Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Wednesday 17 June 2026
[1] G7 (the “G” stands for “Group of”) countries include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The G7 summit has started in Évian-les-Bains. A major talking point will be Trump’s Iran peace deal, as leaders also address efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and challenges facing the global economy. The leaders are:
United States - President Donald J. Trump
Canada - Prime Minister Mark Carney
France - President Emmanuel Macron
Germany - Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Italy - Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Japan - Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
United Kingdom - Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
The G7 was created in 1975 (at the time it was the G6, before Canada joined in 1976) to represent the common interests of the world's leading industrialized democracies. With plenty of trouble in each country, it will be interesting to see what comes of this year’s summit.
[2] Markets are rallying hard on the Iran deal. The SP500 climbed 1.7%, the Nasdaq jumped 3.1% and the Dow hit an all-time high after the US and Iran struck an interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
As part of the deal, Iran is set to receive broad financial incentives, including the right to sell oil immediately (it has continued to sell oil, mostly to China, throughout the war, using “shadow fleets” - oil tankers which use dubious tactics to evade detection).
The peace deal is set to provide Iran with an economic boost, which is certainly a loss, but will be spun as a win by the US. A person familiar with the contents of the deal (which has not been released in its entirety) said technical details were still being worked out.
Trump had earlier denied that the US would pay Iran $300 billion. The draft says only that the US and its partners would ensure financing of that amount.
[3] Brent Crude tumbled as much as 5.7% to below $83/barrel on the news, with WTI briefly dipping below $80.
[4] The JSE is following suit. Local equities are catching a bid from both rand strength and improved global mood. The local employment data, however, paints a grim picture. Stats SA’s Q1.2026 data puts youth unemployment (ages 15-24) at 60.9%, against a 32.7% national rate, with 37.6% of the cohort not in employment, education, or training. Fifty years after Soweto, the youth are still struggling to find economic opportunity in the country.
[5] The New Development Bank - a Shanghai-based BRICS lender South Africa helped found alongside Brazil, Russia, India and China - has approved a $1 billion (roughly R16 billion) loan to upgrade infrastructure across the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban (eThekwini), Pretoria (Tshwane), Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, and Mangaung.
The money is earmarked for water, sanitation, and waste management systems under the bank's "Program for Upgrade of Infrastructure for Metropolitan Municipal Services," aimed at lifting financial sustainability and institutional governance in those three trading services specifically.
The money will probably be used to upgrade local officials’ swimming pools at their second homes. Mercedes South Africa is also very excited about the loan, expecting an increased order pipeline for 2027 C63 AMGs.
[6] Apple WWDC continues, with the biggest product wave lined up for late 2027. New major launches include: camera equipped AirPods (not for taking ear-photos, which would be weird, but rather for feeding visual context to Siri), a next-generation foldable iPhone and a 20th anniversary iPhone with an edge-to-edge curved display (which Samsung has been manufacturing for more than a decade). All products are in “advanced testing stage” - which means that anything could happen.
Tech companies continue betting on and battling with wearables. Recently, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel launched their AR glasses, we will leave you to decide whether this is a product you would wear:
Source: CNBC
[7] A 40-year-old goalkeeper from Cabo Verde, Josimar José Évora Dias, known as Vozinha, spoiled Spain’s opener when they were held to a 0-0 draw. A punter on Polymarket lost $1 million in a result considered one of the most unlikely outcomes in recent World Cup history.
Vozinha made 7 decisive saves and was named player of the match, describing the game as the moment he had been working towards his entire life.
Unfortunately, visa issues - in particular a new requirement that visitors from certain countries, including Cabo Verde, post a refundable bond of up to $15,000 - prevented Vozinha’s mother from attending the game.
The punter, betoor619, stood to win only $85,000 on an original bet of almost $1.1 million. Ouch.
Other notable results include Argentina’s 3-0 dismantling of Algeria, which saw Lionel Messi score a hat-trick. Mbappé scored twice in France’s 3-1 win against Senegal. Messi is the first person to play in six World Cups.
[8] SpaceX continues soaring. It became the world’s fifth-most valuable company, passing Amazon, during its third day of trading since its IPO. It peaked at a $3 trillion valuation, before closing at $2.7 trillion.
[9] The FBI said it prevented an attack on the White House during the UFC event. The plan was to use a drone attack to shoot attendees as they fled. Vance suggested that the plot was not close to “the point of execution”. Five people were arrested as a result. Tension from the Middle East is spilling over into the homeland.
[10] DNF is posting later today in an A/B-testing scenario to optimize viewership, engagement, click-through rates and user-experience, and not at all because the team spent Youth Day resting and watching Netflix. We will return to our normal 8am scheduling tomorrow.
Have a great day!