vestact posted: " Market Scorecard US markets were mixed yesterday, opening much lower, going into the green during the afternoon, but dipping just below even at the close. That was not too bad after the very solid gains on Monday and Tuesday. Energy, technology an" Vestact - Money with a dash of funny
US markets were mixed yesterday, opening much lower, going into the green during the afternoon, but dipping just below even at the close. That was not too bad after the very solid gains on Monday and Tuesday. Energy, technology and healthcare stocks rose the most. An employment report released earlier in the day showed that the US private sector added 208 00 jobs in September, holding up better-than-expected.
OPEC+ decided to reduce daily oil production by two million barrels because they feel prices are too low. The Saudis and the Russians are in cahoots, what wankers! The US oil benchmark jumped to a three-week high on the news. The White House warned of the potential negative effects on the economy and said the US would release 10 million barrels from strategic reserves.
In company news, the UK's third and fourth largest mobile phone network operators Vodafone and Three have agreed to merge. If the deal goes through, the combined entity will have 27 million customers. Elsewhere, Japanese chipmaker Socionext has sold shares ahead of its IPO, priced at the higher end of the range, making it Japan's largest IPO this year.
In short, the JSE All-share was down 1.06%, the S&P 500 fell 0.20%, and the Nasdaq softened by 0.25%.
Our 10c Worth
One Thing, From Paul
Ok, one more picture for my "visual week". You've probably seen this one before but it now has updated data. The noteworthy points are these: (1) the world's population is now 8 billion, (2) India will overtake China soon, and (3) South Africa is quite a small country, but we are visible there in the yellow section.
Byron's Beats
According to The Wall Street Journal the price of moving a container across the Pacific has dropped from $19 000 last year to $3 900 now. This is great news for inflation. The price drop is a mixture of supply chains normalising and the global demand for goods dropping. Unfortunately, to curb inflation demand needs to cool.
Another factor that is net positive for inflation is all the excess inventory lying around. When Nike reported earnings last week they said that they are sitting on 44% more inventory than the year before. This means a lot of Nike products will be sold at a discount.
The stats continue to point towards a turn in the inflation numbers. Hopefully, that will result in the Fed taking their foot off the interest rate accelerator and stocks can start to recover.
Michael's Musings
Illumina is one of our 'future hero' investments. The company accounts for about 80% of the emerging DNA sequencing market. The Human Genome Project was responsible for the first sequencing of human DNA - it took 13 years, 1990 to 2003, and cost $2.7 billion. Since then technology has improved so much that it now takes less than a day and only costs $600.
Last week Illumina unveiled their newest sequencing machine, with significant improvements. It will be capable of generating more than 20 000 whole genomes a year, a 2.5x increase over the older model. Thanks to improved technology and quicker processing times, operating costs drop from $600 to $200 per sequence. The benefits do come with a slightly higher price tag though. The machine will cost $1.25 million, up from the current model's $950 000.
It's exciting to see the rapid changes in this emerging industry. As costs drop quickly, we will start to see DNA-tailored medication. The industry has massive growth potential. Illumina's share price has been rising lately on this news.
Bright's Banter
Google announced that as part of a $1 billion Africa investment plan, they will set up a cloud services business called Google Cloud Africa. The infrastructure will be based here in Mzansi. It will give users, developers, businesses and educational institutions across Africa, more information and tools online.
"We are giving customers and partners the choice of where they would like to store data and service consumers from," said Niral Patel, the director of Google Cloud Africa. Google also said it was building its subsea cable and cloud interconnect sites in four cities including Cape Town, Jozi, Lagos, and Nairobi.
Google will compete with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Google estimates that the Mzansi cloud region could contribute more than $2.1 billion to the country's economy, and support the creation of more than 40 000 unique jobs by 2030.
Linkfest, Lap It Up
Before Richemont was created, there was a company called Vendôme Luxury Group. The Rupert family used that vehicle to purchase Cartier in the 1970s - The History of Vendôme.
Asian markets seem to be taking the rising oil prices in their stride this morning. Stocks in Japan and South Korea advanced, while Hong Kong edged lower.
US equity futures are higher in early trade. The Rand is trading at R17.74 to the US Dollar. The Pound gained ground even though Fitch Ratings downgraded its UK outlook to negative.
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