In what has become as much of an American tradition as the Superbowl, the White House and Congress are currently wrangling about whether they should allow the US government to borrow more money. The US has been operating on an annual deficit for most years since 2001 and now – once again – needs to…
The rand hasn’t had an easy time in 2023, coming under pressure from record levels of load shedding, the Financial Action Task Force grey-listing, and rising interest rates in the rest of the world. But this week has been especially tough for the currency after US Ambassador Reuben Brigety accused the South African government of…
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t new—the technology sector has been working on it for many years and many of us interact with AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots like Siri or Alexa every day. But this year, we’re seeing the potential of AI become real as big tech companies and startups race to position themselves at the…
Listed property, particularly commercial real estate investment trusts (REITS), has not been the same since the start of the pandemic. While some workers have been called back to the office, many organisations are committed to hybrid and remote work as a permanent part of their business models … meaning that demand for commercial property will…
In anticipation that the peak in the rate-hiking cycle should imminently be reached in the US, the S&P 500 continued its positive run this week, with this index now having rebounded by around 7% since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. The March inflation numbers released on Wednesday reinforced the view…
In the wake of the banking crisis earlier this month, together with continued concerns about a recessionary environment, we’ve again seen investors behaving in ways that run contrary to expectations this week. Partly explaining this is the fact that earnings for the S&P 500 constituents remain resilient, according to Bloomberg’s consensus forward earnings forecasts. Despite…
After another week of high drama for the global banking sector, the world seems reasonably safe from a systemic crisis. Swift action from regulators – and even competing banks – in the wake of the crises at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), First Republic Bank, Silvergate, Signature Bank and Credit Suisse has helped to restore market…
When we look back at March 2020, financial markets were gripped by Covid- induced panic. The S&P500 Index dropped by a staggering 34% within 5 weeks, registering one of the steepest and fastest falls on record. Yet by the end of the year, markets had staged a dramatic recovery even though a vaccine was not…
Markets don’t react well to mixed messages and volatility was in play this week amid a range of contradictory signals. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell failed to offer clarity about the future direction for inflation and interest rates. On Wednesday, he both scaled back signals that the Fed might hike interest rates more aggressively and indicated…
