This morning, I was torn between two stories. One was my 2GB colleague Ben Fordham who wanted me to cover a business story on The Iconic. The other involved the unfortunate situation in Iran. I’ve fused both of them on the basis of iconoclasm!
This morning, I was trapped between two stories. One was my 2GB colleague Ben Fordham who wanted me to cover a story on The Iconic. This is a business that just turned its first profit in 15 years!
The second was a piece on whether this Iran war will make Donald Trump an iconic figure in US history or kill his status as a memorable “can do” guy. If this happens, President Donald J. Trump will be seen as an episode where democracy stuffed up “big time”. But if he pulls off a victory in a short time and helps the Iranian people overthrow the cleric-dominated leadership regime, then he’ll be remembered by his fans and even some of his critics as a genius!
Overnight, the ‘quick war’ win was challenged, with the Dow Jones slumping over 1000 points before the close of trading on Wall Street, after news broke that Iran says it hit an oil tanker, which pushed up the price of oil by US$7 a barrel to over US$80.
Locally, our stock market is expected to open up down a whoppingly big 161 points! To show how worried the world is getting, our dollar is 69.89 US cents. When investors get scared about the global economy, our dollar falls because we are big exporters to the world.
Adding to the concerns for humanity and the global economy is this from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said that Iran is “not asking for a cease fire” from the US and Israel. In fact, he added: “We don’t see any reason why we should negotiate.”
This kind of reaction makes any sensible analyst ponder whether Trump and Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu have bitten off much more than they can chew?
Right now, financial markets have been trying to believe that this war won’t last long. That’s why there have been dip buyers i.e. smarties who buy the stock market and individual stocks when share prices fall as a response to the uncertainty that a war like this generates.
However, this news today about a tanker being hit and the oil price spiking means there’ll be less courageous dip buyers helping to moderate the falls in stock prices.
This question about the President possibly underestimating the Iranian leadership’s resolve to fight was looked at by market expert Sam Stovall of CFRA Research. Stovall told CNBC the following: “Can [President Donald] Trump really escort all of the vessels through the Strait of Hormuz? What kind of liability are we going to be putting on ourselves, and how would that affect our debt levels? Investors are basically saying that whatever is happening now is not good.”
For investors, this Iran war is becoming like a game of football. If the US and Israel look like they can win on the ‘scoreboard’, then stocks can resist crashing. But if this ends up a draw or a win to Iran (with the latter looking unlikely), stocks won’t recover quickly. This is especially so if oil tankers keep getting hit and then no ships’ captains (as well as their insurers) are willing to let their vessels go through the Strait of Hormuz.
That could be ‘trumpsville’ for D.J Trump! As an investor and financial adviser, I definitely don’t want to see this. That would kill his potential iconic status!
While on matters iconic, The Iconic story was interesting, especially as it’s taken 15 years to turn a maiden profit, which tells non-business owners or employees that business life can be a lot harder than you think.
The AFR’s Carrie LaFrenz looked at The Iconic’s first profit telling us: “After 15 years of selling dresses, sneakers, and skincare, The Iconic has made its maiden net profit, and chief executive Jere Calmes says the online retailer’s technological edge and focus on cost control can unlock more gains in the years ahead.”
The story made me do some fact checking on The Iconic and the discoveries were interesting.
Here they are:
- It was founded in 2011.
- It’s owned by the Global Fashion Group, a Luxembourg-based operation.
- While the profit for 2025 was a meagre $1.5 million, it was better than the $20.7 million loss in 2024.
- The Iconic’s Yennora based fulfilment centre spans a 28,000 sqm footprint with 46,000 square metres of space, including one of the largest mezzanines and pick towers in the Southern Hemisphere.
Explaining the turnaround for the business, Calmes told the AFR that the business is being helped by Artificial Intelligence and the fact that it’s not just a retailer any more but a marketplace, where over 1,500 brands are sold including P.E Nation, Sass & Bide, Camilla and Marc, Country Road, Witchery and Lorna Jane, as well as overseas brands such as Nike, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Adidas, MAC, Estee Lauder and more.
Artificial Intelligence has been a help to The Iconic, and I suspect Donald and Benjamin have a lot riding on AI giving them both a winning result in this Iran war.
