Octagon Financial

Higher for Longer (and possibly even longer…)

After the vast majority of the world’s Central Banks opted to hold interest rates at current levels during the round of September meetings, the long-awaited ‘peak’ was apparently upon us.

Read More

Graviton possesses the formula for a winning team

Ready, set, kick-off! 8 September marked the official start of the much-anticipated 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) in France. Supporters and sports professionals of all backgrounds will be watching for the duration of the tournament to determine whether the preparations made behind the scenes match the performance on the field. All eyes are on the current champions, South Africa’s Springbok…

Read More

Octagon Financial

The super private sector

While it is certainly difficult to absorb this while typing along to the hum of suburban generators in the middle of Stage 6, the resilience of our private sector cannot be understated or underappreciated! And although Eskom are (supposedly) doing their level-best to keep the lights on, it warrants mentioning that it has been the private sector that actually deserve the accolades for us averting…

Read More

August 2023 Economic Review

Globally, the US is continuously looking at ways to tame inflation to achieve the 2% target and has put restrictive monetary and fiscal measures in place, one of them being the need to increase interest rates. Locally, the inflation rate continued slowing to a little below the upper end of the 3-6% target range, but the SA Reserve Bank Governor says there are still some inflation risks to be…

Read More

Monthly Market Highlights – August 2023

SA inflation dropped to a two-year low to 4.7% in July from 5.4% in the previous month. The repo rate was left unchanged at 8.25% at the July Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The Western Cape taxi strike resulted in the economy loosing approximately R5 million in losses.

Read More

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

A common misconception is that machine learning and AI are interchangeable concepts. In fact, machine learning is actually a subset of AI, where a computer develops its own associations or set of processes to solve a problem (termed algorithms), based on data that it is given.

Read More

Behavioural finance and your investments

Behavioural finance is important because understanding financial psychology will help us become more aware of our own cognitive biases and the mistakes we may make as investors. An appreciation of the financial behaviours of other market participants can help us identify opportunities and manage risk.

Read More

July Economic Review

July 2023 Economic Review

Globally, macroeconomic challenges continued during the month of July. These global challenges include Chinese exports dropping to historically low levels, the announcement that the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) was hiking rates by 25 basis points (bps), and the GfK Consumer Confidence Index recorded a drop in consumer confidence in the UK. Locally, interest rates were paused at 8.25%.

Read More

Behavioural finance and your investments

Behavioural finance is important because understanding financial psychology will help us become more aware of our own cognitive biases and the mistakes we may make as investors. An appreciation of the financial behaviours of other market participants can help us identify opportunities and manage risk.

Read More

Interest Rate Hikes: A Chart-Topping Conundrum

Interest hikes have an impact on the currency, but they also impact consumer behaviour. In this article, we look at interest rates from Europe, the UK, the US, and South Africa and conclude with how they impact consumer spending power. The information is depicted through charts to provide a clear picture of the history of rate hikes. We close off by providing a detailed description of how the…

Read More