Let’s turn our attention away from listed companies for a day. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeblood of the South African economy and there is much to be concerned about. SMEs contribute 39% of South Africa’s GDP but they are hanging on by a thread. the_ad id=”3223″ Small boats in rough seas If listed companies are struggling to …
View PostYikes. What a day for news. The JSE is a great place, giving investors the option to invest in companies that operate anything from private schools through to restaurants and industrial equipment. Almost any sector you can imagine is represented. Challenging economic times lead to volatility. Companies take action, for better or for worse. The stronger companies flourish and the …
View PostRemember Karate Kid? Well, it had nothing to do with economics or finance, but the famous “wax-on, wax-off” scene always comes to mind for me when people talk about risk-on or risk-off. This concept tries to explain why the South African market moves for reasons that have nothing to do with South Africa. In times of crisis or when investors …
View PostOne of my key investment themes is gaming. I strongly believe that gaming over the next decade will be what smartphones were over the previous decade. People are more connected than ever before. Every day, more and more people get fast internet access. In a world of social distancing, gaming becomes a welcome escape and a source of entertainment. In …
View PostThis question was posed to me last week by a reader and makes perfect sense. Simply put, is it always true that a strong company with a great brand and solid products is also an attractive investment? Immediate logic dictates that the answer must be yes – after all, the world’s most famous companies are almost indestructible, aren’t they? Isn’t …
View PostThe attractiveness of a country to investors and corporates is rarely a simple assessment. For consumer-facing businesses in particular, much of the analysis depends on population demographics and wealth trends. A number of wealthy countries have little or no population growth and slow GDP growth. The absolute level of wealth is attractive for new market entrants, but the trend is …
View PostThe word “trading statement” is typically the intro line to a horror movie on the JSE at the moment. Companies need to release a trading statement when they have reasonable certainty that the results for the upcoming reporting period will differ by at least 20% (up or down) from the prior period. Think of it as either an early celebration …
View PostBack in March, Capitec suffered a price drop so severe that management released a SENS announcement to try and stop the bleeding. They highlighted that earnings growth still looked reasonable and that only 9% of Capitec’s customers have credit from the bank, so it isn’t the high-risk lender that the market sees it as. They also noted that the bank’s …
View PostClose your eyes. Take yourself back a few months. The date is March 26th 2020. The country watches with bated breath as President Ramaphosa announces a landmark step: the country will shut down for three weeks. Just three weeks. That’s all that would be needed to flatten the curve, save lives and fight this together. R2bn in support is announced, …
View PostStock market investing / trading / speculating – all these concepts involve the purchase of shares, but the intentions and strategies vary enormously. The stock market has become appealing to thousands of new investors over the lockdown period. This is great news, because it means more people are recognizing the value of taking control of their financial futures. My worry …
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