News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

02 April 2021 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO

• In the UK, data from the ONS showed that the household savings ratio rose to 16.1% near to a record high
• The US economy added 916,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate edged down to 6% in a sign that the recovery is accelerating

STATISTIC OF THE WEEK

To Twitter this week where business commentator @TrungTPhan attempts to compile the unofficial list of the greatest investment decisions ever. Contenders include Eduardo Saverin who invested $15k into Facebook in 2004, now worth c. $14bn; and Jackie & Mike Bezos who lent their son Jeff $250k to start Amazon in 1995. But the spoils must go to Koos Bekker, CEO of Naspers, a South African traditional print media business, who bought 46.5% of Tencent for just $32m in 2001. It has now grown to $250bn, an almost unbelievable return of 7800x and likely one of the best investment decisions of all time.

COMPANY NEWS

• Next upgraded its full-year profit expectations but ruled out paying a dividend until the outlook is clearer and issued a stark warning about the future of its physical stores
• It was a bad week for Credit Suisse on continuing news related to its exposure to the liquidation of Archegos Capital. It was reported that the bank sees losses running to billions of dollars from its exposure to Archegos
• Lululemon results showed its e-commerce business continuing to accelerate with revenue soaring 24% in its most recent quarter

SMALL-CAP NEWS

As people were heading back for outdoor sport, Directa Plus, the producer of graphene nanoplatelets-based products for consumer and industrial use, announced it has been granted an EU-wide patent covering the use of its G+ graphene in golf ball applications. Following the grant of patent, they will commence a selection process for a partner. This was further to their trading update in March where trading was reported as “strong” and positive developments made in their battery, environmental and surgical (face mask filter) subsidiaries

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

1917: The United States purchases the Dutch West Indies, now known as the Virgin Islands, from Denmark for $25 million in gold

1999: Priceline.com goes public in one of the hottest IPOs ever. Timed nearly perfectly with the top of the tech bubble, shares were initially priced at $16 and closed the day at $69, a first day return of 331% (for those lucky few who could get in at the offer price). After its IPO, Priceline had a market cap larger than that of United Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines combined!

 LOCKDOWN LOWDOWN

With a growing focus on rare earth metals such as lithium, neodymium and dysprosium - essential ingredients in electric cars, wind turbines and mobile phones - data released this week highlights how reliant we are on China. China exports 407,886 metric tonnes a year, accounting for 58% of the world’s production. According to a new research report published by MarketsandMarkets™, the Rare Earth Metals Market is projected to grow from $5.3bn in 2021 to $9.6bn by 2026

MARKET DATA

 As at 2^nd April 2021. Source: Financial Express

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