The GNU
We’ve seen some positive swings locally – both the rand and the JSE are at their best levels in almost a year. Have a look at the rand – it’s been a year since it broke R18 to the USD. The JSE is also at all-time highs. Table: JSE All Share Index I’ve read […]
How to Deal with Risk
How would you feel if your portfolio fell 25%? This is the type of question you get asked when trying to determine your risk tolerance. Would losing 25% of your portfolio be painful? Would you panic and sell out of your portfolio to limit losses? Then you have a low risk tolerance. Would you […]
Wisdom of Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld has a new movie coming out on Netflix, and naturally, has been on an all out media blitz to promote his film. One of these came in the form of a podcast with Neal Brennan. The two are close friends, and Seinfeld was clearly comfortable to share some life advice and […]
Elections: What the Bond Market Says
Wednesday was election day, and I spent a wonderful morning at Buffalo Bay after voting. Our country’s natural beauty is truly a treasure that we should never take for granted. It’s no wonder tourists from around the world spend so much to visit our shores. South Africa isn’t alone in having elections this year. […]
The Impact of Debt
There are a few authors who regularly post articles on practical and investment philosophy that I really enjoy. I often find myself saying, “that’s right in line with what I think.” And at other times, I say, as is the intention of these newsletters “I never thought of it that way.” One of these authors […]
The BRICS and the Future of the Dollar
Several clients have asked about the risk the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) pose to the US dollar. There’s a fear that the USD is losing its grip as the world’s reserve currency, potentially impacting dollar-based investments. It’s true the BRICS nations have discussed reducing reliance on the dollar. Their arguments […]
The Rise of the Intangibles
A P/E ratio or Price to Earnings ratio is just a ratio that gives us a sense of whether a company is expensive or not. It’s not perfect, but it is still a useful data point to compare where we are today compared with the past. With that in mind, the chart below shows […]
Market Recap
It’s been a tough year for the JSE. We are only up 1.1% over the past 4 months. In contrast, the MSCI World Index which represents the market cap weighted developed world markets, is up 8.3% in rand. Our emerging market peers are up 5.4%. We are lagging. Looking back to the last 1 year […]
Solving Inequality
There’s a rule of thumb that says that if you run a company, then 20% of the people do 80% of the productive work, or that 20% of your customers are responsible for 80% of your sales, or that 20% of people are responsible for 80% of the customer service calls. This is the […]
Fed Rate Cuts: Ask Why, not When
The latest consensus regarding when the Fed will begin cutting rates, and consequently when central banks worldwide will follow suit, is the second half of this year. Reflecting on the past year, with inflation steadily declining, the consensus initially suggested rate cuts at the start of this year. However, that anticipation hasn’t materialized. The […]
