Recently the JSE lost 6% of its value in just three days. While there has been a subsequent recovery, it highlights the fact that market volatility is increasing dramatically. Wayne McCurrie, deputy MD of Advantage Asset Managers, says such high levels of vola-tility are indicative of a market that is abnormally valued.
European officials are under mounting pressure to tighten the pollution limits on European industry in the second phase of its flagship emissions trading scheme. Such a move is essential, critics said, to restore the scheme’s credibility and to make a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change.
Gold is through an ounce for the first time in a quarter of a century. Platinum prices have gone through the roof. Copper is now so expensive that the metal in a two pence coin is now worth three pence. Oil is trading at between and a barrel. But beware, it is a time of extreme danger for the unwary, with all the sadly familiar tell-tale signs of trouble ahead.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi will not cooperate with KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele’s commission into alleged police bias because he does not want to be drawn into a provincial ANC power play. Sources at South African Police Service headquarters suggested that Selebi saw the commission as part of a turf war between Ndebele and provincial minister of safety and liaison Bheki Cele.
A Namibian friend once told me a story about going into a German-owned restaurant in the old Windhoek and ordering a sandwich. He was given bread and polony. When he asked if he could have butter on the bread to make it more palatable, the proprietress told him: ”No butter for natives.”
Martina Hingis will be hoping that recent history repeats itself as she returns to Roland Garros for the first time in five years after winning the Rome Masters. The 25-year-old Swiss capped her remarkable return to tennis and set her sights on the French Open after overcoming late resistance from Dinara Safina to lift her first title since reversing her retirement last January, winning 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday.
The recent rock and punk revival is set to put guitar bands in the limelight again at this summer’s festivals across Europe, but the electronic music scene is fighting back with events of its own where vinyl and samplers rule. The undisputed leader is the Sonar festival in Barcelona, Spain, which runs from June 15 to 17.
The Falcons pulled off somewhat of a surprise when they beat the fancied Wildebeest 25-17 to claim the Vodacom Cup trophy in Brakpan on Saturday. Playing in front of a vocal crowd, the under-rated Falcons players lifted their game to outplay a lacklustre Wildebeest.
The icy weather experienced over the country was set to continue until about Thursday when the days will become slightly warmer, the South African Weather Service said on Sunday. Forecaster Ezekiel Sebego said another cold front would move in over the Western Cape on Monday night, bringing with it rain for that area, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
An immigration officer has been suspended following allegations that he offered to help a teenage Zimbabwean claim asylum in Britain in return for sex, The Observer newspaper said on Sunday. The middle-aged man offered to coach the 18-year-old rape victim on how to get through her asylum interview.