Rhyme-as-reason is a cognitive bias where humans are more likely to retain and believe advice phrased as a rhyme. Think of the harmless saying: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Or, in the investment world, the adage: “Sell in May and go away, don’t come back until St Leger’s Day.” After the S&P…
With less than two weeks to go before South Africa goes to the polls, the African National Congress (ANC) is pulling out all the stops to secure an outright majority in Parliament. The ruling party has somehow managed to dispel some of the negativity about corruption, unemployment, slow growth, and load shedding ahead of the…
Over the past two weeks, several large foreign investors have announced plans to abandon or cut back their investments in the South African economy. Oil major, Shell, plans to exit its investment in its South African downstream assets, including its 700 fuel station forecourts, while BNP Paribas plans to exit its South African corporate banking…
Last year, Tesla was riding high as a member of the Magnificent Seven Big Tech stocks that fueled stock market gains throughout the year. This year, the pioneering electric carmaker’s stock price has tumbled 27.6% in the wake of weaker demand for electric vehicles (EVs), making it the weakest performer among the Magnificent Seven. Tesla…
Over the past decade or so, we have seen geopolitical tensions start to flare up again, following the relative stability from the end of the Cold War in 1991 marked by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. More recent landmark events have included the Crimean crisis of 2014 and heightened trade friction between the US…
History abounds with kingmakers – figures who didn’t have the outright power to take the crown for themselves – yet had the clout to determine who would wear it next. With the ANC’s hegemony slipping away, South African politics is likely to create new openings for smaller political parties to pull the strings after the…
Last year, a supergroup called The Magnificent Seven stormed the stock market and accounted for an outsized portion of returns. This year, the band of seven Big Tech stocks— Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla — has broken up. Alphabet, Apple, and Tesla are no longer top of the pops. In fact, Telsa…
Events in Asian currency markets this week illustrate why, in our view, the US dollar remains king of currencies, even with forecasts for the Fed to start cutting interest rates later this year. The Japanese yen slid to a 34-year low at near 152 per dollar, triggering an emergency meeting of Japan’s monetary authorities. Government,…
In recent months, we have spoken about the concentration risks associated with the disproportionate weighting of the Magnificent Seven Big Tech stocks in the S&P 500 index. This week, a mailer from Coronation to its clients highlights how the outperformance of the Magnificent Seven since 2023 has resulted in a “bifurcation” of global equities markets.…
