If you're a Sasol shareholder, you're probably smiling today. The company had a monster day on the JSE yesterday, up 6.77%. Brent Crude jumped 3.2% on the day to over $70 a barrel, with the horrors (for Sasol) of $21 a barrel in April 2020 now a distant memory.
For consumers, it isn't great news of course. The saving grace is that many people are working remotely or in a hybrid working arrangement, which means reduced mileage and monthly petrol expenses.
Today's feature article goes to Dis-Chem, which has released a detailed trading update that is full of interesting nuggets. For example, this is one of the few retailers where the online sales aren't growing faster than overall group sales.
I also found it fascinating that dispensary sales are growing much faster than vitamins and preventa tive healthcare. It seems that we all wait until we get sick before we take our health seriously!
The other JSE-related story is a look at Trellidor, which does far more than just security barriers. In fact, blinds and shutters contributed over 40% of interim revenue! The company's trading update for the full financial year looks promising.
I decided to step away from specific companies for the final two articles.
The first is a look at our unemployment crisis in South Africa, as StatsSA has just released updated data that is telling a truly shocking story. I know it sounds like a painful read, but I went to great lengths to explain many of the underlying concepts in the data, so you'll learn something by reading it.
Finally, I decided to write about Jackson Hole. When I read the title to Mrs Ghost, she heard "Jackson's Hole" instead of "Jackson Hole" which is cle arly something different. I promise that this article is entirely safe for work, although it may not be safe for markets depending on Jerome Powell's speech later this week.
If you fancy a quick look at currency pairs, check out the summary article from international money transfer specialists Currency Assist.
For an international flavour, read
this piece I wrote on thefinanceghost.com this week, which analyses
Nike and Foot Locker and explains how I do a high-level comparison of two companies when making an investment decision.
Good luck in the markets today!
The Finance Ghost
