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Good morning Voornaam,

The retail sector is where much of the GNU-inspired action is happening, with consumers coming out of their caves and spending more money. In the latest Ghost Wrap podcast brought to you by Forvis Mazars, I covered four important groups in this sector: Clicks, Dis-Chem, The Foschini Group and Cashbuild. You'll find it here.

In latest company news, AB InBev is proof that consumer preferences are constantly evolving. The bright spot in the growth story is no-alcohol beers, with overall beer volumes under pressure at the moment.

Over at MTN, the bad news is that MTN Nigeria is still under immense pressure on the EBITDA margin line. The good news is that EBITDA itself had a positive trajectory in the latest quarter, with forex losses also set to decrease as USD exposure is reduced in the group.

I must also highlight Pan African Resources and commend them for delivering the Mogale Tailings Retreatment plant under budget and ahead of schedule - a really impressive outcome. Renergen can only dream of such things, having suffered many teething problems in the helium project. The latest results from that company reflect an approach of pushing through the challenges, as they must.

Also look out for Adcorp and Oceana, with detailed results from the former and a trading statement from the latter.

For details on these stories, along with director dealings on the day and the other Nibbles, read Ghost Bites here>>>

In podcasts that you can line up for the weekend, make sure you're up to date with The Trader's Handbook by listening to the latest show on why forex is such a popular asset class. You should also check out Magic Markets, where we talked about forex in a completely different context with Future Forex. They aren't trading the stuff or helping you trade it - instead, they are disrupting the market by making forex conversions much cheaper for individuals and businesses.

And of course, the end of the week means you have the latest DealMakers summaries to sink your teeth into. With the latest on South African M&A, South African corporate finance and deals in the rest of Africa, you'll find all of them here.

Have a great start to your weekend. We will see you on Sunday morning for Ghost Mail Weekender!

THE TRADER'S HANDBOOK: Insights and strategies for currency markets

In this episode of The Trader's Handbook, Shaun Murison from IG Markets South Africa joined me once more to explore the fascinating and often misunderstood world of forex trading. We broke down the complexities of currency pairs, leverage, and volatility while dispelling common misconceptions about the risks involved. The podcast and detailed transcript are available here>>>

INVESTEC: India a gateway to outsized emerging market opportunities

As the global economy shifts from a high inflation and high interest rate environment into the next interest rate cutting cycle, global investors are casting their net wider in their search for returns. India is an attractive opportunity. Investec explains why in this article>>>

SATRIX: Shari'ah-compliant Investing

Shari'ah-compliant investing in South Africa just got a major boost with the listing of the Satrix MSCI World Islamic ETF on the JSE in October.

Yusuf Wadee of Satrix joins me to unpack this fund and the fascinating Shari'ah principles in general. There's much to learn here, regardless of whether your faith requires you to invest based on these principles.

Along with a detailed transcript, you'll find it here>>>

SATRIX: Don't wait until 2025 for your financial goals

Satrix: It’s easy to just write off the rest of this year and promise yourself that you’ll start in January. Instead, this is the time to plan and build momentum. Satrix gives some great practical tips here>>>

DOMINIQUE OLIVIER: How Marvel cracked the Universe

Getting warm bodies in cinema seats is no easy feat in the age of streaming (just ask the likes of Ster-Kinekor or NuMetro). Yet despite the rising challenge, Marvel managed to create something in 2008 that drew audiences back to cinemas in droves – and they managed to keep that drive going for just over a decade. How did they do it and why hasn't DC done the same? Find out here>>>

Ghost Bites - local company news:

Ghost Bites: The latest on Adcorp, AB InBev, MTN, Oceana, Pan African Resources, Renergen and numerous Nibbles in Ghost Bites here>>>

Unlock the Stock - Pan African Resources

Unlock the Stock: Pan African Resources returned to the platform to talk about the performance and prospects in an environment of favourable gold prices. Enjoy the presentation and Q&A here>>>

International Business Snippet:

Meta's share price dropped 4% yesterday as the market digested the latest results. User numbers disappointed the market, despite growing 5% year-on-year. It tells you something about growth expectations in the share price that a growth rate of that magnitude on what is already a huge business just isn't enough. It's also a worry that the market reacted this way when Meta beat on both revenue and earnings per share expectations. Perhaps the concern is around the extent of capital investment planned for 2025.

The market can't expect huge growth and then get annoyed about paying for it. Clearly, that isn't rational. But then again, when have markets ever been rational?

Our latest research in Magic Markets Premium is on UPS. This logistics giant is focused on optimising revenue per piece heading into the all-important Black Friday and festive season. You'll find out how that works in our research for subscribers this week.

Magic Markets: What can we learn from market sector rotations?

Magic Markets: Although there’s a risk of churning your portfolio too often if you become obsessed with short-term market movements, there’s a lot of value to be gained from the way Mohammed Nalla does his quarterly rotation work for institutional clients. In this episode, we cover recent sector performance in the US market and where some of the future gains may be found. Find it here>>>

IG Markets Morning Call: daily macroeconomic update

US markets have seen the tech sector leading a broad-based decline after quarterly results from heavyweight counters Microsoft and Meta were released. European futures markets are flat today after having declined yesterday, while Asian benchmarks the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are up on the day after manufacturing PMI data out of China alluded to industry expansion in the world's second largest economy.

The JSE All-Share Index is expected to open flat to marginally lower this morning as it balances global risk appetite ahead of key US employment data out later today.

The dollar has softened slightly along with US Treasury Yields. The rand is marginally firmer this morning.

Oil prices have continued to rebound on threats of another ballistic missile attack on Israel by Iran.

Gold is marginally higher this morning after correcting from all-time high territory yesterday.

This afternoon will see Non-Farm Payroll and Unemployment Rate data out of the US as the last major data points before the Federal Reserve’s rates decision next week.

Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R17.63/$ | US 10yr 4.27% | Gold $2,756/oz | Platinum $990/oz | Brent Crude $74.14

The macroeconomic update is based on the morning call update by IG Markets