With markets back at all-time highs, buy-and-hold investing is more popular than ever. It sounds so simple - accumulate stocks and wait to get rich. Buy the dips to get even better entry prices.

When markets crash, as they did in 2022, journalists and other market pundits change their tune. They lavish praise on market bears, short-sellers, and those who trade markets and happened to go to cash at a good time.

No-one complains about regular gains, year after year. The bleating starts once markets decline by 10%. Untested investors howl with pain once they are 20% down. Those noises turn to screams after a 30% decline. Panic sets in at 40%. At every level, more people bail.

What distinguishes investors is not their appetite for profits, it's their tolerance for losses. The most successful savers are those that stay calm and keep adding to their portfolios.

In the US, they have a retirement savings plan called a 401(k), which has certain tax benefits. Individual contributions can be sponsored or matched by employers, and investors can pick individual stocks within the structure.

According to Fidelity, the number of 401(k) millionaires under their administration has hit a new record high thanks to the strong stock market. There are now over 485 000 401(k) accounts worth more than 1 million USD at Fidelity.

This bodes well for the US economy. Beefy retirement savings means people feel more comfortable to spend money. It also means that these people won't be reliant on the state to look after them once they stop working.

What is the point of driving an electric car if the power comes from a dirty coal power station? It is also upsetting if the battery is full of rare minerals, mined all over the world and the vehicle's construction process is more energy intensive than the process used in traditional cars.

The world is changing quickly, and the above-mentioned issues are being resolved. Most developed nations' energy grids are moving towards being completely emissions free. Rooftop solar panels are also growing in popularity.

Paul drives a fully-electric Mercedes, which he charges off his home solar system. In the office we worked out that he saves thousands of Rands by charging his car for free over the weekend from the panels on his roof.

With the growing need for minerals to produce batteries, the battery recycling industry has taken off. The world is already on track to recycle twice as much lithium-ion battery supply in 2024 as was manufactured in 2014. Using recycled material will be cheaper and significantly reduce the environmental impact of EVs.

Bloomberg estimates that at around 41 000 km is when an EV breaks even with its combustion counterpart on environmental impact. After that, an EV's environmental impact is negligible, but a combustion engine will keep polluting. The break even number is expected to fall quickly over the next decade as technology improves.

This is a positive trend, but I do hope that we can still keep enjoying V8 sport cars and other fun toys!

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has raised $6 billion in a Series B round, significantly boosting its efforts to compete with OpenAI. This round comes less than a year after xAI's launch and is one of the largest investments in AI development to date.

xAI's flagship product, Grok, a rival to ChatGPT, is integrated into X.com (formerly Twitter). In November 2023, xAI started previewing Grok to a select group of users, limiting early access to paid X Premium subscribers. By the end of May this year, Grok became available across Europe.

xAI described Grok as a chatbot designed to "answer questions with a bit of wit" and possessing "a rebellious streak." It was modelled after The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, intended to provide answers to almost any question.

The company is valued at $18 billion with zero revenue but somehow received backing from venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The new funds will be used to launch initial products and build better infrastructure.

Mark Zuckerberg just turned 40. Most of us look through old photos to reminisce, but being a billionaire allowed him to do things a bit differently - Life-size recreations of important locations in Mark's life.

This season of climbing Everest is ending in a few days. At least three people have died, down from 18 last year - Nepali sherpa completes 29th summit, a new record.

Asian markets are mostly higher this morning. Benchmarks rose in India, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, while they fell in mainland China.

Locally, Tiger Brands has posted an 11% increase in earnings for the first half of the year, not bad given the challenging trading environment. Elsewhere, Discovery is determined to get more home loan clients by offering a 1% savings on interest rates. Lastly, For the first time in over 60 years, the Ackerman family has relinquished control of Pick n Pay following the latest rights issue.

US equity futures are slightly lower pre-market. A few stragglers report earnings this week, including Salesforce, Costco, and Dollar General.

The Rand is trading at around R18.34 to the US Dollar.

Tomorrow is voting day. Make sure that you have your say about our country's future, and get that long-lasting ink on your thumb. We will be back in your mailbox on Thursday.