Anthea is back from Ghana and has lots to say about it. The market has been volatile – last month the JSE lost 4.6%, and this month we’re already up >4% (although, nothing like the Cryptocurrency moves this month +75% m-t-d). The Rand is back to pre-Ramaphosa levels at 12.36 vs US$. Oil is above $74/bbl, so where are the Shale producers turning on the taps at $50/bbl and keeping the oil price muted? The Steinhoff AGM was a wet squib, and now trades with a R2 handle. Sagarmatha withdrew their proposed Friday 13th listing… but it’s not so much bad luck as a bad business – not to mention embarrassing for the PIC and Black Business Council, who are/were backers. Google and YouTube’s strong ad sales growth helped Alphabet’s results, as the company made a quarterly profit of $9.4bn. Look out for new content on Netflix, as they sell $1.9bn of junk bonds to finance content acquisition – it is the S&P500’s best performing stock this year up 70% y-t-d.
