November 5, 2025

 

(MICROSOFT SIGNS DEAL WITH SYDNEY-BASED PROVIDER)

 

November 5, 2025

 

Hello everyone

 

MELBOURNE CUP 2025

Female jockey riding Half Yours makes history winning both the Melbourne Cup and the Caulfield Cup. 

Half Yours wins $10 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington, beating Goodie Two Shoes and Middle Earth

Tuesday 4 November

 

The emotions were running high for Jamie Melham after her brilliant Melbourne Cup win on Half Yours. (Getty Images: Daniel Pockett)

 

In short:

Jamie Melham has followed in the steps of Michelle Payne as the second female rider to win the Melbourne Cup.

Melham rode the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained horse to victory, beating Goodie Two Shoes and Middle Earth.
 
Melham and her husband Ben — who rode Smokin’ Romans to finish 14th — became the first husband-and-wife to ride in the same Melbourne Cup.

Congratulations to Jamie.  Well deserved.  Hope some of you had a win on Tuesday.

THE $15BN DEAL WITH MICROSOFT

Iren, a Sydney-based data centre provider, has signed a $15 billion deal with Microsoft.

In the deal, Microsoft will pay Iren $US9.7 bn ($A14.8bn) in return for artificial intelligence computing power.

Iren will provide Microsoft with access to Nvidia computer systems in Texas, specifically designed for AI work. Microsoft will pay 20 per cent of the contract value upfront.

To deliver on the contract, Iren will purchase advanced computer chips and equipment from Dell Technologies for $5.8bn.

Iren is known as a neo cloud – under the banner of data centre operators.

Let me explain.  It is among a new generation of cloud providers that specialise in advanced computing, including artificial intelligence.

Cash, customer prepayments, operating cash flows, and additional financing initiatives will be used to fund the deal.

Iren estimates that once the deal with Microsoft is fully implemented, it will generate $US1.94bn ($A2.97 bn) in annualised revenue while taking up about 10 per cent of Iren’s total capacity.

 

 

AMAZON’S DEAL WITH OPENAI MAY BE A GAME CHANGER

Amazon stock closed at a new all-time high of $254 on November 3 after the company revealed a deal with OpenAI.

The $38 billion dollar deal allows OpenAI to use Amazon Web Services’ infrastructure.  And Amazon will eventually build out additional dedicated infrastructure for the company.

Amazon is showing fresh momentum.

The company’s third-quarter earnings report revealed AWS revenue climbed 20% year over year to $33 billion.    Operating income for the segment rose 9% to $11.4 billion. 

The earnings report surpassed expectations.

Andy Jassy notes that we “continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we’ve been focused on accelerating capacity – adding more than 3.8 gigawatts in the past 12 months.”

Wedbush analysts have raised the firm’s price target for Amazon from $330 to $340, giving it an outperform rating.

Wedbush argues that AWS’s strong revenue growth reported in Q3 reflects increased capacity and “encouraging” demand.  Additionally, the firm sees Amazon’s current valuation as attractive and sees room for further expansion.

AWS is just one part of Amazon’s overall business. There is considerable value in the other segments of the company that investors may be overlooking.

I have recommended Amazon several times, most recently last Monday, October 27, when the stock was sitting around $224. 

Recommendation:  If you don’t own the stock, scale in on pullbacks.

 

 

 

Cheers

Jacquie