When does summer actually finish? September 22nd? Last day of August? As soon as the Pumpkin Spice Latte goes on sale at Starbucks?

My view is that it’s done when you start panicking about your costume. There’s still plenty of time - I typically panic about this at 5pm on October 31.

As people start getting back to work/school from the summer holidays, what’s new?

Markets

Source: CoinGecko.com As of 9:40AM September 1st

World news

Top news stories of the past week

1) U.S. stock market up four months straight: The saying “sell in May and go away” did not work this year, as the S&P500 just closed its fourth monthly gain in a row. With rate cuts on the horizon, people are hoping the gains will continue.

2) Convenience store capitalism: Alimentation Couche-Tarde, the parent company of the Circle K convenience store brand, is trying to buy Seven & i Holdings, the Japanese parent company of the 7-Eleven store chain. It’s a deal worth an estimated $38 billion - potentially the largest acquisition by a Canadian company ever. If you’ve ever had an egg sandwich from a 7-Eleven in Japan, you’ll know that they’re worth twice as much.

3) Brazil shuts down X (Twitter): Brazil’s supreme court blocked access to Twitter (I’m just going to call it that) across the country after Musk refused to name a legal representative in the country. This seems like a technicality, but there’s more to it. Musk has been fighting Brazilian politicians for months, over allegations that Twitter supported “digital militias” spread fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices.

Top WEIRD stories of the past week

1) The annual La Tomatina festival took place in Bunol, Spain, with tens of thousands pelting each other with tomatoes in what is known as the world’s largest food fight. The video is total chaos and amazing.

2) A five-year-old smashed a 3,500-year-old priceless artifact. The museum asked that the mother and child return for a “free guided tour”. Ya right, straight to jail.

3) Danny Jansen became the first player to play for two teams in the same game in MLB history. Jansen was swinging for the Toronto Blue Jays on 26 June when bad weather saw the game postponed. When the match resumed two months later, he was catching for the Boston Red Sox.

Chart

You like charts? Graphs? Ya you do

It’s been a slow year for commercial real estate. Check out the cumulative weekly transactions - 2024 is the lowest in years.

Investment idea

What are we investing in?

Rolexes.

Hear me out! Rolex watches are an asset. They may not be traded on a public exchange like stocks and bonds, but they go up and down in value just the same.

Prices massively accelerated in 2022, but have fallen about 26% from the peak.

With central bank rate decreases on the horizon, it’s soon going to become much cheaper to borrow money and buy assets, Rolexes included.

Looking over the past few years, U.S. stocks are up about 100%:

But Rolexes are up about half as much. Does this mean they’re guaranteed to catch up? No. However, given how much they’ve fallen in price and what’s happening with interest rate decreases, it could be a good time to get in the market.

Besides, how many other investments make you look cool?

History

On this day…

…in 1666, the Great Fire of London began. It started in the early morning hours in the house of King Charles II’s baker on Pudding Lane (perfect street name). By the same it was extinguished 4 days later, more than four-fifths of London was destroyed. Miraculously, one 16 people died.

Music

Banger of the week

Most important thing

Meme? Nah. Art.