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Your summary with links, if you’d like to pick and choose
South Africa’s inflation rose to 3.6% in October — the highest in a year — driven mainly by housing, utilities, electricity, alcohol/tobacco, and a rebound in fuel prices.
Core inflation eased slightly to 3.1%. Monthly CPI rose 0.1%.
SARB cut rates by 25 bps, taking the repo back to 2019 levels. Price pressure remains mixed: food inflation cooled, but utilities and fuel pushed higher.
Nvidia Results
Nvidia blew past expectations with a $65bn forecast for the January quarter and remains the dominant force with over 90% of the AI-accelerator market.
Despite US restrictions cutting it off from China (“our forecast for China is zero”), data-centre revenue hit $51bn and demand for Blackwell GPUs remains “off the charts”.
Competitors — AMD, Broadcom, Qualcomm — are circling, but Nvidia still commands the field with $500bn+ in lined-up demand for 2025–26.
Ray Dalio’s POV
Dalio warns we’re in a clear bubble, even if the needle hasn’t pricked it yet. His concern: bubbles burst not from valuations, but from forced selling triggered by debt, tax shocks, or liquidity needs.
He points to record margin debt, wealth concentration (top 10% own nearly 90% of equities), and consumer bifurcation as pressure points.
He’s not saying “run for the hills” — but emphasises hedging (gold, diversification) as AI-driven gains and structural fragilities collide.
China Property
Beijing is weighing mortgage subsidies and tax rebates to stop the four-year property slump bleeding into the financial system.
Home sales and fixed-asset investment remain weak, with hundreds of billions of yuan in mortgages now drifting into negative equity.
Subsidies aim to lure buyers back, but confidence is fragile and could see further developer stress and bond-recovery deterioration.
Australia: Employment & Inflation
Australia’s labour market is still too tight for comfort: unemployment fell to 4.3%, wages remain elevated, and the RBA is in cautious mode after three rate cuts this year.
Inflation surprised on the upside, prompting a rethink on further easing.
The RBA is probing labour-supply shifts — more women and older workers returning — and whether skills match employer needs. The contrast with RSA is stark: we’re used to higher inflation; the West is still adjusting to the cost-of-living squeeze.
Where is the Fed Going?
Minutes show a divided Fed: some wanted cuts, others thought cuts risk entrenching inflation.
Markets now see only a 25% chance of a December cut.
Data gaps from the shutdown mean Powell goes into the next meeting half-blind — no October/November jobs data, unclear inflation data schedule.
Political noise is escalating, too: Trump publicly berated Powell over “too high” rates; Powell pushed back.
Is the US Tariff War Working?
The US trade deficit shrank 23.8%, helped by falling imports after businesses front-loaded ahead of July tariff threats. Imports of industrial supplies dropped sharply; services exports nudged higher.
A smaller deficit props up GDP: Q3 growth estimates have been revised to 3.8%.
China deficit widened slightly; Canada’s narrowed; UK surplus slipped.
Vinted
Gen-Z is feeling the pinch, and second-hand platform Vinted is riding the shift toward used clothing and circular consumption.
But a mooted €8bn valuation looks rich at ~8× revenue — well above peers like ThredUp, Poshmark, and RealReal.
Vinted’s model is different (buyer fees, integrated logistics, advertising), and it’s expanding into the US where young consumers face the tightest squeeze.
Still, profitability is the hill resale platforms have failed to climb, and subsidised US expansion carries risk.
Gold and Power
Gold has surged 52% in a year, fuelled by USD weakness, high global debt, and geopolitical realignment.
China is quietly accumulating gold as it positions the yuan to compete with the Eurodollar system, while the US is increasingly inward-looking.
The global order is shifting — and gold is responding in tandem with equities, an unusual pairing that underscores the structural change underway.
Global Economic Roundup in the last week
The South African Reserve Bank cut its key repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 % in its first meeting under the new 3 % inflation-target framework.
The government of South Africa and the European Union signed a landmark critical-minerals partnership ahead of the G20 Summit, aiming to boost local processing and value-chain participation.
A diplomatic rift emerged as the White House criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for remarks relating to the U.S. boycott of the G20 summit, raising political risk for South Africa’s international positioning.
Business liquidations in South Africa jumped sharply, with finance, real estate and trade sectors particularly hard-hit — an indicator that domestic credit stress remains present.
Despite the policy easing, RSA economic growth remains very modest, weighed by structural headwinds (load-shedding, logistics) and a long-standing low-growth environment.
The global pivot toward securing critical-minerals supply chains is gathering pace: the EU is establishing a central agency to aggregate orders and reduce dependence on China.
Emerging regional trade shifts are visible, for example, India is leveraging its strong domestic economy to engage in trade talks from a position of strength.
Several major economies are seeing manufacturing PMI readings soften, signalling an acceleration of the transition from goods-led to services-led growth.
Geopolitical and diplomatic tensions (G20 attendance, trade overlap) may be adding a “cloud” of uncertainty over coordinated global policy responses. E.g., U.S. absence from G20 adds noise.
India’s November flash composite PMI slipped to 59.9 (six-month low) with manufacturing activity at a nine-month low of 57.4 — a signal that momentum is ebbing, though still above growth threshold.
Australia is on the cusp of a major free-trade push with the EU, signalling financial-market implications for Australia’s commodity, agriculture and export sectors.
India’s October crude-oil imports surged to a six-month high, with implications for the rupee, import-bill and inflation dynamics in the South Asian region.
The Federal Reserve is facing a clear split among its policymakers: while some argue the economy is strong enough to delay a rate cut, others worry the recent labour-market softness means any cut should be kept on the table.
The U.S. labour market added 119,000 jobs in September, beating estimates, yet the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 %, signalling a labour market that’s holding up but losing steam.
The previously ongoing government data blackout (due to a federal shutdown) is thawing — key data releases have resumed, meaning markets and policy-makers now have more information to chew on ahead of the December rate decision. This, in part, led to some volatility last week.
The stock-market reaction was volatile: early gains driven by strong corporate results (notably in tech/AI) were reversed as concerns mounted regarding valuations and interest-rate expectations.
Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed loans nudged up to 6.26%, hitting a three-week high, which could be a drag on the housing market even though lower rates year-on-year offer some relief.
RSA Inflation and Interest rates
South Africa’s annual inflation rate rose for the second month to 3.6% in October 2025 from 3.4% in September, though below analysts’ estimates of 3.7%.
It was the highest reading since September 2024, mainly on account of prices of housing & utilities (4.5% vs 4.5% in September), notably electricity (8.2%) and water supply & other services (7%); alcoholic beverages & tobacco (4.5% vs 4.2%) and recreation & culture (3.4% vs 2.9%).
Moreover, transportation prices rose 1.5%, marking the first increase in over a year, driven by a sharp rebound in fuels (3.3% vs -2.2%).
Meanwhile, some categories recorded smaller price-growth, primarily restaurants & accommodation services (2.1% vs 3%) and food & non-alcoholic beverages (3.9% vs 4.5%).
The core inflation rate, which excludes food, non-alcoholic beverages, fuel, and energy, eased to 3.1% in October 2025 from a seven-month high of 3.2% in September.
On a monthly basis, the CPI edged up by 0.1%, following a 0.2% increase in the prior month.
Interest rates dropped by 25 bps on Thursday, now back at 2019 levels
Nvidia Corp. delivered a surprisingly strong revenue forecast and pushed back on the idea that the AI industry is in a bubble, easing concerns that had spread across the tech sector (more on this below).
The world’s most valuable company expects sales of about $65 billion in the January quarter — roughly $3 billion more than analysts predicted. Nvidia also said that a half-trillion-dollar revenue bonanza due in the coming quarters may be even bigger than anticipated.
The outlook signals that demand remains robust for Nvidia’s artificial intelligence accelerators, the pricey and powerful chips used to develop AI models. Nvidia had faced growing fears in recent weeks that the runaway spending on such equipment wasn’t sustainable.
“There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble,” Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said on a conference call with analysts. “From our vantage point, we see something very different.”
The upbeat commentary sent shares up about 5% in late trading (only to fall back later). They had gained 39% this year through the close, leaving the company’s market value at $4.5 trillion.
NVIDIA’s results have become a barometer for the health of the AI industry, and the news lifted a variety of related stocks. CoreWeave Inc., a provider of AI computing, gained more than 9% in extended trading. Its peer, Nebius Group, climbed more than 8%.
Nvidia’s CEO had said last month that the company has more than $500 billion of revenue coming over the next few quarters. Owners of large data centres will continue to spend on new gear because investments in AI have begun to pay off, he said.
The growing role of AI will help maintain demand for Nvidia’s products, Huang said. The technology is helping speed up existing computing work, such as search. And it’s about to come to the physical world in the form of robots and other devices.
Nvidia’s third-quarter results also topped analysts’ estimates.
The forecast for the latest quarter reflects a staggering run for the company. Sales will be up more than 10-fold from where they were in the same period just three years ago. And Nvidia is on course to deliver more annual net income than two longtime rivals — Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
But Nvidia’s expansion has faced challenges. US restrictions on the shipment of advanced chips to China have largely locked Nvidia out of a massive market for its products.
Huang has lobbied Washington to overturn those rules — arguing that they’re counterproductive to the national security concerns they’re meant to serve. But even after some rollback of the toughest elements, Nvidia isn’t currently projecting any sales from AI accelerators in China.
“Our forecast for China is zero,”
Some Nvidia rivals have grown more optimistic that they can finally challenge the company’s dominance in AI accelerators. Earlier this month, AMD predicted accelerating growth for its AI chip business and talked up the prospects for forthcoming products.
AMD, Broadcom Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. have all announced tie-ups with large users of Nvidia’s chips. And data centre operators are increasingly looking to use more in-house designs — an effort that would make them less dependent on Nvidia supply.
Nvidia, founded in 1993, pioneered the market for graphics chips used to create realistic images for computer games. AMD is its only remaining major rival in that business.
The Santa Clara, California-based company still has more than 90% of the market for AI accelerator chips.
It has roughly $500 billion in AI-chip demand already lined up for the rest of 2025 and 2026. Data centre revenue alone hit $51.2 billion, up 25% sequentially and 66% year over year, powered by “off the charts” demand for its new Blackwell GPUs. On top of that, Nvidia issued guidance of $65 billion in revenue next quarter, plus or minus 2%, signalling that its AI spend is nowhere near rolling over.
You’ve probably heard Cobie and I talk about this author frequently, and when markets turn frothy, he is often seen in the news. He did an interesting interview in Fortune, which you can read here.
Here are some of the takeaways:
“There is definitely a bubble in markets,” Dalio said, adding that while the situation doesn’t perfectly match 1929 or 1999, the indicators he tracks show the U.S. is closing in fast.
“The picture is pretty clear,” he said. “But we don’t have the pricking of the bubble yet.” And, crucially: “A lot can go up before the bubble bursts.”
Dalio’s comments landed just as Nvidia reported one of the most astonishing quarters in corporate history.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang used the attention during his earnings call to dismiss bubble fears outright: “We see something very different,” he told analysts, arguing that demand for AI compute isn’t tied to any single trend but three simultaneous revolutions: non-AI software shifting to accelerated computing, the explosion of new generative AI apps, and “agentic AI” that operates without user prompts.
But Dalio is looking past Nvidia’s fundamentals to what he sees as the fragile architecture of the broader market. In a lengthy essay released the same day, he argued that bubbles don’t burst simply because valuations are too high. They burst when investors suddenly need money to cover debts, taxes, or liquidity requirements, and are forced to sell assets to get it. That forced selling, not bad earnings or shifting sentiment, is what historically drives the cascade, Dalio argued.
“Financial wealth is of no value unless converted into money to spend.”
Vulnerability is amplified by extreme wealth concentration. The top 10% of Americans now hold nearly 90% of all equities, and they account for roughly half of all consumer spending.
The wealthiest households are driving nearly all consumption growth, while lower-income Americans are pulling back under the pressure of tariffs, high borrowing costs, and rent inflation. Spending among rich households is expanding six to seven times as fast as for the lowest cohort.
Even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the divide, saying companies report “a bifurcated economy” where upper-income consumers continue to spend while others trade down.
Margin debt is already at a record $1.2 trillion. California is considering a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires, exactly the kind of political shock that could force mass liquidations.
Monetary tightening is another classic trigger.
“A tightening of monetary policy is classic,” Dalio said. “But also something like wealth taxes can happen.”
Still, Dalio isn’t telling investors to abandon the rally. Bubbles can keep rising far longer than sceptics expect, he said, and can deliver enormous gains before they crack. His message is simply that investors need to understand the risks, diversify, and hedge—he specifically cited gold, which has hit all-time highs this year—as markets move deeper into unfamiliar territory.
Both Dalio’s warning and Nvidia’s triumph acknowledge that markets are accelerating in ways traditional models struggle to explain. The AI boom may well keep lifting stocks. But the bubble mechanics Dalio outlines—easy credit, concentrated wealth, and vulnerability to liquidity shocks—are tightening, too.
As he put it: “I want to reiterate, a lot can go up before the bubble bursts.” “These circumstances have, throughout history, led to great conflicts and great transitions of wealth.”
China is considering new measures to turn around its struggling property market, as concerns mount that a further weakening of the sector will threaten to destabilise its financial system.
Policymakers, including the housing ministry, are considering a slew of options, such as providing new homebuyers mortgage subsidies for the first time nationwide. Other measures being floated include raising income tax rebates for mortgage borrowers and lowering home transaction costs, one of the people said.
China has been trying to put a floor under its four-year real estate downturn, which has weighed on everything from household wealth to consumption and employment. While the housing sector picked up modestly after the government stepped up support about a year ago, the momentum quickly fizzled.
Home sales have been falling since the second quarter, and fixed-asset investment collapsed last month.
The dim outlook for the property market, coupled with households’ weakened ability to repay mortgages and other personal loans, means that banks’ asset quality could deteriorate next year.
The plan to subsidise interest costs on new mortgages is intended to lure back homebuyers, who have been reluctant to enter a free-falling market.
The average mortgage rate for buyers’ first homes in 42 big cities has hovered around 3.06% in recent months, compared with a record low of 3.05% in October last year when China unveiled a property stimulus package.
In a similar move, China in September started offering interest subsidies for consumer loans to boost household spending.
Hundreds of billions of yuan of mortgages are likely in negative equity, a trend likely to intensify, which will weigh on buyers’ confidence and contribute to further home-sale declines. That risks deeper erosion of Chinese property developers’ inventory as well as the recovery value for bondholders.
Australia, employment and inflation
Australia’s labour market appears too tight for inflation to settle within the central bank’s 2-3% target, even as policymakers try to gauge how close the economy is to full employment. Full employment is a nice problem to have – but it puts upward pressure on salaries. (Interestingly, in South Africa, also enjoying a decade of sustained low inflation, the government has agreed to 4% salary increases for public servants, increases unlikely to be seen in the private sector.)
Australian unemployment declined to 4.3% in October as the economy added more jobs than anticipated. Meantime, annual wage growth remained elevated last quarter, underscoring tightness in the labour market as employers pay up for talent.
The RBA has switched to a cautious and data-dependent stance following three interest rate cuts this year to bring the cash rate to 3.6%. The RBA last cut in August and has signalled that further reduction is unlikely in the near-term, given a resurgence in price pressures.
In RSA, we are used to an inflation rate much higher than the West, and we are adjusting our expectations accordingly. It is much more difficult for countries like the US which have decades of low inflation and low interest rates, to adjust to the decline in disposable income as prices rise, and mortgages become much more expensive.
Earlier this month, the RBA revised up its inflation forecasts after third-quarter consumer price figures surprised on the upside.
On supply capacity, interestingly, the RBA is investigating the upward trend in the number of women and older people in the workforce, and whether the easing in the cost-of-living squeeze has resulted in some people choosing to go back to work, and if the match between the skills and expertise of those looking for work aligns with what firms need.
Minutes from the Fed’s October 28-29 meeting were released last Wednesday. A divided Federal Reserve cut interest rates last month even as policymakers cautioned that doing so could risk entrenched inflation and a loss of public trust in the U.S. central bank.
The account of that meeting added to growing doubts that the Fed would deliver another reduction in borrowing costs at its December 9-10 gathering, with traders now giving that scenario only about a one-in-four chance.
It seems like many participants were in favour of lowering the target range for the federal funds rate, but some members of that group also would have been satisfied if the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee had left rates steady, several others opposed the rate cut outright, and expressed concern that progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective had stalled.
That language reflected the emerging split within the Fed over whether potential weakness in the job market should take priority over the fact that inflation has been above the central bank’s target for four and a half years, has not moved much lately, and is expected to improve only slowly next year.
While the minutes suggest a large number of the Fed’s 19 policymakers did not support a rate cut next month, it does not give any indication of how close the split was among the committee’s 12 voting members, an important consideration with the next meeting just three weeks away and the flow of potentially clarifying government data still not fully restored from the recent government shutdown.
There is continued fallout from the month-long government shutdown, and acknowledgement that October’s data may never be released. Under the revised release schedule announced by the Bureau of Labour Statistics on Wednesday, the Fed will not get updated jobs data for October or November before next month’s meeting, though the delayed report for September is due out on Thursday. There has been no announcement of the schedule for the updated inflation data. It looks like Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have to mediate without the touchstone data reports typically at the centre of the central bank’s policy debates.
U.S. stocks pared gains slightly after the release of the minutes. Yields on U.S. Treasuries were higher on the day.
Shortly before the release of the minutes, President Donald Trump repeated his criticism of Powell’s stewardship of the central bank, saying he’d “love to fire his ass” for not cutting rates faster.
“The only thing Scott’s blowing it on is the Fed,” Trump said Wednesday at a US-Saudi investment event in Washington. “Rates are too high, Scott, and if you don’t get it fixed fast, I’m going to fire your ass. Okay?”
Powell fired back with: “There’s a growing chorus now of feeling like maybe this is where we should at least wait a cycle”.
Is the US Tariff war ‘working”?
The trade gap in the USA contracted 23.8% to $59.6 billion last month. That’s exactly what Trump wanted, but there are nuances…
The report, which was initially scheduled for release on October 7, was delayed because of the recently ended 43-day shutdown of the government. Imports decreased 5.1% to $340.4 billion. Goods imports tumbled 6.6% to $264.6 billion. The decline was led by a $11.3 billion plunge in industrial supplies and materials, mostly reflecting a $9.3 billion decrease in nonmonetary gold.
Exports edged up 0.1% to $280.8 billion, reflecting services.
President Trump had threatened a big tariff increase in July, and importers pulled forward purchase plans to earlier in the summer to avoid that increase, so it’s not a big surprise to see imports lower in August, August’s smaller trade deficit will be a tailwind for third-quarter real GDP, since it means that more U.S. expenditures were directed toward domestically produced goods and services rather than foreign ones.
Trade sliced off a record 4.68 percentage points from gross domestic product in the first quarter before adding all that back to GDP in the April-June quarter. Economists at Goldman Sachs raised their third-quarter GDP growth forecast to a 3.8% annualised rate from a 3.7% pace before the trade data.
The third-quarter GDP report was due in late October but was delayed by the government shutdown. The economy grew at a 3.8% pace in the second quarter, with a smaller trade deficit being the key driver.
The goods trade deficit with China widened slightly in August. The deficit with Canada decreased as imports fell to the lowest since May 2021. There was a reduction in the surplus with the United Kingdom
| Vinted Generation-Z youngsters are under pressure from rising costs of everything from food to housing, as well as competition from artificial intelligence for their jobs. Second-hand clothing platform Vinted provides a useful hedge against those strains, which are prompting them to cut back on $6 lattes and casual meals and could soon be coming for beauty and fast-fashion spending. But a mooted share sale valuing the Lithuania-based company at about €8 billion ($9.2 billion), according to the Financial Times, looks like an expensive play on Gen-Z shopping habits. The National Retail Federation, which represents US retailers, reckons youngsters will continue to spend on goods, particularly as we approach the holiday season. But I’m not so sure, as the costs of things they need increase, there’ll be less left over for the things they simply want, such as graphic T-shirts, chunky jewellery and wide-legged jeans. That’s where Vinted comes in. It’s already claiming a portion of sales that would otherwise have gone to Associated British Foods Plc’s Primark and Inditex SA’s Zara. Instead of buying new, young people are purchasing from their peers. They’re also raising cash by selling garments they may have worn only a handful of times but have appeared in on their social feeds, and increasingly without paying transaction fees. Add in the end of duty-free shipping for small parcels in the US and Europe, and there may be less incentive to shop for cheap, new items on Shein and PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu. Buying used also makes it possible to trade up to aspirational designer labels. Add in the feel-good factor of being green, and the annual global market for secondhand clothes could reach $367 billion by 2029. But an €8 billion valuation for Vinted — up from €5 billion the last time it sought investment a year ago — would be a chunky 8 times this year’s expected revenue of €1 billion, with the total sales through the marketplace forecast at €10 billion. That’s in line with the valuations of US rivals Poshmark Inc. and ThredUp Shares of a similar company ThredUp have dropped more than 75% since peaking in March 2021, while Poshmark was sold to South Korea’s Naver Corp. in 2022 for about 3.5 times 12 months’ trailing revenue. Shares in RealReal Inc., which resells high-end goods, have rallied this year, partly because buyers priced out by the luxury giants are turning to second-hand Louis Vuitton bags and Burberry trench coats. Even so, it trades on just 2.6 times its anticipated next 12-month sales. Vinted’s Value Would Dwarf Rivals At €8 billion, big competitors such as Ebay would have a lower rating… Valuations have collapsed because resale sites have yet to demonstrate that they can generate consistent profits. Here, Vinted may be different. It makes money not by taking a cut from sellers but by charging buyers a small “protection fee,” so that if a product turns out not to be as advertised, the buyer can decline it and receive a refund. Vinted has its own shipping company, Vinted Go, makes money from selling advertising, and is testing a payments service. The company is also about to move into the US. The American online resale market was worth $22 billion in 2024 and could almost double to $40 billion by 2029, according to ThredUp and GlobalData, and the US is where the squeeze on young people is the most pronounced, exacerbated by the impact of tariffs and the resumption of student-debt repayments. So, Vinted must continue to grow its sales and become more profitable to avoid being another online flash in the pan. This won’t be helped by subsidising shipping between customers in London and New York, a strategy it’s successfully used in the past when expanding into new markets, to kickstart its US business until Americans start selling to other domestic customers. |
| Author: Dawn Ridler |
Gold is clearly shining as an asset class again. For 2025, Gold has been an enormous success. Look at the graph below to see the 52% rise in its price over the last year:
But there have been periods in history where Gold has produced no returns. As with all asset classes, they need a catalyst to drive them forward. The catalyst for Gold today is a weakening Dollar driven by structurally high debt in the Western world.
Large economies have been misspending for decades, and there is now an emphasis on trying to reduce this debt pile. Alongside this, China is contesting the US for the world leadership position and the trading world’s given currency, The EuroDollar, now has competition. There are now countries which will trade in Yuan and the overtures made by the BRICS that they want to float their own currency adds to this competition.
Make no mistake, it will take a large effort to unseat the Dollar, but what I have observed in 2025 is that the US’s attention is shifting much more to domestic issues. Politicians know their power comes from the voter base. The average US citizen wants to live the American dream, but this is going to become a lot harder with a weakening Dollar. Americans, on average, will work harder for longer to earn a currency which has lost its buying power relative to a decade ago. This will cause frustration and exhaustion, and if this becomes evident at the polling stations, politicians are in trouble. Generally speaking, a populous will become more radical, leaning left and right as they try and find an answer that can alleviate the economic pain. This is why I think the focus for US politicians will now become a lot more on domestic issues.
This is not bad news for China.
It gives them the opportunity to gain a foothold across the world, and their main tool isn’t through warfare but trade. Acquiring assets in foreign lands, allowing for the extraction of resources from Africa and developing technologies that can impact lives, become evident. It is also the Chinese who are keen buyers of Gold to back their currency as they attempt to ascend the throne of world domination.
But all of this does come with risk.
Regime changes can be violent and cause economic hardships for decades. In the background, both the Chinese and the Americans are arming themselves in case this becomes a reality. For now, the Chinese haven’t resorted to violence. Look at Taiwan as an example of this. When the Chinese speak of Taiwan, it is seen as part of China, but in reality, it continues to be a sovereign territory. Why hasn’t the Chinese government invaded Taiwan yet, despite its ‘One China’ policy?
Well, strategically, it is much easier to show your military might in the oceans off Taiwan and keep the threat alive than to actually launch a full-scale war. The hope is that the Americans in the years to come quietly lose interest in Taiwan as they focus on domestic issues, allowing the Chinese to unify the territory.
The one thing that will stay with us is the world order change.
Investment themes and asset choices need to reflect this. For now, Gold has risen in lock step with equities, an asset class which should normally be negatively correlated with rising equity markets. Once one views this in light of the geopolitical backdrop, it starts making more sense.
Author: Cobie LeGrange
EXCHANGE RATES:
The Rand/Dollar closed at R17.36 (R17.13, R17.27, R17.31, R17.25, R17.38, R17.50, R17.22 , R17.35, R17.33, R17.37, R17.58, R17.65, R17.44, R17.61, R17.74, R18.15,R17.76, R17.72, R17.90, R17.58, R17.89, R17.99, R17.92, R17.77, R17.95, R17.88, )
The Rand/Pound closed at R22.74 (R22.56, R22.69, R22.76, R22.96, R23.34, R23.37, R23.19, R23.22, R23.35, R23.55, R23.73, R23.84, R23.53, R23.84, R23.84, R24.09, R23.88, R23.76, R24.22, R24.08, R24.49, R24.22, R24.35, R24.05, R24.18)
The Rand/Euro closed the week at R19.99 (R19.96, R19.98, R20.02, R20.06, R20.26, R20.33, R 20.22, R20.30, R20.35, R20.38, R20.61, R20.62, R20.44, R20.56, R20.64, R21.04, R20.86, R20.61, R20.93, R 20.70, R20.91, R20.74, R20.68, R20.24, R20,37)
Brent Crude: Closed the week $62.42 ($63.94, $63.61 $64.66, $65.04, $61.27, $62.14, $64.28, $69.67, $66.57, $66.80, $65.52, $67.38, $67.73, $66.08, $66.07, $69.46, $68.29, $69.21, $70.58, $68.27, $67.39, $77.27, $74.38, $66.56, $62.61, $65.41)
Bitcoin closed at $86,334 ($94,990, $101,562, $109.936, $112,492, $106,849, $111,888, $124,858, $109,446, $115,838, $115,770, $110,752, $108,923, $114,916, $117,371, $118,043, $113,608, $118,139, $118,214, $117,871, $108,056, $107,461, $103,455)
Articles and Blogs:
Medical Risk Mitigation NEW
Next Year is going to be different – Consolidation NEW
Abdication or diversification?
Carbo-loading your retirement
Spoiled for choice
Who needs a plan anyway
8 questions you need to ask about retirement
What to do when interest rates drop
How to survive volatility in your investments
What to do when interest rates drop
Difficult Financial Conversations
Financial Implications of Longevity
Kick Start Your Own Retirement Plan
You matter more than your kids in retirement
To catch a falling knife
Income at retirement
2025 Budget
Apportioning blame for your financial state
Tempering fear and greed
New Year’s resolutions over? Try a Wealth Bingo Card instead.
Wills and Estate Planning (comprehensive 3 in one post)
Pre-retirement – The make-or-break moments
Some unconventional thoughts on wealth and risk management
Wealth creation is a balancing act over time
Wealth traps waiting for unsuspecting entrepreneurs
Two Pot pension system demystified
Cobie Legrange and Dawn Ridler,
Rexsolom Invest, Licensed FSP 45521.
Email: cobie@rexsolom.co.za, dawn@rexsolom.co.za
Website: rexsolom.co.za, wealthecology.co.za