Crypto News: Albanese defends free Qantas upgrades

Good morning, it's Ainsley here with all the news you need to start your day.

Today's must-reads:
• Albanese under fire over Qantas upgrades
• Goldman refinances property credit fund
• Mineral Resources investigation nears end

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is under pressure to explain his relationship with Qantas after allegations he received more than a dozen free flight upgrades, soliciting at least some of them directly from ex-boss Alan Joyce. Prior to becoming PM, Albanese accepted gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars from Qantas, according to a new book by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston. Albanese said all his upgrades had been declared, as required.

Pallas Capital's A$500 million private credit commercial real estate fund has been refinanced by Goldman Sachs, the Sydney-based non-bank lender said. The fund, Pallas Funding Trust No. 2, lends to mid-market companies that find it difficult to access financing from other lenders.

Mineral Resources said its investigation into undeclared payments made to companies linked to its tycoon founder, Chris Ellison, would be completed by next week. Ellison, who is managing director and a major shareholder, said the payments pre-dated the company's 2006 listing, and came from overseas entities he and his business partners operated. He did not declare the income from the supply contracts.

Stocks rose at the start of the busiest week for corporate earnings, with traders also gearing up for the US election and key economic data that will set the stage for the next Federal Reserve decision. Ford dropped after trimming its profit forecast.

Boeing launched a nearly $19 billion share sale, one of the largest ever by a public company, to address the troubled planemaker's liquidity needs and stave off a potential credit rating downgrade to junk.

Boeing's shareholders are complicit in its mess, writes Chris Hughes in Bloomberg Opinion. The origins of this dire situation go back decades, long predating the fatal crashes of 2018 and 2019 involving the 737 Max.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba promised to restore political stability in a bid to maintain power, after his ruling coalition failed to win a majority in the lower house for the first time since 2009. The yen fell as much as 1% after the result, and has now given up all its gains since the Bank of Japan increased interest rates in late July.

Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Nothing major scheduled

Parents, look out for Dog Man. A slobbering, crime-fighting creature who's half Homo sapiens, half Canis familiaris is here to rescue the children's books business. On Dec. 3, Scholastic, the US publisher of the Harry Potter and Hunger Games books, will be rolling out Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, the 13th graphic novel in the comedic series from author Dav Pilkey. Weeks later, Dog Man, an animated movie from Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation, will arrive in theaters, featuring the voices of Pete Davidson, Isla Fisher and Ricky Gervais.