Returns on the JSE for the past two years have been diabolical. The All Share i ndex is down 4% and if you factor in inflation, your investments are worth about 15% less in real terms since March 2015. A R100,000 investment in the market in 2015 buys as much today as R85,000 did then. If you had put your money into a boring old RSA savings bond you would be seeing a balance today of about R116,000. At times like this investors lose faith in shares and opt for cash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average this week powered through the 21,000 level, just 24 days after it crashed through 20,000 - a level it passed 44 days after breaking 19,000 for the first time. It's a combination of a weaker US dollar and the belief that Trumponomics will somehow lead to growth and long-term stable returns. Sceptics, though, believe the next market bubble will pop. It's just not clear when. The best-performing stock markets of the 20th century were in commodity-rich countries. Markets in Australia, Canada, ...
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