Ghost Mail Weekender

Happy Sunday Voornaam,

There was a time in the world where "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going" was a thing. Boeing products did this wonderful thing that is considered quite important for an aeroplane: they worked.
Of course, a cute slogan like that can quickly turn against you when things go horribly wrong. It's very easy to twist that into "If it's Boeing, I ain't going" and really, who can blame you?
Dominique Olivier wrote on the topic earlier this year in this article and things at Boeing haven't improved since then. The share price is diving faster than the recent Singapore Airlines flight that suddenly dropped hundreds of feet, leading to the tragic death of an elderly man and many injuries on board.
The turbulence is everywhere at Boeing, with a clear drop in safety culture leading to immense pressure now being put on the company by airline customers.
The company just can't catch a break in the headlines either, with another recent example being that the launch of Boeing’s first Starliner rocket has been postponed again due to - you guessed it - quality control issues. When the May 6 launch was called off, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were already in their seats aboard the Starliner capsule. A last-minute check by engineers found an issue with a rocket valve and halted the launch indefinitely.
The positive takeaway here is that at least Boeing is now checking things before launching them. This seems to be an improvement.
The Crew Flight Test is a decade in the making - the culmination of Boeing’s efforts to develop a spacecraft worthy of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASA’s commercial program. The launch has been rescheduled for 1 June. Let's hope for a good outcome.
Luckily for Boeing, there's also plenty of political noise in the headlines this year to distract people from just how bad things have gotten. There are many, many countries going to the polls - including South Africa very shortly! To help understand the impact on the markets, Investec recently released a podcast with Chris Holdsworth in which he talks about the election outcomes that matter most to markets.
There was also a useful recent article from Satrix dealing with navigating investments during elections.
When you're ready to step away from planes and elections, there's another topic to thrill, irritate and frighten you: the future according to AI. In her latest article, Dominique has unearthed five stories about AI that make us feel like regulation cannot come soon enough. Read it here.
Enjoy the rest of Ghost Mail Weekender, have a terrific day and perhaps most importantly - get out there and vote this coming week!
The Finance Ghost (follow on X) | Dominique Olivier (connect on LinkedIn)

Hairytale Endings

TL:DR: Indian temples have found a new and highly lucrative revenue stream - selling the shorn hair of their devotees so that western women can have extensions.
Here’s something you probably didn’t equate with Indian temples – their role in the global hair trade.
In many Indian temples, especially the renowned Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, devotees offer their hair as a sign of humility and devotion. This practice, called tonsuring, involves pilgrims having their heads shaved by temple barbers.
In earlier times, the hair was thrown away into the river. But today it is sold to vendors in western countries through online auctions that fetch the temple between $3 to $6 million every year.
Every day, around 20,000 devotees have their heads shaved at the Venkateswara Temple alone, and the temple collects about 500 tons of hair annually. Indian hair is most sought after because the hair is naturally silkier, and most rural women who donate their hair have never used artificial dyes or colours. This so-called “virgin hair” (referring to the untouched nature of the hair, not necessarily the donor) is perfect for creating high-quality wigs and hair extensions.
The process begins with sorting the hair by length and quality. After sorting, the hair is auctioned off to companies that process and export it. These companies clean, untangle and prepare the hair for sale to manufacturers of wigs and extensions. The final products are then sold worldwide, often ending up in high-end salons and boutiques.
The majority of Indian hair is purchased by Great Lengths International, a leading hair extension company headquartered in Italy. Great Lengths provides hair extensions to 60 countries and over 40,000 salons worldwide. At a high-end salon in central London, a full head of Great Lengths extensions costs around £900, or over $1,100, and can last up to six months. Hollywood celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Tyra Banks, Paris Hilton and Beyoncé are among the brand's regular customers.
Consider the stark contrast between the affluent buyers and the impoverished suppliers of this commodity. Many worshippers are unaware that their hair is being used to create hair extensions thousands of miles away. Most don’t even know what hair extensions are.
This trade generates substantial revenue for the temples. The Venkateswara Temple reportedly uses this income to support educational institutions, hospitals and a range of charitable activities that benefit the local community.
So, next time you see a luxurious wig or hair extension, there's a chance it started its journey in an Indian temple, offered by a devotee in a sacred ritual. It’s a remarkable example of how spirituality and commerce can intertwine, creating benefits that ripple out far beyond their origins.
Hair-as-a-Service, anyone?

Short stories v.01: The future is an AI experiment

Dominique's fast facts: Failed inventions

The Parasuit. Franz Reichelt was a tailor by trade, but in the early days of powered human flight, he was inspired to design a suit that could be used as a parachute by pilots. After initial tests using dummies, he was so sure his design would work that in 1912 he decided to test it by jumping from the lower level of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Sadly for Franz, his design failed to work and he fell to his death in a matter of seconds.

New Coke. What do you do when you sell one of the most popular soft drinks on the planet? Change the formula, of course. That’s what the makers of Coca-Cola did back in 1985. After getting flooded with letters from angry customers, the company did a face-palm and announced the return of Coca-Cola “classic.”

Olestra. This food additive promised to transform America’s expanding waistlines, but all it did was send people to the bathroom doubled-over in pain. Side effects of eating Olestra include intense diarrhoea and anal leakage. A less appetising way to lose weight, but probably still effective.

Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water. Some Coors Light drinkers complain that the beer is so light that it tastes like water. Seeing an opportunity, the makers of Coors decided to turn a problem into an asset and sell water minus the beer in 1990. Unsurprisingly, Coors fans were both flummoxed and unimpressed.

Bic for Her. In 2012, Bic released a line of pens that were “designed to fit comfortably in a woman’s hand.” The absurdity of a pen needing to be specially-designed for female writers was met with hilarious backlash on online reviews. As Bic quickly learned, the pen is mightier than the sword when it comes to outraging the buying public.