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Breaking News

Yesterday, the US and Iran announced they have negotiated an interim peace deal and will sign the agreement in Switzerland on Friday. There are still several unanswered questions as the full text of the Memorandum of Understanding will only be published after signing, but we expect this will lead to the eventual re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which ~20% of global oil typically flows.

A re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz will ease the squeeze on global oil markets, especially as tankers and sea-farers who have been unable to leave the Strait for more than 3 months head for the exit. However, it will take several months to fully normalise flows, and we estimate that global oil inventories have shrunk by more than 1bn barrels since the start of the conflict. Oil markets will therefore likely suffer a ‘hangover’ for several years as governments seek to re-build inventories. Paul Gooden, Head of Natural Resources at Ninety One

Editor's Thoughts.

This past Friday the planet welcomed its first US dollar trillionaire – and he’s a SAFFA boytjie. By taking SpaceX public, Elon Musk became the first person in history whose wealth exceeds one million million US dollars (not a typo) … making him wealthier than the next four richest people in the world COMBINED! Whaaaat?? 🤯

Fun fact this fake Friday: If you spent $1 million every hour of every day, it would take you over a century to spend $1 trillion.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “what would you do with …” game, but I love René Moonsamy’s (National Debt Counselling Association) comments in her article today: “Financial independence is not about earning a lot. It is about making informed decisions with what you have.” René reminds us that financial independence starts young, with Gen Z using credit as a launchpad instead of a trap.

Speaking of traps, Tim Treagus’ (Yazi) shares their latest online gambling study which surfaces some worrying issues: 89.7% of active users gambled online in the last 30 days, 57% have sacrificed essentials to fund a bet, and 29% have borrowed money to gamble – even though 72% say they are “in control”. And Bertie Nel (Momentum) shows how too many are raiding their two-pot retirement savings as an emergency fund, exposing just how thin their financial safety nets really are.

And so this week, as we wake up to a world where trillionaires are possible, we have to believe that financial freedom is possible too. The challenge is: how do we make that a reality for all South Africans?

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