This paper reports on an investigation of financial management practices used by small, medium-sized and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa. It was found that more than half the SMMEs examined use external accounting staff to prepare accounting reports and more than 60% rely on external accounting staff to interpret and use accounting information. A majority of the SMME owners were found to lack interpretation skills and an awareness of how to use information from financial statements. An implication of this study therefore is that policy makers, business support organizations, banks and academic institutions need to focus on educating SMMEs more effectively in financial management, thereby mitigating the risk of cash flow problems and business failure.

Covid-19 has had severe consequences on the financial systems of many countries and has altered the manner in which most businesses operate. This adverse situation has a spill-over effect on financial markets where the market efficiency may have been altered, hence using preCovid-19 strategies for investment purposes may no longer be applicable. Market efficiency, which is closely linked to informational efficiency, depicts the extent to which financial markets adjust quickly and correctly to new information. It is instrumental for fundamental analysis. The aim of this study is to analyze the market efficiency during the pandemic in five major financial markets around the world. Using the runs tests, the results indicate that the market efficiency in the JSE and JPX-Nikkei 400 has been altered significantly, while the Nasdaq Index, DAX, and CAC 40 have not changed from what it used to be. This was evident in the significant difference between the expected number of runs and the total number of runs, as indicated by the runs test. The implication of this study is that investment professionals in the JSE and JPX-Nikkei 400 should alter their investment strategies, without which they may incur severe losses.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the accounts payable management practices of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the Cape Metropolis. The study is motivated by a lack of research on payable management practices of SMMEs in South Africa. Data are collected from a sample of 200 SMMEs by means of a closed-ended questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The findings of the study indicate that 70% of the sampled SMMEs purchase only on cash basis. Of the sampled SMMEs, 22% purchase on both cash and credit, while 8% purchase only on credit basis. Of those that purchase on credit, 72% pay their creditors promptly to take advantage of discount facilities. To manage their accounts payable, 52% of the SMMEs use computers. Only 43% settled accounts payable on the last day that the payment is due. The results further indicate that a lack of personnel and time are the main factors that inhibit the SMMEs from managing their accounts payable effectively. The above results suggest that SMMEs are inclined towards purchasing on cash or paying promptly when they purchase on credit, which could indicate that they had a lower bargaining power relative to that of suppliers who may have viewed these entities as risky ventures to which they were reluctant to extend credit terms. Based on the above findings, this study recommends that the SMMEs decision-makers be educated on the competitive advantages gained by buying on credit, most important of which are improving cash flow and building supplier relationship. In addition, the decision-makers may be trained, perhaps through Government intervention, on how to overcome the factors that inhibit them from managing their accounts payable effectively, by using computers. The Government may also provide guarantees to SMMEs’ suppliers to relax the credit terms extended to these entities. This study makes several original contributions to literature. It is the first study to investigate the accounts payable management practices of SMMEs in the Cape Metropolis. Entities whose management of accounts payable had up till now been neglected appeared in the prior research to their peril. Secondly, this study provides a unique insight into SMMEs management of their liquidity by focusing on their management of most immediate obligations (accounts payable), which are critical for these entities’ survival given their limited access to finance. The proposed study thus fills the gap in research on the accounts payable management practices employed by SMMEs in South Africa. Although various studies have been published on the accounts payable management practices on SMMEs in other countries, no study was found within the South African context. This study therefore contributes to the debate on the accounts payable management practices of SMMEs in a unique context of South Africa and inspires other researchers to investigate the same in other Metropolis in the country

Purpose: As contended in prior literature, the weekend anomaly is the tendency for financial markets or security prices to be lower on Mondays than on previous Fridays. The aim of this study was to empirically investigate the weekend anomaly in seven international financial markets namely; NASDAQ Index, CAC 40 Index, DAX Index, JPX-Nikkei Index 400, SSE Index, BIST and JSE Index. Methodology: This study made use of the F- statistics test for the most recent 5 years August 22, 2017 to August 22, 2022. Findings: Contrary to the findings in the literature, there is no evidence to support the weekend anomaly. This was evident in the pvalues for the F-statistics test in all the financial markets under consideration to be statistically insignificant. Originality/Value: Although this concept may have existed, it is no longer applicable hence traders and market participants should avoid regular or pure arbitrage strategy as it may result in significant losses. As per the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to empirically investigate the weekend anomaly in seven international markets using the most recent data..

Herd mentality is associated with financial market bubbles and crises and is not a new concept. Despite the dotcom bubble in the late 90’s and the recent real estate bubble, investors still have the tendency to see irrational decision as rational. Thus the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of herding in the Johannesburg stock exchange during the Covid-19 pandemic. Studies conducted in other markets have detected the presence of herding which sends strong signal of issues that may arise in financial markets. Using a sample period from 02 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 and a cross sectional absolute deviation as an analysis tool, the findings reveals a significant presence of herding in the Johannesburg stock exchange. The main implications to this finding is that momentum investing strategies is more suitable for the Johannesburg Stock exchange and exploring past price movements may provide valuable insights on expected future price movements