BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Catholic Church puts assets out of reach of sex abuse claimants
For most of the 20th century, the Catholic Church in the US minimised the damage wrought by paedophile priests by covering up the abuse, reports Bloomberg. Cover-ups worked when victims and their families could be intimidated or shamed into silence. But in the 1980s and ’90s, victims started filing civil…
Short-seller Carson Block on the other side of the Reddit, GameStop trading frenzy
Recently day traders organising themselves on social media website Reddit united to drive up the shares of video-game store GameStop by around 400%. Short-sellers were estimated to have lost about $19bn on GameStop. Carson Block is a short-seller, investor and the founder of Muddy Waters Research speaks to BizNews partner…
Does SA have any good asset managers? Here’s why their investment performance is so dismal - Magnus Heystek
Investments in South African funds have been very disappointing, all the more so when you compare performance with similar opportunities elsewhere in the world. BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron asks: Has SA lost its rock star fund managers? Why can’t they deliver returns that grow your wealth? In this…
Taking stock: Wrap of JSE shares - Curro, Sasol, Sibanye Stillwater, Distell
In this Friday's episode of Taking Stock, BizNews financial journalist Justin Rowe-Roberts provides the key highlights on: * Education provider Curro - which has seen parents take their children out of private schools as they battle after Covid containment measures have knocked the economy; * Sasol, which has risen on…
Inside Covid-19: Life may only return to normal in 7 years; long Covid and your sense of smell; travel outlook
Around 65% of people with coronavirus lose their sense of smell and taste and it's estimated that about 10% of those go on to develop rare conditions that create havoc. Parosmia means you can find human waste smells like food and vice versa. So what causes parosmia? We spoke to…
Wirecard scandal: Inside story of how bosses of payments company pulled off biggest bank robbery in Germany's history
Bosses at South African multinational Steinhoff built an elaborate web of transactions to fool investors, but it eventually started to unravel in 2017. There are parallels in the Steinhoff story with the Wirecard scandal. Behind one of the largest companies listed on Germany's Dax lay an elaborate scheme of fake…
Flash Briefing: Investors lose their shirts in crypto deals, warns FSCA; gas power for Gauteng; Sasol; Sappi
* The regulatory Financial Sector Conduct Authority has warned that it has a received a large number of calls from South Africans who have lost huge sums in crypto investments and scams packaged as crypto assets. * Gas powered electricity is coming soon to Gauteng, says Africa infrastructure investor Harith…
Sars is on a fishing expedition looking for YOUR crypto profits - here's the tax lowdown on Bitcoin
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has been sniffing around taxpayers for undeclared profits from trading in cryptocurrencies. This comes as SA gets set to regulate Bitcoin and other digital currencies. But, as expert Thomas Lobban of Tax Consulting South Africa underscores: you should have been declaring your trades ever…
OrbVest CEO targets 10 new medical properties in 2021 as strong rand enhances investor appeal
OrbVest has grown from the personal property investment portfolio of three successful SA entrepreneurs into a $300m business owning 30 medical blocks in the US. In this podcast, CEO Martin Freeman explains why the company has been one of the few winners from Covid-19, tells us there's only one project…
Amazon change of guard: Insights on Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy from a former AMZN insider
Amazon shareholders are celebrating a smashing final quarter of 2021 after the group reported an astonishing 44% surge in revenues this week, says BizNews Founder Alec Hogg in his daily email exclusive to BizNews Premium subscribers. He says some Amazon co-owners may be concerned that founder Jeff Bezos is handing over…
Flash Briefing: Nearly 50% of businesses rejected for R200bn relief; Moderna shot for SA; airline price war; Zuma
* The Banking Association of South Africa said in a statement on Wednesday that, at the current rate, only R18.9 billion rand - or about 10% - of the R200bn available to help businesses recover from Covid-19 will be allocated. * Moderna has offered to supply its coronavirus vaccine to…
SA's lawless economy is growing, eroding tax, enabling crime and corruption, killing jobs - B4SA
Business for SA (B4SA) is campaigning for the government, manufacturers, retailers and consumers to recognise that the growth of the illicit economy - at a similar rate to the legal economy - is a major problem. State capture weakened state entities; Covid-19 rules had the effect of fuelling illicit trade…
Robinhood, Redditers and your Apple, Amazon stocks: Exploding myths about democratising stock markets
Dr Richard Smith is an expert on cycles and the CEO of The Foundation for the Study of Cycles, a not-for-profit. He speaks to BizNews editor at large Jackie Cameron about what is really fuelling 'meme' stocks - and catching out professionals - and what this means for investors outside…
Flash Briefing: Sars targets Bitcoin traders; Ford ditches Brazil, invests in SA; investors snap up SA bonds
* Ford Motor Co. will plow $1.05 billion into a plant in South Africa -- its biggest-ever investment in the country. * Record demand at South Africa’s weekly sale of government debt suggests the lure of relatively high yields still outweighs investors’ concern about the country’s fiscal path. * The…
Elon Musk's Tesla, SpaceX: Assessing the investment case - legendary investor Ron Baron
Tesla is sporting a market cap of $800 billion, which is more than seven times the combined sum of Ford and General Motors, notes BizNews Premium partner The Wall Street Journal. That valuation is paired with a minuscule share of the global auto market. So what’s next for Tesla, and other Elon Musk companies?…
Unprecedented demand as half Bright Light's R50m fund raising snapped up on Day One
Government's 12J tax incentive to stimulate employment and support targeted sectors is being applauded in the best possible way - via the wallets of sussed SA taxpayers. Bright Light Solar's fund raising issue opened to strong demand from BizNews community members yesterday, in a single day attracting deposits for half…
CR delivers good news to SA: vaccine procurement up; Covid-19 rules ease
With a clear decline in hospital admissions and deaths, Covid-19 restrictions are being eased to balance economic and health considerations. So said President Cyril Ramaphosa when he announced adjustments to the plans to contain the spread of the virus. Vaccine procurement is being ramped up and will include helping SA's…
GameStop bull gives inside story on pushing up GME, in Reddit-fuelled trading frenzy
Are we in a meme stock bubble? What is a meme stock and how is it driven upwards? Hear from one of the original GameStop bulls, Rod Alzmann, a 31-year who set up GMEDD.com, about how he made a bullish case for the company and his theory took off. Learn…
Flash Briefing: Mozambique president at centre of corruption scandal; Zuma refuses to testify; vaccines; SA equities
* Corruption in southern Africa is a key theme in world headlines, with Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi placed at the centre of a $2bn debt scandal that led to a sovereign default. * In South Africa, former president Jacob Zuma - the central figure in R500bn, or $33bn, lost to…
The Alec Hogg Show: Third World Child GG Alcock: Common sense optimism about SA - Ep 15
In a world overpopulated with fakes, the authenticity of GG Alcock is a beacon of hope. Raised in a mud hut by committed South African Liberals, Alcock's story is inspirational, insightful and uplifting. For those who have read them, his excellent books Third World Child and Kasinomics expose a country…