Good morning!

1. WeWork submitted for a sneaky IPO. It’s only just been released that WeWork’s parent company, The We Company, registered with the SEC back in December 2018 to begin the proceedings for an Initial Public Offering this year. WeWork, a co-working commercial office space, has been expanding rapidly overseas with international growth comprising 40% of its revenue for the second half of 2018.

2. Ouch. Kazakhstan, Cape Verde and Montenegro are beating Australia’s internet speeds as our global internet speed ranking dropped to 62nd place in the world, with an average 35.11 mbps download speed. By comparison, Singapore, the top rating country has speeds of 199.62 mbps.

3. Google’s parent company has disappointed Wall Street with its latest report card and now its share price is dropping. Alphabet’s stock was down more than 7% after the Q1 reports missed expected targets for this quarter. Analysts are pointing to a drop in ad revenue, with a 15% growth YOY compared to 24% in Q1 2018.

4. Australian’s are obsessed with property, right? According to this HSBC survey, Australian’s don’t have property on the radar as much as we think. Our paltry 2.51 hours a week looking at the property market is barely a blip compared with some countries. Here’s the world’s worst offenders for having housing on the brain.

5. How do you get a refund for 278 Tesla cars? A Chinese ride-share company is warring with Tesla after 20% of the cars they purchased suffered “electro-mechanical failures”. So they did what anyone with money and a grudge would do, they bought three large billboards in Times Square and openly criticised Tesla for poor customer service and demanded compensation.

6. Chris Cox left Facebook over “artistic differences.” Facebook’s Head of Product Chris Cox, who left the company last month, told Yahoo Finance it was due to “artistic differences” with Mark Zuckerberg, but refused to expand on his reasoning. Key staff have parted ways with the social media giant in recent months, as pressures to meet privacy demands hit the company. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram’s founders, also exited the business at the end of last year.

7. Timing is everything The prediction seems to be that the RBA will play the waiting game. The RBA’s cash rate decision is due to be announced on May 7, followed by RBA’s GDP and inflation forecasts on May 10. With the critical timing of the election now announced, it seems as though an early rate cut might not be in the cards. Here’s the latest commentary from Westpac’s senior economist, Bill Evans.

8. Sri Lanka has issued an emergency ban on any face coverings, particularly targeting Muslim women whose faces are obscured for security identification. The Easter bombings in Sri Lanka killed over 250 people, and now a fierce investigation is underway. An Islamic advocacy body advised women to stop wearing religious garbs, such as burqas and niqabs, in the interest of Sri Lankan national security.

9. Here’s why Japanese markets are closed all week. The oldest monarchy in the world just had its first abdication in 200 years, as Emperor Akihito of Japan stepped aside to make way for his son, Crown Prince Naruhito, to ascend to the throne. The Emperor performed a sacred ritual to the Shinto gods to start the succession process. If only Game of Throne was this simple.

10. Apple defends app removal. Apple was accused of pulling screen time monitoring apps perceived as potential competitors to its new iOS function, but Apple has shot back immediately stating that the apps were breaching security and invading your privacy. According to Apple, the apps used third party software that can monitor and control your devices, including the ability to wipe them completely. Be careful what you download.

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