LionTrade

A lot of people just invest for the sake of investing but do not understand what they’re doing or why and follow the herd. This is costing you.

People with a small amount to invest waste their time stock picking when they should be investing into a stock index or ETF or Unit Trust product which replicates an index

They’ll buy a few shares but then buy an index ETF as well which actually duplicates your holdings and defeats the point of diversification

So let me help.

What is an index? It is basically a benchmark which shows how the market is performing. A popular index is the JSE Top 40. The JSE Top 40 is an index of which consists of the top 40 largest companies listed on the JSE by market cap. This is a benchmark index showing how the South African equity market is performing overall. This means it is a great tool for you to invest into for long-term growth in South Africa without needing to buy these shares individually.

So why buy an ETF on the Top 40?
1. Diversification: It allows you to buy into the top 40 biggest shares listed on the JSE, allowing you to get exposure to all of these shares at once.
2. Costs/Fees: buying into an ETF with R500 allows you to pay one fee, which is usually cheaper than having to split your R500 into multiple shares and pay multiple fees which could be higher
3. Makes life easier: You don’t need to stock pick. You only buy the ETF which essentially allows you to buy exposure to 40 different shares

What makes up the top 40?
The Top 40 Index contains 40 different companies, known as constituents or contributors. The current list is as follows:

1. BHP Group
2. AB InBev
3. British American To***co
4. Compagnie Financiere Richemont
5. Prosus
6. Glencore
7. Anglo American
8. Anglogold Ashanti
9. Naspers
10. Gold Fields
11. Capitec
12. Standard Bank
13. Firsthand
14. MTN
15. Vodacom
16. Investec Limited
17. Impala Platinum
18. Absa
19. Discovery
20. Sanlam
21. Shoprite
22. Sibanye Stillwater
23. Sasol
24. Bid Corporation
25. Northam Platinum
26. Nedbank
27. Investec PLC
28. Remgro
29. Reinet Investments
30. NEPI Rockcastle
31. Bidvest Group
32. Mondi
33. Aspen Pharmacare
34. Clicks
35. Old Mutual Limited
36. Growthpoint Properties
37. Exxaro Resources
38. Woolworths
39. Mr Price

I see a popular Top 40 ETF is the Satrix Top 40 ETF. To show the power of investing over the long-term and ignoring the noise (remember 2020 initially the markets dropped and people panicked, but it recovered and rallied), if you invested R1,000 per month, every month since 2020, your investment portfolio would be worth R125,600, which is more than if you had invested into the Satrix S&P 500 ETF (only R118,400)!!

Moral of the story? Don’t waste your time stock picking if you don’t have a large portfolio

Happy birthday to me. Thank you Lord for another year of blessings

The best car is the car that you can afford with the correct strategy which maximises revenue, maximises tax benefits and is reliable.

1. Paying cash for a car results in a capital outlay which means you have opportunity costs. You could’ve invested that money elsewhere and earned a return. Paying cash also means you can only depreciate the car annually for tax purposes and write off maintenance costs, fuel and insurance.

2. Financing a car means you pay an affordable monthly instalment and don’t sacrifice cash flow. You can write off the monthly instalment and interest (in some cases), depreciate the car annually as well as write off insurance, fuel and maintenance costs for tax purposes which reduces your overall tax liability.

The option, in my opinion, is to use your cash to purchase an income producing asset such as stocks (you receive a dividend quarterly, semiannually or annually), bonds or other fixed income instruments (receive interest quarterly, semiannually or annually) or real estate where you receive monthly rental income. Doing this allows you to take that income and use it to get a loan to buy a car, which essentially results in a free car and owning an asset.

Top 40 at an ATH. Double top forming? Gotta wait for the close and check shorter time frames to get in. RSI almost at resistance. Looking for a retracement back to 60,000. We’re all in when it comes off.

Nvidia down when everyone says go long 😂. Apple up due to increase expected demand for the new iPhone which will be revamped to use ChatGPT for Siri. A lot of the AI hype has also died down on tech stocks leading to the Nasdaq falling almost 7% in two days. Also driven by bond traders pricing in two 50bp rate cuts by the Fed this year

All I want for Christmas is a GT3 RS

We always want the material things but we fail to realise that the greatest gift of all is Jesus. I can’t explain to people how I’ve experienced His grace, favour, mercy, love and presence. I had debates with unbelievers this week and I realised that one’s Salvation story is truly special. They don’t know Jesus as Messiah and it’s heartbreaking because a relationship with Jesus bridges the gap with the Father and it’s truly amazing and unexplainable. I have heard the audible voice of God and that changed my life forever. I grew up saved and I was blessed to be raised by a born again family, so I pray for those who don’t know Jesus that you may seek the truth that He is. Just say a prayer and ask Him to reveal Himself to you. That’s all. Nothing magical. I can give you the Biblical evidence, as well as from the Torah and quran, historical and archeological and all the facts proving Jesus is Messiah and God, but experiencing Him and His presence is truly life changing. Seek Him please and call out to Him and He will hear you. God has appointed each one of us at the right time to know Him. Just call upon the name of Jesus and be saved. I know of dozens of stories of Muslims, Jews, atheists and new agers/spiritualists who have called on the name of Jesus and have seen visions and dreams of Him and experienced Him just like Saul did on the road to Damascus. Please give me the greatest Christmas gift you can and try find Jesus. Your life will never be the same again

As soon as we work together, all is possible. Where the Spirit of the LORD is there is freedom. United we stand and with Christ all things are possible. I just want to say congratulations to the bokke on an amazing win last night. You guys were pure class and it shows that when you commit your ways to the Lord, you will prosper. Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 29:11. I feel the win was needed, even if we didn’t win, this did a great work for the country to bring us together. Let’s destroy racism and let’s foster unity and inclusion within our diversity. words were amazing when he said “This team shows what diversity can do for our team, and our country. As soon as we work together, all is possible. No matter what, and without fear. On the field and in offices, it just shows what we can do”. Well done on two back to back wins as captain. Well done to you played your heart out and it was devastating to see you go off, but we’re proud of you. well done on player of the match you truly deserved it. You keep the momentum on those huge tackles and we honour you for your contribution. thanks for the accuracy and force. that energy was insane thanks for pushing and keeping it going. Your stamina and persistence is relentless and motivating. thank you for your excellence and for uniting this country.

Awesome evening at the XM South Africa Gala 2023. It pays to trade with XM. What stood out was that God can truly change your financial situation for He is Jehovah Jireh and will provide for you and gives you the ability to create wealth. Got to catch up with old friends, make new friends and share my wisdom and love of the financial markets. We also had to opportunity to scribble on the wall, of which we wrote our Word from God, Matthew 6:33

Another thing I learnt was that most forex gurus and mentors do not know what they are doing and are stealing from their clients by not giving them the right tools. Don’t be that guy. Learn from properly qualified professionals with licenses in place.

This is why you suck at trading!!

Stop focusing on your losses. Stop focusing on a stop loss, a drawdown, how much you can “risk” per trade, and start focusing on expected profit, profitability and your overall alpha generation capabilities. Have some optimism and positive expectations. Risk management is about maximizing your upside while limiting the downside. Focus on capital management as opposed to risk