Bitcoin (above) has given up a third of its value in the past month, handing an army of one-eyed punters an expensive trading lesson. But what’s behind the volatility? Today’s piece from our partners at The Wall Street Journal separates fact from fiction – and providing a signpost for what may be happen next. You’ll find it below. It includes useful graphics of the relative size of the crypto market – and how the electricity used to “mine” Bitcoin recently surpassed what’s used annually in Sweden, the world’s 23rd biggest economy. That stat panicked Elon Musk into reversing his support for the premier crypto, helping spark its recent 30% selloff.
- This week it’s exactly five years since we moved to London for a year that turned into three. On our departure former Oxford Don RW Johnson told me I was mad because, for a journalist, there is nowhere on earth like our homeland. Peerless Johnson keeps proving the point with superb contributions to help educate the rest of us. This morning’s analysis in Politicsweb is among his very best. Johnson digs deep to understand the seemingly irrational decision of Mozambique’s president to refuse assistance in dealing with a problem far beyond domestic capabilities. Turns out it’s not irrational after all. Conclusion: The nation’s elite, president included, are vassals of global organised crime. A must read. Click here.
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- Another great mystery is how supposed custodians of shareholder equity carry little direct consequences when they engineer its destruction. This is evident in the incredibly costly three year foray by US telecoms group AT&T into media. Its two mega deals, debt-funded, are now being unwound at a loss of tens of billions of dollars. The AT&T execs (and their well paid super-helpers) now realise the culture required for success in distribution of media doesn’t travel work in world class content creation. A superb story in this morning’s WSJ with lessons for executives – and shareholders – everywhere. Click here.
- Ever wondered what half a billion rand buys in US real estate? Here’s an example: actor Tom Cruise’s 320 acre getaway in Colorado has just changed hands for his full asking price of $39.5m. Click here for the WSJ story which includes pics of what’s behind TopGun’s front door.
PS We’re getting deeper into our project to expose 12J investment opportunities ahead of the tax incentive scheme’s expiry on June 30. In this week’s webinar we host Chris Derksen and Hugo Venter of the 12Cape Fund. Among the visionaries behind this 12J company is PSG co-founder Jaap du Toit. The webinar is at noon tomorrow. Click here to register.
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