July « 2008 « Investment Postcards from Cape Town

Jeremy Grantham: Meltdown – “I’m officially scared!”

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 31st, 2008 posted in: Investment, Markets, Money

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This post deals with a rather sceptical outlook.The bearer of the bad tidings is well-respected money manager Jeremy Grantham who has just published the July edition of his quarterly newsletter entitled “Meltdown! The Global Competence Crisis”. In terms of strategy, Grantham summarizes his view in what he believes should be investors’ motto: “Don’t be brave, run away. Live to fight another day.” [...]

SA credit growth remains high

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 30th, 2008 posted in: South Africa

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By Kevin Lings

In June 2008, SA growth in broad money supply (M3) was recorded at 20.28% y/y, down fractionally from 20.9% y/y in May. The market was expecting growth of 20.14% y/y. In June, claims on the private sector rose by a substantial R38.2bn. Overall, M3 growth remains high, although there [...]

Time To Be Optimistc, Says Pring

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 29th, 2008 posted in: Investment, Markets, Money

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When I first started working in investments in 1984, a standard item on my reading list was Martin Pring’s InterMarket Review, which served an extremely useful function with its prescient analysis. Almost 25 years later, I’m still paying close attention to Martin’s views, especially when he argues a bullish case for equities – a scenario not often heard of in these difficult times. [...]

Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (July 21 – 27, 2008)

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 27th, 2008 posted in: Investment, Markets, Money

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Financial markets witnessed another roller-coaster week as renewed concerns about the global economy and the health of the financial sector surfaced, resulting in a mixed week for world stock and bond markets, an improved US dollar and continued weakness in oil and commodities. Read all about this in my weekly review, highlighting some thought-provoking news items and quotes from market commentators during the past week. [...]

Stock Market Returns – The Wonder of Compounding

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 25th, 2008 posted in: Investment, Markets, Money

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Albert Einstein described compound growth as the eighth wonder of the world. Although he may have passed away in 1955, the concept of compounding remains the single most important principle governing investment. This post provides the empirical evidence. [...]

Anyone for a 100 billion dollars?

By Prieur du Plessis, on July 25th, 2008 posted in: Currencies, Markets, Money

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Full marks for eBay entrepreneurs for stepping in where forex traders have lost count of the zeros being added to the Zim dollar every few days. How about paying US$83 for the new Z$100 billion bank note! Although the novelty value of the Zim note is surging, the sad truth is that the note is not worth enough to buy a loaf of bread. [...]