1. BlackRock tells investors to refrain from buying the dip
The market volatility is far from over, and strategists from BlockRock have made a point to alert investors who are thinking of buying the dip to think again. That’s because both equities and bonds are experiencing their year in at least three decades with central banks keeping a firm grip on monetary policies.

“We are braving a new world of heightened macro volatility and higher risk premia for both bonds and equities,” strategists including Wei Li, Vivek Paul and Scott Thiel wrote in a mid-year report by BlackRock Investment Institute, the asset manager’s research arm.

“The Federal Reserve, for one, is likely to choke off the restart of economic activity and only change course when damage emerges.”

“The world’s largest asset manager retains its long-term bullish view on equities, but has gone underweight developed-market stocks in the near term as the risk of stalling growth rises. Investors should bet on credit instead, because valuations have improved and default risk is contained,” the AFR reports.

“Despite the surge in yields, BlackRock remains bearish on government bonds on both a strategic and tactical basis and is underweight long-dated government debt, including US Treasuries.”

2. Elon Musk says Trump should give up 2024 election campaign
Elon Musk has tweeted that former US President Donald Trump should pack it in and “sail into the sunset” as opposed to re-running for President in 2024. Instead, Musk would prefer to see Trump make way for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

In several tweets, Musk alluded to Trump’s age and how he would be 82 at the end of a second term, and “that is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.” He also said there was “too much drama” when Trump was in office. 

3. Afterpay cofounders receive record CEO pay packets
A new record has been made for CEO pay in Australia as the heads of buy now, pay later outfit Afterpay took home $264.2 million in 2021, in a year that saw salaries for top ASX bosses skyrocket.

“The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) on Wednesday published the results of its annual survey of CEO pay for the 2021 financial year, which showed the median realised pay for ASX 100 CEOs rose to $9.15 million in 2021, up from $5.85 million in 2020,” the SMH reports.

“The median realised pay figure was distorted by the Afterpay results. Excluding Afterpay, the average for realised pay was $5.84 million. That is more than 60 times the average full-time earnings of around $90,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.”

4. Regulatory fines sees China tech stocks take a fall
In what market a second consecutive day of declines for the Chinese tech sector, the Hang Seng Tech Index fell as much as 2.8% after tumbling 3.9% on Monday, taking declines from a June peak to 12%. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was among the biggest drags on the gauge, down as much as 6.1%. A regional gauge of tech stocks was down as much as 2.3%. 

Fines related to failing to report past transactions for tech giants “Alibaba as well as Tencent Holdings Ltd. over the weekend have revived worries that a year-long crackdown on private enterprise may still have legs. A fresh virus outbreak in Shanghai is adding to the pressure as traders brace for new restrictions just weeks after the city exited a lockdown,” Bloomberg reports.

5. ASX muted as Wall St positioned lower
ASX futures were down 1 point to 6507 near 6.30am AEST, with the AUD +0.3% to 67.55 US cents.

On Wall St: Dow -0.6% S&P 500 -0.9% Nasdaq -1%.

Tesla -0.5% Apple +0.7% Amazon -2.3% Microsoft -4.1%.

In Europe: Stoxx 50 +0.4% FTSE +0.2% CAC +0.8% DAX +0.6%.

10-year yield: US 2.97% Australia 3.41%.