vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US markets dropped for a third consecutive day after a choppy trading session. All three major US indexes finished the day lower, erasing intraday gains. Markets are still concerned by the fact that we've never seen the Fed increa"
US markets dropped for a third consecutive day after a choppy trading session. All three major US indexes finished the day lower, erasing intraday gains. Markets are still concerned by the fact that we've never seen the Fed increase interest rates and reduce the size of its balance sheet at the same time.
In company news, Tesla's rival Lucid Motors announced plans to launch in Europe this year. Elsewhere, BMW debuted its colour-changing paint for its iX model. My question is what colour are you going to report to the authorities if your car gets stolen? This officially makes it the best getaway car on the planet.
At market close, the JSE All-share slipped 1.16%, the S&P 500 was down 0.10%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.13%.
Our 10c Worth
Byron's Beats
Apple reaching $3 trillion was a big deal for us at Vestact. It is our biggest and most widely held stock amongst our client base. Naturally, we are very pleased with the fabulous performance.
What if you are a new client about to send us funds. Is Apple still a solid buy? Being the biggest company on the planet also means it is coming off the highest base in history.
Gene Munster is one of the best Apple analysts out there. In our circles, he is famous for his coverage of Apple alone over the last 15 years.
In his article titled Apple $3T Milestone Is a Nod That Its Best Days Are To Come, he believes that Apple will be at the forefront of the metaverse and autonomy. The headline speaks for itself. We agree with this thesis. Give it a read, it is short and sweet.
Michael's Musings
Toyota is arguably the best manufacturing company in the world. Their systems are the gold standard for reliability and efficiency across many industries. There is a reason that a Toyota car has such a good reputation for reliability. Just ask any proud owner who boasts about having 500 000 kms on the clock.
Once the designers have a tested and working design, it takes years for any modifications to be made. Change introduces unpredictability, lowers reliability and messes with supply chain planning. There is a reason that the Toyota Land Cruiser has looked the same for the last 15 years.
Tesla ignores all of these 'industry best practises' because it changes its vehicles on the fly. The speed allows it to adapt much quicker than its competitors. It has meant that some cars have had quality issues and needed a recall. Thankfully, the company has a very loyal client base and the recalls haven't hurt demand for their vehicles.
Here is an interesting blog post from last year about how Tesla has completely changed things - Unlearning What Toyota Taught Us.
Bright's Banter
Samsung released its fourth-quarter earnings showing that profits rose more than 50%, after chip prices stabilised and smartphone sales increased. The tech giant's revenue was up by 23% to 76 trillion Won, with operating income coming in at 13.8 trillion Won ($11.5 billion).
Smartphone manufacturers are struggling to source the right components in time due to a large demand from server farms, electric cars, home devices, and other networking technologies that use the same components.
When demand exceeds supply, it leads to unwelcome price increases, mostly passed on to the consumer. Apple's iPhone division diverted chips from the iPad to navigate the chip shortage, allowing them to deliver the new iPhone 13. We all got our upgrades here at Vestact, doing our bit to boost the numbers.
The idea of having a car that can change colour has been around for a while. As mentioned above, BMW presented a working prototype of a car that can change colour between black and white, with the intention to add more colours in the future - BMW's colour changing car concept works just like an e-reader.
Signing Off
Asian markets are mixed this morning. Shares in Hong Kong and South Korea climbed, while Japan continued dipping. Elsewhere, oil has climbed to a seven-week high on supply constraints.
Today, US employment data will be released later in the afternoon.
US futures edged higher in early trade, maybe the markets will take a breather from all the red we've seen. The Rand is stronger at R15.79 against the US Dollar.
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