Before we get into today's updates, you will be pleased to know that PBT Group will be presenting on Unlock the Stock this Thursday at 12pm. This JSE-listed tech company is doing great things and has performed exceptionally well in recent times. If you want to see an example of how South Africans can participate in a trend like big data, then this is one you cannot miss! Attendance is free, you just need to register at this link.

Today is the 50th instalment of Ghost Bites, a daily JSE update that has gone fro m strength to strength based on what readers are looking for. I can tell you for a fact that top local fund managers are using it every day as a great summary of the news on SENS, so you should be reading it too. In today's edition, I looked at Alexander Forbes and the New Veld partial offer, a sale of property by Industrials REIT at a slightly concerning valuation, an operational update by Kore Potash and various other updates including Lewis making it onto the radar of international investors. READ GHOST BITES HERE>>>

In Magic Markets Premium this week, we will be covering JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jamie Dimon's organisation is widely regarded as the best of the best when it comes to US banking, an exceptionally competitive industry th at attracts top talent in the pursuit of riches. We've all seen the movies about Wall Street, haven't we?

The organisation is also responsible for getting finance people to run 5kms around the greater Melrose area in Johannesburg once a year, ranging from proper corporate athletes through to people whose only time away from Excel each year is that event. Those sorry souls usually start having a bad time within the first 300m of the race, with only the promise of a real drink later that night keeping them going. I largely speak from experience here.

The banks are clearly still relevant to the youngsters studying finance, as Ghost Grads Karel Zowitsky and Jordan Theron both felt their ears prick up at the sound of banking earnings. Karel has included Morgan Stanley in Ghost Global this week (along with updates on PepsiCo's issues in Europe, Delta's passenger recovery and fuel price challenges, Ericsson's revenue and reorgnisation and Blackrock's use of share buybacks in a bear market). READ GHOST GLOBAL HERE>>>

Jordan is busy with a feature article on one of the banks that we will share with you this week.

If the global market excites you (as it should), then being a subscriber to Magic Markets Premium is a wonderful way for you to see what "do your own research" actually looks like. We've deliberately made it as affordable as possible so that anyone can get these insights. For R99/month or R990/year, you get a weekly report and podcast on an important global stock. Our last few shows included Levi's, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Electronic Arts and Adobe, so you can see that we try to cover as many sectors as possible. "We" in this case means your favourite purple ghost and Mohammed Nalla, who has held very senior roles in leading South African financial institutions. You are getting the benefit of proper financial experience in these reports. Make the best investment you can make: an investment in yourself. SUBSCRIBE AT THIS LINK>>>

Many of you have already enjoyed the second episode of Ghost Stories, in which Justin Clarke joined me to talk about his journey as the founder of Private Property and now the Operational Director at OrbVest. It really was an entertaining and insightful conversation that you can listen to here. OrbVest has also released an article talking about why medical real estate in the US is a resilient and interesting investment. One of the reasons is that medical tenants tend to have highly expensive equipment that has been installed in specialist rooms, so it's not terribly easy to pack up and move somewhere else. LEARN MORE ABOUT ORBVEST>>>

In broader market news, TreasuryONE note s that the dollar has lost further ground and that the euro is now well above parity level. Although some emerging markets currencies showed a recovery from last week's low, the rand seems stuck around the current levels. It could be that the market is waiting on the MPC's rates decision on Thursday before we fall in line and stage a decent attempt to return to levels more favourable for importers. The commodity market was a sea of green, except for gold which was hovering around the $1,710 mark.

Gold not behaving. What else is new? Sigh.

As a reminder, last week's TreasuryONE webinar has been made available on the Ghost Mail website as a YouTube link. I highly recommend watching it and learning from Andre Cilliers, Currency Strategist at TreasuryONE. WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE>>>

Finally, the latest episode of Magic Markets saw the team from AnBro Capital Investments join us to unpack a horrible start to the year not just for equities but for other asset classes too. By comparing the impact on different sectors in this bear market vs. the Global Financial Crisis, we found some very interesting trends. LISTEN TO EPISODE 84 HERE>>>

That's more than enough to keep you busy today. Enjoy!