In this newsletter, you'll often read disparaging remarks about property investing. We prefer equities because that's what we do here.

Of course, we all need buildings to live in and work from. In my view, it's good to own these properties outright, and to maintain them in tiptop condition. Continuity of tenure is very important, you don't want to be turfed out by a landlord. Aesthetically pleasing spaces are important for one's peace of mind.

Le Corbusier said "a house is a machine for living in." I'm a fan of good architecture. I also like subdued, uncluttered interior design.

I really enjoyed this article by Ralph Weir in Works in Progress. It reviews trends in building design over the last century, with some great pictures. The one shown here is the Apple HQ in California.

There's a lot of criticism in the analyst community that the US market is too focused on the Magnificent 7 stocks. Currently, 34.1% of the market cap of the S&P 500 is made up by Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla. The argument is that this concentration is unhealthy, a sign of a bubble and the result of passive index trackers that don't rebalance their holdings adequately.

I don't buy it. I believe these companies are so influential because they are of the highest quality, they make the most money and they have fantastic prospects. To support my argument, take a look at this statistic from FactSet.

In the first quarter of 2025, the Magnificent 7 stocks posted year-over-year earnings growth of 27.7%, that is 3 times higher than the combined growth of the remaining 497 companies in the index. The proof is always in the earnings.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump have gone from being BFFs to enemies. Musk has been very critical of Trump's pending tax bill, which will add trillions of extra debt to the already large US debt pile.

If I were Musk, I would also be bleak. He gave up months of his life to run DOGE, to reduce US spending, and with one bloated budget proposal, all that work gets undone. Over the last few days, Musk's posts have become increasingly vocal, prompting Trump to respond. Things got personal.

When Musk announced a few weeks ago that he would be leaving DOGE, the Tesla share price jumped higher. Yesterday, in response to Trump's attacks on Musk, the Tesla share price dropped 14%. Just ask Harvard what happens when you are in the Trump administration's crosshairs.

These guys are street fighters, who can find creative ways to get what they want. Musk seems to have done the impossible, uniting those on the far left and far right. The left dumped their Tesla cars when Musk became Trump's right-hand man, and now the right could do the same.

The Tesla share price rocketed higher when Trump won the election last year on the assumption that there would be beneficial relaxation of certain regulations and many juicy government contracts coming the carmaker's way. Some of those gains are still in the share price. There could be more pain ahead for Tesla but we have owned this one for many years and ridden countless up and downs. There was some sort of truce declared late last night but I doubt the bickering is over.

I just wrote a new personal finance piece for Currency, a fresh media outlet doing great work in the financial space. Go check them out and subscribe to their site - here.

There's no shortage of personal finance content out there. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, all packed to the brim with advice on how to budget, invest, pay off debt, and get to that glorious promised land: financial freedom.

But here's what's interesting: once you've crossed the proverbial Rubicon and the passive income covers the bills, the content. . . stops. There's a vacuum. A lot of "how to get there," very little on "what to do once you arrive".

Let's say you've done it. No more anxiety about the next invoice or whether the market's going to give you a headache today. What then?

If you know me, you'll know I won't be found sipping cocktails on a beach or rehearsing for some early-retirement soft-focus ad. That's not how I'm wired. For people like me, financial freedom is not an endpoint. It's a platform. A different starting line.

Because retirement is not an option for me. I love what I do. I love researching companies, having conversations about ideas, spotting patterns in the chaos and, most of all, helping people make better decisions with their money. Why would I give that up?

Sure, I might do it from different locations. (Yes, I will finally cycle the Pyrenees. Yes, I'll have longer lunches.) But I'll still be on earnings calls. Still pitching investment ideas. Still reading footnotes in annual reports because, don't laugh, that's fun for me.

In fact, I believe the conversation surrounding financial freedom needs to evolve. It's not about escape. It's about leverage. The freedom to say "no" to things you hate and "yes" to things you love. The freedom to do work that matters, with people you respect, without needing the pay cheque to survive.

So, what happens after financial freedom? Ideally, more of what lights you up. With less fear. Less noise. And zero obligation to pretend you've "retired".

As Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger once put it: "The secret to a happy life is to work hard at work worth doing."

That doesn't end at a net worth number. In fact, it might just be where the real game begins

The value of art is subjective. Usually, the artist has to die before prices really take off - Marlene Dumas' painting sets new record for living female artist in South Africa.

Kylie Jenner is becoming a real estate investor. The 27-year-old reality TV star and beauty entrepreneur has some nice homes - Kylie Jenner's $80 million property portfolio.

Asian markets traded sideways, with a muted response to the Trump-Xi talks, which failed to offer any fresh optimism. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index edged slightly lower but remains on track for a solid weekly run, up seven of the past eight weeks.

In local company news, the Competition Commission has greenlit the proposed R23 billion acquisition of Barloworld by a management-led consortium and Saudi-based Gulf Falcon Holding. If approved by the Tribunal, the deal would see Barloworld delist from the JSE, as CEO Dominic Sewela and his backers take full control of the industrial group. This deal still needs to win final approval from current shareholders.

The Rand is holding steady at around R17.74 to the US Dollar.

US equity futures are unchanged pre-market. There will be non-farm payroll numbers out in the US today, which will be very interesting.

It's June, which means we are in the second half of the year, making us closer to 2050 than to 2000.

Have a good weekend.