Of all those I’ve met in the money management business, Jan van Niekerk, CEO of RECM, is one of the most thoughtful. So having him on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch is always a treat. Today was no exception. RECM bought platinum stocks in buckets during the early stages of a run that has seen the … Read more
The platinum strike has been in the headlines for many weeks now; its impact on profit catalogued online (http://www.platinumwagenegotiations.co.za/latest-news/2014) and its consequences discussed ad nauseum. However, a point that’s raised in this interview and that is often overlooked in discussions of the strike is what the strike is doing to the platinum market more broadly. … Read more
 Value-style investors are known for picking up stock market gems when the investment herd is unsettled and looking away. It is worth listening to what they say, if you are on the hunt for stock market bargains. Wilhelm Hertzog of Regarding Capital Management, a value-oriented asset management company, shares his views on whether a range … Read more
A case to read Nassim Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness is emphasised in the 2013 performance of the South African stock market’s most valuable counters, the members of Alsi 40.  This was a year when it was far better to be lucky than skilled.  Had you enjoyed the good fortune of spreading your investment rands … Read more
By Alec Hogg There are a handful of globally competitive South African businesses. SAB Miller was the pioneer. It’s being joined by a growing number of others. After a shaky start Old Mutual is getting into that league. Judging by its success with French retailer Conforama, Steinhoff is also graduating into that elite club. Investec, … Read more
Some years back my pal Adrian Morris of EasySoft showed me how to pull performance data from his excellent Market Master stock market software. So I spent part of New Year’s Day at my iMac pulling the JSE’s key numbers for 2013. Yesterday we published the 25 Biggest Losers. Here are shares we all wish … Read more
South Africa seems to be going through the kind of carpet-bagging phase the Southern States of the US experienced after the American Civil War. Any number of snake oil salesmen have been breezing through with wild promises sucked up by gullible locals. Latest in this vein, perhaps, is the astonishing claims surrounding JSE-listed AECI’s apparent … Read more
This week’s UNDICTATED focuses on a very special man, the late Bill Lynch. A humble, undramatic, focused person, he was made in the mould of great business leaders immortalized in Jim Collins’ classic Good To Great. Lynch would make any list of SA’s top five entrepreneurs of the modern era. Indeed, he is the only … Read more
Here, at last, is a rational approach towards the JSE’s “surge” over the past year and a half. As we hear almost daily, the JSE’s All Share Index (ALSI) is trading in record territory. And record highs are uncomfortable places for most sane investors. But how the ALSI got there and what it means cannot … Read more
Stand back Frankie Dettori. Your famous Flying Dismount has a challenger called the Joffe Jump. Performed on Saturday for the first time, its debut was to a global television audience of millions from the winner’s enclosure at Dubai’s Meydan racecourse. This new move is named after its inventor, South African billionaire industrialist Brian Joffe, the … Read more