Archive for July 3rd, 2008

Daily Archive
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Buy cheap, sell expensive

By Jeremy Gardiner
The second quarter of 2008 continued along a theme that is becoming all too familiar and is a trend that has now been in place for seven years. Simply put, if you weren’t in commodities, you didn’t make any money. In fact, you probably lost money.
The resources-heavy JSE All Share Index is maintaining […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Round-table Discussion: How to Prevent the Next Bubble

“The financial crisis has shown that markets are bubble-prone and that laissez-faire regulation doesn’t work. The authorities need to get a grip if we are to avoid a mega-bubble. But we may need an even deeper crisis for that to happen.” That is the conclusion of a fascinating round-table discussion just published by Prospect magazine.

1 Comment » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment by Prieur du Plessis
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Explaining the poor performance of the rand

By Kevin Lings
In the first six months of 2008, the rand exchange rate weakened by 12.6% against the dollar. This makes the rand one of the worst-performing currencies in the world for the year to date. In fact, looking at a list of the 22 most important emerging markets in the world (see attached chart), […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Consumer confidence gives the ghost

By Cees Bruggemans
What took four years to build up during 2004-2007 was wiped out in a matter of six months in 1H2008. It is a dubious achievement indeed.
FNB/BER consumer confidence dropped to a level of -6 in 2Q2008 compared to +12 in 1Q2008 and +22 in 4Q2007. That’s a cumulative drop of 28 points.
This […]

No Comments » - Posted in South Africa by Prieur du Plessis
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

Stock Market Performance Round-up: Nowhere to Hide

I have put together a table of global stock markets’ performance over various measurement periods. The numbers speak for themselves and can best be summarized in a single sentence: “Nowhere to hide.”

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