EDITOR’S NOTE

Changes, hard choices and a sad farewell

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED since our last edition of last year and our first edition for 2021 that it’s difficult to know where to start. First, I was shocked and saddened at the passing of long-time Investors Monthly advertising manager Nigel Twidale. His enthusiasm and (often) dogged determination will be greatly missed.

His career harked back to the days of typewriters, and there was not much he did not know about the print media and its many larger-than-life characters. You’d always get much more than your money’s worth lunching with him.

On to happier matters, I do trust it’s been a fruitful couple of months for readers, with most markets now rather buoyant. I suppose most encouraging is that the JSE’s small-cap sector is finally showing some life, driven by robust performances from stouter counters. It’s funny … we knew these companies were well-managed, with resilient business models — the likes of ARB Holdings, Bowler Metcalf, Kaap Agri, AfroCentric, Argent Industrial, Pan African Resources and a few others. But we tend to think apocalyptically during a crisis, instead of ignoring market ructions and reverting to those indisputable tangibles.

I know some overcautious investors are kicking themselves for not filling their boots when the chips were down during the great Covid-19 sentiment snuff out.

Cryptocurrencies have also taken off (again), no small thanks to Tesla prime mover Elon Musk for revving sentiment. I did see one sceptical wag comment that he’d only buy into cryptos when legendary investor Warren Buffett put $1bn on Berkshire Hathaway’s balance sheet.

Even though I was probably the first SA editor to commission a cover story on bitcoin (back in 2009), I confess to still not getting my mind properly around this ethereal asset class. I have been toying with finding a crypto-expert to pen a regular column, and would not mind feedback from readers in this regard.

Turning to housekeeping, I have positions in two companies covered in this edition — Libstar and EOH. Readers will also notice a slight change to the contents of the magazine. I have, for now, dropped the Buy, hold, sell page, and offer instead an extra company review. With the JSE rapidly shrinking in terms of the number of listed companies, we have found it difficult to maintain a thematic aspect to the Buy, hold, sell options. The risk of repeating sector coverage was growing every month.

One alternative was to look at global stocks — but I suspect readers’ stock-picking endeavours are still focused mainly on the JSE at this juncture. I’m open to suggestions, so don’t hesitate to give feedback.

All the best for the year ahead! ●