Is there a more emotive topic for the South African middle class than emigration? We are staring down the barrel of the toughest economic times this country has faced since democracy. It makes the 2009 Global Financial Crisis look tame (the numbers don’t lie: real GDP fell -1.5% in 2009 and we are expecting worse than -7% in 2020). When …
View PostThe S&P500 is a stock index. An index is simply a weighted average of a bunch of underlying stocks, allowing investors to track how an overall market is doing. Every index has certain rules for inclusion. The starting point is usually (but not always) a specific stock market (e.g. the JSE) followed by a sorting system (by industry e.g. the …
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 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 …
View PostHumans are a weird bunch. We oscillate between rationality and irrationality. We develop probability theories and then we don’t use them. We do odd things like differentiate between “fun money” and savings, as though there are two types of money in this world. We spend differently depending on where the money came from, even though money is perfectly fungible. We …
View PostIn this edition, we focus on two concepts that are a core part of equity capital markets. It’s complicated to understand how listed companies work and what the benefits are, but with each term you learn and understand, you’re getting closer. Initial Public Offering (IPO) An IPO is a capital raise by a company as part of a new listing. …
View PostIn this edition, we focus on one of the most important terms in finance: liquidity. This isn’t just useful in your investing journey, but is a key part of any personal finance decision like buying cars or houses. We will just scratch the surface of this concept. We also touch on the development board of the JSE: the AltX. the_ad …
View PostWelcome to the next instalment in the jargon-busting series of articles on The Finance Ghost. Let’s jump straight in with one term from each world of investments and financial management: Hedge fund Probably the sexiest term in finance but also one of the least understood, “hedge fund” is synonymous with high-flying investment professionals earning huge money and having movies made …
View PostFinancial jargon can be so frustrating. It’s one thing talking about the basics of investment analysis etc. but as things get more complicated, you just have to know some of the jargon. Here’s some jargon to get you started: Big balance sheet A balance sheet is simply a statement of all assets and liabilities of a company. You have a …
View Post