WorldWide Markets with Simon Brown

JustOneLap.com

All about investing on the JSE with Simon Brown. Every Thursday.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    SARB has not added to gold reserves in two decades | Which JSE stocks will be hit by tariffs?

    🔺 Tariffs Incoming 🇿🇦 SA faces 30% US tariffs starting Friday. 🚗 Auto industry, 🍊 citrus, 🚚 logistics & 🧪 fertilizer sectors (like Omnia, Kaap Agri, Impact) to feel the heat — but no fatal blows expected. 📉 MPC Policy Misfire? 💰 SA inflation at 3%, but rates still stuck at 10.75%. 📉 Is the MPC behind the curve? Simon says: Yes. 📉 Calls for a rate cut of at least 0.5% to 1%. SA CPI and Prime | 29 July 2025 🥇 Why Hasn’t the SARB Bought Gold in 20 Years? 📊 From 2005 to 2025: only ±48,000 ounces added. 📉 Gold outperformed the USD by a wide margin (680% vs 171%) over 20 years. 🤔 Why the gold aversion? Simon wants answers. 📈 Structured Product Spotlight 💼 New Standard Bank product: ✔️ 100% capital guarantee ✔️ 1.8x upside gearing ✔️ MSCI World Index exposure 📆 3.5 year duration, paid out in ETFs 💸 Min R25k. Closes in Sept. 🚘 Chinese Cars Disrupting the Market 🇨🇳 Omoda CX5 & CS9 – slick, affordable, feature-packed 💡 Screens bigger than laptops, prices lower than rivals ⚠️ Toyota, Ford, VW: Time to worry? 💊 Big Pharma Blunder 🤦‍♂️ Novo Nordisk loses Canadian patent by forgetting to pay a $250 fee 📉 Generics incoming. Massive oops. 🔍 Alphabet Results 💹 Stock up 15% since Simon’s last mention 💰 $95bn cash, low debt ⚖️ Facing antitrust heat – rulings incoming 📉 Possible price dip = buying opportunity? 📢 Next week: Who owns what in Parliament? Crypto, shares, surprises await… 🧠 Hosted by Simon Brown 💳 Powered by Standard Bank & Shyft – the global money app for smart travellers & investors

    22 min
  2. 22 JUL

    Is a Lower Inflation target a Bad Idea? Is Afrimat Offering Value?

    🌍 This week on Worldwide Markets, Simon dives into a packed show covering inflation, earnings, property deals, and opportunities in local stocks. Powered by Standard Bank Global Markets and Shyft — your gateway to global investing. 🌐💸 📉 Inflation Target Cut – A Bad Idea? • SA may shift to a 3% inflation target 📊 • Risks of higher interest rates 😬 • Real rates already sky-high 🚀 💵 Weaker US Dollar & Tech Gains • Trump’s weaker dollar policy in motion 🇺🇸📉 • MAG7 & Nasdaq benefit: 49%+ offshore revenue 🖥️🌐 • S&P 500 and Russell 2000 lag 🏢 Sibanye-Stillwater* Diversifies • Buys US recycling business ♻️ • Adds silver, copper, and skills 🪙🔧 • Expands beyond PGMs and gold 🪙 Voltara & PGMs Running Hot • Valterra Platinum update reflects flood damage & weak past PGM prices 🌊 • But platinum & palladium now breaking resistance levels 📈🔥 🏬 Hyprop’s Bid for MAS PLC • Cash or shares deal (R24 or Hyprop stock) 💰 • Hyprop focuses on Western Cape & Eastern Europe 🏖️🌍 • Deal may not be in MAS shareholders’ best interest ❓ 🪨 Afrimat: Value at R45? • Price on long-term support line 📉🧱 • Concerns: iron ore, Lafarge deal, site near Mozambique 🇲🇿 • Van Heerden’s track record solid 💼💪 • Forward PE ~11, below decade mean 🔍 🧪 New ETF Database (Beta) • Search by issuer, classification, TER & more 🔍📊 • Explore at justonelap.com/etfdatabase 🧱📂 • Feedback welcome! 📜 SA Budget Drama • Multi-party politics = budget complexity 🧠 • Education budget almost derailed ❗ Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order

    18 min
  3. 15 JUL

    What's with Bitcoin Treasury Companies? | Ouch US CPI and Chinese Home Prices

    🎙 This Week in Markets: US inflation ticks higher 📈, putting pressure on rate cuts. Powell's in no rush. Local rates also due end-July. 🏘 China Housing Trouble: 3 years of negative home price growth in China 🇨🇳. Citizens frustrated as property values slide. Evergrande and other ghosts still haunt. Chinese Home prices Year-on-Year | June 2025 🚀 Elon Watch: Musk injects $2B into XAI 🤖. Deck chairs shuffled? Investors seem to approve. 🔩 PGMs Shine: Platinum and palladium break higher ⚪, supported by tightening supply. Miners like Sibanye*, Implats, and Northam bask in the glow. 💻 Nvidia Milestone: First $4 trillion company 🤯. AI + autonomous driving = future. Trump eases chip restrictions. 📦 Copper Tariffs: Trump proposes 50% import tariffs on copper 🔧. Could spark domestic production—or not. 📉 Gold & Oil: Gold drifts within range 🪙. Oil facing resistance again 🛢, needs a breakout above $77 to excite bulls. ₿ Bitcoin Treasury Companies: Why buy MicroStrategy at a premium when you can just buy Bitcoin? 🤷‍♂️ Financial engineering vs. logic. 📊 Strategy (ex-MicroStrategy) holds 600,000+ BTC. 🇿🇦 Altvest has one BTC—also in the mix. 🏛 Crypto Legislation: US considers classifying crypto as a commodity 🪙, stablecoins gaining traction. It’s Bitcoin Week at the White House. 🇺🇸 💸 ZAR & Tariffs: Rand weakened after US slaps 30% tariffs on SA imports ⚠️. Trump’s unpredictability rattles markets. 🧠 Coming Soon on Power Hour: 📅 August: Moxima Gama on advanced charting 📅 November: Keillen Ndlovu on REITs (local & offshore) 🧭 Powered by Standard Bank Global Markets and Shift, the global money app 💳 🌍 Travel | 💱 Forex | 🛒 Spend | 📈 Invest — All in your hand. 🎧 Leave a rating and review — every bit helps! 📢 Back next week with more market insights. Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order

    18 min
  4. 1 JUL

    Market Surprises, Trump’s Tariffs & Commodities Soaring | 2025 Year-to-date returns reviewed

    The Year So Far 📈 Market returns in 2025 tell a story of extreme volatility rather than predictable trends. The US 10-year yield spiked above 4.5%, shaking confidence before Trump walked back tariffs. Trump’s Second Term 🏛️ Tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China, and NATO tensions triggered waves of uncertainty. A 90-day tariff pause ends soon—more volatility ahead. Currency Moves 💱 The rand hit R19.90/$ in April but has strengthened nearly 7% year to date. Dollar weakness is driving big shifts—its worst start to a year in 50 years! Commodities on Fire 🔥 Platinum: +52%, hitting 10-year highs Gold: +27%, buoyed by central banks diversifying away from dollars Copper, rhodium, uranium also strong, while coal and Brent oil are lagging Equities: Winners & Losers 📊 Top Performers: Sibanye Stillwater* +115% 🚀 Northam, Impala, Harmony riding the PGM boom Surprise: MTN +58%, defying telco sceptics British American Tobacco at record rand highs Strugglers: Aspen -27% 🩺 Spar, Mr Price* correcting after big runs Sasol, despite the headlines, down just 5% Global Markets Snapshot 🌐 European indices are up double digits (Germany +20%, Spain +21%) Canada bounced +8.5% from April lows Hong Kong +20% as Asia joins the rally SA market in ZAR: +30% YTD, outpacing gold and the Nasdaq Key Lessons 🎓 Volatility is a feature, not a bug. When markets “go on sale,” don’t panic—buy like you would discounted chuckles. Politicians worldwide are unpredictable—stay focused on your long-term plan. The Dollar Story 💵 Dollar Index fell from 110 to 96 in six months. Capital is rotating to Europe and emerging markets. The tariff-driven isolationism in the US is reshaping global flows. 🗓️ Upcoming Event Power Hour – 21 July (Monday) Topic: Three Decades of Investment & Trading Lessons with Simon Brown 🔗 Register at JustOneLap.com/events 📈 More Resources Full ETF performance update dropping Thursday: justonelap.com/ETFs Read Simon’s market insights anytime on JustOneLap Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order

    19 min
  5. 25 JUN

    EAC, the only fee that matters | Gold or PGMs?

    💸 Know Your Fees: Effective Annual Cost (EAC) Not all fees are created equal — EAC is the real number to watch. Applies to retirement products, LISPs, and unit trusts — not to stockbrokers. 📊 Understand the difference: TER (Total Expense Ratio) TIC (Total Investment Cost) EAC (includes platform + advisor + product fees) 🍏🍏 Apples-to-apples: Compare funds using EAC. 🎯 Target an EAC between 1.1%–1.5%. 💬 Negotiate! Advisor and platform fees are often flexible. 🔍 Beware: Some brokers refuse to give the number — that’s a red flag. ❗ Platform fees: Flat > Percentage. Otherwise, your 1% could become R100,000 in fees! 🛢️ Oil Wipeout & Geopolitics Weekend U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites 🔥 led to… a shrug from the oil market. 📈 Oil hit $81.40 early Monday, then crashed to $67.70 by Wednesday. That’s a $14 drop, nearly 20% down — massive. 🌍 Global market awash with oil: 🇻🇪 Venezuela, 🇮🇷 Iran, 🇷🇺 Russia all pumping through sanctions ⛽ OPEC+ supply increases kicking in soon ⛴️ Straits of Hormuz risk overstated — markets unconvinced 📉 Oil heading to $60? Possibly. ⚙️ Sasol: Much Ouch ❌ Not a fan of Sasol — never been on that bus 📉 Sasol collapsed this week: down 14–15% Tuesday Currently hovering at R96, with support around R77 🧪 Chemicals weak, oil down, Rand strong = triple whammy ⚠️ Not going bust, but it’s in real pain 💱 Rand Rollercoaster 💵 USD/ZAR down from 18.15 to 17.76 🔻 Dollar weakness a key driver 🎯 R17 still very much in play 😬 Strong Rand not helping exporters like Sassol 🏦 Fed Watch: FOMC & Powell 🕊️ No rate change last week, as expected 📣 Powell grilled by Congress — MAGA heat incoming 📉 Fed still guiding for two cuts in 2025 Data outlook softening: 🏭 GDP ↓ 📈 Inflation ↑ 👷 Unemployment ↑ 🧠 Powell's just doing his job — not playing politics SA’s MPC, on the other hand… maybe a bit behind the curve ⚗️ PGMs: Shiny Again? 💬 Chat with Old Mutual: rotating out of gold, into PGMs 🔼 Platinum at 10-year highs, last seen in Oct 2014 🇿🇼 🇿🇦 Platinum from Southern Africa; 🇨🇦 🇷🇺 Palladium elsewhere 📦 Stockpiles, especially palladium, still working through 🚗 EVs: Now only expected to be 40% of sales by 2035 Existential crisis for PGMs? Delayed… for now 🧊 Recycling paused — not worth it at these prices 🥇 Pick your poison: Impala, Northam, Sibanye Stillwater*… 📦 Sibanye with PGMs, palladium & gold exposure 🪙 Gold: Still Glowing 🧲 Pullback to support around R3,330/g Could go as low as R3,200 — but not rolling over 💡 Structural shift in how investors (especially in developed markets) view gold 🛡️ Post-2022 shift: Central banks hedging against future sanctions with more gold Simon Brown * I hold ungeared positions. All charts by KoyFin | Get 10% off your order

    19 min

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All about investing on the JSE with Simon Brown. Every Thursday.

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