Barloworld bonanza

Good morning Voornaam,

As promised yesterday, the final episode of The Trader's Handbook is here! We closed off the season by bringing it all together for perhaps the most important topic of all: putting together a trading plan. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Go onto LinkedIn and you'll find a zillion other equally annoying cliches that I could've used here. The thing is, those cliches are right - you cannot hope to succeed at anything without a strategy and a plan. To learn what goes into a trading plan, listed to episode 13 or read the transcript here>>>
On Unlock the Stock, our final session for the year featured KAL Group. This is so much more than just an agri play, with a growing focus on specialist retail and the fuel business. Get to know KAL Group with the recording of the management presentation and Q&A available here>>>
Onwards to company news, with Barloworld clearly coming through as the story of the day. There's a deal on the table at a solid premium to the traded price, so those who bought Barloworld earlier this year are smiling. The group CEO, Dominic Sewela, has teamed up with the Zahid Group from Saudi Arabia to get the deal done. We are talking about a R17 billion cheque here, so a big hitter was needed. Zahid is already heavily invested in Barloworld and knows the space well, so the whole thing makes sense.
Aside from my comments in Ghost Bites this morning, Barloworld also wants to make sure you engage fully with the deal. They've placed the firm intention announcement in Ghost Mail at this link and I've included a few additional points in that post to help you understand what's going on.
Moving on to other company news, we saw British American Tobacco affirm its full-year guidance, based on a strong ability to keep raising prices on products sold to addicted people, all while scoring an excellent ESG rating. You can probably tell that I'm a fan.
We also saw FirstRand share the good news that they have been granted leave to appeal the motor industry court ruling in the UK that turned its motor finance business (and the entire industry) on its head. At Libstar, the group seems to have had a tough second half of the year, particularly the third quarter, although cheese is still doing well. I like to think I do my part for the cheese sector.
Finally, shareholders of Workforce Holdings have approved the take-private deal that will see the company delist from the JSE.
Get all the details on these stories and the various Nibbles (including the all-important director dealings) in Ghost Bites here>>>
For Black-Owned businesses looking for an equity partner, MIC Khulisani Ventures is well worth considering. The team is looking for qualifying small businesses that are looking for equity capital to scale their businesses in 2025 and beyond. If that sounds like you, then check out this podcast with Nchaupe Khaole and Keitumetse Lekaba. It has all the details of what they are looking for and why MIC should be considered as a partner.
Have a great day!

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There's an old and highly entertaining book called Rogue Trader, written by Nick Leeson. It's a lovely example of what can happen to you when you try to cover something up in a way that creates an even bigger problem. As I recall from reading it years ago, "London is calling" was a key part of the story - and they were calling to find out why things looked the way they looked. If they paid proper attention and had controls in place instead of just calling, then perhaps Baring's Bank would've survived.
A headline about Macy's caught my eye this morning, with the group concluding an investigation into an employee who hid $151 million of delivery expenses. No, that isn't a typo. This wasn't even done for personal gain, it was just to try and make up for mistakes through the ongoing use of manual journal entries!
We've reached that point in the regulatory cycle where the worst "trades" and cover-ups are in eCommerce divisions of retailers, rather than banks. What a time to be alive!
Speaking of retail, our latest research in Magic Markets Premium is on Lululemon. Having come off hard this year (and giving me a buying opportunity or two along the way), the share price seems to be turning. Can they make their American business great again? Subscribers find out this week.

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The US Tech sector has led US markets higher overnight after muted CPI inflation data appears to have secured a rate cut next week in the world’s largest economy.
European equity benchmarks closed higher yesterday as well following their US counterparts. Early gains in Asian markets further suggest a positive open for our local bourse the JSE All-Share Index.
The rand has managed to firm against the dollar in risk on trade, supported by a rebound in key export commodity prices.
Precious and base metals alike are notably firmer this morning.
Oil prices have continued to rebound on escalating tensions in the Middle East, demand side assumptions from China as well as recent news that OPEC+ would maintain output curbs for a further three months. Adding to the mix of support is the suggestion of further sanctions on Russian oil.
The European Central Bank (ECB) rates decision and policy statement this afternoon will take centre stage in terms of possible market catalysts today.
Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R17.67/$ | US 10yr 4.28% | Gold $2,713/oz | Platinum $945/oz | Brent Crude $73.40