vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US markets sold off yesterday as fears about inflation and further interest rates by the Fed started to circulate again. After down days on Friday and Monday, some wind has been taken out of the recent rally. Energy stocks outperf" Vestact - Money with a dash of funny
US markets sold off yesterday as fears about inflation and further interest rates by the Fed started to circulate again. After down days on Friday and Monday, some wind has been taken out of the recent rally. Energy stocks outperformed after talk of OPEC+ output cuts surfaced. The top performer in the S&P 500 was fertilizer producer Mosaic, which tells you what kind of day it was.
In company news, Ford Motor fell 5% after a bizarre $1.7 billion jury verdict emerged from a lawsuit about a couple who died in a F-250 truck accident in 2014. The vehicle manufacturer said it would appeal. Elsewhere, Palo Alto Networks soared 8% after-hours following strong earnings and an upbeat outlook for the 2022 fiscal year.
At the end of the day, the JSE All-share was down 0.75%, the S&P 500 flopped by 2.14%, and the Nasdaq was bashed down 2.55%.
Our 10c Worth
One Thing, From Paul
It seems like it's going to be one of those weeks when global macro-economic talking points are uppermost in people's minds. Economic growth, inflation, monetary policy, international trade, politics. Worries, worries, worries. How boring!
As Ben Carlson pointed out in a recent blog post, narrative always follows price in the markets. If the market rises, everyone starts talking about good news from specific stocks. If it goes down, the negative chatter about economic challenges returns.
I can't imagine anything more dull than the conversations that central bankers must be having this week at their annual Jackson Hole symposium. For the days ahead I'm going to tune that out and find more interesting material to share with you here.
Byron's Beats
The streaming wars are in full swing. But what about live sport? Amazon Prime has made itself the home of Thursday Night Football. For the first time in NFL history, a streaming service will be the only way to watch these mid-week NFL games, starting on the 25th of August.
Amazon paid $1 billion for the annual exclusive rights, a massive financial boost for the sport, no doubt. They have also invested heavily in the consumer experience. There will be options to view real-time statistics through X-Ray technology. These will show things like the average time to throw for quarterbacks. Players will wear uniforms with Amazon Web Services chips connected to them. How cool is that!
Why would Amazon do this? They have worked out that Prime Members spend more money on all their platforms. By making Prime more attractive they will naturally get more members. The future of watching live sports looks very exciting.
Michael's Musings
The SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) plans to shut down the South African economy tomorrow, and its members will march to the Union Buildings to highlight unemployment and slow economic growth.
Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said, "We are sitting right on top of a powder keg, a ticking time bomb, if you look at all the social aspects we are beginning to experience in our country. Act now and avoid a calamity". Most people agree change is needed, but we can't agree on what to do.
Saftu wants the government to spend R1 trillion, including creating a basic income grant and increasing the size of the public workforce. They also want the SARB to reduce interest rates. Can you imagine what would happen to our inflation rate if we sharply increased spending and lowered interest rates?
I think the real issue is how poorly our taxes are spent. There isn't enough accountability. It doesn't matter how much money the government spends, if it is spent badly all it does is generate debt for future generations and create inflation. Maybe we need a prosecuting authority with a massive budget and some real teeth?
Bright's Banter
HBO Max crashed when the Game of Thrones prequel "House of the Dragon" made its debut on Sunday night. I guess it's all the GOT fans who have been eagerly awaiting new content since the series finished in 2019. We have George R.R. Martin to thank for the GOT universe and he signed a deal to work on the new series.
House of the Dragon is set two centuries before the original hit series, and covers the looming civil war within the House Targaryen dynasty. If you'd read the books, you'd know what I'm referring to. HBO is betting a lot on this series and it looks like it's going to pay handsome dividends for them and their shareholders.
The best way to enjoy watching this new series without having to wait every week for a new episode, is to start binge-watching the original Game of Thrones from season 1. By the time you're done with all eight seasons of GOT, there will be enough episodes of House of the Dragon for you to enjoy back-to-back without the wait.
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