The Markets Daily

That we are still working toward a proper understanding of covid-19 can be no clearer than reports over the last two days that there are three people in the world who have been confirmed to have caught covid-19 twice. It would seem previous reports of reinfection were rather cases of people experiencing an extended bout of the original infection, rather than two distinct infections.

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Spring is in the air, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. As the temperature rises here, it turns out the heat is not only increasing with seasonal changes, but also as geopolitical tensions continue to heighten, particularly between Germany and Russia, and India and China.

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The daily is inspired by the Venetian merchant and explorer Marco Polo. Rather than his adventurous exploits, we reference the call-and-response pastime supposedly inspired by his travels to China where Marco, after being separated from his family, called out "Polo" as his family bellowed his name.

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Has the title unsettled you? Not to worry, I haven’t completely lost the plot. Perhaps a bit of Friday fatigue, but it’s all quite intentional. The creeps vs jerks theories are evolutionary constructs. Divergent in their views, they speak to the rate of species development.

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As a mother of a three-year old, I am always looking to create teachable moments. Often these arise through the reading of books or the watching of Peppa Pig (a recent discovery), but a news reel prompted an interesting debate with my toddler.

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Like the pulling of taffy, US assets are being stretched in opposite directions. At almost pre-pandemic highs, the S&P is soaring while the US dollar index sinks to its lowest level since 2018.

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August remains a relatively quiet month for markets as while SA sees spring being ushered in by a windy month, Europe, the US and much of the northern hemisphere take a break to enjoy the last days of summer.

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Politicking is the name of the game on many fronts in the US as the November 3 elections draw ever nearer. While a review of phase 1 of the trade deal between the US and China was delayed, apparently due to scheduling difficulties, President Trump has otherwise not let up on emphasising his tough stance on China, and has officially told ByteDance,

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