Archive for March 25th, 2010

Good news, like the milk of human kindness, is sloshing up against our back teeth. Greek problems are apparently waning, US jobless claims are better than expected, and money is cheaper in South Africa. Good news all round, but can it last? Or is this a tequila shot?… »

The reserve bank has pulled a rabbit out of the hat and the audience loves it. Interest rates have fallen by half a percent, and the markets love it as well. A leading local economist reviews the decision with scarcely disguised… »

Not everyone agrees with Thursday’s interest rate cut. Yes it helped the market, and yes those of us in debt are to be relieved of some of our burden. But wasit a narrow minded short termist knee jerk reaction? We discuss this view with Dawie Roodt of The Efficient… »

South African bonds rallied several basis points on Thursday after the SARB’s Monetary Policy Committee announced a 50 basis point cut in the repo rate to 6.5%.
By 15:11 the short-term government R154 bond was bid at 6.995% from 7.090% earlier and Wednesday’s close of 7.065% and the medium-term R157… »

The South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday decided to reduce the repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.5%.
The consensus expectation in the marketplace had been for an unchanged repo rate, with only two of the 11 economists polled by I-Net Bridge expecting a cut… »

The Old Mutual Retirement Fund Survey 2010, one of the largest surveys into the local retirement fund industry, reveals that the volatility in equity markets over the last eighteen months has resulted in many retirement funds changing or reassessing their investment strategies.
Overall, 32% of retirement funds surveyed said their investment… »

Producer inflation rose in February, data released Thursday shows, and economists believe this trend will continue for the rest of the year.
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) registered growth of +3.5% year-on-year (y/y) in February from +2.7% y/y in January, Statistics South Africa said. The PPI increased 0.4% on a… »

PARIS — With Greece facing a looming deadline to roll over $27 billion in debt, the countries of the euro zone are arguing nastily among themselves about whether and how to toss Greece to the tender mercies of the International Monetary Fund…. »

Sovereign debt jitters hit global markets, sending the dollar skyrocketing against the euro, Treasury prices sharply lower, and stocks into retreat.

Much of the action was in the currency and bond markets, where worries about the debt crisis in Europe coupled with concerns about the ballooning supply of Treasurys. That spilled over into stocks, which had… »