THE GHOST TRAIN
THE FINANCE GHOST: The 2024 game plan
Think global equities and extremely select JSE exposure — unless the government drops NHI, fixes our infrastructure crises and unlocks our growth potential
Before looking ahead to 2024, we need to reflect on 2023 and lessons learnt. Coming into this year, my concern was that a rising interest rate environment would lead to a disappointing year for equities in South Africa and possibly offshore as well. I was half-right, at least.
Locally, the top 40 index is only slightly green for the year, so you got some dividends and not much else. A practically risk-free money market account at a local bank would’ve been better. In the US, the Nasdaq 100 has been dominated by the incredible performance of the “Magnificent Seven” as the evolution of the FAANGs — Facebook (Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (Alphabet) — drove the index 53% higher for the year. The S&P 500 has returned more than 23%, which is still a fantastic result but much lower than the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The S&P 400 is a mid-cap index that is showing a return of 14% this year, so that’s a better indication of how the US market outside the tech giants has performed.....
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