GYG Rallies on U.S. Exit & ZIP Brand Victory
Paper Mandate Market & Portfolio Commentary | 22 May 2026
Fund Status:
Bal Start: $1,088,199
Bought None
Sold: None
Bal End: $1,091,811
Cash: $149,196
Market Commentary
Overnight markets were choppy but ended up slightly. Iran’s Supreme Leader issued a decree banning enriched uranium from leaving the country, causing oil to jump 4%. The S&P500 equal-weight gained more than the market cap weighted index, suggesting market breadth increasing. The US 10-year Treasury yield dropped slightly to 4.57%. ASX 200 futures are up for the open.
ASX 200 rose +0.41%. driven mostly by a commodities bounce. Materials rallied +1.27% while Comms dropped -1.86%. Interesting stock highlights were GYG and APX. GYG announced it is pulling out of the US market. The stock actually rose +9.57% on the news. Focus on the Australian business and a one time hit to the balance sheet appears to be worthy of a rally. APX released its resultsWhile the broader index cheered the easing interest rate expectations from yesterday’s softer jobs data, the Consumer Discretionary sector (XDJ) finished down -0.22%. Investors remained cautious about cost-of-living impacts on retail and automotive segments, keeping stocks like Wesfarmers (-0.20%) subdued. Heavy Weight Drags: On the losing side of the ledger, Insurance Australia Group (IAG) dropped -3.44%, while tech play Block (XYZ) fell -2.94% and Lendlease (LLC) lost -2.84%.
Portfolio Commentary
C79 had a good day. Gaining +5.66%. OBM also climbed +2.47%. Following the gold price. SKS also had a solid day, rising +2.31%. ZIP unfortunately slid -2.65% even though Zip announced they officially settled their trademark legal dispute with Firstmac to permanently keep the “ZIP” brand name in Australia. XRO fell -1.42% ending the week down.
Investment Activity
None
Disclaimer: This is a paper portfolio. Content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research.