Alec Hogg: Markets take a hit as inflation back on agenda

With the Third Wave of the pandemic ravaging my home province of Gauteng – laying many friends low – it felt strange reading WSJ editorial page writer Barton Swaim's piece. But after approaching it with an open mind, much of what emerged from his interview with author O Carter Snead resonated. In essence, he argues the preferred zero risk approach to a virus with a mortality rate of 2 (mostly elderly) in 1,000 people has ignored what it is to be human – touch, interaction even the need to work. A must-read..Another piece from the Wall Street Journal that grabbed my attention is how lobbyists, especially for Big Tech, are now polecats in Washington. As the graphic above shows, the US's big four tech companies "invest" over $50m a year on lobbyists. Now that's starting to look like money down the drain. For instance, President Joe Biden refuses to consider job applicants with any ties to Big Tech. Ever since hearing Warren Buffett tell a Berkshire AGM there were 30 000 lobbyists in Washington (whose sole purpose is to "influence" politicians on behalf of their clients), I've wondered when Americans would kick back. Although it was Donald Trump who ranted about Draining The Swamp, Biden is the one actually doing it. Serious implications for Big Tech, especially as antitrust pressure grows. Click here. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___.It was a bad session for US stocks on Friday (above) after traders took fright over suggestions that interest rates would be hiked sooner than most expect. With concerns about inflation coming onto the Fed's agenda, gold was hit hard, falling 5.8% in the week. Click here..With so much volatility in markets, there are no sure investment bets nowadays. But something that comes close is taking advantage of the 12J tax incentive as the full capital can be written off against your taxable income. Time is running out, however, as the window closes forever on June 30. We've compiled a 12J handbook complete with all the info you'll need to decide which 12J company best suits you. Click here. At noon today I'm hosting the second last in our series of 12J webinars. My guests are Jonty Sachs and Gaurav Nair of Jaltech, which manages the top performing 12J fund. Click here to register..PLEASE READ – FOR YOUR WSJ.COM ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our help desk can assist – support@biznews.com.

Alec Hogg: Markets take a hit as inflation back on agenda

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