Gyrating markets and the 2-pot system
The markets have been gyrating like a Moroccan belly dancer in the casbah. It feels like we are going in circles but we have to admit that this is not unexpected. Three things are causing this volatility: the unpredictability of the outcome of the US election now that Biden is no longer in the picture; […]
Why consumer confidence matters
On a recent trip to the Goegab Nature Reserve outside Springbok, we were sitting outside around our crackling fire. Through the Namaqualand quiver trees we could see the sun sinking into the horizon while the full moon was rising behind us. Ice clinked in our glasses and the smell of grilling lamb chops filled the […]
Markets are on fire!
If you happened to blink, you would have missed the sharp fall and subsequent spike in equity and bond prices over the past few weeks. It is clear now that the panic caused by the Japanese carry trade on August 5th was a fantastic buying opportunity for those investors who are not fully invested yet. […]
What is more important, the present or the future?
Can you still remember those times when you did something wrong and your mother said, “Go to your room and wait for your father to come home!”. The worst part was the anticipation. You had no idea what was going to happen and it was impossible to not feel anxious. Sometimes you were lucky and […]
Mrs. Watanabe is back
The S&P 500 fell 2.997% on Monday 5 August, the worst day for the US stock market since September 2022 and 12th daily decline >1% this year. The graph shows the history of large down days since 1928 in the USA. It is clear that one-day drawdowns in the equity markets are not uncommon, in […]
Market volatility should be an Olympic sport
Watching the Olympics is exciting , and so can watching the current market volatility be. One of the biggest companies in the world, Nvidia, had the biggest one-day gain in history last week. It went up 12.8% or $330 billion in a single day. Just to put this into context, Naspers is worth $34 billion. […]
Things are changing fast, keep up!
We all saw this coming: Joe Biden stepped down and nominated his vice president, Kamala Harris, to contest the presidential election in November. Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance, a 39-year-old hillbilly, to be his running mate. What effect will this have on your investments? To answer this question we have to understand American politics and […]
The more things change, the more they stay the same
Things have been happening these past few weeks. In Cape town we have seen heavy rains, wind and snow. An assassin’s bullet grazed Donald Trump’s ear and investors have been selling big tech companies in the USA and buying smaller undervalued companies. To top all of this, Microsoft, banks and airports experienced a massive outage […]
Why are my offshore funds underperforming?
If you have been wondering why your offshore equity fund is underperforming the S&P500 index, then consider the following explanation: the S&P500 index represents the 500 largest companies in the USA at any given moment. Currently, three companies are battling it out for the honor of being the largest, with the order changing almost daily […]
What will happen after the election in the USA?
If you have not received a call from Cyril Ramaphosa offering you a cabinet post, then you are one of only a few. It seems he just couldn’t let anyone go, but with this new arranged marriage called the GNU, he had to accommodate his ten wives and offer them a fat ministerial paycheck compliments […]
