Ed Stoddard

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Ed Stoddard

Caught in the crosshairs of a turbulent stage of history, the rand is a duck that is both sitting and sinking. The rand is currently a sitting duck with a double-barrel shotgun aimed at it from point-blank range. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are loaded in one barrel, and the government of national unity’s (GNU) collapse is the shell in the other. And this duck has been sinking as a result.

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Ed Stoddard

The market carnage unleashed by Trump's barrage of tariffs last week extended into ‘Orange Monday’. After tanking at the opening bell, the JSE went on a wild ride and by the closing bell little was changed on the day. But the rand remained in free fall. South African markets started the week where they left off on Friday: in utter turmoil as US President Donald Trump’s ill-conceived tariffs and concerns about the Government of National Unity (GNU) combined to shock local investors to their core.

2 weeks ago | foodformzansi.co.za | Ed Stoddard

The South African Weather Service has maintained its view that the southwest of the country will have a relatively dry autumn and winter during that region’s rainy season, a forecast with serious implications for winter crops and water security. By contrast, the southern and eastern coastal regions of South Africa are expected to have an exceptionally wet winter, a state of affairs that could heap more misery on areas that have been experiencing severe floods.

3 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Ed Stoddard

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM While short-term turbulence is seen at a time when platinum group metals prices are generally depressed, the fundamentals — in the view of the industry — remain in place for a long-term rally. Platinum group metals (PGMs) face headwinds galore with US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs throwing a massive new spanner of uncertainty into the works.

3 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Ed Stoddard

MARKET WOBBLE If the GNU unravels - primarily because of the fracas over the VAT hikes in the budget - South Africa's political risk profile for investors will take a dramatic U-turn for the worse at a time when the country is on US President Trump's radar screen in a very worrying way.