An analyst recently quipped that the market will remain unfazed for as long as Donald Trump is seen as “the boy who cried wolf” when it comes to the threat of trade tariffs. The clock is suddenly ticking very loudly on a major tariff threat and the rest of this week has become a worrisome period for the Rand.

It just goes to show that the best time to have an unprecedented local scandal, like postponing the annual Budget Speech for the first time in our democratic history for example, is to do it when the Dollar is on the back foot!!!

It just goes to show that the best time to have an unprecedented local scandal, like postponing the annual Budget Speech for the first time in our democratic history for example, is to do it when the Dollar is on the back foot!!!

Budget Speech Wednesday has arrived and on the local front, all eyes will be on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana as he delivers his first budget under the GNU.  Concerned/pessimistic articles claim that he is stuck between a rock and a hard place but let’s see if he has a few tricks up his sleeve. 

It may seem like Donald Trump is keeping the market on its toes with his regular social media posts but a study by JPMorgan reminds us that his first term truly was a rollercoaster ride by comparison. Last week he increased his intensity by posting 20 messages that moved the currency market, but at his peak first time around his average was 60 market moving posts a week!!!