British and Irish Lions Tour heats up and China spooks the markets again.
July 2021 Monthly Comment
British and Irish Lions
Some fun trivia to start this month’s commentary (depending on which side of the pond you were born). The 2nd test played between the British and Irish Lions has the series tied up at one game apiece. The last time that the British and Irish Lions and the Springboks had won one match each and the third match determined the tour outcome was in 1938! In 1955 they had each won one, but then went on to lose one each and draw in the four match series.
Look at this log for a history lesson on South Africa depicted by the flags
The tour is a special event that only comes around every 12 years and offers such rivalry and excitement between the two teams. Although the lack of crowds this year have dampened some of the “gees” surrounding the tour, we remain on tenterhooks to see who will win the final game, and with the series tied it’s sure to be a cracker of a game.
China spooks markets again
July was a crazy month! On the local front we had rioting and insurrection after Zuma went to jail. My view is that looters don’t attack cell phone towers and water treatment plants, and a well organised plan was implemented to destabilize Ramaphosa’s government. I don’t know how it will play out, but I am sure we have not seen the end of factionalism in the ANC. I would like to see some bold moves by our president, and fairly soon. A cabinet reshuffle would be a good start!
We had barely got our breath back after the riots when the Chinese government, aka The Party, wreaked more havoc on our market. The short story is that the online education companies were shut down overnight, and fears spread around the world that no company in the technology sector would be spared. As I watched the share price of Naspers and Prosus collapse on Monday and Tuesday I felt the same. But some sense prevailed, and although the Chinese government acts swiftly and decisively, it seems that they don’t want to stifle innovation, but it does need to be fair to the consumer and not anti competitive in the industry or sector. This isn’t much different to what is happening in the Western world, it’s just that it is a unilateral decision and implemented immediately when the decision is made.
So whether it is the rugby, or local politics or global industry news, we wait on tenterhooks to see what the outcome will be, and what impact the decisions will have on our lives, our investments and our well-being. From the sidelines we all have a comment or an idea on what should be done, and how it should be done, but in reality, we are on the sidelines and there is not much that we can do directly, except keep a level head and stay well diversified in our investment strategy.
The northern hemisphere is half way through their summer. That is important to us on two levels – firstly our spring is on the way!! And secondly, the big fund managers will return to work after their summer holidays and hopefully we will see some direction in our market.
Asset Class Returns
The table below represents a rolling year view of the major asset class returns that we track. It offers a view of the asset classes we use to diversify your portfolio.
July 2021 Monthly Comment
British and Irish Lions
Some fun trivia to start this month’s commentary (depending on which side of the pond you were born). The 2nd test played between the British and Irish Lions has the series tied up at one game apiece. The last time that the British and Irish Lions and the Springboks had won one match each and the third match determined the tour outcome was in 1938! In 1955 they had each won one, but then went on to lose one each and draw in the four match series.
The tour is a special event that only comes around every 12 years and offers such rivalry and excitement between the two teams. Although the lack of crowds this year have dampened some of the “gees” surrounding the tour, we remain on tenterhooks to see who will win the final game, and with the series tied it’s sure to be a cracker of a game.
China spooks markets again
July was a crazy month! On the local front we had rioting and insurrection after Zuma went to jail. My view is that looters don’t attack cell phone towers and water treatment plants, and a well organised plan was implemented to destabilize Ramaphosa’s government. I don’t know how it will play out, but I am sure we have not seen the end of factionalism in the ANC. I would like to see some bold moves by our president, and fairly soon. A cabinet reshuffle would be a good start!
We had barely got our breath back after the riots when the Chinese government, aka The Party, wreaked more havoc on our market. The short story is that the online education companies were shut down overnight, and fears spread around the world that no company in the technology sector would be spared. As I watched the share price of Naspers and Prosus collapse on Monday and Tuesday I felt the same. But some sense prevailed, and although the Chinese government acts swiftly and decisively, it seems that they don’t want to stifle innovation, but it does need to be fair to the consumer and not anti competitive in the industry or sector. This isn’t much different to what is happening in the Western world, it’s just that it is a unilateral decision and implemented immediately when the decision is made.
So whether it is the rugby, or local politics or global industry news, we wait on tenterhooks to see what the outcome will be, and what impact the decisions will have on our lives, our investments and our well-being. From the sidelines we all have a comment or an idea on what should be done, and how it should be done, but in reality, we are on the sidelines and there is not much that we can do directly, except keep a level head and stay well diversified in our investment strategy.
The northern hemisphere is half way through their summer. That is important to us on two levels – firstly our spring is on the way!! And secondly, the big fund managers will return to work after their summer holidays and hopefully we will see some direction in our market.
Asset Class Returns
The table below represents a rolling year view of the major asset class returns that we track. It offers a view of the asset classes we use to diversify your portfolio.