vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US markets retreated yesterday after a volatile day of trading. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will discuss accelerating its bond-buying taper in an effort to curtail inflation. Ok, dad, we hear you. "
US markets retreated yesterday after a volatile day of trading. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will discuss accelerating its bond-buying taper in an effort to curtail inflation. Ok, dad, we hear you.
November was an iffy month in New York. The old-school Dow ended the month 3.7% lower, while the broader S&P500 index fell 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq only gained 0.25%. But if we zoom out a bit, the year-to-date returns of the S&P500 and the Nasdaq are up 23.4% and 22.4%, respectively. So, no complaining, ok?
In company news, Lululemon is suing Peloton over "copycat products" after the exercise bike company launched a new line of clothing. Elsewhere, Nike is allegedly limiting the number of pairs of Air Force 1s that a single customer can buy. Exercise-bunnies are living their best lives.
At the end of the session, the JSE All-share was up 0.67%, the S&P 500 was down 1.90%, and the Nasdaq dipped 1.55%.
Our 10c Worth
One Thing, From Paul
I'm tired of stock market commentary, so here's a bonus advice column. It's only Wednesday, I know.
I just watched a commencement speech by British author Neil Gaiman (that's him in the picture below). He spoke to the students about how to advance in the world of work. He said you should aim to be good at three things: (1) Deliver on time. (2) Produce good work and (3) Be easy to get along with.
He goes on to say that in reality, being good at 2 out of the 3 is just fine. Gaiman: "People will tolerate how unpleasant you are if your work is good and you deliver it on time. People will forgive the lateness of your work if it's good and they like you. And you don't have to be as good as everyone else if you're on time and it's always a pleasure to hear from you".
Byron's Beats
There are lots of innovations in the fintech sector at the moment. One of them is the buy now pay later service. The concept can be quite hard to wrap your head around if you use a credit card. It is basically the same thing right?
As I understand it, BNPL involves automatic instalments to pay back your debt. You'd be surprised, perhaps, to hear that many people are terrible at paying back their credit card debt within the interest-free period, resulting in big interest penalties.
According to PayPal, the buy now pay later option on their app surged 400% to 750 000 transactions on Black Friday. The new feature is called Pay in 4 and was only launched on PayPal at the end of last year.
This is what I like about PayPal. They can copy innovations that other fintech companies are pioneering and then push them on to their 400 million account holders. This one is a good buy at current, depressed, levels.
Michael's Musings
Are you looking for a unique Christmas gift? How about a Tesla whistle, inspired by their Cybertruck for a mere R800. Last night Elon Musk tweeted, "Don't waste your money on that silly Apple Cloth, buy our whistle instead!"
The Tesla website says, "Inspired by Cybertruck, the limited-edition Cyberwhistle is a premium collectible made from medical-grade stainless steel with a polished finish." Medical-grade stainless steel, sounds good to me. I wonder how loud it is?
I expect the company to sell a few million dollars worth of the whistle, not huge money, but still nice pocket change. Having a strong brand is one of the best moats to have against competitors. Tesla has a cult-like following which is hugely valuable as they significantly increase the number of cars produced. We expect the demand for Tesla products to outstrip supply for years to come.
Bright's Banter
Porsche has acquired a majority stake in a high-end electric bike manufacturer called Greyp. The luxury sports car maker took a 10% interest in 2018 through its venture capital fund, Porsche Ventures.
Greyp was founded by Mate Rimac, who is known as "Croatia's Elon Musk". He's also the mastermind behind the electric supercar startup Rimac Automobili. Greyp makes highly connected, extremely powerful electric mountain bikes, including their $10 000 flagship, full-suspension model called the G6.
I'm not certain whether Porsche is investing in Rimac's business prowess or they're just interested in the technology which they can use in their existing suite of electric vehicles. Porsche also owns a small stake in Rimac Automobili and have plans to merge it with Bugatti, which they also own. Bugatti Rimac? Sounds a bit incestuous.
There's been a lot of corporate activity in the electric vehicle sector, but not much in the way of share price gains, outside of Tesla. The hope is that these undervalued traditional carmakers will re-rate soon as they increase their focus on EVs. Let's see if they can pull it off?
Linkfest, Lap It Up
The next generation of the 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' is coming to Netflix . Hasbro's split from Toei and the acquisition of Entertainment One means that the Power Rangers Cinematic Universe is getting a reboot - Who said Power Rangers were left for dead?
Most Asian markets are all in the green this morning. Maybe they don't care about Daddy Powell? The MSCI Asia-Pacific index is up by more than 1% for the trading day. Sounds good to us!
US equity futures are also pushing higher in early trade, indicating some optimism returning to counter yesterday's slump. The Rand is finally showing some Saffa vasbyt, and has strengthened to around R15.81 against the US Dollar.
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