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Obama has won, the world has turned and now it's back to business as usual. The change that the world's most powerful country's most powerful man will bring will have to wait to be seen, but until then things will just tend to carry on.
This can be seen with the coverage that Nedbank has received recently. Business Report came with a story that Nedbank is delaying naming their new Chief Executive in order to provide a bit of stability. Tom Boardman who has been at the helm since 2003 when he came over from the erstwhile BoE is due to retire in October 2010. He has stated his determination to work with his successor, who ever that may be, to provide a smooth change over. Nedbank released its profit forecast yesterday which came in as not much is to change, although profit growth might be slightly slower.
In an interview with Moneyweb Tom Boardman dismissed the rumours surrounding Nedbank getting into trouble. He said that those in the know, actual market traders had not responded to the rumours, because that is what they knew them to be. He said that it is the results that count and that this is what the market had responded to. Click here to compare banks.
ABSA has got into a little slanging match with the ANCYL, who have accused them of funding the rebel ANC breakaway 'Shikota' party. This story was picked up by both IOL and Business Day. Absa has responded that these allegations are "wholly unfounded" and that it has a political party funding mechanism in place which it uses to support democracy, and that this mechanism is the only way that ABSA gets involved in funding political parties. Even if you don't know who is funding whom you can still click here to check out the best savings accounts and know who is funding you.
Another major story today is slowing inflation. Business Day reports that slower growth is also helping to dampen inflation, while Business Report comes in with an opinion that the global problems will slow growth here in South Africa but we will still be growing, particularly with major events such as the Soccer World Cup in 2010 to look forward to. iAfrica also reported that inflationary pressures may be lessening and that the SA Reserve Bank reckons on inflation having peaked in the third quarter of 2008 (now more or less). If you are still worried about inflation eroding your earnings you can check out our budget planning tool, or get a top end savings account to keep your finances how you like them.
In other news FNB released their house price index yesterday which showed property prices were continuing to fall. FNB was of the opinion that this would lead to a more affordable housing market. If you are struggling with your mortgage repayments you could consider debt consolidation, or if you are older than 55, equity release from your property.
The Dispatch reported on figures released by Stats SA that showed insolvencies were up by 17.7% year on year for August. The Times reported that vehicle sales have dived , this might leads to better deals as desperate sellers slash prices, so click here to get vehicle finance and vehicle insurance quotes.