Matt Burgess

5.30 AM

The alarm rings but I’m hoping to snooze for a bit longer. I've been off for the past two days to recoup after Australia's earnings season and a busy period in the markets. I quickly take a look at the headlines in case there's something pressing that I might need to rush in and read up on to prepare for the Asian trading day. There's some news on the US-China trade talks and Brexit, but nothing that hasn’t been priced in or wasn't expected. The emails from when I was off? They can wait. Woohoo, I can snooze!

6.15 AM

The alarm rings again and I feel rested. I get up, grab a drink of water and turn on ABC radio to get a quick rundown of the local news, then I’m out the door by 6:30 am to head on into the bureau. I'm feeling a little lazy, so instead of biking the 20km to the city, I ride the 7km to Manly and jump on the ferry.

8.00 AM

Showered, shaved and suited up for the morning disclosure dump from the ASX. I quickly check in with my colleague Tim on anything pressing for the Australian markets. Then it’s a quick chat with peers in New York to get the scuttlebutt on Wall Street and a chat with my editor in Tokyo as we gear up for the start of trading.

9.00 AM

The U.S. stock futures market opens – generally speaking, the best indicator of market sentiment globally. It's flat, as expected. No news is good news but that could change in the next few hours with economic data releases or any breaking news. There’s also the chance that President Trump may tweet – the impact that 280 characters can have on equity markets is astounding!

10.30 AM

The Australian equity market has been open for 30 minutes. Between Tim and I, we’ve written quick stories about the largest stock moves driven by earnings downgrades or company announcements. I quickly compile the opening market wrap with the largest stock moves and news that’s impacting Australia. I then get back to work on longer pieces that are hitting deadlines while chatting with contacts who trade equities and foreign exchange to keep a sense of what’s happening in the stock market today.

12.15 PM

I send a message to my editors in Asia to let them know I’m heading out to an investment adviser lunch held by a prominent money manager and then catching up with a source for insights into a story I’m working on. I ask someone to keep an eye on the markets as things can turn in an instant. It’s awesome to have such close colleagues who all have each other’s backs. As they say – One Team, One Dream!

2.00 PM

I let my team leader know I’m back in the bureau after an interesting lunch and catch up. What was talked about during the lunch was too weedy for my area of coverage, so I've sent it along to the beat reporter for use in other stories and background for a possible interview later on.

4.15 PM

The Australian market has closed and I write a quick update on the stocks wrap that was published earlier. It’s been a quiet day in Australia and New Zealand, not much has changed but not all days are like this!

5.30 PM

Quick messages with another editor on the story that’s being published early in the morning – tweaks to wording and anything missed in the initial fact check. A final read and it's ready to go.

I then take a sneaky look at swellnet or coastalwatch to see if there are any good waves to wash off the day and relax. Surf is PUMPING! YES! 

6.00 PM

Time to call it a day. I send a message over to colleagues in Europe for them to take over monitoring the U.S. equity futures market. I tell them it’s been a quiet day here for a change so we didn’t write anything. I get a note back acknowledging they've got the watch. It’s great to be part of a global newsroom! Excellent, time for a quick surf. I let the team in Asia know that Europe is watching the futures market and I'm heading out.

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