Platinum Wealth

That is not a bad suggestion. @SimonPB or @Kristia van Heerden do you have a link to the article on Justonelap.com explaining the DCCUSD eft?

Personally I diversified a little bit into Bitcoin and physical gold. Not sure how to get US dollars without a US bank account (rephrase, to get a US Bank account as a foreigner, it appears I will need to fly to America to open one up.)

Following below is a selection of stocks that various industry professionals have picked to be their shares to buy for 2020. Please note this post in no ways endorses their selection of JSE stocks to invest in, but that is to be seen as an informative post for you to use in your own research. JSE Stock Picks 2020: Mr Price Group (JSE:MRP) MTN (JSE:MTN) Blue Label Telecoms (JSE:BLU) Metrofile (JSE:MFL) Sasol (JSE:SOL) Long4Life Ltd (JSE:L4L) Mondi (JSE:MNP) Rolfes (JSE:RLF) (If you want your stock to be added to the list, tweet @PlatinumGroupZA with a link to your article and I will add it here.) Sources: http://www.702.co.za/articles/369313/why-anchor-capital-is-buying-mtn-sibanye-and-transaction-capita https://justonelap.com/video-position-your-portfolio-for-2020/ https://seekingalpha.com/article/4313928-is-blue-label-telecoms-stock-oversold http://www.capetalk.co.za/features/1/money/367361/3-best-jse-shares-to-buy-right-now-by-the-robert-group https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/291986/8-long-term-stock-picks-for-2019-and-beyond/ https://www.nedbankprivatewealth.co.za/content/private-wealth-sa/south-africa/en/info/Festiveseasonstockpicks.html https://www.businessinsider.co.za/year-low-stocks-2019-8 https://www.intellidex.co.za/insights/intellidex-stock-picks-2019/

I am still loving this account.

Dammit - I do not see a Samsung S10e on special anymore (contracts) I do see it on special if you buy it cash, but eish cash on a phone is 2019 feels like an expensive choice...?

You could flip it and start with the 12 assigned to January that way your contributions gets less throughout the year.

Indeed they are, I am currently busy writing up a little introduction about Ice3X and why we decided to embark on this journey with them.

A Chinese spy defects to Australia. His shocking revelations are guaranteed to infuriate Beijing. How China conducts questionable activities around the world, including its attempts to infiltrate the Australian government. #60MinutesAustralia

What @Bandit said - please do not take on a loan if you do not need it (like last resort) and then if you do decide to take out a loan, try to do it via your bank - generally they are regulated enough to not destroy you. If the loan repayment percentage is higher than 22% then you should rather try hard to reduce expenses enough so that you do not have to take the loan. Capitec has a generally easy to understand rate table for personal loan which you can read up about here: https://www.capitecbank.co.za/global-one/credit/rates-and-fees/ As for credit cards, please read this article by Bruce Whitfield https://www.businessinsider.co.za/beware-these-fiendish-credit-card-tricks-2018-12

It was a tough choice between Discovery Bank and FNB, because I have posted before asking about ebucks and we have quite a few threads about it. I did set out to open an FNB account, but had endless hassles online and it ultimately required me to go into a branch so they are out - I do not want to rely on a branch in 2020 for banking. I then decided oh well let's give Discovery Bank a try, maybe I get a good deal from Virgin Active from this exercise, because make no mistake they (Discovery) are the most expensive bank in SA. Here is a link to all the accounts available on Discovery. If you read this thread, pop over to this FNB vs Discovery Bank thread first to see some of the pros and cons of each and whilst you are at it there is a great thread about FNB's Ebucks as well to give further insight in what is available in the South African banking landscape today in terms of rewards and loyalty programs. Anyway to get back to the point I'll try to write this the same as I did for the How to open a TymeBank Bank Account thread. Speaking of Tymebank to open a Discovery Bank account was relatively straight forward, but nothing compares to Tymebank that process is smooth and quick it took me less than 5 minutes to open a Tymebank account, it took about an hour fiddling with files and setting up syncing etc to get everything ready for the FICA process of Discovery, I will get to that in a moment. How to open a Discovery Bank Account Step 1: Register on this page (it won't work if you go straight to the app, you'll sit in a queue) - where the button says leave your details, fill that in. You will then receive instructions with a formatting issue telling you to go login on the app. Step 2: Download the Discovery Bank app and then login using the ID Number you registered with in Step 1. Step 3: Follow the instructions to FICA your account and you are done. When you do Step 3 they will ask you for various documents which you need to upload from your phone (there is no website just an app) this means you need to make sure those files are on your phone. In my case I logged on to Rawson on the PC and downloaded my latest Invoice and Lease Agreement. I then uploaded that to dropbox and I then downloaded and synced dropbox with my phone, but the Discovery App cannot access dropbox, so you need to go to dropbox on your phone and then "export" the pdfs to your phone (save it to the device) then it should sit in your phone's download folder, you can then through the Discovery Bank app navigate to your downloads folder and upload the files. I did the same for my Capitec bank statements. I logged into Capitec on the website and then downloaded the last 3 months worth of bank statements and then synced it to my phone through dropbox and exported it to enable Discovery's app to access it. Once that schlep is done you should get an SMS and E-mail to welcome you. I received a call from the courier company about 3 hours later confirming my delivery address, because they will deliver your Discovery Credit Card to you. There is the option for you to collect it as well, but I am paying them R400 per month so I ticked the "deliver it" option even though the bank's office is down the road - sorry, not sorry. Notes: There is ZERO website - I do not know what on earth they are thinking and I am not a predictions man, but I am fairly sure South Africa is not ready for a "App only" bank not in Infrastructure to make that happen and most certainly not in education and access (expensive data, limited coverage and cost of beefy "capable of driving a bloated banking app" phones.) Besides the "infrastructure" shortfall there is also the compromise angle - Alternatives exist so why would I want to use the app to pull and print statements when I can log onto Capitec or FNB on the website and do a lot more administrative tasks more efficiently. This comes back to earlier about Tymebank, they are an App based bank, but when you want to make use of power features and do administrative tasks the website is there and your PC is connected to the printer and have excel on it to pull your CSVs into - Goodluck trying to do that with discovery without going through a whole process between devices and using third party apps to sync it all. Like @SimonPB would say "make no bones about it" this app only approach will make it more difficult for less technologically-adept customers to print out bank statements and facilitate transactions. Concerns: I found quite a few formatting issues and some bugs (screen would freeze if you navigate between transactions and pay) I reported this to them, but have not gotten anything back and they don't respond to it on twitter either. Normally that won't bother me, but if you are going to be an expensive bank without any physical presence then I expect you to be around 24 / 7. The app is also sluggish, but I suspect that is due to latency since it appears they use AWS as well. Overall my entire experience with Discovery Banking so far is perfectly summed up by @Bandit With that said one thing I am excited about (as a Discovery shareholder) is the fact that Discovery (JSE DSY) now have a key insight into all aspects of our lives from health and insurance all the way to banking. This should in theory put Discovery in a position to do incredibly advance psychometric analysis on its users and map psychological traits for risk evaluation. As someone with a very keen interest in behavioral psychology this aspect fascinates me especially when it comes to credit facilities because with the transactional banking data Discovery can now create a far more accurate risk assessment based on who you really are not what you have done in the past. Bonus: Here's some screenshots of the app

Introducing the @PDSNET Share investment club software, finally investment clubs made easy. High-quality shares on the JSE regularly go up by 30% per annum or more and have generally doubled their value every four-and-half years for the past 30 years. With PDSnet’s FREE Investment Club software, you and a few of your friends could be investing in top quality blue chip shares on the JSE. By clubbing together in an investment club, you keep your dealing costs low and benefit from each other’s experience, knowledge and contacts. In an investment club, you can overcome the problem of not: having enough to invest. knowing where to start or which shares to buy. You can own shares in your favourite companies on the JSE, the ones you personally interact with and understand. The PDSnet Investment Club software solves all the problems of running a share market investment club. Complete Transparency All transactions can be viewed by the members of the investment club at any time on their phones. Share prices and other financial information of all listed companies can be viewed by all members, as well as the value of the shares which the group owns. The software is browser-based and therefore members can view the club’s progress in the market while on the move, from any device at any time. How Does it Work? Similar to a stokvel, an investment club is a group of people who save money regularly into an account in the name of the group. But, instead of just saving the money, an investment club allows the group’s savings to be invested directly on the stock market. The PDSnet Investment Club software allows a group of people to invest different amounts at different times, while keeping track of the value of their individual investments. It runs a miniature unit trust for you and your colleagues. Members buy and sell units in the investment club at a unit price calculated daily by the software and based on the JSE prices of the shares that the investment club holds. Members meet regularly to talk about the market and decide on where to invest. And the nice thing is that it’s free!! The Benefits of a Stock Market Investment Club Investment Clubs enable you to: share the risk of investing in the share market with your friends and colleagues. invest whatever you can afford either as a lump sum or in regular monthly payments. learn about the share market and investment from your fellow investment club members. share the research and reading which is necessary to run a portfolio of shares. Invest funds saved in a stokvel. Software Features Portfolio and bank manager. Comprehensive summaries. Calculation of a daily unit price based in JSE prices of shares owned by the club. Document templates to open the correct bank and stockbroking accounts. In-depth user manual. Voting hub. Club discussion forum. Stock market resource tools. Registration Link: https://www.pdsnet.co.za/investment_club/login/userRegister.php Frequently Asked Questions about the Investment Club software: https://www.pdsnet.co.za/index.php/investment-club-frequently-asked-questions/ Screenshots & Overview Short video to explain how it all works

JSE warns Blue Label that delayed results could lead to suspension

Blue Label at record low as JSE threatens suspension The largest shareholder of Cell C has until the end of September to deliver its full-year results to end-May or face suspension from the JSE. The share price of Blue Label Telecoms, the largest shareholder of Cell C, fell to a record low on Tuesday after the JSE said it was facing suspension for failing to deliver its financial results. Blue Label, however, issued a statement reiterating that its results would be released on September 26. The JSE said on Tuesday that Blue Label had until the end of September to release its results for the year ended May, in order to comply with its three-month posting requirement. As of 9.30am, Blue Label's share price was 6.94% lower at R2.68, its lowest since listing, but by 12.15pm had pared its losses and was only down 0.69% to R2.86. The company's share price has fallen 47.13% so far in 2019, which follows a 63.74% loss in 2018. Blue Label said earlier in August that it was in the process of determining the value of its investment in Cell C, of which it holds 45%. Cell C, which has struggled to make consistent profits since it became SA’s third mobile operator in 2001, is grappling with a hefty debt burden. In August S&P Global Ratings downgraded Cell C’s debt to D, or “default,” its lowest-possible junk rating. This came after the cellphone operator “failed to make interest payments on certain bilateral loan facilities”. “We believe there is an increased likelihood that Cell C will be unable to repay all or substantially all of the obligations as they come due, unless it is able to restructure its debt and recapitalise its balance sheet,” the ratings agency said at the time. It remains to be seen if the telecoms operator will be able to meet the September 30 deadline. However, earlier this week, Blue Label issued an official invite to a presentation of the results set for Thursday 26 September. Source: BusinessLive

Local stock exchange ZAR X, in conjunction with Adhara and Computershare South Africa, has launched the first distributed settlement system for unit trusts in South Africa. Using the blockchain, it enables the public to purchase and settle unit trusts directly from fund managers in a secure environment. The ZAR X system reinvents the traditional way of administering unit trusts using digital technologies as its foundation. Instead of monthly administration fees, investors pay a once-off transaction fee. Furthermore, they can transact in unit trusts either through their ZAR X broker or on any mobile device using the ZAR X Mobi App. The new blockchain system provides regulators and investors with full transparency and transaction history in real-time. As the blockchain serves as a ledger of events that are distributed or shared between different parties, it can only be updated by consensus of the participants in the system. This effectively means the blockchain provides a single version of the truth and eliminates the need for reconciliations. The Adhara components allow for the unit trusts and cash to be tokenised on the same ledger. This ensures all transactions occur ‘on-chain’, providing real-time Delivery vs Payment (DvP) settlement. The project will go live in the last quarter of this year and will be available on the ZAR X website and the ZAR X Mobi App.

I came here in full might, hammer in the air, desperate and hungry to smite the spam out of someone - just to realize this is in fact a legit thread. As you were.