investing is a complete cheat code 💰💰

consistency x returns x time = serious wealth 🔥🔥

if I had to start over again, here's 10 investing lessons I would adopt [thread] 1. Making money is the process, not the outcome

very early on - set hard goals on EXACTLY how you want this money to work 📅

do you want an income stream (dividends)? are you looking to cash out a house/ car/ holiday?

start here:
(i) goals
(ii) level of risk
(ii) time horizon

Walmart just announced they will be opening stores in South Africa 🛒🛍️

a few years ago I worked with Walmart on their Africa expansion strategy as an investment banking advisor

here's an insider view into the cut-throat world of global deal-making [thread] *all content in this thread can be publicly sourced & verified, I stripped out all the highly confidential info*

Walmart first entered South Africa in 2010 by acquiring a 51% stake in Massmart

Massmart brands = Makro, Game, Builders, Jumbo

but this deal was VERY fuzzy & shaky

cheap energy drinks, gambling platforms, junk food & alcohol brands print billions 💰💰

governments & private companies both benefit from engineering addiction

a weak population is easily controlled & addicted consumers KEEP paying

broken homes are a business model more than 50% of all households in South Africa receive at least one form of social grant

over 25 million people rely on grants for survival

creating economic dependency & starving people of financial opportunity is a bulletproof way to maintain power

South Africa ranks among the highest levels of income inequality globally

“middle income” is a highly flattering & deceptive term

it gives a false sense of comfort & security 🍾🥂

being a few missed salaries away from poverty isn’t “middle class”, it’s “premium poor” the “middle income” bracket in South Africa is closer to being homeless than becoming high net worth

living standards are extremely fragile

one retrenchment, uninsured accident or unexpected financial emergency changes life completely

Breaking Benz! ㉦㉦

popping the hood on the global struggles of Mercedes-Benz [thread] 🚨Mercedez-Benz suspends operations in SA

the tragedy of paywalled media is headlines go viral & nobody actually reads the content

1. this is a planned shutdown & all workers are still paid

2. Mercedez-Benz exports 90% of its cars made in SA

3. tariff impact is VERY minimal

South African household income stats 🇿🇦📊

median monthly income = R7, 891
average monthly income = R17,030

- White: R56,365
- Indian: R34,786
- Coloured: R21,735
- Black African: R11,969

Source: Stats SA, IES 2022/ 2023 monthly household income by education level 🇿🇦

tertiary education: R48,188
secondary education: R12,480
no schooling: R7,015

for households headed by those with tertiary education
- income is 7x higher vs no schooling
- income is 4x higher vs secondary education

do you ever feel the news you consume is overwhelmingly negative?! 💔💔

you’re completely right — it really is

I ran a deep, content sentiment analysis for every article, social media post & headline published across media houses

in short: SA media LOVES bad news 📰 the biggest culprits of publishing paralysing fear & doomsday prophecies:

Daily Maverick, Daily Investor, BusinessTech & eNCA

but there’s a strong chance you already knew that based on their relentless, negative headlines

South African stocks are crushing record highs & gold is at all time highs 🇿🇦🔥

SA is now ranked among the best performing markets globally this year 🏆

the rand (relative to the US dollar) remains unchanged this year 📈📈 wait — why is there such limited local media coverage for positive news?!

SA media LOVES reporting currency weakness, stock market crashes & negative news on South Africa

fear, outrage & clickbait drives clicks & engagement — opportunity doesn’t sell

MTN just ended their eight year front of shirt sponsorship with the Springboks 🏉🏉

here's an inside look at the big business behind the most iconic jersey in world rugby [thread] what isn't being widely reported (yet) is how the ongoing Springboks private equity ownership discussion has impacted anchor sponsor relationships

the recent failed takeover bid from Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) has sparked friction & uncertainty at executive level

⚠️"South Africa is the most difficult place in the world to do business!!" ‼️

business media & "economists" thrive on terrifying headlines, social media outrage & ramping up fear

here's a purely fact-based analysis on this chart worth reading [thread] having spent MANY years in the investment banking engine room, it's very common to cherry-pick economic data to support any narrative

(known as confirmation bias)

many of the viral finance charts floating around are "math-washed"

they're designed to spark a strong reaction

I reviewed the full 273 page South African budget report so you don't have to grind through it

here's how the numbers impact us [thread]

#AdviceForSuccess #BudgetSpeech2025 budget 101: when expenses are more than income = trouble

that's exactly where South Africa is (& expects to be going forward)... running a budget deficit

here's an excellent chart showing the deficit projected to widen over time

🚨🚨 Chasing Ambulances 🚨🚨

are you being crushed by expensive medical aid ⁉️🚑

here are red flags from Discovery's latest results & why you can expect to pay even more 🚩🚩 [thread] Discovery Health is a complete machine - you have nearly 4 million people under administration with a 57.9% market share

it's now reached a critical point of scale where growth is slowing down

strategically there's a mission drive growth in other segments (like Discovery bank)

🚨🚨 "WE HAVE NO MONEY!!" 🚨🚨

South Africa just announced it can't afford to pay its frontline workers (teachers, doctors) & is considering raising taxes AGAIN!! 💰💰

yet the government racked up R120 BILLION in irregular expenditure in just 5 years [thread] irregular expenditure means non-compliance within an accounting framework & legislation

this ranges from contracts awarded without a proper bid process to basic admin

this itself doesn't mean fraud until its investigated all the way - which makes it an excellent tool for crime

there's an escalating messy breakup in the US/ South Africa political relationship - is South Africa cooked?!

here's a simple look at the global trade chess game [thread] 🎮🇺🇸🇿🇦 successful global trade depends on alliances (cough, gangs) ♟️♟️

South Africa is a member of BRICS, a powerful alliance now eclipsing G7 in terms of global GDP

but SA remains the weakest economic nation, with contributions declining across time

Non-profits are an excellent tool for money laundering, terrorist funding & financial crime 🥷🥷

SA has over 295,000 NPOs with 57% of them non-compliant ‼️

some haven't filed an annual return in 25 years ‼️

the FTFA placed SA on a greylist highlighting NPOs as a red flag ⚠️ having a significantly high % of dysfunctional NPOs undermines the ones that are actually above board

worse - funders have to commit excessive resources to diligence & interrogate every non-profit

receiving any global aid when you're on a greylist is also much harder

looking to lose weight in 2025? 🍔 🍕

over 5 years I cut 40kg, qualified as a personal trainer & got pro bodybuilder shredded 🔥 🔥

here’s the brutally honest guide to getting into shape [thread] 1. Train your mind 🧠

mental conditioning is EVERYTHING!

discipline, commitment, consistency & willpower are the magic ingredients 🪄

avoid the “quick fixes”, magic pills & “secret” hacks — this is a marathon, not a sprint 🏃🏻‍♂️

instant, overnight makeovers are an illusion

Ever wondered how much Airbnb hosts are making in Cape Town? 🏠🌊⛱️

- typical host makes R74,000 a year!!

- hosts made R2.5 billion in 2023

- typical listing is rented for 38 nights a year

Source: Airbnb Report, October 2024 Airbnb produced a report to show Airbnb is actually good for Cape Town. Who did the analysis? Airbnb themselves ‼️🤦🏻‍♂️

According to Airbnb, their impact on local rentals is just 69 bucks a month

(their median rent assumption of R10.5k is also not serious)

SA Rugby received a $75m offer from US private equity firm (Ackerly Sports Group) 🏉🏉

the proposed deal is insulting, terribly structured & embarrassingly one-sided [thread] the Springboks are a globally recognized brand & the most decorated rugby team in history (4x World Cup Winners) 🏆🏆

top ranked players make millions from club salaries & sponsorships

...except SA Rugby does not actually make a profit & reported another loss again this year!!

you see a lot of misguided pro-capitalism, "let's go free market" hot takes here

it's mostly from pod bros, dudes who watched Wolf of Wall Street or learnt about the "invisible hand" in an ECON101 lecture

here's the truth about capitalism - from an experienced investment banker Capitalism used to be forged on meritocracy, sparking innovation & rewarding the best allocation of resources

not anymore

now you have private ownership of gains & socialism of losses - poor people pay for dumb corporate decisions

it's toothless, neutered & watered down

here's why this headline is inflammatory, polarizing & fuels divisive rhetoric

also - it's blatantly misleading & inaccurate [thread] let's unpiece this - line by line

1. 1% = rank TANKING
2. it's BAD because it's the lowest close since two weeks ago
3. WORST performance against emerging market currencies
4. bond yields JUMPED 12 basis points in three weeks

sounds terrifying right? it actually isn't

many private companies thrive off government failures, social instability & profit handsomely from elevated risk

(private security, private healthcare, backup electricity, etc)

people pay twice for services

a huge benefit of a functioning country is eliminating the redundancy desperation also opens the door to exploitation

take home solar financing for instance

when you run the hard numbers the effective return across many providers is astronomical — it’s often a terrible financing deal for the end user