vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US stocks had a disappointing end to the week, closing down on Friday after the release of a strong May jobs report. The world's biggest economy is humming along, which strengthened the view that the Fed will keep hiking rates. We" Vestact - Money with a dash of funny
US stocks had a disappointing end to the week, closing down on Friday after the release of a strong May jobs report. The world's biggest economy is humming along, which strengthened the view that the Fed will keep hiking rates. We shall see on Friday if US inflation has peaked. Until then, let's just try to stay sane.
In company news, Tesla closed down 9.2% after Elon Musk said they would cut staff by 10% because he felt "super bad" about the global economy. He'd earlier indicated that people who insisted on working from home would be fired. Elsewhere, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo's Enhertu drug was found to extend the lives of breast cancer patients by at least six months compared to standard chemotherapy. That's a win!
On Friday, the JSE All-share was down 0.16%, the S&P 500 lost 1.68%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.47%.
Our 10c Worth
Byron's Beats
Late last week, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike released quarterly results which looked impressive. Annual recurring revenues (ARR) seems to be the metric that analysts really pay attention to here, because it looks at locked-in clients and excludes consulting jobs that were once off in nature. ARR grew 61% year over year, resulting in a 61% growth in revenues and a 46% increase in cash flow from operations.
Guidance was also increased. For the full year 2023, they expect net income of around $310 million. This is not a pie in the sky business that could one day be profitable, it's the real deal.
The company now has 17 945 business subscribers after adding 1 620 in the quarter. The average ongoing customer pays for at least four or more modules. They are selling new products to existing clients very well too.
Ransomware attacks are up 337% from 2019. The world needs companies like CrowdStrike to do well. We are happy to hop on board for the ride, knowing that the money is supporting a good cause while potentially making great returns.
One Thing, From Paul
Ben Carlson wrote an interesting blog post about the development of the US state of Florida in the early 1900s. Prior to that it had been a swampy backwater. By 1925 it was home to 1.3 million people. This means more than 5% of the US population moved to Florida in just 3 years.
"Entire cities were created up and down both coasts. Land was dredged up from the sea floor to fill the swamps with enough sand, mud and rocks to create many of the beaches and islands tourists now visit."
Johannesburg also grew very fast, and at much the same time. Thanks to the massive gold production from the Witwatersrand reef, capital and labour flocked in. Infrastructure was developed, and new homes were built.
Carlson makes the point that these kinds of booms are not speculative or irrational. It's not a bubble, it's just humans investing in response to opportunity. How great is that? We are an amazing species, living at an amazing time.
In 2021 early retirements surged thanks to record stock market prices, Covid fears and older employees being allergic to Zoom. Now with the stock market down, higher inflation and in-person benefits, it seems that people want to stay in their jobs. There's even a trend of people who retired early returning to work.
With more people working from home, experienced workers could do a few shifts a week from their holiday destinations. Semi-retirement will be normal, and quitting at 60 to play golf will not.
Bright's Banter
In October 2021, Meta, changed its name from Facebook to emphasise its intention to be at the forefront of the metaverse. That's where virtual environments are accessed through 3D interactions, and Mark Zuckerberg's business has been working on it for years.
Meta began to show a strong interest in augmented worlds in 2014 after investing $2 billion in the acquisition of Oculus, which designed the Rift VR gaming headset. Oculus is still Meta's second-biggest deal ever, after the purchase of WhatsApp. Today, Oculus technology is at the heart of the interactive exhibits that Meta aspires to create in the metaverse.
IN 2019 Meta also purchased CTRL-labs, a business that has built a gadget that transmits signals from the brain to the computer. According to Bloomberg, the transaction value was somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion.
The University of Johannesburg is testing the use of 3D printers to create RDP houses. The printers seem faster than traditional building methods, but the cost comparison is still unclear - UJ 3D prints concrete RDP house 'in one day'.
Signing Off
Asian shares are up this morning as Beijing further relaxed Covid lockdown rules. Tech shares in China and Hong Kong are having a good day and Japanese markets reversed earlier losses.
US equity futures are higher, but it feels too early to be getting excited about that. Hopefully, we will make further progress and have a solid day of gains to soothe Friday's pains. The Rand is trading at R15.48 to the US Dollar.
Have a great week. Let us know if you have any questions, about anything. We enjoy reader feedback.
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