Tag: financial markets

In the wake of the widespread adoption of revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, the realm of AI has rapidly advanced and filtered through to various industries. From healthcare to marketing, AI’s impact is undeniable.

The South African Rand has endured considerable volatility recently, attributed to a myriad of global factors including commodity price fluctuations, financial market risk perceptions, and local political uncertainty. Amid this turbulence, South African individuals and businesses engaged in trade and investment have encountered both challenges and opportunities.

Nobody is more concerned about your financial future than you are, so why not learn how to look after it yourself? Investing for the long term is extremely important for anyone who wants to be financially self-sufficient as they grow older.

This year has been nothing, if not eventful. We started 2022 with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, declaring war on Ukraine. This event then triggered an energy crisis and has driven inflation, in major economies, to unprecedented levels, along with interest rates. And now, as the year draws to a close, COVID-19 has snuck in again to dominate headlines.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) officially declared crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. This is a big step forward towards avoiding South Africa’s infamous decline into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

Central banks around the world are hiking interest rates to battle rising inflation. Recessions are now expected in the US, UK and Europe in the next year. Interest rates around the world are rising at an alarming pace, as central banks admit that inflation is becoming more ingrained, rather than just a series of transient shocks.

The COVID-19 pandemic shocked the world and left many scrounging for hand sanitiser and toilet paper as shopping aisles stood empty. Similar havoc was wreaked on financial markets as investors abandoned their long-term goals for the immediate emotional comfort on offer by moving either out of financial markets completely or into comparatively ‘safer’ assets.

The JSE has issued a consultation paper proposing changes to the Listings Regulations to cut red tape and achieve an effective, fit-for-purpose set of regulations for financial markets.

The Covid-19 crisis has brought much of the world economy to a sudden stop. Millions upon millions of people are in lockdown across the world, preventing them from working, buying, producing and selling goods and services. Global and local supply chains are interrupted, and small and large companies see a collapse in income. Households are under similar pressure.

It seems to be standard practice that every year, financially savvy investment guru’s give us their take on what they think the investment landscape for the year will yield.