Too Busy? Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… Gold back on fire?: Gold surged over 4% last week, its best weekly gain since February, closing above $4,300 an ounce. Investors read Fed Chair Kevin Warsh as less inclined to tighten policy than inflation warrants, while easing Iran tensions pushed oil below $80 and […]
One possible sign of the times is the fallout of the hedge fund Situational Awareness (with its 4x leverage). Will we look back at this as the first cracks in the AI bubbble? Leopold Aschenbrenner’s hedge fund, Situational Awareness, dropped from about $45 billion to $10 billion in under a month, tied to the AI […]
Too Busy? Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… Watching Sentiment: Oil price moves and Strait of Hormuz traffic remain closely linked, with prediction markets more pessimistic than financial markets about a near-term return to normal shipping. BofA’s fund manager survey, taken as tensions were escalating, showed managers at their most bullish since the […]
UK inflation – a pleasant surprise: The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 18 June in an 8-1 vote, as UK inflation eased to 2.8% in May. Hike expectations have fallen from four this year to roughly one, following the US-Iran deal. Politically, over 70 Labour MPs are calling for Starmer to […]
Too Busy? Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… This Week’s Roundup: SA’s Q1 GDP beat forecasts at 0.5%, with Fitch delivering its first credit upgrade in 21 years (BB- to BB). Petrol is 35% above January levels, pushing CPI to 4.0%. US May CPI hit 4.2% on soaring energy costs, with PPI at […]
The Legacy Series eBook is ready (free on request). Too Busy? Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… This Week’s Roundup: SA inflation hit 4.0% in April, household debt stress is deepening with 41% of credit-active South Africans in default, and the JSE is lagging Wall Street. In the US, Q1 GDP was revised […]
The Legacy Series eBook is ready (free on request). Too Busy? Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… This Week’s Roundup: The SARB hiked the repo rate by 25bp to 7% on 28 May — its first hike since 2023 — with four of six MPC members in favour. SA inflation jumped to 4.0% […]
Too Busy, Got Better Things to Do? Read the Summary… This Week’s Roundup: SA inflation jumped to 4.0% in April, markets pricing two rate hikes by year-end with a 25bp hike expected at the May 28 MPC meeting. IIF cut SA’s 2026 growth forecast to 1.3%. Q1 trade surplus tripled to R77bn. US deficit projected […]
The big news/no news of the week was Trump’s visit to China with his merry band of support-CEOs and progeny. It produced, by all accounts, a big fat goose egg.Inflation is a real worry; gas and electricity prices are going to make things difficult for Warsh, and the mid-terms
Liquidity in an estate is a crucial consideration, often overlooked by FSPs who do a ‘free will’ because they are focused on their executor’s fees. There are a couple of companies out there that have cottoned onto the fact that they can ensure their executors’ fees, under the guise of ensuring you have liquidity, by […]