Desert Gold Ventures, Amazon, Volkswagen - Commodities in hot demand, while big tech and Automotive in a nosedive

Desert Gold Ventures - Drilling program in Mali fully financed for 2023

Tech stocks in particular suffered a sharp drop in share prices last year. But one segment is already starting the new year as a winner. The commodities sector is enjoying growing popularity among investors, with gold leading the way.

Canadian exploration company Desert Gold Ventures Inc (ISIN CA25039N4084) is a gold exploration and development company managing the 440 sq km 'SMSZ' project in Africa's western Mali. SMSZ represents an area along the Senegal-Mali shear zone already associated with 6 existing gold mines.The 'SMSZ project contains Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 8.47Mt grading 1.14 g/t gold (totaling 310,300 ounces) and Inferred Mineral Resources of 20.7Mt grading 1.16 g/t gold (totaling 769,200 ounces).

In 2023, the Desert Gold Ventures drilling program will continue, covering approximately 30,000m. Funding for further drilling has been secured through a private placement on December 22. Further details on the strategy are summarized in a report. The SMSZ project in Mali is one of the largest non-producing land areas in West Africa. The project has tremendous development potential, which has recently been confirmed by positive drilling results.

In recent years, Mali has established itself as one of Africa's major gold producers. It is now the third largest producing country eiti.org/countries/mali on the continent and is in the top 10 of the world's gold producers. Mining is now at the forefront as the country's leading industry, accounting for nearly 15% of Mali's gross domestic product (GDP). Mali's mining industry has since enjoyed steady popularity among international investors and so companies like Desert Gold Ventures, given that the country has one of the most profitable deposits with high potential.

Amazon - Share with 50% loss

Shares of Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet each lost 30% to 41% last year, while Amazon (ISIN US0231351067) lost as much as half its market value. By comparison, the Nasdaq fell 33%. Tesla and Facebook also declined, with the electric car maker's share price falling by 2/3 and the social media operator's by over 1/3. Companies like Tesla, Twitter and Amazon each laid off thousands of employees due to the unstable economy. In South Africa, around 10,000 people lost their jobs due to cost-cutting measures. There is also no improvement in sight for the coming months.

While Amazon's cloud business remains the largest and most profitable in the US, its e-commerce business is in shambles. The stock's near-term performance will depend on how well Amazon has done over the holidays, as this pillar of Amazon generates the most revenue during the festive season.

Amazon's e-commerce business underperformed last quarter, posting a USD 412 million loss in North America on revenue of USD 78.8 billion. The international e-commerce business lost USD 2.5 billion on revenue of USD 27.7 billion.

Amazon expanded massively during the peak phase of the Corona pandemic as customers worldwide had more and more goods delivered. But Amazon's expense side is one of the Company's biggest weaknesses. And the easiest place to make cuts is still with employees.

Volkswagen - Will the Wolfsburg-based company manage the electric car turnaround in 2023?

The energy turnaround, the energy crisis and the threat of stagflation are causing the German automaker Volkswagen (ISIN DE0007664005) a lot of trouble, and the Group is thus following a trend. According to Reuters, there is no longer a German group among the top 100 on the world's stock exchanges. US stocks dominate the rankings. Thanks to the IPO of Porsche AG, with a market value of around USD 92 billion, the Volkswagen Group at least makes it to 145th place as the best-placed newcomer worldwide. Porsche has thus rapidly overtaken its parent company Volkswagen. The latter has lost around 44% of its stock market value since the end of 2021.

"Given the still considerable importance of German companies for the global economy, Germany is clearly underrepresented on the world's stock exchanges," says EY Germany head Henrik Ahlers. "What counts on the stock markets is not past successes, but future prospects. We are experiencing fundamental upheavals - with the rules currently being made by American and Asian IT groups." The impression is created that Europe is only watching from the sidelines.

The slowness of a global player may now be Volkswagen's undoing. While competitors such as BYD and Tesla already have their own battery plants in production, the Company is currently restructuring in procurement.

CEO Oliver Blume comments: "For a global company like Volkswagen, maintaining robust supply chains is crucial to our success." Investors should carefully consider betting on a quantity-mass car like the electronically powered Golf ID.3 or the luxury sports car Porsche, with their shares.

The new stock market year is off to a flying start for commodities. Desert Gold Ventures, an exploration company with drilling in Mali, is one way to participate in the gold rush on the stock exchange. The Company continues its drilling program this year. Its SMSZ project in Mali includes a property which is already surrounded by active gold mines. So it stands to reason that drill results will be promising. Big tech like Amazon seems to be reinventing itself right now. It remains to be seen with excitement how the last Christmas business went for the group. Volkswagen in Germany is also in the process of restructuring and reorganizing its procurement sources. It remains to be seen whether this is still within the timeframe of a profit-oriented new financial year, given the competition from the US and China.