Alphabet Wins & Makes New Highs | OPEC Boosts Production

🌍 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. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order