Archive for November, 2007

Monthly Archive
Sunday, November 25th, 2007

Words from the wise for the week that was (November 19 – 25, 2007)

This week’s edition of “Words” is again a “high-altitude delivery” as it comes from above the clouds en route from Cape Town to Ljubljana, the romantic capital of Slovenia right in the heart of Central Europe. After three recent aircraft incidents in South Africa (my home country), notwithstanding the fact that none resulted in any […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Markets, Investment, Housing, Money, Oil, Wall Street, US dollar, Stocks, Gold, Finance, Commodities, China, Business, Currencies, Economy, Equities, Emerging markets, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Words from the wise for the week that was (November 12 – 18, 2007)

This week’s article comes from Windhoek and Swakopmund in Namibia where I am on a brief business visit. This desert country is located along the southwestern coast of the African continent and lies north of my home country, South Africa. Namibia is known for its contrasting landscapes – from the Namib dune sea to teak […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Markets, Investment, Housing, Money, Oil, Wall Street, US dollar, Stocks, Gold, Finance, Commodities, China, Business, Currencies, Economy, Equities, Emerging markets, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Monday, November 12th, 2007

The carry trade – is this it?

Market sentiment did an about-turn last week as uncertainty mounted on the back of the credit situation going from bad to worse. The upshot of the deteriorating outlook was a reassessment of risk by market participants as evidenced by a number of measures such as the Volatility Index (VIX) and the CBOE Put/Call Ratio pointing to complacency […]

4 Comments » - Posted in Markets, Investment, Money, Stocks, Wall Street, Finance, Equities, Business, Carry trade, Currencies, Economy, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Sunday, November 11th, 2007

Words from the wise for the week that was (November 5 – 11, 2007)

Sentiment in financial markets took a turn for the worse during the past week. In the words of David Galland (Casey Research – The Room): “The best analogy I can come up with to describe this past week is that it has been like being caught out in a massive thunderstorm. There’s hail (SIVs collapsing) […]

5 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment, Oil, Stocks, Wall Street, US dollar, Housing, Gold, Currencies, Commodities, Business, Economy, Emerging markets, Finance, Equities, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Thursday, November 8th, 2007

Dow’s 361-point decline – the writing is on the wall

It was with a loud bang that the early evening quiet was disturbed yesterday as my son’s rugby ball smashed into the lounge window for the umpteenth time. “Jean, I’ve told you so many times before to go and play elsewhere,” the reprimand came from his mother, almost as if prerecorded. This raises the question: […]

2 Comments » - Posted in Money, Stocks, Wall Street, Markets, Investment, Economy, Equities, Finance, Business by Prieur du Plessis
Monday, November 5th, 2007

Is Bernanke facing a death spiral?

Thomas Hobson ran a thriving carrier and horse rental business in Cambridge, England around the turn of the 17th century. He rented horses mainly to Cambridge University students and was known for not giving his customers a choice as to their mount – it was simply “this or none”, i.e. Hobson’s choice.
Fast-forward to November 2007 […]

10 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Stocks, US dollar, Wall Street, Investment, Gold, Currencies, Business, Economy, Equities, Finance, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Sunday, November 4th, 2007

Words from the wise for the week that was (Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2007)

Volatility – no other word describes the past week’s market action more aptly. On the one hand investors were faced with a deteriorating housing market causing increasingly more subprime-related corporate write-offs, manufacturing growth losing momentum, a surging oil price and a plunging US dollar. But some good news also filtered through in the form of […]

6 Comments » - Posted in Markets, Investment, Money, Oil, Wall Street, Stocks, Housing, Gold, Commodities, Business, Currencies, Economy, Finance, Equities, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Q&A: Mark Mobius on China

Is the Chinese stock market in a bubble, or are the lofty valuations simply a reflection of the country’s superior growth prospects? Who better to ask than Mark Mobius, Franklin Templeton’s roving emerging markets expert. (The interview is courtesy of Franklin Templeton Investments).
Q: Is it time to take profits in the Chinese stock market? Is […]

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