Is there just the slightest discomfort
and doubt starting to seep into the mind of the bulls? The rand looked uneasy
when it was below 10.5 to the USD and is trying to edge back over that level. The
All Share index may have given up trying to reach 49 000 at this stage. Bond
yields are edging upwards. Is it merely the arrival of the first rather cold
days of the year or are the sellers becoming more relaxed about the prices they
will accept? After all, just about every trade at current prices up here will
deliver a useful profit for the seller.
Why does an organisation that enjoys a
total monopoly of its industry and has a proud history stretching back well
into the 19th century believe that it needs to reinvent itself as a
brand. Just how this will generate more business is never explained or tested.
This time the waffle rambled on about accessible and African. Reportedly it
took a year for the design and approval of the new logo which comprises the
three letters by which the organisation has been known for decades. Yes this is
about the JSE. Take a look and see what you think. Does it make you want to
invest? In my time the bourse had a go at renaming itself and launched the idea
with a party where a pair of silver-clad lads on a podium arranged their persons
into some startling poses. It was afterwards explained to the indifferent but
convivial assembly that the tableau was themed around the letter X; standing
for Exchange presumably – very droll. The whole idea was, however, soon
forgotten. But I do hope there was a launch party this time too. Without the
contortionists in lycra.
So the government believes that the
nation desperately needs a ministry of small and medium enterprises. Aside from
the many reasons why this is an extraordinarily poor idea, is the question
about who and how the cut-off between medium and large will be established.
Imagine the embarrassment of being invited to drink at the fountains of
knowledge at the ministry because one’s enterprise shrunk a bit. One outfit that
really ought to know better has hailed the idea because they say “it could help
SA regain its position as Africa’s largest economy from Nigeria.” If that really was a sensible and proper
target there are far better ways to do that by getting the big industries like
the platinum mines back into production.
It would be interesting to hear if those
people who are investing all their efforts, capital and skills into getting and
keeping their enterprises a going concern, would welcome a clueless bureaucrat
with a sheaf of forms swaddled in red tape, arriving for a chat and a cup of
tea. Tell you what. Offer the official a job at the same pay and conditions
that the founder enjoys and watch him or her vanish in a flash.
The
sound of previously fiercely political supporters of democracy promoting spoilt
votes as a method of expressing disappointment and displeasure with the ruling
party is both alarming and amusing. At the last election fewer than half the
registered electors voted for the winning party and yet they received almost
nine million more votes than the party coming second. There were 239 237 spoilt
papers so next month even a massive increase in this number, all deducted from
the winner’s tally, would not affect the overall balance of power. It would of
course deprive the opposition parties of the opportunity to increase their
presence in parliament which is of course the reason for the campaign. How sad
that these one time freedom fighters for democracy now feel threatened by the
democracy of freedom.
Rather predictably the Sharks overwhelmed
the Lions last week and the bar at the bowling club, not altogether convinced
that my conversion to the cause is complete, smirked more than was necessary. I
still think the Lions are making a great comeback and hope to see them do much
better as the season progresses. What a pity the SA contingent fared so badly
at The Masters. Its fun watching South Africans don a different green jacket.
James Greener
Thursday 17th April 2014
