Alec Hogg: Unlocking Mozambique’s mystery – it’s the drugs

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. ___STEADY_PAYWALL___.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..NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL 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.Catch the BizNews shows live (or later).Go to BizNewsradio.com for all the latest podcasts, including the recording of last night's BizNews Power Hour..On the site you'll also find a live stream which enables you catch our flagship programme as it happens at 5:30pm weeknights..Even more fun is watching our flagship show via the live studio-cam – simply hit the subscribe button on our YouTube channel – BizNews TV – and every evening we'll send you the link to the livestream. There's also a useful chat function in the livestream for posing questions during the show…..please use it.

Alec Hogg: Unlocking Mozambique’s mystery – it’s the drugs

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