Being in the market is better than picking right time to invest
Despite global and local problems forecasts of when to invest are likely to be wrong and it pays to be a proactive investor
“Is now a good time to invest?” is one of the most frequently asked questions in the investment world. While seemingly innocent, this question invariably leads to furious debate, with rafts of evidence put forward by both the “yes” and “no” camps. In the current environment, however, the “no” camp seems to hold greater sway. Only consider the rand’s volatility, an anaemic domestic economy, Eskom’s numerous woes, anxiety regarding expropriation of land without compensation and the 27.1% unemployment rate — and that’s just locally. International investors are also plagued by troubles, including Donald Trump’s trade war, Theresa May’s Brexit woes, slowing economic growth in China, the risk of long-term real interest rates reversing course, and the impacts of the fourth industrial revolution on labour markets. Then there’s the Skyscraper index, which postulates that China’s 117-storey Goldin Finance Tower and Saudi Arabia’s 1km high Jeddah Tower mean a global economic recession is immin...
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