Market Scorecard
Yesterday, US markets were choppy and ended up close to where they started. The Fed's preferred inflation gauge - the personal-consumption expenditures price index – rose by less than anticipated, another sign that US inflation is cooling. Financial stocks were weak after a suggestion that banks might need to set aside more capital to cover potential credit losses.
In company news, Netflix rose 3.7% because The Wall Street Journal reported that the streaming giant will expand a programme to test its films and series with preview audiences before broad releases. Farfetch closed down 35% after the luxury marketplace reported a trading update that came up short of expectations. Ouch, that's a big fall.
At the end of it all, the JSE All-share was up 0.26%, the S&P 500 was a tiny 0.09% lower, and the Nasdaq rose by a mingy 0.13%.
Our 10c Worth
Byron's Beats
South Africa is a crazy place, it always has been. It's also a place of huge opportunity. By all means, take risks here. Start a business that tries to solve our many problems and you could make good money. Provide vital services that the people here need. You are making South Africa a better place by just working.
Once you've taken those risks and made some loot, you should invest the money offshore, in hard currency. Saving up is hard, so it's soul-destroying to watch your Rand nest egg drop in value by 6% to the Dollar in one day, as it did yesterday.
Once you have enough Dollars invested and have a comfortable financial position you can bring funds back to buy properties, start new businesses or fund someone else's fabulous idea. But make sure your retirement nest egg is growing nicely in a place where the rule of law is well-respected.
One Thing, From Paul
What happens if you suffer an unintended "digital purge", and lose all your contacts, emails or files? Might not be such a bad thing, really. It will make you start afresh!
This blogger terminated all his old emails by mistake. Whoops, I Deleted My Life.
Here's the last paragraph: "That morning, my mind spun as I tried in vain to re-create the various perceptions and emotions that had been written into Google's servers and were now abandoned to the ether. I felt a sudden sense of mourning that I still have not gotten over. And yet, to my surprise, I felt something else alongside it: a conflicting sense of relief and even levity."
"I would never have voluntarily deleted all of those emails, but I also can't deny, not entirely, that there is something cathartic about sloughing off those thousands of accumulated disappointments and rebukes, those passionate and pathetic fights and dramas, even those insights and stirrings - all of those complicated yet ephemeral layers of former selves that no longer contain me. I closed my laptop, wandered outside into the specific corner of France that my former selves' cumulative choices had led me to inhabit, and was overtaken by a sense of hope."
Bright's Banter
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had an exceptional launch selling over 10 million units worldwide in just three days. This is the most copies sold in that period for any Nintendo game. Compared to another new game released in November; God of War: Ragnarok only managed to move 5.1 million copies in seven days.
In just a weekend, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet sold almost as many copies as Pokemon Diamond and Pearl sold in its lifetime (14.92 million units). The earlier Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eve also racked up 14.8 million units in lifetime sales. This proves that the Pokemon franchise remains extremely popular.
Linkfest, Lap It Up
Global shopping platform Lyst has released its Year in Fashion report. They chart the most-wanted luxury fashion brands and products based on data from 200 million shoppers - From Miu Miu to Birkenstock: the hottest brands and products of 2022.
When was the last time you used a DVD or went to the Post Office? Incredibly, 1.5 million Americans still receive Netflix DVDs in their post boxes - Netflix nights still come wrapped in red-and-white envelopes.
Signing Off
Asian markets are down this morning, led by Japan, where the Yen's five-day rally increased downward momentum on stocks. That's odd, you would think that the Japanese would be ecstatic after their win over Spain at the World Cup yesterday. Benchmarks in Hong Kong, mainland China, and South Korea are also slightly lower.
US equity futures are down a tiny bit in early trade, ahead of a big US jobs report out later. Economists polled by Refinitiv say they are expecting job growth to have slowed in November, with just 200 000 positions added.
The Rand has weakened to around R17.61 to the US Dollar, its worst one-day loss since May. Political unrest is bubbling under the surface as Cyril Ramaphosa faces calls to step aside. The South African president has potentially breached the constitution which was exposed by the theft of $580 000 stashed at his Phala Phala game farm. His future will be decided today by the deadbeats that sit on the ANC's National Executive Committee.
It's the weekend and its December. South Africans are used to December shocks. Remember Nenegate, Steinhoff and the demise of Zuma. We move on. It's a good time to start a party.
Sent to you by Team Vestact.
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