Since last year, emerging currencies have been falling.
Scrap that… CRASHING…
We aren't sure why exactly, but I think it's all down to what is happening with the US.
You see, the FED is expecting to raise their interest rates this year.
This will help dampen the inflation rate.
As this is good for the GDP and the economy, it will lead to US dollar strength and weakness among o... ››› more
If you haven't seen it yet, Eskom is asking Nersa for a 20.5% tariff increase for 2023.
What's more - it plans on charging us both a fixed charge, as well as a variable charge.
According to a Moneyweb interview the tariffs we're staring in the face could be huge.
“For example, in the city of Cape Town, which is currently 272.4 cents per kilowatt hour, or R2.72.4 per kilowatt hour, that ... ››› more
Q. ”This year I joined Timon's trader service. I must say I'm loving the simplicity of the emails and the high number of profits so far. In one of the recent emails, it said that you had banked a certain percentage on a trade. Please clarify a formula to calculate the gain and loss percentage in a trade?”
A. Thank you for the question Happiness and glad to have you on board.
Le... ››› more
I'm sure you've heard, with a great deal of fanfare from the COP26 conference, that the US, UK, Germany, France and the EU have secured a deal to provide South Africa with R130 billion in climate finance to build more renewable energy - and replace aging Eskom plants.
A recent Moneyweb article - interviewing RMB CEO James Formby - indicates this could branch out to become a R500 billion inject... ››› more
Coal is the dirty stepchild in the mining sector. And boy is it unpopular at the moment.
Coal miners report that it's getting more and more difficult to get finance for new projects.
After hitting a low of $56 a tonne in April 2020, the coal price has soared. Coal now sells for double what it did in 2020 - with the latest Richards Bay Coal Terminal pricing coming in around $112.92 a ton wi... ››› more
It's a year since 2020's hard lockdown ended.
We're back in level 4 today.
But life has changed a lot. We've adapted to the pandemic and its effects on our lives and businesses.
So, what's the state of the South African economy today, and how does it affect your investments?
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How to Grow a Multi-Million Rand Retirement
... ››› more
The rand rallied to the highest level in more than two years against the US dollar.
But did you know, the rand is also the world's best performing currency in 2021?
The chart below shows how other currencies have performed…
And the Rand?
Well,
it’s gained over 30% against the US Dollar.
Bravo!
But this shouldn’t... ››› more
On 20 May 2021 the SA Reserve Bank had its bimonthly monetary policy meeting.
The bank kept interest rates flat - at what is basically an all-time low for South Africans…
In its announcement the bank governor, Lestja Kganyago said “Economic and financial conditions are expected to remain volatile for the foreseeable future. In this uncertain environment, policy decisions will continue ... ››› more
By now I'm sure you've noticed commodity prices are booming!
Fifty-three out of 63 commodities monitored by the World Bank were up in price in December 2020 compared with the same month a year earlier.
Copper, Palladium, Rhodium and many other metals are at all time highs. Even agricultural commodities like soy, maize and sunflower are climbing.
I don't expect this to continue forever.... ››› more
Ronald Reagan once said it is “as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hitman.”
Margaret Thatcher said “inflation is the parent of unemployment and the unseen robber of those who have saved.”
The SA Reserve Bank didn't increase interest rates - as it expects inflation to stay in check. Most investors are simply ignoring the threat of inflation,... ››› 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
For more than a decade now, we've been hearing about the renewable energy trend.
South Africa has had three rounds of tendering and construction builds for both solar and wind energy plants- but due to political reasons the fourth round of builds was stopped five years ago…
Then two years ago the renewable energy programme was restarted, and by end 2019 around 8% of all of South Africa's... ››› more
Eskom recently submitted documents to the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) stating that it could possibly keep its Grootvlei, Camden and Hendrina power stations open as late as 2030. These are all power stations at the end of their lives, that would have been shut in part starting this year!
Eskom is doing this to keep extra capacity in the grid, and avoid load shedding.
But here's t... ››› more
In the last few weeks, we've finally seen good news come out for South Africa.
I don't want to go into too much detail, but I'll highlight a few of the main points including:
• More businesses and economic activity has started to resume since moving from Level-5 of the lockdown down to Level-4.
• The government has told South Africa that there will be no more load-shedding from Es... ››› more
On 24 February 2020, I sent out an article:
Coronavirus + Eskom + Moody's + Chart = Rand disaster
At the time the South African rand was trading at R14.20.
I predicted that the USD/ZAR would move to the first target at R16.00 within a couple of weeks…
This was due to the following factors at the time…
• The Coronavirus was declared by the WHO as a global health emergency. ... ››› more
Speak to any financial advisor with half a brain and he'll tell you to go offshore.
Sure, South Africa may one day reclaim our early 2000 title of “investment darling of the emerging markets”, but it's not going to happen any time soon.
Our problems are simply too big. There's is no quick fix to Eskom, our ever-increasing sovereign debt or our 29% unemployment rate. So yes, that means ... ››› more
It's been a terrible start for the rand.
Last week we saw it hit R15.00, dropping it down over 6.07% for the year.
According to Bloomberg, the rand was the second-worst performing currency out of the 24 emerging-market currencies world-wide.
And it looks like this is only the beginning.
In today's article we'll discuss the four reasons why I expect the rand to plunge to R1... ››› more
If Cyril Ramamphosa's recent announcement at Business Unity SA's second annual Business Economic Indaba is for real, you, me and every other investor and business owner could be thanking him!
After all analysts estimate Eskom has cost our economy R338 billion since 2007.
And while Eskom's power problems appear to have no end in sight, this announcement by Ramaphosa could greenlight a great... ››› more
Most people have notoriously bad memories.
Less than a month ago, the entire country was going through one of the most serious bouts of load shedding we have ever had.
Remember stage 6!!!
Yet after just a few weeks of consistent power supply, many have forgotten what it felt like and that it can return any day now!
Let's recap what happened in December.
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Electricity is fundamental to the way we live our lives. You simply can't live without it. Just consider the disastrous effect of load shedding this past week.
Roads in chaos, stockpiles of food rotting in refrigerators and many downstream services just grinding to a halt.
And yet, if you look at the big picture… And, I'm talking the development of mankind “big picture”, we've only h... ››› more
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