On Fridays I stop writing about markets, and provide personal advice pointers. Mostly these are just tips that I'm hoping to implement myself.

A recurring suggestion over the years: travel more, to overseas destinations. I'm happy to say that on Sunday I'm leaving for a three-week tour of capital cities in the developed parts of Asia.

I'll be with family members and we'll visit Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, and Kyoto. I'm looking forward to learning, running and eating in these world-renowned places, and making memories that will last a lifetime.

Writer Henry Miller said "travel is about stumbling across a new way of looking at things".

I'll be checking in daily, working as necessary, staying up to date with my email correspondence, and continuing my "One Thing" column while on tour.

Earlier this week, Eli Lilly said that their weight-loss drug Zepbound dramatically improved the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea according to two late stage trials. This is very good news for the 20 million Americans who suffer from the condition, and for Eli Lilly shareholders.

Doctors will be very likely to prescribe the Zepbound for those with sleep apnea because of the broad benefits in tackling all obesity-related issues. Apparently, fat deposits in a person's tongue and upper airway tract are one of the main causes of sleep apnea which is why overweight people are most likely to suffer from the condition.

There are so many negative side effects of being overweight. I get the sense that we are going to see a lot more conditions that are treatable by Zepbound. Once the FDA gives the green light for these multiple applications, insurers should be more than happy to cover this wonder drug.

The Eli Lilly share price has done well recently for obvious reasons but we believe that the market does not fully appreciate the amount of money that Eli Lilly will make from selling Zepbound in the years ahead. You should add this share to your portfolio.

On Tuesday, UnitedHealth reported a massive quarterly loss. The large US health insurer and healthcare provider got hacked in February and the costs related to restoring its systems are climbing quickly.

So far, the direct costs have amounted to $872 million, but they could top $1.6 billion once all their software and databases are repaired or replaced. Parts of the company are still only 80% functional, and not expected to be fully back online until next year!

Being hacked is expensive. The numbers mentioned above don't include lost revenue due to customers moving their business to competitors, meaning the true cost of this disaster could be much more than the forecast $1.6 billion.

Suddenly, the millions that CrowdStrike charges large corporations for cybersecurity protection seem very cheap. A healthcare company like UnitedHealth should know that prevention is better than cure. We are happy to be CrowdStrike shareholders.

Rubrik, a cloud and data security startup backed by Microsoft is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO), aiming to raise around $713 million. The plan is to offer 23 million shares at a price range of $28 to $31 each.

Founded in 2013, Rubrik released its first product in 2016 and has since amassed over 6 100 customers, including big names like Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and Citigroup.

Their clientele extends to various sectors, from corporations like Home Depot and PepsiCo to organizations like governments, universities, and even the Denver Broncos.

The Palo Alto, California-based Rubrik reported a net loss of $354 million on revenue of $628 million for the year ending 31 Jan 2024. This marks a slight increase in losses compared to the previous year, where it issued a loss of $278 million on revenue of around $600 million.

It's exciting to see companies like these coming to market.

The world is hooked on Adderall. These pills are for attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy, but are being used by annoying overachievers - Negative side effects.

Yet another use case for GLP-1 weight loss drugs. A surprising increase in fertility - Ozempic-takers have been popping out babies.

Asian markets are down across the board this morning. Benchmarks fell in India, Hong Kong, Japan, mainland China and South Korea.

Locally, PSG Financial Services reported a notable 15% rise in assets under management, reaching R407 billion. They saw net client inflows of R23 billion in their wealth management business, and said they were deploying more capital offshore to take advantage of the 45% allocation introduced in 2022 by the refreshed regulation 28.

US equity futures are edging lower in pre-market trade, but there is still time to turn that around. The Rand has fallen back to R19.28 to the US Dollar.

Brent crude oil prices surged past $90 a barrel briefly, before retracing gains. The uptick followed news of explosions in Iran, Syria, and Iraq. It's not entirely clear if Israel is commencing major strikes against Iran. "Loud noises" were reported in the central city of Isfahan, but Iranian state television noted that nuclear facilities in the city were unaffected.

Today, Procter & Gamble and American Express will announce earnings before the market opens.

Have a great weekend.