Welcome to The Soft Landing

Welcome to The Soft Landing. This delightful little newsletter is here to give you a sneak peek into the wild world of markets and keep you in the loop with all the business shenanigans. And hey, we might even throw in a few productivity tips because who doesn't love a good hack to make life easier? As a fancy investment banker, it's my duty to stay on top of the market game. So, I thought, why not create a condensed version of a "market update" for my awesome subscribers? That way, they can get all the necessary info in one email, plus some extra articles that interest me. I promise to keep it short and sweet. If you find this newsletter as helpful as a secret stash of chocolate, please share it with your pals and fam. Let's spread the joy of financial enlightenment together!

Before I sign off here’s a quick peek at the markets below:

Markets: So, not the best day for stocks (and my first newsletter). Even though Nvidia had some amazing results, it didn't really lift the overall market. Investors are eagerly waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole. The Dow Jones Industrial Average down losing 256 points, which is about 0.7%. The S&P 500 also slid by 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite took a hit of 1.1%.

Cyber Truck: Elon has been driving around a near road ready Cyber truck at his factory. The long awaited truck still hasn’t hit the roads and doesn’t seem as though it’s coming any time soon. Pricing and release dates are still awaited.

Yikes! Turkey’s central bank hiked interest rates by more than expected to 25%.

BRICS Inclusion: UAE, Saudi Arabia and four other countries are set to become part of BRICS starting from January 1, 2024. The move is motivated by a desire to unlock various benefits, including access to development finance and increased trade and investment opportunities.

A Real Moon Landing: India’s moon landing made history at a relatively low cost. In 2020, ISRO estimated the cost of the Chandrayaan-3 mission at around $75 million. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the mission was postponed by two years, potentially increasing the financial burden. In contrast, in 2023, NASA received $25.4 billion while ISRO got around only $1.6 billion.

Until the next one.

Oz