock be your ticket to millionaire status?

    A trendy woman wearing sunglasses splashes cash notes from her hands.

    It’s a long-term dream of mine to be able to reach $1 million with my portfolio. There’s a few ASX stocks I’m backing significantly to help me reach millionaire status.

    Long-time readers already know that I’m a big fan of names like Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) and MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF).

    But, there’s one ASX stock I’ve started investing in that I think could also help me reach my goal. I’d be happy if it were already my biggest holding because of everything it offers: VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (ASX: MOAT).

    Great moat investment strategy

    This investment is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that employs a strategy from Morningstar where analysts aim to identify US businesses that have strong economic moats. Moats can also be called competitive advantages.

    There are a number of different advantages that businesses can have over rivals such as brand power, cost advantages, intellectual property, regulatory/license advantages, network effects and so on.

    Those competitive advantages allow the business in question to earn stronger profits than it otherwise would have, making it a compelling business.

    What Morningstar is particularly looking for are US businesses with wide economic moats. That means the competitive advantage is expected to almost certainly endure for a decade and more likely than not for two decades. I’m calling this an ASX stock because we can buy it on the ASX and it’s about stocks.

    The MOAT ETF isn’t necessarily going to own a business for a full 20 years because there’s another element to the strategy.

    Undervalued ASX stock

    The reason why the MOAT ETF can be called undervalued is because the analysts only to decide to invest in/own one of these competitively-advantaged companies if the target companies are “trading at attractive prices relative to Morningstar’s estimate of fair value”.

    In other words, these businesses must be trading cheaper than the analysts think they’re worth.

    Buying undervalued, great businesses sounds like a winning strategy to me.

    Returns and diversification

    The MOAT ETF has done very well for investors over the long-term. In the past decade it has returned an average of 15.3% per year. That’s not guaranteed to continue of course, but I like its chances of delivering a long-term return that’s in the mid-teens in percentage terms.

    The diversification of the fund is also appealing.

    An investor doesn’t necessarily need to own a large portfolio of ASX stocks to be diversified – this fund usually owns around 50 names from a variety of sectors. That’s good diversification, in my view, but not too much where it might lower returns.

    Compounding to millionaire status

    Impressively, the MOAT ETF has delivered even stronger returns over the past three years and five years. If something compounds at an average of 15% per year, it doubles in five years.

    If someone could invest $1,000 every month for the long-term and it grows at 15% per year, it’d become $1 million in less than 19 years, according to the MoneySmart compound interest calculator. That would be an incredible result.

    I’ll be very happy to buy more of the MOAT ETF for my portfolio in the coming months, with a good mix of top ASX stocks too.

    The post Could this undervalued ASX stock be your ticket to millionaire status? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in VanEck Investments Limited – VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF right now?

    Before you buy VanEck Investments Limited – VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and VanEck Investments Limited – VanEck Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat ETF wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Mff Capital Investments, VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF, and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Mff Capital Investments and VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • Economists run a secret prediction game each year. When ChatGPT took part, here’s what happened.

    Robot Hands surrounding a crystal ball with ChatGPT logo.

    Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI

    • Economists, hedge fund investors, and tech executives compete in a forecasting contest each year.
    • OpenAI's ChatGPT participated in the 2025 game for the first time.
    • The competition tested AI's ability to make predictions without clear online content as a guide.

    The ability to forecast the future is a valuable sign of intelligence and a good test of AI's capabilities. How good is ChatGPT at prediction?

    An answer to this fascinating question emerged recently when economist David Seif wrapped up an annual forecasting contest he runs for a secret group of economists, hedge fund investors, and tech executives.

    In its seventh year, the challenge requires contestants to predict roughly 30 events. The 2025 game kicked off in late 2024, when Seif sent out the list of events to predict in fields such as politics, business, science, economics, pop culture, and sports.

    One question asked the contestants to forecast whether Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce would announce their engagement by April 1. Another: Would Bulgaria adopt the euro as its official currency on or before July 1?

    Sam Leffell, a director at a hedge fund firm, was filling out his probabilities in December and had an idea.

    "When I was answering the questions, I had the ChatGPT screen up. I wondered, what it will say to these questions?" he recalled in a recent interview.

    ChatGPT had to learn complex rules

    Leffell reached out to Seif to ask if ChatGPT could take part, and Seif said, go for it. So, Leffell got started by pasting the game's rules into ChatGPT.

    These are complex rules, covering multiple pages. Contestants must assign a percentage based on the likelihood of each event happening. As the results come in over the year, these predictions are scored a bit like golf. The lowest score wins.

    "You get points equal to the square of the difference between what you put and the results," Seif said.

    For example, if you assign a 90% chance of something happening and you get it right, you get 10 points. That number is squared, resulting in a total of 100 points. Excellent work.

    The opposite is more painful. If your 90% probability event doesn't occur, you are stuck with the difference between 90 and zero. That 90 score is then squared for a total of 8,100 points. Ouch.

    And this is only the scoring system. There are whole pages of rules on other aspects of the game. Leffell pasted all this into ChatGPT.

    A few seconds later, the AI chatbot responded, "Thank you for providing the detailed rules of the forecasting contest. Please share the clean list of prompts for which you need a probability estimate, and I will provide a single number for each as per the contest's guidelines."

    Leffell pasted in all 30 questions at once, and ChatGPT quickly replied with its percentage probabilities for each event. Leffell sent those to Seif, who entered the responses on ChatGPT's behalf.

    Even while setting this machine-prediction experiment up, Leffell noticed something intriguing.

    "For one question, related to an NFL wild card outcome, it gave a mathematical response that was statistically correct," he said. "It was doing math rather than qualitative stuff. That was notable because ChatGPT, at the time, was not supposed to be good at math."

    ChatGPT makes predictions

    As 2025 began, 160 contestants had submitted their predictions and began waiting for the future to unfurl.

    This is when I first heard about the game through friends who were participating. One is a hedge fund manager. The other two are a chief marketing officer and a lawyer.

    They became insufferable at parties, discussing their various forecasts, along with the intricacies of the scoring system and other rules.

    It's the type of conversation that bores me to death. However, when one friend mentioned that ChatGPT was taking part for the first time, I got hooked.

    Could a machine outperform 160 humans in predicting all these events? AI models are great when there's existing data. When the future's involved, there's a lot less information to lean on.

    I'd recently tested ChatGPT's stock market forecasting ability. Could it excel at this more complex challenge, or are humans uniquely adept at foreseeing the future through experience, extrapolation, and intuition?

    As the year progressed, some events occurred, and others didn't. Some happened too late, while others developed in weird, unexpected ways. As life does.

    Each time a question was resolved, Seif updated a central spreadsheet and sent a ranking to all the contestants.

    My friends seized on every update. Who was winning? Who was lagging? And most of all, where was ChatGPT ranked?

    Strange symmetry

    The game wrapped up on November 13.

    "For the first time in the seven years we've run the contest, I pulled off the win myself," Seif wrote in his final email update of the 2025 competition.

    ChatGPT came 80th, he wrote, "and we had 160 players."

    Strange symmetry. I immediately texted my friends: This means ChatGPT is no better than the average human! Not very impressive.

    One of my buddies, the CMO, replied: No, this means ChatGPT is as good as the average human. Incredible!

    ChatGPT missed a benchmark

    I asked Seif about this, and he had a different way of measuring ChatGPT's predictive power, or lack thereof.

    If you'd put a 50% probability for each event happening, you'd have gotten 75,000 points. That's Seif's benchmark for whether contestants added value or not.

    ChatGPT got 82,925. So it missed that benchmark, essentially adding negative value, according to Seif.

    When there was a lot of existing data to help with forecasting and calculating probabilities, ChatGPT did better, he said.

    For instance, the chatbot analyzed this event well, giving it a 70% chance of happening: The winning team of the FIFA Club World Cup is from the European Union.

    ChatGPT performed worse when there was a lack of data, or it missed new information that altered the likelihood of an event occurring.

    For example, the chatbot assigned a 95% chance of this happening: Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore safely return to Earth by March 1.

    By the end of 2024, news announcements made it clear that this rescue mission was highly unlikely to happen by March 1, 2025, Seif said.

    "ChatGPT just wasn't up with the news on that one," he added.

    Maybe ChatGPT won?

    Leffell, the hedge fund manager who entered ChatGPT in the game, drew different conclusions and shared some important caveats.

    He asked ChatGPT to make these predictions in December 2024. OpenAI's chatbot has improved since then, so its forecasting ability may be better now. Better prompting may have also helped ChatGPT perform better.

    Leffell also said that ChatGPT took only a few minutes to understand the complex rules of the game and make 30 predictions—a lot faster than most human contestants.

    Leffell himself spent many hours, over several days, to understand the questions and research the events, coming up with his own probabilities.

    "It did better than half the people, and it spent a lot less time than everyone else on the challenge," he told me. "If you look at results per minute of work, maybe ChatGPT won?"

    As an investor, he's in the business of assessing as many probabilities as possible, so ChatGPT and similar AI tools have become essential, he said.

    "What if you are not having to predict 30 events quickly, but 30,000 events instead? What if it's good enough at making all these predictions quickly?" Leffell said.

    "It's become ubiquitous in everything I do, in my personal life and at work," he added. "We're using it a lot. ChatGPT is table stakes at this point."

    Sign up for BI's Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@businessinsider.com.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

  • Think you’re smarter than the machines? Test your AI jargon knowledge in our quiz.

    Young woman using mobile app on smartphone
    Test your knowledge on how much you know about AI.

    Oscar Wong/Getty Images

    • AI is changing everything, including the lexicon.
    • Keeping up with the latest AI jargon can be challenging.
    • Put your knowledge to the test in our short quiz.

    Do you know the difference between a multimodal model and a world model? Do you know your GPUs from your TPUs?

    If you do, that means you're probably ahead of most people in keeping up with the ever-growing list of AI jargon used by tech executives and computer scientists.

    Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, AI has changed the nature of work, driven record stock market highs, and become a digital companion for many.

    Some of the lingo has also permeated into everyday life: The practice of vibe coding, which is asking AI to write code, was crowned the Collins Dictionary's word of the year.

    Ready to see if you can hold your own in a conversation about the future of AI? Try Business Insider's 10-question quiz to see how fluent you really are.

    Let's begin — and no asking ChatGPT for the answers.

    <iframe src="https://v0-ai-lingo-quiz.vercel.app/" data-quiz-id="ai-lingo-quiz-v1" title="AI Lingo Quiz" style="width:100%; border:0; height:580px;"
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    referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade”
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    (function () {
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    // Otherwise, you can directly select by ID.
    const iframes = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(‘iframe[data-quiz-id=”ai-lingo-quiz-v1″]’));

    function onMessage(e) {
    // Security: only accept from allowed origins
    const allowed = [“https://your-vercel-app.vercel.app”, “https://your-custom-domain.com”];
    if (!allowed.includes(e.origin)) return;

    const data = e.data || {};
    if (data.type !== “quiz:resize”) return;

    // Find matching iframe(s)
    const targets = iframes.length ? iframes :
    Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”)).filter(f => {
    try { return f.contentWindow === e.source; } catch { return false; }
    });

    targets.forEach(f => {
    f.style.width = “100%”;
    f.style.border = “0”;
    f.style.height = Math.max(320, Number(data.height) || 0) + “px”;
    });
    }

    window.addEventListener(“message”, onMessage);
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    Read the original article on Business Insider

  • Reviews are in, and Hollywood insiders aren’t pleased with the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal

    Netflix app and WB background
    Netflix's $72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. is raising eyebrows across Hollywood.

    Illustration by Algi Febri Sugita/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    • Netflix said it's buying Hollywood titan Warner Bros. in a blockbuster deal.
    • Reacting to the news, several industry professionals raised concerns.
    • Some said the acquisition could lead to job cuts, while others worried it could stymy creativity.

    The critics have spoken, and the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal isn't getting rave reviews from Hollywood insiders.

    Hollywood heavy hitters and rank-and-file industry workers alike have spoken out against the megadeal.

    "If I was tasked with doing so, I could not think of a more effective way to reduce competition in Hollywood than selling WBD to Netflix," Jason Kilar, who previously ran Warner Bros. as the CEO of WarnerMedia, posted on X shortly after news of the deal broke.

    The $72 billion acquisition, which requires regulatory approval, would reshape an industry that is still reeling from the introduction of streaming services nearly two decades ago.

    By purchasing Warner Bros.' iconic studio, Netflix would knock out a major funder of TV and film projects, leaving creatives with fewer buyers and, potentially, audiences with a less diverse slate of content.

    The consolidation could also result in fewer jobs for creative talent and crew members.

    "All media mergers end up hurting writers, actors, directors, and everyone else who works in the industry," "Parks and Recreation" creator Mike Schur posted Friday on Bluesky. "Fewer companies means fewer jobs, period."

    The Writers Guild of America's West and East branches said in a statement on Friday that the deal would "eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and reduce the volume and diversity of content for all viewers."

    And the Directors Guild of America said in a statement that the deal "raises significant concerns," specifically about hampering creativity and competition.

    The deal would also mean the tech giant, which has historically snubbed theatrical releases, controls some of Hollywood's most storied pieces of IP, from "The Wizard of Oz" to the "Harry Potter" franchise.

    Last week, James Cameron, the legendary director behind "Titanic" and "Avatar," said that such a deal "would be a disaster" on an episode of the podcast "The Town."

    "Sarandos has gone on record saying theatrical films are dead," Cameron said, referencing Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

    For its part, Netflix has said the deal will lead to "more jobs created across the entire entertainment industry" and that it "expects" to maintain Warner Bros.' existing operations, including its theatrical release pipeline. Sarandos also said that the deal would be "pro-worker."

    Still, movie theater owners have echoed Cameron's concern.

    The acquisition "poses an unprecedented threat to the global exhibition business," Michael O'Leary, the president of theater owner association Cinema United, said in a statement on Friday. UNIC, a European trade group of cinema owners, echoed the disapproval.

    And theaters have reason to worry.

    One veteran Hollywood producer, who spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity to avoid damaging their relationship with Netflix, said "Netflix is about to be a beast in the IP space," after years of having a deficiency in that part of its feature film portfolio. And in the process, it could strip movie houses of their beloved exclusivity to titles.

    "Netflix can now drop a new 'Batman' movie or 'Harry Potter' on a 30-day theatrical window, maybe even day-and-date, and theaters will still want them because they are big movies," the producer said.

    Studio movies currently play exclusively in theaters between 60 and 90 days; however, Sarandos said during a call with investors and press on Friday that "over time, the windows will evolve to be much more consumer-friendly, to be able to meet the audience where they are quicker."

    There may have simply been no possibility for a Hollywood ending.

    Before the deal was announced, Hollywood royalty Jane Fonda wrote an op-ed about the ripple effects of any deal, no matter the buyer.

    "We don't need to know the final outcome to understand the danger," she wrote in The Ankler. "The threat of this merger in any form is an alarming escalation in a consolidation crisis that threatens the entire entertainment industry, the public it serves, and — potentially — the First Amendment itself."

    Read the original article on Business Insider

  • ‘Get all that Hermes stuff now’: Netflix director accused of $11 million fraud rushed to buy luxury goods, texts show

    Carl Rinsch Netflix trial
    Director Carl Rinsch is on trial on charges that he defrauded Netflix of $11 million originally meant to be used for a sci-fi project.

    Lloyd Mitchell for BI

    • Carl Rinsch's fraud trial featured testimony about his luxury purchases.
    • He bought a lot of Hermes goods and a $439,000 handmade mattress, witnesses said.
    • Prosecutors say he defrauded Netflix of $11 million from funds meant for a sci-fi project.

    After Carl Rinsch got an infusion of $11 million from Netflix to finish his passion project —  a futuristic television series — he could sleep well at night.

    That's partly because he bought a $439,000 handmade mattress on what prosecutors say was on Netflix's dime.

    At Rinsch's criminal fraud trial in Manhattan federal court on Friday, jurors heard more about the director's spending spree from some of the people who witnessed it firsthand. His former personal assistant testified that he compared himself to a character in a movie who had 30 days to spend $30 million — or lose it all. Prosecutors also called to the stand a salesman who waxed on about the handmade Swedish mattress he sold Rinsch, complete with a "sleep doctor" to massage it for him.

    Rinsch liked the Hästens Grand Vividus mattress so much that he decided to buy a second one, the salesperson testified Friday.

    Prosecutors in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York allege Rinsch defrauded Netflix by misusing funds for the production of "White Horse" — a show about artificial beings who create their own society on Earth after a schism with humankind. Rinsch filmed portions of "White Horse," but went over budget and never finished a single episode.

    On Friday, jurors heard more testimony from Maria Skotnikova, who worked as a personal assistant for Rinsch and made logistical arrangements for the filming of "White Horse."

    Skotnikova said Rinsch made multiple luxury purchases after Netflix gave him an additional $11 million in March 2020 to finish the project, including a rush to buy Hermes goods.

    "Get all that Hermes stuff now," Rinsch told Skotnikova in one August 2021 text message sent to the jury.

    "This is your job," he texted her a short while later. "We have to do this. Or else the money goes bye-bye. Get it."

    According to Skotnikova, Rinsch compared his situation to "Brewster's Millions" — the 1985 movie about a man who learns he received a $30 million windfall from a family member but must spend it all within 30 days. Skotnikova also testified Thursday about driving to meetings in Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, vehicles an FBI forensic accountant said Rinsch purchased using money that originally came from Netflix.

    Skotnikova said Friday that Rinsch tried to purchase a large amount of furniture from the French designer Jacques Adnet, which he considered "interesting and underappreciated."

    Rinsch, known for directing "Ronin 47" with Keanu Reeves, wanted to have a "monopoly" on the designer's furniture pieces so he could "control the price," Skotnikova testified.

    The spending spree also included over 480 food takeout orders on Postmates and Uber Eats in a six-month span in 2022. The FBI forensic accountant previously testified that Rinsch moved the funds from Netflix through different accounts, invested a portion of it in the stock market and cryptocurrency, and spent other amounts on what appeared to be personal uses.

    'Very special beds'

    Later Friday, jurors heard from Johan Ericsson, who served as the top Hästens salesperson on the West Coast of the US. He said he met Rinsch in 2021, when the director went to the brand's Los Angeles store.

    Rinsch purchased four mattresses for a total of $617,610.66, records show. He received a discount because he bought floor models rather than having them individually handmade in Sweden, Ericsson said.

    Carl Rinsch with the cast of "Ronin 47"
    From L: Ko Shibasaki, Hiroyuki Sanada, Keanu Reeves, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuchi, and Carl Rinsch

    TORU YAMANAKA/AFP via Getty Images

    The highlight was the Grand Vividus in the "black shadow" colorway. It was the top-of-the-line model that took over 700 hours to make, Ericsson said.

    The Grand Vividus is not just a mattress, but a "sleep instrument" that includes a base and leather headboard, and comes with a "bed doctor" who visits your house to massage the mattress, according to Ericsson.

    Rinsch was so pleased with it that he later modified his order to get an additional Grand Vividus mattress rather than three lesser Hästens models, according to Ericsson.

    "These are two very special beds," Ericsson said.

    US District Judge Jed Rakoff, who is overseeing the trial, chastised prosecutors for allowing Ericsson to spend so much time on the witness stand waxing lyrical about the qualities of Hästens mattresses.

    "I was going to call it a sales pitch, but he obviously deeply believes in the brilliance of these mattresses," Rakoff said.

    Ericsson said that Rinsch never spoke with him about using the mattresses for the production of "White Horse."

    Rinsch's defense lawyers say he's innocent, and the case is really about a "creative genius" who was overwhelmed by the challenges of the project and didn't get the support he needed from Netflix.

    In a deposition for a separate legal proceeding, which was entered into evidence in the criminal trial, Rinsch was asked why he purchased "a mattress that costs $450,000 for this production."

    "Because it retains value," Rinsch said. "And a mattress that you spend $30,000 on is worth zilch, but a mattress that you spend $450,000 on — guess what? It's worth a hundred grand more now. So hey, what are you gonna do?"

    Prosecutors told Rakoff they expect to finish presenting their case on Monday. Rinsch — an engaged and jittery presence in the courtroom — hasn't said whether he will take the witness stand while his lawyers present his defense case.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

  • $20,000 in savings? Here’s how you can use that to target an $8,000 yearly second income

    Happy young couple saving money in piggy bank.

    Having $20,000 saved is more powerful than most people realise. Not because $20,000 can produce an income today, but because it can become the foundation of a portfolio that eventually pays you thousands of dollars a year without lifting a finger.

    If your goal is to build a second income of around $8,000 annually, let’s see how you could get there with the help of the share market.

    Focus on compounding

    If you were to receive a 5% dividend yield from a $20,000 ASX share portfolio, you would be pulling in $1,000 a year in income.

    While this is certainly very welcome, it is well short of our target.

    So, we first need to think about compounding before we start to focus on a second income.

    Compounding is what happens when you earn returns on your returns. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill. At the beginning, it feels slow. You put in money, you reinvest dividends, and your portfolio barely seems to move. But with time, the snowball grows, and the larger it becomes, the faster it accelerates.

    For example, if you were starting with $20,000 and were able to grow it at 10% per annum, which is largely in line with historical returns, your portfolio would grow to roughly $52,000 in 10 years, $84,000 in 15 years, $135,000 in 20 years, and $160,000 in 22 years. That’s even without adding anything more along the way.

    Add a regular contribution, even something modest like $250 or $500 a month, and the numbers rise far more quickly.

    In fact, by adding $500 a month to your portfolio, it would grow to $160,000 after just over 10 years.

    At that point, you now have enough to start pulling in meaningful second income from your portfolio.

    Second income

    With a $160,000 ASX share portfolio, you would need to average a 5% dividend yield to generate an $8,000 second income.

    Thankfully, the Australian share market is one of the most generous markets in the world. So, building a portfolio that averages a 5% dividend yield is much easier than you think.

    Examples include APA Group (ASX: APA), GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG), and Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF), along with the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY). The latter includes a range of high yield ASX shares from different sectors.

    Foolish takeaway

    With a combination of compounding and additional capital, it is easier than you think to generate a second income from the share market.

    You just need to be patient and consistent, and compounding will do the rest.

    The post $20,000 in savings? Here’s how you can use that to target an $8,000 yearly second income appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in APA Group right now?

    Before you buy APA Group shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and APA Group wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Gqg Partners. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Apa Group and Rural Funds Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Gqg Partners and Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • Should you buy Santos, Beach Energy or Woodside shares? Here’s Macquarie’s top pick

    Two workers at an oil rig discuss operations.

    Should you buy Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares, Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares, or Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares?

    That’s the million-dollar question the team over at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) dig into in their new Australia Energy report, released on Thursday.

    Before we look at Macquarie’s share price forecasts for the three S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stocks, here’s how they’ve been tracking this year.

    How have the ASX 200 energy stocks performed in 2025?

    Woodside shares closed on Friday trading for $25.15 apiece. That sees the ASX 200 energy stock up a slender 0.8% year to date.

    Woodside shares also trade on a fully franked 6.6% trailing dividend yield.

    Beach Energy shares closed on Friday trading for $1.17 each. Beach Energy shares have dropped 17.6% in 2025. The ASX 200 stock also trades on a 7.7% fully franked trailing dividend yield.

    And Santos shares closed out the week with changing hands for $6.48 apiece. This sees Santos shares down 4.3% in 2025. Santos also trades on a 6.5% partly franked trailing dividend yield.

    That’s the year (almost) gone by.

    As for the year ahead…

    Does Macquarie prefer Beach, Santos or Woodside shares?

    Looking to 2026, Macquarie expects that Beach Energy, Santos and Woodside shares will all face headwinds from amid falling natural gas prices.

    “Led by our global commodities colleagues, we lower spot LNG prices through 2026, factoring loosening gas markets as new LNG capacities arrive,” the broker said.

    According to Macquarie:

    We believe an underweight position in Oil & Gas is warranted, given our still bearish oil and LNG outlooks. Within this, Santos remains our top pick, where we see value appeal on an absolute and relative basis (and clear catalysts to re-rate).

    Of the three ASX 200 energy stocks, Macquarie is the most bearish on Beach Energy, with an underperform rating.

    “We continue to believe BPT shares are overvalued by the market (based on its existing assets). M&A could be an opportunity to enhance value,” the broker said.

    Macquarie has a 77-cent price target on Beach Energy shares. That’s 34.2% below Friday’s closing price.

    The broker has a better outlook for Woodside shares, with a neutral rating on the stock.

    Macquarie noted:

    Sangomar oilfield has performed exceptionally well over its first 5 quarters – we now include 50% risking for a Phase 2 project (was 0%). Scarborough project tracking well for 2H26 start. However, we are concerned that deteriorating gas markets in 2027-28 will hurt sentiment as WDS progresses the 28mtpa largely uncontracted US LNG project.

    The broker has a $25.00 price target on Woodside shares, or 0.6% below Friday’s closing price.

    Which brings us to…

    The ASX 200 energy share Macquarie expects to outperform

    Macquarie expects that Santos shares will materially outperform Beach Energy and Woodside shares in 2026.

    Explaining its outperform rating on Santos, the broker said:

    We see significant value in STO following the deal break with XRG/ Carlyle, and expect this to be better recognised once customer deliveries commence from Barossa gas project via Darwin LNG (within weeks) and Pikka oil in Alaska (1Q-2026).

    Macquarie has an $8.00 price target on Santos shares. That represents a potential upside of 23.5% from Friday’s closing price.

    The post Should you buy Santos, Beach Energy or Woodside shares? Here’s Macquarie’s top pick appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Beach Energy Limited right now?

    Before you buy Beach Energy Limited shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Beach Energy Limited wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • 2 big ASX 200 shares this fund manager rates as buys

    A financial expert or broker looks worried as he checks out a graph showing market volatility.

    The fund manager Wilson Asset Management has picked two significant S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that could make great buys today.

    The investment team from listed investment company (LIC) WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE) say they are investing in the highest-quality Australian companies.

    While it owns many of the most recognisable names on the ASX, it holds less of some the biggest ASX blue-chip shares than the ASX 200 Index. The businesses it’s most ‘underweight’ are: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB).

    The names that it’s most actively overweight on include the two that I’m going to cover in this article. The other three businesses that are most overweight include Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO), Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX: ALL) and Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC).

    Two of the businesses that the WAM team are excited about are the following large ASX 200 shares.

    Alcoa Corporation CDI (ASX: AAI)

    WAM described Alcoa as a global producer of aluminium, alumina and bauxite.

    The fund manager noted that Alcoa delivered outperformance during November as the global aluminium market “tightened”, with China reaching its capacity ceiling, structural deficits in the US and Europe, alongside accelerating demand across the globe.

    The investment team highlights that Alcoa Corporation is also implementing several initiatives to increase productivity, reduce costs and optimise the ASX 200 share’s asset portfolio.

    WAM Leaders believes that the structural demand-supply imbalance in aluminium persists. With Alcoa Corporation’s “attractive valuation” relative to global peers and ongoing operational improvements, WAM Leaders has made the business a core holding in the portfolio.

    CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL)

    The WAM investment team described CSL is a global biotechnology company developing plasma therapies, vaccines and treatments for rare diseases.

    WAM Leaders attended the CSL capital markets day in the US during November and also met the management team. The investment team toured the manufacturing facilities and plasma collection centres in Kankakee (Illinois) and Holly Springs (North Carolina).

    The fund manager said its investment team were encouraged by the additional disclosures by the ASX 200 share on demand drivers for immunoglobulin products and CSL’s initiatives to grow market share, as well as progress in reducing plasma collection and fractionation costs.

    WAM said the insights gained during these meetings have strengthened its confidence in the ASX 200 share’s earnings profile and it sees valuation support for the current CSL share price.

    The post 2 big ASX 200 shares this fund manager rates as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in CSL right now?

    Before you buy CSL shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and CSL wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    See the 5 Stocks

    * Returns as of 18 November 2025

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    Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended CSL and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group, CSL, and Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.