Enjoy it while it lasts Keen for a fun fact? Taking inflation into account, the United States Federal Reserve (The FED) has spent more money in the form of economic stimulus to recover from the global COVID-19 pandemic than it had spent on both world wars combined! As the rate of the global vaccine rollout…

The economic cycle is defined as the fluctuations of the economy between periods of expansion and contraction (recession). The most commonly used economic indicator to determine the current stage of the economic cycle is a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). There are other key economic indicators such as interest rates, unemployment and consumer spending to…

SOUTH AFRICA – Economic Outlook South Africa’s GDP has grown by 4.6% during the first quarter of 2021 on an annualised basis. Further, the accommodative monetary stance from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), in the form of record low interest rates should aid further economic recovery as the ZAR continues to remain relatively strong…

MOTUS HOLDINGS LTD Business Profile Motus Holdings Ltd. (South Africa) is a holding company, which through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of motor vehicle services. It operates through the following segments: Import and Distribution, Retail and Rental, Motor-Related Financial Services, and Aftermarket Parts. The Import and Distribution segment includes the sale of imported of…

In Latin America, remittance payments (in other words, those who emigrated for work, send money, that was earned in the US or other countries, back home to their families in Latin American countries) account for nearly 20 – 25% of GDP. If there is one thing that most Latin American countries have in common, it…

State-owned enterprises (public entities) are meant to be independent bodies partially or fully owned by government. By textbook definition, using public authorities rather than full privatization is seen as taking advantage of private-sector efficiencies and maintaining public accountability. Forget about corruption, blame the system rather than the government Let’s look at an example: You receive…

Terminology embedded within the investment industry usually tends to scare many people off. Or maybe a Steinhoff scenario, leading to the fear of losing everything. Wealth creation is not the most difficult things to do, but to spend the time with it is what makes it difficult. How about this, if those who lost all…

There are numerous diversification methods that can be applied to reduce the overall risk of your portfolio. In this week’s blog post we will look at the benefits of offshore exposure and how you can reduce your portfolio’s exposure to the volatile South African Rand (ZAR). The Rand has been fading away for nearly two…

Still don’t have exposure to ETFs in your investment portfolio? Times are changing fast and so should you. From lower fees, broader range of investment opportunities and the fact that you can gain offshore exposure through domestically listed securities, why would one not want to make use of ETFs. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) ETFs trade…

LEWIS GROUP LTD (LEW:JSE) Business Profile Lewis Group Ltd. engages in the retail of household furniture and electrical appliances through its trading brands: Lewis, Bears, and Best Home and Electric. It operates through the following segments: Lewis, Best Home and Electric, Bears, UFO, and Group. The Lewis segment sells a range of household furniture, electrical…

The grant of exchange licenses is an attempt by the FSCA, following an amendment to the Financial Markets Act, to create more competition in the stock exchange space in South Africa. Additional competition in a market where one exchange has the monopoly will inevitably benefit the consumer. Competition drives down costs and increases liquidity within…