vestact posted: " Market Scorecard Lazarus is a character described in the Bible, in the Gospel of John. After being dead for four days, Jesus restored him to life, apparently. The S&P500 arose from a string of sessions with losses, to close in the green last n" Vestact - Money with a dash of funny
Lazarus is a character described in the Bible, in the Gospel of John. After being dead for four days, Jesus restored him to life, apparently. The S&P500 arose from a string of sessions with losses, to close in the green last night. Hallelujah! It was an impressive recovery, considering that the broader index had fallen as much as 1.3% earlier in the session.
In company news, access management systems maker Okta fell 34% after the company disclosed some merger integration hiccups after its acquisition of AuthO. Elsewhere, athleisure company Lululemon jumped 9.7% after reporting very handy results.
At the end of the day, the JSE All-share was down 1.84%, the S&P 500 gained 0.30%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.26%.
Our 10c Worth
One Thing, From Paul
It's Friday advice time, so here goes. Do you consider yourself to be left-wing or right-wing? A progressive, or a conservative? Most people think that they themselves are moderate and sensible, but consider others (in both directions) to be politically misguided.
In a world of polarised views, shouting and disparagement, it's a good idea to practice political tolerance. It may seem that someone's views are pre-historic, fascist, infantile or utopian, but remember that everyone has a different ideological upbringing and class position.
Here in South Africa, someone who is a business owner is not the same as a social grant recipient. They have vastly different incentives. As the saying goes, "if you think you know something, find someone who disagrees and listen to them".
It's ok to have different views. If I don't agree with yours, even on important topics, that's not the end of the world. Diversity of opinion is to be expected.
Byron's Beats
Visa releases monthly transaction metrics which we like to follow. This information is useful to us as shareholders, and also paints a good picture of the state of the global macro economy. Given the Covid wobble, the stats for 2022 are compared to 2019. No point worrying about the lockdown write-offs in 2020 and 2021.
The data for August reflects the problems that consumers around the world are experiencing. US transaction volumes decreased 3% month on month, with US e-commerce down 6%. That is to be expected as rising prices and interest rates slow down economies around the world. Will this trend continue into September? Only time will tell.
The bigger picture is positive. US volumes compared to August 2019 were 44% higher. Global processed transactions increased by 40%. Despite the bumpy 3 years we've been through, there has been annualised growth of around 12%.
Visa had a tough time during Covid because people could not travel. They make a lot of money from high-value, currency switches, and cross-border transactions. Cross-border transactions in August were 34% higher than in August 2019. That is very good news.
Bright's Banter
Here is some more good news for a Friday. Starbucks has appointed a new chief executive to succeed the interim CEO Howard Schultz. Laxman Narasimhan will assume the new role in October, and Schultz will fully hand over the reins by April next year.
Narasimhan comes from Reckitt Benckiser, which makes household products such as Air Wick, Feet, Finish, Clearasil, and Durex among other consumer goods. He served as CEO there for three years.
His other stints include 19 years at McKinsey & Co. and a time at PepsiCo as chief commercial officer. At one point he struck a deal between PepsiCo and Starbucks to partner and sell the coffee brand's pre-packaged beverages. We're looking forward to seeing how he's going to handle unions and high staff turnover at Starbucks.
What can you do to promote healthier sleeping habits? This study investigates the ways to have high-quality slumber - How to get better rest.
Signing Off
Asian markets are directionless this morning. Stocks in Hong Kong are down, but they are up slightly in Japan, mainland China and South Korea.
The monthly US jobs numbers will be released this afternoon. This update is expected to show healthy payroll growth and follows a stronger-than-expected US manufacturing report. We are in an "upside down" time where strong economic data can be market negative because interest rates might rise faster.
US equity futures are just below par in early trade. Hopefully, we will enjoy another day of stock gains, to repair some of the damage done earlier this week. The Rand is trading at R17.29 to the US Dollar.
Have a good weekend. It is going to be hot on the Highveld apparently, try get your first swim in for the spring. We will see you here on Monday.
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