2008 March » Investment Postcards from Cape Town

Archive for March, 2008

Monthly Archive

Monday, March 31st, 2008

Food for car

Source: Energy Farms Network
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No Comments » - Posted in Humor by Prieur du Plessis

Monday, March 31st, 2008

It Looks Like a Rather Blustery Year

By Shaun le Roux
Hum for a Blustery Day - Winnie the Pooh
Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum
Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it’s rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis

Monday, March 31st, 2008

It’s better than we think

Foreign observers more optimistic than people at home, writes Rowan Philp for the Sunday Times, Business Times (South Africa).
Jane’s Information Group, the prestigious defence industry analyst, ranked SA alongside fast-growing economies like Ukraine and Vietnam in its inaugural “Country Risk Ratings”, which analysed 232 countries and territories.
The report echoes a series of recent international reports […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (March 24 – 30, 2008)

“This is one ‘mother’ of a market,” 83-year old market veteran Richard Russell aptly described what market participants were again faced with during the past week. Sentiment was fragile as the outlook was still dominated by the familiar cast of deteriorating economic data, housing woes and concerns about the financial sector. Read all about this in my regular weekly blog post, highlighting some thought-provoking news items and quotes from market commentators during the past week, and briefly reviewing the week’s market action.

3 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment by Prieur du Plessis

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Picture du Jour: US Long Bonds in Injury Time

What is the outlook for US bonds, especially as yields have edged up since their recent lows? Considering both technical and fundamental factors, I conclude that continued base formation is likely, but that long-dated bond prices could be hit hard once yields adjust to more realistic levels. Be careful – we’re in injury time.

10 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Global stock markets – Index movements since highs (Part 2)

I posted a scorecard for a number of global stock markets a week ago, showing the index movements since each of the respective market’s highs. This short post provides an update, but this time also showing returns in US dollar and euro rather than only in local currency terms. The bottom line: In times of crisis, correlations between stock markets increase and there is nowhere to hide.

2 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment by Prieur du Plessis

Friday, March 28th, 2008

Shine On You Crazy Dimon

Paul Kedrosky not only writes the top Infectious Greed blog, but he has also turned out to be no slouch as far as penning lyrics is concerned. Using Pink Floyd’s “Shine on Crazy Diamond” as base, here is his rewritten version of the criticisms and complaints JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon is getting for the Bear […]

No Comments » - Posted in Humor by Prieur du Plessis

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

The Night They Drove Old Bear Down – An Annotated Tribute

This is a very funny rewrite of an old song by The Band, capturing some of the “subtleties” of the Bear Stearns saga.
Jimmy Cayne is the name and I served on the Gravy train
’Til Dimon’s cavalry came and blew out Joe Lewis again
Hank Paulson was on the phone, we were just barely alive
March 16 was […]

No Comments » - Posted in Humor by Prieur du Plessis

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

SA inflation approaching turning point

By Kevin Lings
In February 2008 headline CPI inflation rose by a modest 0.3% m/m, with the annual rate rising to 9.8% y/y from 9.3% y/y in January. This was in line with market expectations. CPIX inflation rose by 0.4% m/m in February, with the annual rate increasing to 9.4% y/y, from 8.8% y/y in January. […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

Flowchart tool to help bankers cope with crisis

A flowchart tool to help bankers cope with the credit crisis, and to bring a smile to your face in the otherwise dour circumstances of the subprime saga.