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Gold fell from over $5 500 to about $3 600 this year, and central banks stepped back before coming back in force in the second quarter. Muhammad Docrat explains why the structural case still holds and what gold does for a portfolio that other assets can't. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Xi Jinping's Washington visit was more significant than the tariff concessions it produced. The symbolism, including Trump meeting Xi on the tarmac, points to Washington finally treating Beijing as a peer, Philip Saunders argues. For investors who've long priced in a Taiwan flashpoint, that shift deserves more attention than the trade headlines it generated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three central banks moved last week. A fourth, our own, decides this week. If you're trying to draw one lesson from all of it, Ruen Naidu argues, it’s this: the decision that matters most for South African bonds isn't the one the SARB is about to make. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A JSE that looks strong on the surface is really two markets in one: diversified miners and gold and platinum names riding the global AI infrastructure and commodities boom, against an SA Inc split between struggling retailers and resilient banks. Samantha Hartard explains why SA, despite having almost no tech exposure, is still finding a way into the AI trade through copper, coal and the physical buildout behind it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Malcolm Charles breaks down why two wars, an AI-distorted equity market and an unpredictable US election are colliding at once, and what it means for investors.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been buying back long bonds to calm a sell-off at the long end of the yield curve. Fed governor Kevin Warsh, fresh from a hawkish Jackson Hole speech, wants the opposite: a smaller balance sheet and a clear signal from the curve. Ruen Naidu unpacks why the two are at odds, and why an oil price spike could override both. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The AI trade's next chapter is likely to run through copper, natural gas and gold, not chips. Paul Gooden sees natural resource equities in the early innings of a new cycle, underpinned by unusually tight supply discipline and free cash flow yields roughly double the global equity market. It's a contrarian case for an out-of-favour asset class riding on the world's most crowded theme. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

El Niño is converging with the Middle East energy shock and fertilizer supply disruptions to create a compounding inflation risk that markets have barely begun to account for. Nicolas Jaquier draws on IMF research showing El Niño has historically driven a fifth of global commodity price swings, and explains why Brazil and Argentina are better placed to absorb the shock than Southeast Asia and Colombia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A R30 billion tax surprise in June, driven by mining royalties, has put South Africa's fiscal turnaround back in the spotlight. Adam Furlan argues the real story isn't the windfall, it's what Treasury does with it: two straight years of primary surpluses and a coming fiscal rule point to an improving credit story that bond markets haven't fully priced in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The AI debate has moved past valuation and onto something harder to price: whether record capex converts into durable cash flow. From SpaceX's post-IPO wobble to China's cheaper models and the sector's circular financing, Anton du Plooy makes the case for why stock selection, not conviction on AI as a trade, will separate winners from losers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For 20 years, buybacks and shrinking share counts boosted US equity returns. Sahil Mahtani argues that AI-driven IPOs and secondary issuance are set to reverse that trend, potentially dragging returns down. He draws a parallel to EMs in the 2010s, where a similar issuance wave eroded returns, but says that headwind for EMs is fading just as it builds in the US. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Borbora-Sheen unpacks the first coordinated US-Japan currency intervention since 1998 and why a stronger yen won't hold unless Japan's real rates move. He argues the bigger signal is a global rate cycle that may be settling higher than markets expect, and explains how that's shaping a cautious stance in fixed income. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US Federal Reserve held rates steady for a fifth straight meeting, but three dissents and a chair who won't give forward guidance left bond markets more unsettled than the decision itself. John Stopford explains why the confusion matters more than the vote, and what it means for positioning across bonds and equities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The SARB's split decision to leave the repo rate at 7% caught almost every economist off guard, but Ruen Naidu argues the central bank's own scenario analysis tells a more nuanced story. He unpacks why a lower-for-now stance doesn't mean a dovish central bank, and sets out what the Fed's own hawkish pivot under its new chair means for global bond markets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SA corporate credit holds up even as GDP growth stalls and inflation risk builds. Stephen Naidoo explains why strong technicals, not improving fundamentals, are driving the market, and why that gap demands a more conservative, quality-first approach rather than complacency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.