Which president in waiting has the bigger problems? The one in the US gets to stand in the cold in Washington next week, declare a public holiday and tell his two daughters that they will not be seeing a whole lot of their daddy for at least 4 years. He is going to be really busy doling out money all over the country. Back here on the southern tip the front-running candidate for the top job has run into a spot of legal bother and may also have to tell his children (number in dispute, but a dozen is a fair opening bid) that he could be out of touch for a while if he has to go to prison. Come to think of it neither post should have much attraction for any sensible person. Just about the only incentive for wanting to be on that payroll must be the rapidly growing lines of unemployed people worldwide and the fact that you will not have to bring sandwiches to work for lunch. I guess the opportunity for allowing your constituents to guide your decisions with thoughtful and appropriate tokens of appreciation is also attractive.
Proposing to spend GBP 100m to buy a football player named Kaka will be considered outrageous in some circles. But I rather welcome the news as it provides a useful benchmark in what has become an avalanche of meaningless and massive sums. Firstly note that the buyer of this young man is going to use his own (or rather the shareholders) loot for this purchase. Secondly the proposed deal sets a market level for a pair of feet with a track record of being able to hoof a ball into a net. This contrasts markedly with many of the other schemes where mostly public money, which in many cases has yet to be printed, is being handed out to people who have already demonstrated that they are extraordinarily good at wasting and losing the stuff. You do have to wonder whether the US government guarantee of 2600 Kakas ($400bn) to bail out a bank or two is really value for money. In my view there are quite a few bankers who not only should be eating sandwiches for lunch but would be lucky to get a job making them.
South Africa has been demonstrating its ability to lag the rest of the world in most things when the first of the year’s company reports have included retailers who enjoyed quite reasonable sales growth at Christmas. So far there have been no results which have shocked or scared the markets. Recent dividend declarations have been equal to or greater than last year’s. However, I do think we will in time see bad news which is not expected or discounted in the prices already. That’s fine. That will create opportunities to resume the small buying program that I have suggested people ought to be adopting. I believe that most prices obtained this year will, in three years time, be seen as bargains.
We have also not grasped how to play the shortest of the cricketing codes where division by 20 is the necessary skill. It did take ages to learn the 50 times table. Today’s win was very pleasing. The sky outside is full of small planes practicing tricks. Landing on water is happily not one of them although they will be on hand over the river to welcome the Dusi paddlers when they arrive on Sunday. Other excitement here in the kingdom, is the appearance of a small tree on the crest of a big steel arch to signal that the construction of the soccer stadium has reached its highest point. Sadly the same is probably not true for the national soccer side.
James Greener
16th January 2009
