To think, in 2011, Brent Crude was at $120 barrel. And today is barely hanging onto $40.
This was all thanks to the Corona-crisis.
In fact, we are now seeing a resurgence in Europe with new restrictions and lockdowns.
And just look at who's contracted the virus.
• President Donald Trump and the first lady
• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
• Brazil's Jair Bolsnaro
• ... ››› more
The rand has been extremely volatile this year, ranging between R14/USD to over R19/USD. Recently, the currency seems to have found a range between R16.40/USD and R17.20/USD. This stability may be short-lived however as the rest of the year will likely prove turbulent.
Overseas, we have the US election looming in early November. It's set to be one of the most contentious in recent memory. Thou... ››› more
Load shedding has been a headache for us all.
If you hoped it would end thanks to maintenance Eskom did during lockdown - you were disappointed. As our economy has been opening up we've sporadically had load shedding, with a turn very close to the highest amount of reduced supply in SA's history.
It's become clear that the solution to this problem likely won't come from Eskom alone…
... ››› more
The US and global economies may have experienced their single-worst quarter in modern history…
Tech stocks may have been battered again…
But there's a growing optimism in corporate America - especially in tech.
The recent big acquisition announcements in the industry prove this…
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URGENT:
5 Must-Watch Stocks f... ››› more
The next generation of wireless technology — 5G — is already changing the world.
Coronavirus has forced many companies (mine included) to work strictly from home.
And now, some businesses are saying they won't go back to normal office life any time soon and that employees can continue to work remotely for the foreseeable future.
But you can't work efficiently from home without reli... ››› more
On 8 September South Africa's GDP figures for the second quarter of 2020 was released.
Our economy shrank by 51% annualised in the three months between April and June 2020.
This has put us into the longest recession in the past 28 years.
Sectors like mining fell 73.1%, manufacturing fell 74.9% and construction shrank by 76.6%.
This is bad.
But even though it was just released, i... ››› more
You may not know this but two-thirds or 60% of the world's supply of cocoa beans come from West Africa each year.
This includes the Ivory Coast and Ghana (2nd biggest cocoa producer).
Just to put it into perspective, Ghana's cocoa sector employs over 800,000 rural families. It also produces around R33.58 billion in foreign exchange.
This year we've seen a major slump in cocoa prices.
... ››› more
There are hundreds, if not thousands of economic indicators investors like us can look at to gauge how the economy is doing. Employment figures, GDP Growth, CPI, the Trade Balance, these are just a couple of the well-known ones. There are more obscure ones, like the Buttered Popcorn index, the R-word index or the Coupon Redemption index.
But you don't need to know all of these. In fact, there'... ››› more
Can you imagine your world without a smartphone? Or a world without access to Uber, Spotify or Netflix…
Probably not, and yet this device is barely a decade old.
Smartphones have been adopted faster than any technology that's come before it.
In just six years one out of 2 Americans had adopted smartphones. Compared to radio's eight years, VCR's nine years or the internet's 11 years.
... ››› more
The rand is once again in hot water.
In August, we saw the currency drop from R15.00 down to R17.78 for the first time since 21 May 2020.
And this is due to one main factor.
We hit half a million cases of Coronavirus in SA, taking us to the top five infected countries in the world.
It's clear the COVID-19 pandemic still has the power to cause a see-saw in market sentiment.
And... ››› more
Emerging markets and the JSE should continue to grind higher on the back of renewed optimism over stimulus packages from the US.
President Trump has less than 3 months to “ensure” a win. He is pumping further stimulus into the US economy. On Saturday he signed a few executive orders, one of them to defer payroll tax deductions, hinting that they will be scrapped anyway.
The recorded am... ››› more
Interest rates world-wide have been dropped to their lowest levels in history.
The US is currently running a 0% - 0.25% interest rate, and the country is pumping TRILLIONS of dollars into its economy via quantitative easing.
In Europe the same plan is being followed, in fact, there are in fact banks borrowing money from the European Central bank at -1% interest rates. This means banks are g... ››› more
Frankfurt's Dax 30 is definitely the star index of the year…
It started the year at 13,126 moved to a frightening low of 8,158 in March and then recovered to over 13,200 in July.
This means, the German index has gone positive for the year.
And I believe this is going to continue in the next couple of months.
Right now, investors are feeling super optimistic about the index as it i... ››› more
I'm talking about silver…
You see, silver is used in three main industries:
• Jewellery (30% demand) (Bracelets, necklaces, rings, coins etc…)
• Industrial (50% demand) (Electronics, solar panels, 5G tech, silverware & electric vehicles)
• Investment as a form of a safe haven
And now we're seeing more cars on the road, factories opening their doors and investor sentiment is... ››› more
SA's in a recession. The first quarter of 2020 saw a 2% decline in GDP. The SA Reserve Bank expects the second quarter to show a whopping 32.6% decline in GDP.
This is a full blown recession, and to try and cushion the blow we're now seeing the lowest interest rates in SA's history.
The prime interest rate is at a mere 7.25% compared to 10% at the end of 2019. That means a repayment on a R... ››› more
Q. “Hi Timon, I'm still deciding whether I should add crypto-currencies in my portfolio. Can you maybe list a couple reasons why it's important?”
A. I think with the ever changing and challenging economy, more and more people are adapting to new ways to make, invest and preserve money.
Here are my 10 reasons to add crypto-currencies in a portfolio:
• CHEAPER – It is a chea... ››› more
Almost everything sold off big earlier this year. But after that, one US sector was the first to hit new highs again.
And it did so in April.
Since then, this sector's uptrend has been accelerating.
In fact, stocks in this sector continue to shatter old "new high" records almost daily. They've been on an impressive rally - up more than 45% since bottoming in March.
Despite this… ... ››› more
The economy is opening up again following lockdown.
Restaurants and hotels are opening their doors again, so it might sound like a good idea to take a bet on these companies share prices recovering quickly now…
But before you do that, just give me a moment to explain why these sectors, and specifically two stocks in these sectors aren't headed for a recovery yet.
___________________... ››› more
Back in 2018, India outlawed “any service in relation to virtual currencies”. And if you were dabbling in cryptos, you could face prison time.
The original ban was imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which clearly feared crypto would undermine its authority.
Fast-forward to March 2020, and India's Supreme Court overruled the RBI, calling the ban “unconstitutional”.
Sinc... ››› more
Did you know…
The US economy is in the deepest recession in living memory.
Also, the US Federal rate has dropped from 2.25%, taking the borrowing interest rate to 0.25%.
And yet, in the last quarter, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 have baffled the world having the best quarterly rallies since 1998.
In the last three months, each stock market has surged more than 20%.
Now I don... ››› more
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