🌍 Worldwide Markets – Episode 647 (9 Sept 2024)
This week on *Worldwide Markets*, Simon Brown dives into global markets, tech giants, crypto shifts, commodities, and currencies. Recorded a day early before heading to Leaderex, here’s what’s moving markets right now. Powered by Standard Bank and Shyft. 💳🌐
📊 US Jobs & Rate Cuts
- US jobs report was a mixed bag → +22k jobs, but mostly in healthcare.
- June revised downward to negative, July slightly up.
- Unemployment steady at 4.3%.
- Market expectation: Fed to cut rates next week after Jackson Hole signals.
- SA MPC unlikely to cut as inflation edges higher at 3.5%.
🔍 Alphabet (Google) Court Cases
Alphabet gets a gentle slap on the wrist in antitrust cases.
Remedies minimal → no spin-offs of Chrome/Android, search payments (Apple $20bn/year, Firefox $750m) remain.
Stock ran to **all-time highs 🚀 (PE still below historical mean).
Another case pending on ad dominance – possible spinoffs (YouTube, DoubleClick?) could unlock hidden value.
₿ AltVest → African Bitcoin Corporation
- AltVest rebrands to African Bitcoin Corporation (ABC).
- Pivot: becoming a Bitcoin treasury company like MicroStrategy.
- Raising R11m at R11/share (vs. current ±R5). Proceeds to fund name change + Bitcoin buys.
- Ambition: raise R210m (maybe even $210m?) in tranches.
- Risky bet → doubling down on volatile BTC exposure. ⚡
🛢️ Oil & Sasol
- OPEC+ to increase output ~200k barrels/day.
- Saudi Arabia aims for market share → oil likely heading to $60.
- Sasol still strong 💪 → potential run to R135–R140 before Simon trims profits.
💡 ASML & Mistral (AI)
- Rumours: Dutch chip giant ASML investing \$1.5bn in French AI startup Mistral.
- ASML has cash $8.5bn, but risks blurring lines by funding customers’ ecosystem.
- Simon skeptical: “Picking AI winners this early is messy.”
📈 Bull Market Still Running
SA Top 40 at record highs (95k+).
Possible push to 100k points this month.
“This is still a bull market until it’s not.” 🐂🔥
🥇 Precious Metals
- Gold → holding gains, bullish above \$3,450.
- Platinum & Palladium → strong breakouts, holding support.
- Silver → resilient above \$40.
- Precious metals complex all looking firm. ✨
💵 Rand & Global Trade
- Rand currently at R17.55, with potential to test R17.00 if US cuts rates.
- Africa-China trade up 25% to $122bn → filling void left by US. 🇨🇳🤝🌍
🇺🇸 Trump’s Tariff Exemptions
Trump exempts; uranium, tungsten, graphite, gold, bullion from tariffs.
Good news for SA resources sector.
🎙️ Final Thoughts
- Markets remain bullish, metals are shining, oil likely weaker, and crypto experiments continue.
- If you’re at Leaderex, come say hi 👋.
- Powered by Standard Bank & Shyft – the global money app for payments, travel, and investing.
Simon Brown
* I hold ungeared positions.
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