There is a saying among investors that the best time to buy is during times of maximum pessimism, while the best time to sell is during times of maximum optimism. This saying is particularly relevant to the rand’s massive volatility over the past decade.

We first saw how the rand dropped from around R6/$ to more than R10/$ during the great market correction of 2008, only to rise to levels of just below R7/$ in 2011. Unfortunately, it has only been downhill since, with the rand dropping to levels of just below R17/$ early in 2016.

We have seen the rand gaining strength over the past few weeks, however, rising to below R14.30/$, and now everyone wants to know if this is the highly anticipated strengthening they have waited for to move all their investments offshore.