Author Archive
Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
Words from the wise for the week that was (Dec 17 – 23, 2007)
The commentary for this week’s edition of “Words from the Wise” is somewhat abbreviated as I am trying to finish the report a bit earlier in order to join my family at our beach house at Gordon’s Bay (40 minutes from Cape Town) for a few days over the Christmas period.
I will nevertheless still be […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Money, Markets, Investment, Oil, Stocks, Wall Street, US dollar, Sub-prime, Housing, Gold, Currencies, Commodities, Business, Economy, Emerging markets, Finance, Equities, Bonds by Prieur du Plessis
Friday, December 21st, 2007
China and the Arabian Peninsula as market stabilizers
Why are stock markets not tanking against the background of the sub-prime meltdown and an increasing number of “experts” calling for a US recession? One explanation for this seeming anomaly has been offered by George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor. (Stratfor, short for Strategic Forecasting, focuses on analysis and forecasts of geopolitical, economic, security and public […]
6 Comments » - Posted in Oil, Stocks, Sub-prime, US dollar, Money, Markets, China, Economy, Finance, Investment, Business by Prieur du Plessis
Friday, December 21st, 2007
Japanese sub-prime woes
The following humorous sketch ended up in my inbox a few days ago:
“Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on Northern Rock in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.
“In the last seven days, Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans […]
No Comments » - Posted in Markets, Money, Sub-prime, Investment, Humor, Economy, Finance, Business by Prieur du Plessis
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
Is this the end of the stock market party?
I visited a terminally ill friend in hospital yesterday. It was not a pleasant experience as it was quite apparent that the writing was on the wall. But fading away from life does not mean a continuous deterioration - he still perks up from time to time as glimmers of hope lift his mood. After […]
20 Comments » - Posted in Money, Stocks, Wall Street, Markets, Investment, Economy, Equities, Finance, Business by Prieur du Plessis
Sunday, December 16th, 2007
Words from the wise for the week that was (Dec 10 – 16, 2007)
Phew - what a tumultuous week! MarketWatch very aptly described the events as “a central-banking version of the old playground poem ‘Solomon Grundy’.” “Ben Bernanke and company were speculated about on Monday, cut rates on Tuesday, took steps to inject credit-market liquidity on Wednesday, and were scrutinized and debated over on Thursday and Friday.”
Sub-prime […]
3 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
Sunday, December 9th, 2007
Words from the wise for the week that was (Dec 3 – Dec 9, 2007)
I am writing this week’s edition of “Words” from New York as a cold Big Apple readies itself for the Christmas season (and tempts European tourists with dollar bargains). Irrespective of the fact that NYC was supposedly displaced by London as the financial capital of the world, it remains a fascinating hub for the investment […]
4 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
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007
Words from the wise for the week that was (Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2007)
Coming back on the 12-hour flight from London to Cape Town two days ago I did what I thought was undoable – I actually managed to catch eight hours’ sleep, blissfully unaware of the machinations of financial markets for the duration of the flight. The thought crossed my mind whether central bankers were sleeping as […]
12 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
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 […]
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