We are approaching the halfway point of 2019. It has been proven that when you are in a heightened state of awareness, typical of a dangerous situation, time seems to slow down because your senses pick up more signals than when you are relaxed. In financial markets however, time seems to speed up when there is danger around, if we look at the last six months.
Although equity markets are still positive (11% for SA All Share and 15% for the S&P500), it has been no easy ride. With Brexit, trade wars, SA elections, Hong Kong riots, fake news, our rand collapse, the EFF having to pay AfriForum, Bathabile Dlamini resigning – and many more – we have all felt time speed up.
We will do a six-month recap of the financial markets early in July but for now we can say that not having been sucked into things you could not control, has been good for your financial health. Fake news especially is a danger that did not exist twenty years ago. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook allow anybody to say anything about everything. Companies creating fake news to generate more “clicks” on their websites have become multi-million dollar businesses in recent years because they are remunerated by advertising companies based on the number of clicks on their website, Twitter handle or Facebook page.
The truth is out there but it is usually somewhere between the two most extreme views. So if somebody tells you that something is fantastic, seek out the opinion of somebody who says the same thing is terrible, and know that the truth is actually somewhere in between.
