Investjj

07/09/2023

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-09-07-breaking-pick-n-pay-founder-raymond-ackerman-has-died/

The retail giant’s founder has left a profound mark on the local industry

22/08/2023

https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-7-mission-go-launch-august-25?utm_term=5AC591F1-0C48-4EDA-BE4F-8510FB582C09&utm_campaign=58E4DE65-C57F-4CD3-9A5A-609994E2C5A9&utm_medium=email&utm_content=55E61A94-D501-47CA-8632-3619B995AF8B&utm_source=SmartBrief

19/08/2023

Gold was little changed on Friday, but bullion was bound for its third straight weekly dip as recent sound U.S. economic data raised bets for interest rates staying higher for longer.

Spot gold was steady at $1,887.79 per ounce by 2:22 p.m. ET (1822 GMT), down 1.4% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures settled 0.1% higher at $1,916.5

Limiting losses for the day, the dollar was down 0.2%, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.“Gold’s got a problem where it’s competing with instruments that are yielding 4-5%”, such as bonds, while gold yields nothing in comparison, said Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, in Chicago.

“It just does not seem like an ideal asset class in the current environment.”

“Gold may continue to struggle attracting demand from investors until something breaks, either through a credit event, a weaker dollar, or the belief the FOMC has switched its focus towards cutting rates,” said Saxo Bank’s head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen in a note.

Traders expect the Fed to hold rates in the 5.25%-5.5% range until 2024, according to the CME’s Fedwatch tool, while awaiting guidance from the Jackson Hole summit next week.

19/08/2023

19/08/2023

Bitcoin has been shaken out of its summer lull on fears that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had written down some of the value of its cryptocurrency holdings.

The flagship token was down 5.1 per cent on Friday, having fallen by nearly 8 per cent during an hour of frenzied trading late on Thursday, coinciding with a report in the Wall Street Journal that SpaceX had written down its bitcoin by $373mn in the past two years and had sold some coins.

Its sudden reversal echoed declines in global stock and bond prices this week as investors are forced to adjust their expectations that US interest rates will stay high, even as the economy remains robust.

The Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark rate to its highest level in 22 years last month and left the door open to further increases this year. In spite of moves in other assets, the price of bitcoin has remained within a tight trading range over the past two months.

Musk is regarded as one of the crypto market’s biggest cheerleaders and lifted the prices of alternative coins when he mentioned them on his X social media platform. His electric-car company Tesla briefly flirted with accepting payment in the cryptocurrency in 2021 and also ploughed $1.5bn of its own cash into the tokens.

17/08/2023

Elon Musk Reminds Warren Buffett He Missed Out: 'Could've Invested In Tesla When We Were Worth Basically Nothing'

17/08/2023

Stocks remained muted Thursday, as rising yields on long-term Treasury bonds dampened risk appetite.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note soared to 4.31%, the highest since October 2007. The 30-year yield rose to over 4.4%, its highest point since March 2011.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were near flat during midday trading, while energy outperformed all other sectors, driven by rising oil and natural gas prices.

Investors continue to maintain a cautious stance after the latest FOMC minutes revealed that a majority of Fed officials continued to highlight “significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy.“

Cues From Thursday's Trading:

The S&P 500 traded flat, while both the Nasdaq 100 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average softened 0.1%. Small caps continued to ease, with the Russell 2000 down 0.3% on the day.

21/06/2023

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday affirmed that more interest rate increases are likely ahead as inflation is “well above” where it should be.
“Inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go,” he said.
Powell said the labor market is still tight though there are signs that conditions are loosening.

23/06/2022

The stock market will likely erase its 2022 losses in the second half as inflation declines and the U.S. economy skirts a recession, according to a top strategist at JPMorgan.

Marko Kolanovic, who has remained bullish on stocks in recent months despite sharp declines, said in a note to clients on Thursday that he and his team expect the S&P 500 to end the year at 4,800. That is 27.7% above where the broad market index closed on Wednesday and a few ticks above its all-time closing high of 4,796.56 reached on Jan. 3.

“While the geopolitical tensions in Europe represent a significant risk to the cycle, we believe that a diplomatic solution in 2H22 is likely and should improve the inflation backdrop. JPM Economics is also forecasting inflation to moderate substantially later this year—in effect, reducing the probability of U.S. recession and earnings contraction. This backdrop combined with near record low investor positioning offers an increasingly attractive risk/reward going into 2H, in our view,” Kolanovic wrote.

JPMorgan remains bullish on the energy sector, which has recently weakened after dramatically outperforming for most of this year, but also suggests buying other cyclical stocks over defensive names.

“Anything short of a recession will likely catch most investors completely wrong-footed, especially after broad correction that resulted in the average stock drawdown ~80% of the way to prior recession bottoms,” Kolanovic wrote.

Recession fears have grown among investors in recent weeks, driven by stubbornly high inflation readings, Federal Reserve interest rate increases and signs of slowing demand in areas such as housing.

However, Kolanovic predicted core PCE inflation — the Fed’s preferred price measure — will drop to a 2.9% annual rate in the second half, which could allow the central back to moderate its tighter monetary policy.

“Our forecast expects the Fed to be largely successful in engineering a soft landing, at least through the end of next year,” Kolanovic wrote.

10/11/2021

Want to sound more confident? Avoid these 11 words and phrases that make you look ‘weak,’ say grammar experts

“Does that make sense?”

What to say instead: “What are your thoughts?” or “I’d like your input on this.”

If you ask “Does that make any sense?” after you’ve finished sharing a thought, you’re immediately giving the impression that you’re not convinced yourself, that your idea might be incomplete.

Rather than seeking validation or approval, you should be asking the listener or reader for their opinions on your idea.