In the United States, government data last week showed that the annual increase in the consumer price index (CPI) had slowed slightly in August to 8.3%, but that prices continued to rise month on month, increasing by 0.1%.
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That’s what Efficient Wealth does – we turn efficiency into wealth.
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There are many rumours going around again about how bad our economy will perform this year, and possibly in the years to come. Many South Africans blame a variety of aspects for this poor performance. If your political convictions lean to the right in South Africa (SA), you have the more erroneous view that government can do a better job than the market when it comes to allocating scarce resources. Your answer to the current low economic growth environment is, therefore, to nationalise resources.
Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett’s mentor, once described the global stock market as a manic-depressive person whose erratic behaviour changes daily. Let us call this person ‘Mr Market’.
For the past eight months, Mr Market’s mood has been affected by external circumstances, such as negative macro-economic data and geopolitical tensions. But Mr Market’s mood has also been plagued by internal circumstances, such as tighter monetary policy. Unfortunately, the only remedy for Mr Market’s illness, for now, seems to be a dose of certainty, which is not available yet.
Markets in the United States (US) were shocked when Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair, Jerome Powell, gave his annual address at the Central Bank Summit in Jackson Hole. In the past, this event has been used to make important announcements about central bank policy. In the early 2000s, US central bankers used the event to announce that they would start cutting interest rates to support economic activity, which finally led to the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) recently said that it will soon publish the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies in South Africa. Many in the industry, especially those who support the technology, have been anxiously awaiting this legislation for quite some time. Previously, the FSCA was vocal about declaring cryptocurrencies as financial products and this past week the Prudential Authority Division at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) shared a similar sentiment.
Investors breathed a sigh of relief last week after data from the United States (US) Department of Labor showed that US inflation finally eased from its four-decade high. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), an index used to measure the rate of price increases among households, came in lower than analysts expected: It increased 8.5% from a year earlier, cooling off from the 9.1% high that we saw in June.
Millennials and Generation Z are unlikely to remember that, back in 1997, Asia was dealt a significant blow by the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed), who, through their actions, caused the US dollar to appreciate substantially. Halfway around the world it was July 1997 and monsoon season was on its way in Thailand, but that year the country’s currency, the baht, would experience a monsoon of a different kind.
In total, interest rates have increased by 2% during the current hiking cycle in South Africa (SA). In November 2021, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) started the hiking cycle by increasing interest rates by 0.25%. Many South Africans hoped that these types of increases would continue, especially after a similar increase was made by the SARB in January 2022. But since then, these hopes have faded. Last week, the SARB decided to increase interest rates by 0.75%, after not too long ago increasing rates by 0.50%.
