Forget Predictions – Focus on These Fundamentals
It’s common for people to look for predictions at the start of a new year to guide their investment decisions, but remember shorter-term predictions are often unreliable…
Ian De Lange
13.01.23
It’s common for people to look for predictions at the start of a new year to guide their investment decisions, but remember shorter-term predictions are often unreliable…
Ian De Lange
25.08.23
In last week’s article discussing currency devaluation, I emphasized the importance of considering investments in real assets, including shares in multinational companies, as a safeguard against…
Ian De Lange
09.02.24
This year Microsoft surged to over $3 trillion in value, becoming the largest company among the so-called “Magnificent 7” (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft…
Ian De Lange
20.01.23
Visa is a company that most of us have come across – it’s likely that its logo is on one of your credit cards. However, Visa doesn’t actually extend credit or issue cards. Instead, it makes its money as a digital payment facilitator…
Ian De Lange
31.08.23
After discussing various allocation scenarios, I received an updated report this week on global USD forward looking returns from BCA Research. While it’s a comprehensive 26-page report on long…
Ian De Lange
23.02.24
In the world of personal finance, the concepts of saving and investing are often confused. They each serve a distinct purpose and therefore it is important to clarify each of them from first principles…
Ian De Lange
27.01.23
When the stock market is volatile, patient investors tend to look to companies that consistently pay dividends in order to achieve growth in the long run. One such company is the Lindsell Train Investment Trust (LTIT)…
Ian De Lange
08.09.23
Most diamonds sold at the retail level lack any genuine scarcity. This perception of diamond scarcity was carefully crafted over the last century by De Beers Consolidated Mines…
Ian De Lange
01.03.24
In 1965, Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway when the company was valued at $20 million, with shares trading at around $19. Originally a declining textile manufacturing firm…
Ian De Lange
03.02.23
Last weekend I watched the Netflix documentary, “Madoff: the Monster of Wall Street.” Bernie Madoff was responsible for the world’s largest…
Ian De Lange
23.09.23
It is completely understandable that retired investors in the drawdown phase, “never want to dip into the capital”. This assumes that the income is not only sufficient at the start of the drawdown period…
Ian De Lange
08.03.24
Over the last few weeks, we have seen a range of markets and assets trade at new all-time highs. These new highs often trigger nervousness among investors, yet the adage holds true – bull markets climb a “Wall of Worry…
Ian De Lange
10.02.23
When investing in a company, you are buying into all its future earnings. There is always a level of uncertainty when trying to estimate these earnings, with some industries far more unpredictable than others…
Ian De Lange
29.09.23
A key indicator that we watch on an ongoing basis is the yield, or interest rate, on the US 10-year bond. Just a few years ago, during the depths of the pandemic, this key rate plummeted to a low of around…
Ian De Lange
15.03.24
This week, the U.S. inflation rate for February was released at 3.2%, slightly higher than the market’s expected 3.1%. While this could imply the possibility of higher interest rates for longer, investors in the equity market took it in…
Ian De Lange
17.03.23
SA has been a member of FATF since 2003, and therefore should know exactly what is required from it. However, at the end of February, the global body concluded that SA had not taken sufficient steps…
Ian De Lange
11.10.23
Warren Buffett wisely quoted in his 2018 annual letter to shareholders, “Rational people don’t risk what they have and need for what they don’t have and don’t need.” He mentioned this in the context of…
Ian De Lange
05.04.24
I am spending a few weeks in the United States with my family and always find it intriguing to compare prices across basic grocery items such as eggs, milk, yogurt, beef and fuel…
Ian De Lange
24.03.23
Have you heard about the aftercare facility that charged parents a small fee for picking up their children late? Unfortunately, it had the exact opposite effect as more parents began picking up their children…
Ian De Lange
20.10.23
This maxim encourages individuals to approach a situation or problem by flipping it upside down, examining it from the reverse perspective to enhance clarity of thought and gain deeper insights…
Ian De Lange
12.04.24
This week, Amazon shares traded near their all-time high at around $185 per share. Spending time in the United States, it is apparent how pervasive Amazon is….
Ian De Lange
23.06.23
One of the more notable investors of the 20th century was the late Sir John Templeton. Green had the opportunity to interview Templeton in 1998, when Templeton was 86 years old and actively…
Ian De Lange
27.10.23
7 companies, often referred to as the “magnificent 7” have been pivotal in driving the performance of the US stock market this year, even as some of these gains have faded in recent months. These 7…
Ian De Lange
19.04.24
Two weeks ago, I mentioned several assets that had traded to new price highs, including gold. This asset tends to evoke strong emotions. Even wellknown investor, Warren Buffett has a negative view of it, while economist John Maynard Keynes famously called it a “barbarous metal”…
Ian De Lange
30.06.23
Despite various headlines causing anxiety and affecting investor sentiment, global equity markets in general have surprisingly remained largely resilient and shrugged off the negative news…
Ian De Lange
03.11.23
This week marked the latest US Federal Reserve meeting, where they announced that short term interest rates would remain unchanged. The market places significant emphasis…
Ian De Lange
26.04.24
The United States saw a 4.8% year on year increase in the median existinghome sales price, reaching $393,500 in March 2024. While slightly off the highs of mid 2022, residential prices remain exceptionally robust, making home ownership a…
Ian De Lange
07.07.23
While exchanging your time for money is a worthwhile pursuit, it becomes problematic when the value of money depreciates significantly. Inflation is typically defined as “general increase in prices”, but it…
Ian De Lange
10.11.23
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not new. A defining moment occurred in 1997 when IBM’s Deep Blue computer defeated chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov in a six-game chess match. However, despite this breakthrough, progress…
Ian De Lange
03.05.24
In today’s globally financially leveraged world, the level of interest rates matter. Which is perhaps why there is so much fascination with announcements from central banks, with none bigger than the US Federal Reserve….
Ian De Lange
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