Good morning everyone.

1. The COVID numbers in NSW looked a little better yesterday. The state recorded 16 new locally acquired cases in Sunday’s announcement, 14 of which are linked to other cases. Meanwhile, the government is reportedly finalising a plan to have kids back at school next week under strict conditions. Home learning is not under consideration, the SMH reports.

2. The rest of the country is looking pretty good on the coronavirus front. In Brisbane, residents are waking up to their second day out of lockdown. Perth is likely to ease mask-wearing and capacity limit rules tomorrow, with the Northern Territory set to follow on Friday. Victoria recorded no new cases today.

3. In case you missed it on Friday: National Cabinet agreed to a new four-stage plan to mitigate the risks of coronavirus and the new Delta variant. Phase one will see commercial flight caps slashed by half, with Commonwealth charter flights seeking to make up the difference in returning travelers. Each phase will be correlate with the proportion of Australia’s eligible population who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Morrison said. Those levels are yet to be determined.

4. The RBA’s board meeting is tomorrow, and economists expect there might be some easing of stimulus given how strong the economic recovery has been. There could be a signal from RBA boss Philip Lowe that interest rates might need to rise a little earlier than anticipated – but the amount of household debt at the moment means it’ll have to be a gentle transition if so.

5. You wouldn’t want to be on Crown’s legal team these days, if that wasn’t obvious already. Liquidators investigating the collapse of alleged corporate fraudster Michael Gu’s iProsperity property group found at least $8 million of client money went through the casino, the Nine papers report. Crown has called for an immediate inquiry into the claims.

6. Australia is among 130 countries which have signed onto a global tax initiative that requires a 15% minimum tax from multinational corporations. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said closing some of the most notorious tax loopholes in the world would generate an estimated $US150 billion in additional tax revenue each year. Australia has been seeking to crack down on tax avoidance by multinationals since 2017, but has struggled to raise revenue from tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Google.

7. Australian buy now, pay later darling Afterpay says it is monitoring developments in Europe after the announcement of proposed lending reforms. The tweaks, proposed by the European Commission, would apply new oversight to credit products of less than €200 (AU$317.2) and enforce credit checks for modern lenders. The announcement comes after the UK revealed BNPL products would face government regulation, while Australia settles for a self-imposed code of conduct.

8. Tesla, GameStop, and AMC ranked in the 10 most-held shares among Australian eToro investors in the second quarter of 2021. The trading platform has revealed Elon Musk’s electric vehicle venture was the most-held by domestic traders, many of whom believe in the sector’s long-term prospects. But Reddit-backed stocks like GameStop, AMC, and BioNano Inc. suggest many traders are in it for the meme.

9. The World Health Organisation warned that vaccine rollouts are being “outpaced by variants.” The head of the WHO noted that the Delta variant is present in at least 98 countries. The variant is moving fast in the US and is expected to soon become dominant there, and is responsible for Australia’s current outbreaks.

10. China ordered the removal of the Didi app from stores, just days after the homegrown ride-hailing company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. China’s cyberspace agency accused the company of “serious violations” of in both collecting and using personal data. The company has said it would comply with the ban and make required changes.

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Let them chill, I say!

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