Financial Mail articles from October 2008

Financial Mail archives from October 2008

Divine right turns to unholy fear.
October 31, 2008... Divine right turns to unholy fear All political parties would like to rule forever, but in a true democracy they do not expect to as a right. In the classic two-horse democracies, like the UK and the US, politicians have learnt from bitter...

Better and not more regulation.
October 31, 2008... Better and not more regulation Twenty-four hour news coverage drip-feeds us a never-ending diet of doom, gloom and despair. Financial media are awash with cliches and tales of bloodbaths, turmoil and the worst depression since the Great one....

CINEMA. Lions in winter.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Peter Wilhelm CINEMA Lions in winter Pairing of veteran actors as seasoned New York cops falls a little flat Righteous Kill Directed by Jon Avnet Lead roles: Robert De Niro Al Pacino Curtis Jackson Carla Gugino John Leguizamo...

DID YOU HEAR?
October 31, 2008... A 54-year-old businessman phones his wife from work and says: Sorry to do this to you, darling, but I am now 54 years old and just feel the need for a bit of excitement in my life. I will be home late tonight as I am taking an 18-year-old...

Freedom to debate.
October 31, 2008... Byline: BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI Freedom to debate The looming split from the ruling party by senior ANC members, even if it achieves nothing else, will at least belatedly help open up the space for some honest and robust discussion of issues...

Experience counts.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Nazmeera Moola Experience counts It's surreal to watch the stock exchange fall day after day while the sun still shines and new buildings continue to go up. I've been on a roadshow in the US in the past week a whirlwind tour of...

Linking up Africa.
October 31, 2008... Byline: TRUDI HARTZENBERG Linking up Africa The establishment of a free trade area (FTA) of East and Southern Africa (stretching from the Cape to Cairo) is recognition of the fact that this economic space has become more integrated in...

SOCCER. Low blow for Germany.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Mark Gleeson SOCCER Low blow for Germany In the land of Teutonic efficiency, a crisis is swirling around the national team that has all the hallmarks of a Third-World affair. It is a delicious irony for us in SA that the...

Another Week.
October 31, 2008... Another Week AT HOME The JSE makes up some of its losses and the rand falls below R11 to the US$. Steel giant ArcelorMittal SA hints in its appeal against a R692m competition fine that it could pull out of SA if prevented from making a...

JSE/BOND EXCHANGE. Rocky courtship.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose JSE/BOND EXCHANGE Rocky courtship Rather like unmarried 40-year-olds at a wedding, the JSE and the Bond Exchange of SA (Besa) have flirted ambivalently for 10 years. Marriage rumours arose every few months, only to be...

Pick this Springbok team.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Phillip Ronbeck Pick this Springbok team Surely the Springboks would be better equipped to win all three of their year-end tour matches against Wales, Scotland and England if they had the following changes in personnel? Props...

Don't blame capitalism.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Frans Verloop Don't blame capitalism Banks, freed from the discipline of risk that the free market imposes, took the opportunity to maximise their profits Nowhere in the world, to my knowledge, has pure, unadulterated capitalism...

Shot across the bow.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Duncan McLeod Shot across the bow For a long time, Neotel maintained it had no intention of starting a price war with Telkom. It now appears that was little more than a ruse to lull the incumbent into a false sense of security....

RESOURCES. Time for a rethink.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matthew Hill RESOURCES Time for a rethink Platinum has lost its spark and gold equities are seen as risky. Coal might be the safest bet Commodities prices have nose-dived in the global economic crisis, dragging mining equities...

MINING INDUSTRY. Shafted.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matthew Hill MINING INDUSTRY Shafted The commodities boom has gone bust overnight. SA mining is under threat, jobs are at stake and the economy is under pressure. Is there light at the end of this dark and gloomy tunnel? WHAT IT...

The conundrum: man or machine.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matthew Hill The conundrum: man or machine Kill jobs or kill people. That's the tough choice facing mining companies in SA. The country's notoriously dangerous narrow-reef gold and platinum mines could make real safety...

MINE SAFETY A new attitude.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matthew Hill MINE SAFETY A new attitude In 1995, Pik Botha, then minerals & energy minister, revealed that one worker was killed for each ton of gold SA produced. If the country produces 220t of gold this year as expected, it...

Writer insulted Nguema.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Agustin Nze Nfumu Writer insulted Nguema When you wrote what you did, you insulted not only President Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, but all Africans. It's a shame to see an African agree with claims that a man like Nguema,...

YOU COULD WIN a prize or cash.
October 31, 2008... YOU COULD WIN a prize or cash by sending news snippets, wit and gossip to Did You Hear? The best two entries each week will win a Protea Hotel weekend in SA for two. Other published entries win R200. Please include your name, address and...

ENTREPRENEUR. Value for money.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matebello Motloung ENTREPRENEUR Value for money Lindani Dhlamini still can't believe that her determination and self-belief have paid off so handsomely. The 35-year-old chartered accountant is the cofounder and CEO of Xabiso...

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS. Labelling cost shock.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Shannon Sherry GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS Labelling cost shock Prices of genetically modified (GM) foods will rise by at least 15% if mandatory GM labelling becomes law. That's the claim by Jocelyn Webster, executive director of...

MINERALS BENEFICIATION. Battling to shine.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sasha Planting MINERALS BENEFICIATION Battling to shine SA produces 14% of the world's gold and 77% of its platinum, yet only a small fraction is converted into jewellery in this country. That fact lies at the heart of the...

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY PRICES. Lies, damn lies, and indices.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Ian Fife RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY PRICES Lies, damn lies, and indices Feast of indices helps more with hunger for publicity than price discovery WHAT IT MEANS SA has five residential property indices We're more confused than ever...

LEGISLATION. Scorpions crushed.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Thebe Mabanga LEGISLATION Scorpions crushed In the end, the rumoured rebellion by ANC MPs did not materialise, allowing the ruling party to bring about the death of the Scorpions 10 months after the resolution to dissolve the...

THE PLACE TO BE OR NOT TO BE. Elementary my dear, what's on?
October 31, 2008... Byline: Thebe Mabanga THE PLACE TO BE OR NOT TO BE Elementary my dear, what's on? Frieda's Where: 15 Bree Street, Cape Town Mood: Eclectic The idea of a coffee shop or restaurant serving as an exhibition space is neither new nor unique,...

GIMME. Digging Digsby.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Duncan McLeod GIMME Digging Digsby For many people, keeping up with the growing array of online social networks and services, from Facebook to Twitter, is daunting. One option is simply to unsubscribe from these services any...

PROFILE. Meet the 'chair man'.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Carol Paton PROFILE Meet the 'chair man' Nhlanhla Nene, head of parliament's finance committee, is the only chairman of a parliamentary committee to have made world headlines: his chair broke during a live television interview...

REAL PEOPLE DOING UNREAL THINGS. Space for one more at Nasa.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sasha Planting REAL PEOPLE DOING UNREAL THINGS Space for one more at Nasa Christo Venter Astrophysicist THEUNREALITYCHECK Part of the team that won the Descartes prize for global contribution to scientific knowledge Excels in...

Whispers around town.
October 31, 2008... Whispers around town Any day now Stanlib, SA's largest unit trust manager, is expected to reallocate many of its international funds from long-term partner Fidelity. Boston-based Fidelity is the world's largest independent asset manager,...

INFRASTRUCTURE. May need reinforcement.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Thebe Mabanga INFRASTRUCTURE May need reinforcement SA may have to turn to institutions such as the World Bank to help fund its R600bn infrastructure programme as funding from international and domestic capital markets becomes...

HOME AFFAIRS. Trouble on the home front.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Prakash Naidoo HOME AFFAIRS Trouble on the home front The long-running political stand-off between parliament's portfolio committee on home affairs and the department now threatens to derail a much-vaunted turn-around strategy,...

MONDI. Setting the standard.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Razina Munshi MONDI Setting the standard The first successful forestry land claim in SA, affecting more than 2000 people, has been settled. It paves the way for a quicker resolution to 739 outstanding forestry claims. Paper...

POVERTY RELIEF. Beyond the cities.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Carol Paton POVERTY RELIEF Beyond the cities A huge expansion of the public works programme and a new focus on rural development are likely, judging by a new government policy document published this week and aimed at combating...

US-SA RELATIONS. Get ready for realpolitik.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jacob Dlamini US-SA RELATIONS Get ready for realpolitik When Jacob Zuma visited the US last week, none of the key political players wanted to be seen in public with him. Sure, the ANC president came as a guest of the US...

FINANCIAL SECTOR. Emerging risk watch.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Razina Munshi FINANCIAL SECTOR Emerging risk watch SA should monitor emerging risks closely, despite a fundamentally sound financial system, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report says. Written before September's bank...

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, Farmers, food, land and fuel.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Shannon Sherry QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Farmers, food, land and fuel As food production and the ownership of land in SA come under intense scrutiny, newly elected Agri SA president Johannes Moller explains to what is required Do you...

REMGRO/JSE. Related-party challenge.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose REMGRO/JSE Related-party challenge WHAT IT MEANS JSE says there were no related-parties issues Activist asks FSB to probe Remgro deal The JSE has hit back at claims that it ignored its own rules by giving Johann Rupert's...

Ad was pornographic.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Mari du Plessis Ad was pornographic It is really a no-brainer that the iBurst advertisement (Money & Investing October 24) is offensive and demeaning and should never have been published, but since you did publish it, you clearly...

101.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Claire Bisseker What does the International Monetary Fund (IMF) do? Among other things, it provides temporary financial assistance to countries to meet immediate foreign exchange financing needs so they can avoid the serious...

Investment of the week.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston Investment of the week Who it's for: Investors looking for an investment that is uncorrelated with the equity market. It has a portfolio of shares selected by Allan Gray's team and uses futures to hedge out the...

RUGBY. Sharks have that little bit extra.
October 31, 2008... Byline: David Williams RUGBY Sharks have that little bit extra The man of the Currie Cup final was undoubtedly Sharks fullback Stefan Terblanche. His steadiness under the high balls that the Bulls rained on him was a decisive factor in...

hottype.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Linda Stafford Followers of her greedy-is-sexy shows on DStv's BBC Entertainment who don't only like to watch but to cook, too will need to buy or be given Nigella Lawson's Nigella Christmas (Random House, R422) long before the...

A YEN FOR VARIETY.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sean O'Toole A YEN FOR VARIETY The following is a guide for those interested in visiting Shikoku: When to go Spring and autumn are the best times to see Japan in full colour. However, it is also the most expensive time to visit....

TRAVEL. The other Japan.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sean O'Toole TRAVEL The other Japan Viewed as an off-the-beaten-track destination by many Japanese, the rural island of Shikoku is a must for the adventurous, writes Sean O'Toole The first-time visitor to Shikoku, the smallest...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Terror in the doghouse.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Justice Malala FOOD FOR THOUGHT Terror in the doghouse JUSTICE MALALA Ghazal 13 The Square, Corner Leeuwkop and Naivasha roads, Sunninghill, Sandton Tel: (011) 807-5828/9 Great Fabulous Good Zizi Kodwa Angie Motshekga That is the...

TRAVEL. No more lost luggage.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Linda Stafford TRAVEL No more lost luggage FIRST LUGGAGE Tel: +44 800 083-5503 Go to: www.firstluggage.com Scary to think that around 40m pieces of luggage are lost by airlines every year. Not surprising, then, that a bright...

MOTORING. Got R30m to spare?
October 31, 2008... Byline: David Furlonger MOTORING Got R30m to spare? Who cares if car sales are down and repossessions up? So what if a new vehicle is the furthest thing from most South Africans' minds? You can still look and dream, can't you? The...

THE FM INTERVIEW. Down-to-earth star.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Michele Alexander THE FM INTERVIEW Down-to-earth star Michele Alexander meets budding rocket man Siyabulela Xuza HOW HE CHILLS Enjoys a good party Is a big Manchester United fan Learning about American baseball Praise singing he...

LIQUOR. Wild about whisky.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Neil Pendock LIQUOR Wild about whisky Like Ol' Man River, the whisky barrel just keeps rollin' along. SA is now the fifth-largest market for Scotch. The FNB Whisky Live Festival, rolling into Cape Town on Guy Fawkes Night...

African food for thought.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Muntonezwi Khanyile African food for thought I have noticed that Justice Malala's Food For Thought column reviews Italian, French and English restaurants only. He never says anything about indigenous African food. My question is:...

SPECIALISED RECRUITMENT. Flexibility in a downturn.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jacqui Pile SPECIALISED RECRUITMENT Flexibility in a downturn Investors hammered by crashing returns in sectors such as commodities and banking are hunting for defensive stocks like Sarah Palin going after moose. Construction...

Small firms feel pain.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Larry Claasen Small firms feel pain "Difficult does not adequately describe the year the residential property sector has been through. And small listed companies exposed to the sector are feeling the pain of high interest rates,...

NEW CLICKS. More success in store.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sasha Planting NEW CLICKS More success in store New Clicks' management team has reached an important milestone in the turnaround of the business: the group's return on equity (ROE) increased from 24,7% to 32,8%, easily above the...

Diamonds & Dogs. Diamond: Value Group; Dog: Sentula Mining.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jamie Carr Diamonds & Dogs Diamond Value Group How strange to think that in the recent past we would earnestly debate the relative merits of value and growth, rather than the present stock selection of white flag raised versus...

HEDGE FUNDS. No port in the storm.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston HEDGE FUNDS No port in the storm Investors who hoped that international hedge funds would provide positive returns throughout this market turmoil have been sorely disappointed. SA investors have been anchor...

MEDIA SHARES. Holding their own.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Matebello Motloung MEDIA SHARES Holding their own Media stocks, long used by analysts and experienced investors as a gauge of the health of an economy, are holding their own in comparison with the shares of their feeder...

PROPERTY. Now the trouble starts.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Ian Fife PROPERTY Now the trouble starts There's been a long silence from the developers of Cape Town's V& A Waterfront, two years after they bought the iconic property from Transnet. With the risk that deep recession could...

SENTULA MINING/SCHARRIG. Sooty fingers.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sasha Planting SENTULA MINING/SCHARRIG Sooty fingers A civil investigation has been launched into the missing R242m at Sentula Mining and files have been handed to the police to aid the criminal investigation. Previous management...

VALUE GROUP. System of improvement.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Larry Claasen VALUE GROUP System of improvement Lessons learnt from a disastrous implementation of a new IT system two years ago laid the basis for the strong figures in Value Group's latest set of half-year results. The...

One-handed economist.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Aslam Ismail One-handed economist Reading Nazmeera Moola's column, Herd mentality (October 24), I fear that we may never discover the one-handed economist in time to prevent total economic global meltdown. I have been aghast at...

Oil in numbers.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Razina Munshi Oil in numbers 85,5m barrels/day (b/d) was 2007's total global oil consumption. 40% was produced by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), a 13-member cartel, in 2007. 8,7m b/d was...

The problem's in the mail.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Clive M Kihn The problem's in the mail Last week I received a glossy pamphlet in my mailbox extolling the virtues of PostBank. Do they really expect us to entrust our money to such an inefficient organisation, where theft and...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Trevor Manual QUOTE OF THE WEEK We need to disabuse people of the notion that we will have a mighty, powerful developmental state capable of planning and creating all manner of employment FINANCE MINISTER TREVOR MANUEL in an...

RAND HEDGES. Look long.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Andrew McNulty RAND HEDGES Look long The rand has crashed but guarding against losses is not easy WHAT IT MEANS Volatile rand-based investments risky Traditional currency hedges no longer safe Wait for markets to settle down......

Lekota is a man of substance.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Andries Botha Lekota is a man of substance Mosiuoa Lekota's political career has had many ups and downs, but there can be little doubt that history will eventually reward him with honourable mention. Eleven years ago, very...

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Still checking on banks.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Sasha Planting WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Still checking on banks Christo Wiese, registrar of banks in SA between 1995 and 2003, retired five years ago, but seems as involved in banking as he ever was. Wiese works for the International...

Economy, Business & Finance.
October 31, 2008... The gold price declined for four straight sessions last week as falling equity markets prompted investors to move funds out of commodities. Furthermore, the precious metal plunged to its lowest level in more than a year as the dollar...

LME platinum price - US$/oz.
October 31, 2008... The price of platinum remained on a downward trajectory last week as rising fears of a global economic recession dampened demand prospects for the metal, used in pollution-control devices for car and truck engines. Platinum has fallen more...

Brent crude US$/barrel. I-NET BRIDGE.
October 31, 2008... The oil price extended its decline throughout last week on heightened fears that a global economic recession would further dampen demand. The US department of energy said US crude consumption had fallen 10% since the start of the year...

Steel consumption 000t - Rand consumption - %imports, - consumption trend.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Razina Munshi Despite the weakness of the rand, brought on by a looming global recession, record domestic steel sales in the third quarter indicate that demand remains robust. Data from the SA Iron & Steel Institute shows that...

Eurozone private sector output - Purchasing managers' index - (Above 50=expansion, below 50=contraction).
October 31, 2008... Byline: Razina Munshi A steep fall in the Eurozone's purchasing managers' index has shown private-sector output falling at the fastest rate since the launch of the euro in 1999. It suggests the region is facing recession-like conditions...

CBOT corn futures - USc/bushel.
October 31, 2008... Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 7,5% last week, marking their fourth weekly decline, as deteriorating global economic conditions threatened to dent demand for food, animal feed and grain-based ethanol. Corn futures for...

Let go. Often misdiagnosed, chronic fatigue is debilitating, but it can be treated.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Jacqui Pile Let go Often misdiagnosed, chronic fatigue is debilitating, but it can be treated WHAT IT MEANS A mixture of antioxidant vitamins and micronutrients has been proven to offer reprieve Stress is a killer. It causes...

Rich fishing grounds.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston INTEREST-BEARING Rich fishing grounds Prescient was one of the first of the entrepreneurial asset managers to treat interest-bearing as a core product, not as an add-on run by part timers. Interest-bearing still...

No front or back office.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston No front or back office Administration is considered to be a core competence of the group WHAT IT MEANS Direct BEE shareholding now 25% Third party admin assets close to R6bn Prescient has an owner-managed...

Systematic alpha.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston EQUITY QUANTS Systematic alpha Prescient's equity process has evolved from its original Quant enhanced index product. This has had a respectable 0,4% annual alpha since January 2001. It also runs Alsi and Swix...

World-class.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston World-class This firm has built a niche for giving clients certainty of investment outcomes WHAT IT MEANS Has gathered R50bn in a decade It is SA's leading quants house It is 10 years since Prescient Investment...

A safety net.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston A safety net Investors who simply cannot afford to lose money used to have to put their money in cash. But cash has proved to be the worst possible hedge against inflation over the long term. Prescient has...

Quite a range of options.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston Quite a range of options Prescient Real Estate, now four years old, runs a property unit trust and a direct property fund. It also invests for its own account in long-term property holdings and related service...

Breaking new ground.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Stephen Cranston Breaking new ground Prescient is by inclination an institutional asset manager. CEO Carey Millerd says it previously had no intention of becoming a mass market distributor. But it has now made its range of...

More than a benchmark.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose More than a benchmark Judging more than just performance, the awards excel in their seventh year WHAT IT MEANS This year teams get recognition A way to measure quality of output When some of the big banks set the levels...

Evolution of the exchange.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose TRANSFORMATION Evolution of the exchange Cliches about 2008 being the year for change have jostled for space in newspaper columns on every subject from Thabo Mbeki's axing as president of the country to the choking New...

Bond derivatives to take off.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose NEW SYSTEM Bond derivatives to take off Henrik Paulsson, senior vice-president of the Swedish-based Nasdaq OMX exchange, is getting used to the SA sun. Over the past 18 months, Paulsson and a squadron of his...

Stepping up.
October 31, 2008... Byline: Rob Rose I-NET BRIDGE Stepping up Anina Morley, MD of I-Net Bridge, says the annual Spire Awards are an important link between her financial products company and the fixed-income market. For the past seven years I-Net Bridge has...