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US markets ended in the red yesterday despite briefly nearing new highs soon after the open. Defensive sectors like financial, energy, and utilities gained, but technology, healthcare, and consumer cyclical stocks softened. The "magnificent seven" stocks collectively dropped by 1.1% as traders worry about Nvidia's all-important earnings on Wednesday night.

In company news, the Dutch data protection authority imposed a EUR290 million fine on Uber for transferring European drivers' personal data to the United States without sufficient safeguards. Huh, really? Elsewhere, after over a decade in the role, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri will step down soon and be replaced by his top deputy, Kevan Parekh. In other Apple news, the company moved its big product launch a day earlier to 9 September to avoid competing with the presidential debate on 10 September. That's sensible.

Izolo, the JSE All-share closed down 0.19%, the S&P 500 fell 0.32%, and the Nasdaq was 0.85% lower.

US markets surged across the board on Friday, following Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech. All eleven sectors of the S&P 500 rose with Tesla (+4.6%) and Nvidia (+4.6%) leading the gains in large caps.

In company news, Apple will host a major product launch event on 10 September to introduce the latest iPhones, watches, and AirPods. Elsewhere, Workday jumped 12.5% after announcing a profitability boost over the next three years. Finally, McKesson plans to acquire a controlling stake in Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, a private oncology clinic operator.

On Friday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.87%, the S&P 500 rose 1.15%, and the Nasdaq powered ahead by 1.47%. Ah, you love to see it!

US markets declined yesterday as the US Dollar gained the most in over a month. The S&P 500 started the day nicely in the green, nearing its all-time high, but lost momentum as the afternoon session wore on. Later today Jay Powell will address the gathering at Jackson Hole, and clarify the Fed's plan with interest rate cuts for the rest of this year.

In company news, Peloton Interactive jumped 35% after the fitness company delivered on its turnaround strategy. Elsewhere, Uber announced plans to offer self-driving cars on its ride-hailing platform next year. Finally, Zoom Video Communications zoomed 12.9% higher after beating earnings estimates.

At the close, the JSE All-share was off by 0.48%, the S&P 500 fell 0.89%, and the Nasdaq sagged by 1.67%. No man.

US markets bounced around yesterday but ended in the green. The S&P 500 continued its August ascent, buoyed by dovish Federal Reserve minutes and a downward statistical tweak to the US payroll dataset. A rate cut in September now seems all but certain. In our view, it's about damned time.

Turning to company news, Target jumped 11.2% after breaking a streak of sales declines in the second quarter. Elsewhere in the retail sector, Macy's fell 13% following a more bearish outlook. Finally, JD.com gave up 4.2% after Walmart announced it was selling its entire 10.4% holding in the Chinese e-commerce giant.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 0.29%, the S&P 500 rose 0.42%, and the Nasdaq was 0.57% higher. We're very close to record territory.

US markets cooled off yesterday after a strong rally that brought them within a whisker of all-time highs. A dip in equities broke what could have been the S&P 500's longest winning streak in 20 years. Nvidia, which had surged nearly 25% over six days, led the losses among megacap stocks, falling 2.1%. No big deal.

In company news, Johnson & Johnson is set to acquire V-Wave for $1.7 billion, to add more heart failure treatment systems to its medical technology division. Elsewhere, Bank of America dropped 2.5% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold more of its shares. Lowe's cut its full-year guidance, predicting a drop in DIY projects at your home. Lastly, Netflix reached a new intraday record, surpassing $700 per share.

Here's the final lowdown, the JSE All-share closed down 0.02%, the S&P 500 fell 0.20%, and the Nasdaq was 0.33% lower. Sad face emoji.

US markets continued to climb yesterday, extending August's rally as traders remained optimistic about potential Fed interest rate cuts. Technology stocks led the charge, and all major sectors in the S&P 500 were in the green. The index posted gains for the eighth consecutive day, marking its longest winning streak since November.

In company developments, chipmaker AMD rose 4.5% on the news that it will acquire server manufacturer ZT Systems for $4.9 billion. Palo Alto Networks ticked 1.9% higher after-hours thanks to pleasing results. By contrast, Estee Lauder had a tough day yesterday, down 2.2% after pasty quarterly numbers and a blotchy forecast, another setback for the cosmetics giant which has been in turnaround mode for a while.

At the end of the day, the JSE All-share closed up 1.18%, the S&P 500 rose 0.97%, and the Nasdaq was 1.39% higher. Good stuff.

US markets wrapped up their best week of the year on Friday, the S&P 500 gained 3.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 5%. The S&P 500 also extended its seven-day rally to 6.8% which is its strongest stretch since October 2022. As you may know, the best days on the stock market often follow hot on the heels of the worst days. This is why you need to stay fully invested.

In company news, Bayer's shares surged 10.4% after the German company scored a major victory in the ongoing cancer litigation related to its Roundup weedkiller, which it acquired by buying Monsanto in 2018. Another top performer was Bavarian Nordic, which makes an mpox vaccine. It jumped 15.6% after the World Health Organization declared a public emergency over the disease's spread in Africa.

On Friday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.73%, the S&P 500 rose 0.20%, and the Nasdaq was 0.21% higher.

US markets rose sharply yesterday after strong retail spending data was released, easing concerns about an economic slowdown. Despite marginally disappointing unemployment numbers the S&P 500 continued its rally, and has now gained 6.6% in the last six days. What a difference a week can make.

In company news, Walmart reported splendid sales numbers for the latest quarter and made positive comments about the outlook for the rest of the year, pushing the shares up 6.5%. Elsewhere, chip maker Applied Materials boosted its sales forecast but its shares dipped 3.1% after-hours. Finally, Pilgrim's Pride dropped 3.3% because some of its shareholders chickened out.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 1.01%, the S&P 500 rose 1.61%, and the Nasdaq goosestepped 2.34% higher. Neat!

US stocks climbed again yesterday, following an inflation report that matched expectations, reinforcing the view that the Fed will cut rates in September. The S&P 500 continued its upward trend, enjoying its fifth consecutive day of gains, the longest winning streak in over a month. Financial, energy, and tech sectors drove the rally.

In company news, privately-owned Mars raised $36 billion to fund its purchase of Kellanova, the Pringles-maker. Kellanova was up 7.7% on the news. Elsewhere, Victoria's Secret jumped 16% after the undergarment retailer hired Hillary Super as its next CEO.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 0.55%, the S&P 500 rose 0.38%, and the Nasdaq was 0.03% higher. We'll take that, yes sir.

US markets ended higher last night as traders gained confidence that the Federal Reserve will start to ease interest rates in September. A lower-than-expected rise in the US producer price index drove the rally. The tech sector led the gains, with standout performances from Nvidia (+6.5%), Tesla (+5.2%), Broadcom (+5.1%), and Meta (+2.4%).

According to CME data, interest-rate futures implied a 55% chance of a half-a-percentage-point cut in September. Chances of a quarter of a percentage point are much higher.

In company news, Starbucks saw its largest one-day gain ever, jumping 25% after announcing the replacement of CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle's CEO, Brian Niccol. In contrast, Chipotle's stock dropped 7.5% on the news. Meanwhile, Home Depot shares rose 1.3%, despite the company lowering its outlook for comparable store sales, citing the impact of high interest rates on home-improvement spending.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 0.49%, the S&P 500 rose 1.68%, and the Nasdaq charged 2.43% higher. Lovely!

Yesterday US markets fluctuated between small gains and losses, ending with mixed results. The S&P 500 lacked direction, with most major sectors declining, except for tech, energy, and utilities. The good news is that the Nasdaq has risen in four of the last five days.

In company news, Johnson & Johnson has made significant progress in its $6.5 billion plan to settle thousands of lawsuits from individuals claiming that its baby powder caused cancer. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly said it will raise $5 billion through a bond sale to finance its $3.2 billion acquisition of Morphic Holding, a company specialising in gut-drugs.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed down 1.19%, the S&P 500 was unchanged, and the Nasdaq ended 0.21% higher.

Wow, what a week. Monday started with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq falling over 3%, their worst single-day performance in a few years. The rest of the week was rather volatile as the market processed new economic and company news. At the end of the five day period, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were only down 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. In other words, much ado about nothing.

In corporate news, salad seller Sweetgreen crisped up by 33.33% after a strong earnings report coupled with forecasts of higher-than-expected sales in 2024. Elsewhere, Temu's founder Colin Huang is now China's richest man. Bloomberg ranks him as the 25th richest person in the world with a net worth of $49 billion. Huang is a former Google engineer and only started Temu in 2022!

On Thursday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.47%. On Friday the S&P 500 closed higher by 0.47%, and the Nasdaq rose by 0.51%.

Yesterday was one of those frustrating days when the market opened nicely in the green but faded to close in the red. Some weaker-than-expected earnings didn't help sentiment in an already skittish market.

In company news, the server company Super Micro dropped 20% due to contracting profit margins and slowing growth. The company also mentioned that they only expect Nvidia's new generation Blackwell GPU chips to ship in significant volumes next year, a little later than expected. Those comments resulted in Nvidia shares dropping 5%. Elsewhere, Warner Bros Discovery is down 10% in after-hours trade as it writes off $9 billion in value linked to its cable and satellite TV networks. The stock is down 72% since it merged in early 2022, not great considering that its CEO, David Zaslav, is regularly near the top of CEO compensation lists.

In summary, the JSE All-share closed up 1.18%, but the S&P 500 flopped by 0.77%, and the Nasdaq slipped 1.05% lower.

Global markets rebounded yesterday, led by Japan's Nikkei, which closed up 10.2%. There's a lot of macroeconomic uncertainty at the moment, and the financial media have been fanning the flames. One good day after a tough month doesn't mean this bout of volatility is over, so you should probably ignore the headlines for a while longer.

In company news, Kenvue, the recently spun-off retail division of J&J, closed up 15% after posting strong numbers. Elsewhere, Uber jumped 11% thanks to strong revenue growth and continued profitability. Lastly, Zoetis, the animal health company also reported strong numbers, and the stock closed up 6%.

In summary, the JSE All-share lost 0.19%, but the S&P 500 rallied by 1.04%, and the Nasdaq closed 1.03% higher. Phew!

US markets opened sharply lower yesterday, mirroring declines across the globe, before partially recovering in the afternoon. The tech-focused Nasdaq took the hardest hit, ending down 3.4% on the day. Every sector within the S&P 500 declined, with the index experiencing its steepest drop in about two years. Nothing is broken yet, so there's no need to panic. For context, the S&P 500 is only down 8.5% from its peak.

Over the past 40 years, the S&P 500 has typically experienced an average intra-year pullback of 14%. Despite these fluctuations, stocks have delivered a positive average annual return of 13% and have risen in 33 out of those 40 years, or 83% of the time. Hold the line!

In company news, Palantir jumped 12.2% in after-hours trading following strong quarterly results and an upward revision of its annual outlook, driven by high demand for its AI software. Kellanova (recently spun out of Kellogg's) snapped, crackled and popped by 16.2% on a report that the company is preparing to be acquired by fellow snack foods maker Mars. Lastly, Intel continued to slide, falling another 6.4% as it suffers the after-effects of its awful second-quarter earnings.

In the end, the JSE All-share closed down 1.19%, the S&P 500 lost 3.00%, and the Nasdaq was 3.43% lower. Could have been worse.