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US markets ended higher on Friday, with a late-day tech rally driving a rebound. Just five minutes before the close, the S&P 500 erased a 1% drop, finishing in the green. That sort of move is usually the result of short covering before a weekend.

In company news, Boeing gained 3.1% after securing a contract for the next-gen fighter jet supplied to the US Air Force. Elsewhere, Nike slid 5.5% on disappointing forecasts as new management struggles to turn the apparel giant around. Lastly, British Airways' parent company IAG lost 2.9% after a power outage shut down London's Heathrow Airport on Friday.

On Thursday, the JSE All-share was down 0.70%, but on Friday the S&P 500 rose 0.08%, and the Nasdaq was 0.52% higher. It was good to have a sideways week, after three sloppy ones.

US markets closed in the green after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed its outlook for rate cuts this year, downplaying inflation risks from tariffs. They did not cut rates at this meeting, but the tone of their statement was dovish. Well done to Jay Powell and his colleagues.

In company news, Boeing's share price jumped 6.8% after its CFO reassured investors that its business turnaround is on track. Elsewhere, Vitol is set to acquire stakes in West African oil and gas assets from Italy's Eni. Finally, Intel's five-day winning streak ended but its stock price has picked itself off the floor after the appointment of a new CEO.

At the closing bell, the JSE All-share was up 1.41%, the S&P 500 rose 1.08%, and the Nasdaq was 1.41% higher. Solid!

US markets ended lower yesterday, spoiling a two-day rebound, as hotter-than-expected import price data weighed on sentiment. Big tech bore the brunt of the downturn, with Nvidia dropping 3.4% despite unveiling plans to extend its AI dominance into robotics and desktop systems with next-generation Vera Rubin chips. They are named after the astronomer who pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates and dark matter.

In company news, Apple lost its appeal at Germany's top civil court, meaning it will remain under stricter antitrust oversight alongside other major US tech firms. Elsewhere, coal miner Peabody Energy gained 6.1% after Trump said that he's "authorizing my Administration to immediately begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL. " Lol.

In short, the JSE All-share was up 0.42%, but the S&P 500 fell 1.07%, and the Nasdaq sagged by 1.71%. Shame, that's not good.

US markets rose for a second day, with industrial and energy shares firming. Monthly retail sales data, though mixed, reassured investors that consumer spending isn't collapsing. Over 90% of S&P 500 companies gained, with Intel, GE Vernova, and Domino's Pizza among the standouts. Trump is busy with deportations and Putin, so tariff concerns might take the back seat for a few days, allowing equities to bounce back from oversold levels.

In company news, Berkshire Hathaway increased its stakes in five of Japan's biggest trading houses, including Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, and Mitsui, to an average holding of about 9.3%. Elsewhere, PepsiCo is acquiring prebiotic soda brand Poppi for $1.95 billion, betting on the growing demand for gut-friendly beverages as traditional sugary drink sales stagnate. Sounds good, don't you think?

At the close, the JSE All-share was up 0.69%, the S&P 500 rose 0.64%, and the Nasdaq was 0.31% higher. A decent day, we will take it.

US stocks bounced back on Friday, trimming their losses as fears of a government shutdown eased and no new trade war surprises emerged. Tech stocks led the rebound, with the Nasdaq jumping 2.6% on Friday, narrowing its weekly drop to 2.4%. The S&P 500 gained 2.1% for the day, ending the week down 2.3%. Yikes, it's still a sh1tshow out there.

In company news, consumer-driven names have struggled in recent weeks, with airlines like Delta and United, casino giant Caesars, Live Nation, Expedia, and Ralph Lauren all dropping at least 23% from their recent peak. Elsewhere, Peloton rose by 16.1% after analysts at Canaccord Genuity said the stationary bike company has reached "a turning point." That makes no sense, lol.

On Friday, the JSE All-share was up 0.97%, the S&P 500 rose 2.13%, and the Nasdaq was 2.61% higher. Splendid. We need more days like that.

US markets took a another hit yesterday as Trump's trade war rattled investors. This time he warned of 200% tariffs on EU alcohol imports like wine and champagne, in response to the bloc's countermeasures to his earlier moves on steel and aluminium. The three-week slide in the S&P 500 puts us down more than 10%, which is known as "correction territory".

Ben Carlson quipped: "It's only a Tariff if it comes from the Queens region of New York City. Otherwise it's called a tax."

In company news, Intel surged 14.6% after announcing a new CEO, industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan. He's of Chinese Malaysian extract and educated in the US, but his name sounds like something that would be sold on the shelves of Dischem. Elsewhere, Oracle is in talks with Indonesia to set up a cloud services centre in Batam. Finally, traders are getting cremated in these market conditions so shares of their favourite platform Robinhood Markets dropped 7.5%.

In summary, somehow the JSE All-share was up 0.25%, but the S&P 500 fell 1.39%, and the Nasdaq was another 1.96% lower. We are sorry.

US markets bounced back yesterday after February inflation numbers came in lower than expected. Big tech stocks rallied hard with Tesla (+7.6%), Nvidia (+6.4%), Oracle (+4.7%), Meta (+2.3%), Broadcom (+2.2%), and Google (+1.8%) leading the way. That's nice, but the Nasdaq remains over 12% below its all-time high.

In company news, Scopely, backed by Saudi's Savvy, is buying Niantic's gaming division, including the popular augmented-reality game Pokemon Go for $3.5 billion. Elsewhere, Adobe dropped 4% in late trading after issuing a weaker-than-expected revenue growth forecast for the current quarter. Finally, Roche climbed 4% because the Swiss pharma company made a bid for Danish weight-loss drug maker Zealand Pharma, which soared 41.1%. Novo Nordisk fell 4.25% on the news.

At the end of the day, the JSE All-share was down 0.27%, but the S&P 500 rose 0.49%, and the Nasdaq was 1.22% higher. Ok then. We are hopeful, but no one really knows what is going on.

US markets ended slightly lower last night, as the Trump administration rolled out fresh 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports. The S&P 500 logged its worst two-day drop since August. However, a rebound in Nvidia, Broadcom, Meta, and Tesla helped pare some losses in the tech sector.

Tensions flared between the US and Canada, with Trump threatening to double tariffs on Canadian metals to 50% in response to Ontario's 25% export tax on electricity. White House spokespeople continued to talk rubbish about adding a 51st state. By the afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reached an agreement to scrap the electricity surcharge in exchange for a relaxation of steel and aluminium tariffs. This sounds more like a playground fight than the discipline needed to run global economies.

In company news, Kohl's shares tumbled 24% after the department-store chain forecast a bigger-than-expected sales decline for fiscal 2025, citing a slowdown in household spending. The biggest gainer in the S&P 500 was AI server maker Super Micro Computer (+10.7%), which has been extraordinarily volatile recently due to some management challenges.

In summary, the JSE All-share was down 0.22%, the S&P 500 fell 0.76%, and the Nasdaq was 0.18% lower. Not great.

US markets took a beating last night, with recession jitters and tariff worries keeping volatility high. The Nasdaq sank 4%, its worst drop since 2022, while Tesla cratered 15% - its biggest slump since 2020. Team Trump must be wondering what to do next, since much of this pain is self-inflicted.

In company news, Oracle is down 3.3% after-hours as it reported revenue that only rose 6.4% to $14.13 billion. CEO Safra Catz remained upbeat on outlook as cloud capacity expands. The biggest gainer in the S&P 500 was biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, up 5.3% for no apparent reason.

At the close, the JSE All-share was down 1.44%, the S&P 500 fell 2.70%, and the Nasdaq was 4.00% lower. Investing can be painful sometimes, but we are staying put.

US markets had a rough week, with the S&P 500 sliding 3.1%, its worst weekly drop since early September. Friday's session was volatile, but stocks managed to close slightly higher after a long day of wild swings. For reference purposes, we are now 6.13% lower than the all-time high a month ago. We have to take the rough with the smooth.

February's employment report showed 151 000 jobs added, slightly below expectations. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1% instead of holding steady.

In company news, McDonald's shares climbed 4.2% for the week, as investors bet on its resilience during economic slowdowns. Hamburgers from the Golden Arches are always a popular family option if your monthly food budget has run out. Elsewhere, DoorDash, TKO Group, Williams-Sonoma, and Expand Energy are set to join the S&P 500 as part of the index's quarterly rebalancing.

On Friday, the JSE All-share was up 0.35%, the S&P 500 rose 0.55%, and the Nasdaq was 0.70% higher.

US markets closed sharply lower yesterday after another wave of confusing tariff headlines. Sentiment is so shaky that even Trump's decision to delay tariffs on Mexico and Canada failed to spark a rebound. This is one of those days when we need to remind you that you own actual companies, not just a collection of share prices. Take heart.

In company news, Broadcom shares are up 12.8% after-hours as the chip company boosted investor confidence with an optimistic revenue forecast, signalling that AI-related spending remains strong. Elsewhere, OpenAI and Oracle are gearing up to bring their $100 billion Stargate project online, starting with a massive AI data center in Texas. The facility will be powered by tens of thousands of Nvidia chips, with deployment set to begin in the coming months. Lastly, Kroger raised its sales outlook, trying to reassure investors amid uncertainty following its CEO's sudden departure.

Izolo, the JSE All-share was up 0.62%, but the S&P 500 slid 1.78%, and the Nasdaq sank by 2.61%. No man.

US markets bounced back last night as Trump granted a one-month auto tariff exemption for Mexico and Canada. It's a clown show folks. Tech stocks led the charge, while Ford, GM, and Stellantis all rallied over 5%.

In company updates, Disney is cutting 6% of its news and entertainment staff, nearly 200 jobs, with ABC News and politics-focused site 538 taking the biggest hits. Elsewhere, Moderna (+15.9%) got a shot in the arm from its CEO, who bought $5 million worth of shares this week. Lastly, Grindr missed fourth-quarter earnings and 2025 margin forecasts, sending its stock 7.7% lower. They'll have to grind hardr in future.

At the close, the JSE All-share was up 1.14%, the S&P 500 rose by 1.12%, and the Nasdaq bounded 1.46% higher. Ok, let's build on this, please.

US markets were all over the map yesterday, with wild swings keeping traders on edge. The S&P 500 dropped back to pre-election levels as fears of a trade war rattled investors.

Old-school automakers sank as investors worried that the higher costs of parts from Canada and Mexico will cut profits: Ford fell 2.9%, General Motors dropped 4.6%, and Stellantis sank 4.4%. But after hours, reports that Trump may be considering a tariff compromise with those two countries sparked a rally. It's a circus out there!

In other company news, CrowdStrike delivered a solid earnings report, but the stock tumbled 9% as its outlook for the first quarter of 2025 came in weaker than expected. Elsewhere, Google is reportedly lobbying the Trump administration's Justice Department to reconsider efforts to break up the company, arguing that such a move could pose national security risks.

At the close, the JSE All-share was down 0.95%, the S&P 500 fell 1.22%, and the Nasdaq was 0.35% lower.

US markets took a hit yesterday, with the S&P 500 posting its worst drop of the year. The selloff came after the US president ruled out tariff exemptions for Mexico and Canada, and imposed another 10% on trade with China. On top of that, weak manufacturing data weighed on sentiment. The vibes are not good at the moment.

The market has been on a rollercoaster ride, with the S&P 500 swinging by at least 1.5% in both directions for three straight sessions, something we haven't seen since March 2020.

In company news, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) is ramping up its US expansion plans with an additional $100 billion investment in new chip plants. Elsewhere, AbbVie announced a $2.2 billion deal to buy a next-gen obesity drug from Danish biotech firm Gubra. Finally, grocery company Kroger fired their CEO Rodney McMullen due to problems with his "personal conduct" not involving any colleagues. What did he do?

Yesterday, the JSE All-share was up 1.89%, but the S&P 500 fell 1.76%, and the Nasdaq was 2.64% lower. A nasty flop.

US markets ended Friday on a positive note, which is just as well because it was a horrible week. The PCE inflation index showed its slowest annual rise since early 2021 at 2.6% year-on-year. Consumer spending dropped 0.5%, which is a little concerning. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained, with all sectors closing in the green, helping to ease February's losses.

In company news, Rocket Lab has pushed back the launch of its Neutron rocket to the second half of the year and issued a first-quarter revenue forecast that missed expectations. It's down 20% so far this year, one might say coming down to earth? Monster Beverage was looking caffeinated on Friday, up 5.3% after strong sales of energy drinks pushed revenue above analyst expectations last quarter.

On Friday, the JSE All-share was down 1.58%, but the S&P 500 rose 1.59%, and the Nasdaq was 1.63% higher. Phew.