Risk-on, risk-off

Remember 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 …

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Globetrotting through the JSE

Those of you who watch the markets have probably wondered how on earth the JSE manages to rally on a day when bad news comes out about the South African economy. ???????????????????? ???????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????? ???????????????????????? Most JSE indices (e.g. the “All Share Index”) are market cap weighted. This means that larger companies carry a higher weighting in the index. …

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