The Markets Daily

This is the last of our commentaries for 2020. In my almost daily musings this year, I’ve written extensively about anxiety, worry and unease. Forgive me for sounding like the perennial pessimist, but when faced with a devastating one-in-one-hundred-year event, I’m inclined to proceed with care!

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Why am I spewing all these facts at you this morning? Well, it provides the backdrop for today’s commentary which is unsurprisingly centred on the US following last night’s Fed announcement and the impending government shutdown.

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“My fellow South Africans,” four collegial words that in the year 2020 have become more of an omen. I’m sure that interest in the president’s many addresses to the nation has waned as restrictions in the country have eased, but I’m also guessing that yesterday’s speech garnered significant interest.

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It’s safe to assume that most of us have a “match three” Candy Crush type game on our mobile devices, offering a welcome respite when trying to pass the time or if truth be told manage stress. Engrossed by shifting adjacent tiles to reveal matching colours, we often run out of moves.

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Where to possibly begin? Th ere’s never a shortage of news but the ream of overnight market-moving information is startling. That isn’t to say that a new theme has emerged, simply that the arguments underlying the current risk environment have matured.

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Warren Buffet, Buzz Aldrin, Katherine Jackson and now Margaret Keenan – a few of the most well-known nonagenarians. If Margaret’s name is unfamiliar, simply search for the first recipient of the covid-19 vaccine.

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This year has been a lesson in contradictions – showing us how fast things can change, but also how as time passes, so little can change. A year ago, covid-19 was unheard of, but became normal parlance mere months later.

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Brexit talks continue with the sticking points not having changed much over the past few months – fishing waters and the level playing field conditions. Despite intense negotiations, it would seem that not much has changed and thus British Prime Minister

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It’s Monday, but for many the second last of the working year. Cue a long sigh of relief. As covid-related burnout cases increase at pace, specifically among exhausted healthcare workers...

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The first expression that came to mind when I heard of last night’s presidential address was, “mama mia, here we go again!” Perhaps, “uh-oh we’re in trouble” would’ve been more apt amid the rising hospitalisation rates.

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