Quantum Foods' shares soared 17% to R11.57 on Friday morning, before finally capitulating and sinking all the way back down to R7.72. There was no fresh news behind the turnaround following a heady fortnight for the poultry and eggs group as its new shareholders squared their positions.

AECI's shares also ended lower after the chemicals and explosives group warned of lower first-half earnings, partly due to Covid-19 but also as a result of impairments after it exited loss-making businesses following a restructuring.

Meanwhile, negotiations that could have resulted in Cartrack taking its primary listing offshore have ended. But despite Covid-19, Barloworld says it's going ahead with its acquisition of Mongolian equipment distributor Wagner Asia. Barloworld is also the subject of the latest research note by Ingham Analytics.

More on those stories to follow in today's newsletter, along with an update from Investec Property Fund and the latest results from PBT Group.

In The Week Ahead, Chris Gilmour reviews the news that drove markets last week and looks ahead to some of the events that could influence activity in the days ahead, including updates from Hammerson and Woolworths and the Reserve Bank's interest-rate decision.

Finally, in DealMakers latest Thorts column, Werksmans' Eric Levenstein, Roxanne Webster and Malachizodok Mpolokeng discuss the process of a business rescue as a growing number of companies take this route due to the impact of Covid-19.

I hope you have a good week.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

Latest from Ingham Analytics - "Saudi Arabian stalking horse"

Is Barloworld in play? In "Saudi Arabian stalking horse" Ingham Analytics deduce that this could be the case. And it may come from a surprising source, a Middle Eastern business that has already built a sizeable stake. There is an opportunistic element to this with the rand and the share price having weakened considerably. Ingham Analytics do caution that Barloworld's cash flow deteriorated markedly in the six months to 31 March 2020 and that net asset value per share as stated may not necessarily be realisable in prevailing conditions. What is Barloworld worth and what could it be bid for?

A note last week entitled "US data provides a chink of light in Covid-19 gloom" unpacks some surprising, and surprisingly positive, data out of the United States with implications for the rest of the world given that the US economy remains the engine room of world consumption. An alphabet soup style of a recovery isn't that far-fetched.

Furthermore, "(I)n (M)y (F)ace.....and yours" brings in the International Monetary Fund, a topical subject with South Africa rapidly running out of runway to finance its profligate ways.

In "Rating retreat", issued on 9 July, Ingham Analytics rated Capitec as worthy of consideration. The stock price was R800 when they issued the note and it closed last Friday at R861, a which level at which new money will have to wait, they say.