Market scorecard
US markets ended lower on Friday, but were still up handsomely for the week. The S&P 500 notched its fifth consecutive week of gains, the longest such stretch since the third quarter of 2021, before the Fed went on its interest rate rampage to combat inflation. The Nasdaq had its eighth consecutive weekly rally, which hasn't happened since early 2019.
Cruise operators and airlines were among the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 last week. Carnival (NYSE:CCL) led the rally, up 21%, while rival Norwegian Cruise Lines (NYSE:NCLH) added 11%, Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) gained 12%, and Delta (NYSE:DAL) climbed 8.9%. Elsewhere, Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) and Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) rose by 16% and 11% respectively.
In company news, shares of US-listed Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava Group surged 99% in their market debut on Thursday, but dropped 13% on Friday.
On Thursday, the JSE All-share closed up 0.60%, and on Friday the S&P 500 fell 0.37%, and the Nasdaq was 0.68% lower.
One thing, from Paul
When I wake up every day, I log in to see what's going on in the world and I'm assailed by a bunch of wild headlines. War, politics, floods, rising temperatures, mass shootings, risks from near-sentient computers, and diplomatic disasters. Is everything going to hell? Are we doomed? Is the world about to end?
I have to remind myself that the media focuses on the bad news, because it sells.
Later in the day, at the office, I read the considered analyses of opinion writers in respected news outlets like the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Day and The Daily Maverick. These commentaries on current affairs can also be concerning.
I have to remind myself that professional journalists like to sound cautious and concerned.
Josh Brown had an interesting blog post out this weekend called Today's market pivots from a funeral to a party. He says "the thing that everyone's talking about is not always the thing that ends up mattering."
Another great line from Josh: "even if I gave you tomorrow's headlines today, you still would not be able to guess what the impact of all that news would have on prices, sentiment, valuations or the responses of fiscal and monetary policy makers".
Remember, no one knows anything about the future. I'm a cheerful optimist, so I assume everything will turn out just fine. This has been the right approach, in hindsight. I plan to keep on exercising, eating well, travelling, sleeping, planning and investing, in anticipation of a long and happy life.
Byron's beats
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) now make up 30% of the capitalisation of the S&P 500. That is up from 22% at the start of the year. Nearly one third of the market comprises just eight businesses, that is very concentrated.
You may also have noticed that all of these stocks are Vestact-recommended portfolio holdings. That's no coincidence, we like large businesses because we feel their chances of further success are more assured.
When we first started buying Meta, Netflix, Nvidia and Tesla they were not such big companies, they were in our "future heroes" category. Getting to their current scale certainly wasn't plain sailing for any of them, it was a wild ride. Their share prices were also very volatile. Holding on required patience and a strong stomach.
Michael's musings
Most personal finance books recommend having multiple sources of income. A side hustle adds diversity to your cash flow and makes your finances more resilient, in case of issues at your day job.
Over the weekend, news broke that Michael Jordan sold a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets, in a deal that valued the team at $3 billion, more than 10-times what he paid for the stake in 2010. The sale is expected to net him about $2 billion.
Probably the most impressive thing when looking at Jordan's finances is how little his salary from his 'day job' contributed to his overall wealth. For a legend of basketball, he only earned $94 million in his whole career, very low compared to the salaries of current sports stars.
This article details Jordan's financial life - How Michael Jordan makes and spends his fortune.
Bright's banter
Preston Mutanga, a 14-year-old from Toronto, Canada, landed a role as an animator on "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" after he recreated the film's trailer shot-for-shot using Lego blocks. The movie's debut weekend brought in $120 million, and cumulative box office sales are now at $400 million.
Mutanga uploaded his Lego remake of the trailer to Twitter, catching the attention of producers Chris Lord and Phil Miller, who were impressed by his work.
Lord and Miller, known for their work on "The Lego Movie," wanted a Lego-inspired sequence in "Across the Spider-Verse" and decided to reach out to Mutanga. Over several weeks, Mutanga remotely collaborated with Miller, receiving feedback and making adjustments.
Despite being in high school, Mutanga's career goal of becoming a full-time animator is one step closer. You can watch this latest Spider-Man movie now in local cinemas, it's not to be missed.
Signing off
Asian markets are down today, led by a fall in Chinese technology companies. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Meituan (HK:3690) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) have all tumbled by around 4%. Benchmarks fell in Hong Kong, Japan, mainland China, and South Korea. China's State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang produced no meaningful plans to stimulate that economy.
It will be a quiet trading day because US markets are closed for the new Juneteenth public holiday. The Rand is trading at R18.23 to the US Dollar.
Have a good week!