vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US markets extended their winning streak last night. Maybe we will never go down again, like that legendary prizefighter from the 1950s, Rocky Marciano. Nine of the S&P 500's eleven sectors rose, with consumer staples and util" Vestact - Money with a dash of funny
US markets extended their winning streak last night. Maybe we will never go down again, like that legendary prizefighter from the 1950s, Rocky Marciano. Nine of the S&P 500's eleven sectors rose, with consumer staples and utilities leading the gains. Commodity prices are falling, including oil and copper, on concerns that demand from China is waning.
US data from yesterday pointed to rapidly cooling manufacturing and softening homebuilder sentiment. That sounds ominous, but at least it will lower persistent price pressures, reduce borrowing costs and keep the Fed from over-reacting. This is how the US will avoid a recession.
In company news, Illumina shot up by 8.8% yesterday, after falling by 8.4% on Friday. Must have been that encouraging review written by Paul in Monday's newsletter! Elsewhere, Elon Musk announced that Tesla surpassed the milestone of producing 3 million cars, while the Shanghai gigafactory made its millionth. In aggregate, Tesla cars will have driven 100 million miles by the end of this year. Finally, Uber Eats has teamed up with Office Depot for on-demand school supplies.
Yesterday, the JSE All-share was only up 0.01%, but the S&P 500 climbed 0.40%, and the Nasdaq closed 0.62% higher.
Our 10c Worth
One Thing, From Paul
As everybody knows, global supply chains have been tight for the last year, leading to long delays and rising prices. That's caused inflation and panicked central banks. In turn, hiked interest rates tanked the stock market.
So, here's the good news. According to multiple sources, supply chains have since improved dramatically. Delivery times are shortening, ocean freight rates have come down sharply, trucking capacity is up, and inventory levels are gradually returning to normal.
Many of these logistical problems were caused by Covid, and now that's gone. The moral of the story is? Ignore the scary headlines. Keep calm and stay invested. Humans are inventive, they solve problems.
Byron's Beats
The market has recovered nicely since hitting lows in June. So far, it has been a year of two halves. Market followers would like to know why this is the case. We are humans and we need answers.
I really enjoyed Josh Brown's explanation in his blog piece titled Why the market is bouncing. He lists the more obvious reasons like inflation subsiding and good corporate earnings, but he believes the main issue is that there is nowhere else for money to go. As the negative sentiment starts to fade, big money managers need to find a home for their clients' savings.
Josh is a great writer and really knows how to simplify a complex topic. Please go have a read yourself (link above).
Michael's Musings
Last week Saudi Aramco set a record for being the most profitable company ever. It reported a quarterly profit of $47 billion, bringing total profits for the last six months to $88 billion. That's about 50% higher than Apple's most profitable six-month period. It's hard to comprehend how much money that is. Saudi Arabia has some of the cheapest oil-producing fields in the world. The recent surge in oil prices means every barrel produced is being sold at a big fat profit margin.
Should the Saudi authorities increase oil production to lower prices? The country accounts for around 10 - 13% of global output, compared to the US, with about 12 - 15%. So, if Saudi Arabia increased their production by 10%, it would only add 1% to global supply, would that be enough to change oil prices? Maybe not.
What will Saudi Arabia do with all the money? They have some big infrastructure dreams, including this giant new wall-shaped city in the desert, over 100 miles long - New mirrored city looks like a huge dystopian wall.
Bright's Banter
Apple is trying to expand its advertising business which already makes $4 billion a year. Did you know they had an ads business?
The Tim Cook-led company makes money by displaying ads in its News and Stocks apps, as well as inside the App Store (including Google-like search ads), across the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Recently the company also put adverts on TV+ for its "Friday Night Baseball" deal with Major League Baseball.
This is an interesting move by Apple because it increased security measures on all its devices which badly damaged other ad-supported businesses like SnapChat and Facebook. Now they're embarking on a journey to capture those "lost" ad dollars by using their own ecosystem. Let's see if Apple has what it takes to compete directly with Meta and Google in this space.
Linkfest, Lap It Up
Is anyone keen for a ride in a driverless taxi? Most self-driving vehicles have a human behind the wheel for emergencies, but these taxis are completely autonomous - Baidu launches China's first driverless taxi services.
Solar energy users feel wonderful about themselves. Global warming drives concerned humans to become electricity misers, but once you have PV panels on your roof, you can go wild and generate a surplus - The case for using solar is the bliss of sudden abundance.
Signing Off
Asian markets are mixed this morning, some up some down. Shares in Hong Kong declined after their lunchtime break. Stocks in mainland China and Japan are flat.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are slightly lower in early trade. The Rand is going for R16.43 for every dollar.
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