The JSE continued to buck the global trend yesterday, dipping back into the red towards the close of trade as the lights continued to flicker across the country.

Eskom's latest bout of load shedding, which will hamper any economic recovery, probably did the rand no favours either. It reversed some of Tuesday's strong gains - although a firmer dollar was also to blame. Banks led the JSE lower, with gold miners also coming under pressure as the gold price fell back a percent.

There was a lull in corporate news ahead of a spate of company results today. Libstar had already guided investors to expect a decline in first-half earnings and it stuck to its word and will pay out last year's dividend thanks to stable cash flows. Meanwhile, Hammerson went ahead with its share consolidation which means you'll now hold 1 more expensive share for every 5 previously held. It's now going ahead with its rights issue, which will be dilutive for shareholders not participating.

Also in today's newsletter, RDI REIT has sold another German property as it repositions its portfolio and reduces its exposure to retail property, RMI has warned of a decline in full-year earnings and Renergen says it's had a surprisingly good response to the country's first auction of liquefied natural gas.

Watch out today for results from Impala Platinum, City Lodge Hotels and Truworths. I'll have the details tomorrow.

I hope you have a good day.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

The latest from Ingham Analytics

Ingham Analytics has published a thought-provoking Equity and Credit Markets Insight entitled "Powell-ing along" and at this time of record US markets unpacks useful information for investors exposed internationally. Risk-taking in US financial markets, they say, has reached epic proportions. Some stocks and indices are at record highs whilst others languish. Why? What are professional investors thinking or doing? What role for the retail investor? What about a shorting strategy? Are there other insurance options? An interesting point to note - the contrast between how the Nasdaq is behaving and the KBW Index of banks in the US is striking and a sign of warning to the gung ho. The wise heads at Berkshire Hathaway have a lesson for us too.

This latest note also leads on from "Gold bug?" which advises on some interesting gold stock alternatives on both the Sydney and Toronto stock exchanges. Are the fundamentals supportive?

"Skin on the bones" (banking) and "An Apple a day...?" (no prizes for guessing what that's about) are popular downloads.