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2 days ago

Informative Trust High 80% #markets #gold #rand #jse #intel #fed #trump #geopolitics #sandf #barlow-world #valtera #sasol #defence-force #military-leadership

Trump launches billion-dollar Board of Peace as rival to UN; SA excluded

Podcast Briefing 2:45

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Key Strategic Points

  1. 1 Gold broke above $5,000 per ounce over the weekend, with the rand climbing to 16.9 against the US dollar, its strongest level in 3.5 years.
  2. 2 The S&P 500 posted its first back-to-back weekly losses since June, with the index down 0.3%, the Dow down 0.5%, and NASDAQ down 0.1%.
  3. 3 Intel shares plunged 17% after CEO Lip Bhan issued a lackluster forecast and warned of manufacturing problems, with Q1 revenue and earnings projections falling short of Wall Street estimates.
  4. 4 Trump's Board of Peace requires $1 billion for perpetual membership with Trump as lifetime leader and is viewed by European allies as a potential rival to the United Nations, with major Western powers refusing to sign the charter.
  5. 5 The SANDF spent R372 million on a Defence Forces Day parade in Limpopo while soldiers in the Congo lack basic equipment, drawing criticism for resource misallocation.
  6. 6 A general recently promoted to lead South African Special Forces on 1 January is charged with murder in connection with the death of a SAPS lieutenant colonel investigating military matters.
  7. 7 Barlow world ticker BAW vanishes from the JSE on 27 January, ending over 80 years of public listing as a consortium of local management and Saudi Arabia's Zahed Group takes the company private.
  8. 8 Valtera Platinum (formerly Amplatz) flagged headline earnings will double for the year ending December 2025, driven by a 26% jump in PGM prices and R5 billion in cost cuts, despite significant flooding at its Amundu mine offset by R2.5 billion insurance payout.

Notable Quotes

“He's not accused of speeding, he's not accused of spousal abuse, he's not accused of fraud, but this man is charged with murder in a conspiracy to murder a government official. How what kind of military does this? What kind of civilian control? Where is oversight of the military? How in the world do you approve this man for a promotion?”

— Chris Wyatt, retired US colonel and intelligence analyst

“You have to pay a billion dollars to join this board of peace for its perpetual membership. You can join in and be a member for 3 years, but perpetual membership with its perpetual lifetime leader Donald Trump will cost a country a billion dollars.”

— Mahul Shrevasta, Financial Times correspondent

“Those who have openly signed up include six monarchs, three ex-Soviet apparatchiks, two military-backed regimes and even Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who himself is sought by the international criminal court for alleged war crimes.”

— Mahul Shrevasta, Financial Times correspondent

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