Within a month the rand has slumped from 8 rand to the dollar to above the 11 rand to the dollar mark – it has been flirting with the 12 rand to the dollar mark by dropping to 11.80 to the dollar etc. American policies to save the economy have strengthened the dollar significantly – weakening other global currencies against it.
Brigid Taylor – Currency Specialist from Rand Merchant Bank has more
Should the government be giving grants in order to alleviate poverty or open up the economy by spending where more jobs can be generated? Find out from a debate held on Summit TV, Chris Hart from Investment Solutions and Parsons from Business Unity South Africa (Busa) – two of South Africa’s best economists – give us their views -
South Africa is in a bit of a jam. It is the worst global economic crisis and the rand is weakening fast against the dollar and while falling fuel costs may be a plus – the weak rand doesn’t make us feel the benefits much. Then commodities, which are SA’s strength are falling in price, especially gold. Another rate hike seems to be on the cards -
The currency is currently very fragile yo yoing below and above the 10 rand mark.
Rand weakens amid recession fears - NetAssets
Rand tad firmer as aversion recedes - NetAssets
For the first time in 3 weekends I got to sleep. Bless heaven for creating sleep!
So the rand is clawing it’s way back up, infact it’s been strengthening quite rapidly throughout the day. Phew! Thank goodness – that was an insane ride! So now we are at:
R/$ 10.02 |
R/€ 13.52 |
R/£ 17.26 |
Mighty kewl – but let’s see what the evening holds instore for us. Hopefully it has a great beauty sleep and wakes up below the R10 to the dollar mark : ) !
You can now drink your own pee with out risk of getting sick through cleansing it with cow dung and guess what… you can have electricity as a byproduct! Truly amazing! Ok – it truly is amazing despite the fact that it does sound a bit gross… just a bit…
But if you’re smart and you want to better your rural areas and in fact some of the urban areas especially in developing countries this seems like a gem for any NGO that seeks to improve people’s lives, and infact the government too!
This is a really funny story – although it wouldn’t be funny if it happened to you. I mean, I’d be super irritated and want to knock somebody’s ribs in. But the way it’s written ir really funny and get who gets to be the but of the joke – cops of course… C’mon guys! : )
So the Rand has slipped down by more than a rand overnight to R10.30 to the USD and has just hit R10.42. It is currently sitting on R17.96 to the Pound. We only wait to see from the rest of the day, just how far our dear friend will plunge and how long the rope is. An economist has commented that they have never seen the rand slip by more than a rand overnight.
UPDATE: It looks like the rand might be strengthening as it is currently sitting at R10.28 to the dollar and R17.76 to the pound. Will update again at noon.
UPDATE: The rand’s bounced back nearly 50 cents, after sliding through R10.70 overnight — its steepest slide since 1994. David Shapiro, a trader at Sasfin, said the rand ‘has given some kind of buffer’ for export-oriented stocks. ‘We hope in the long run common sense will prevail and that investors don’t just dump shares for the sake of liquidity without understanding their intrinsic value,’ he added - SUMMIT TV
Hooray! I love things that make us go green : ) So Eskom has a new solar water heating program - how exciting! It is a program that is being driven by government which has set a target for renewable energy. Customers who get this will not only save largly on electricity as your water will now be heated by the sun rather than the usual gyser system that takes up a lot of energy.
Another perk for choosing t use this system is that you – the customer – will get a rebate rather than those who install the sytem for you. Cool huh? Yeah! Go Green : )
