More than a company per minute - that's the rate at which you'll learn in Ghost Wrap, brought to you by Mazars. In the latest episode, I covered Bowler Metcalf, PPC, Renergen, Orion Minerals, Sappi, British American Tobacco, Kaap Agri, Pick n Pay and Spur. Find it here>>>

And for a podcast with an entirely different flavour, we cut through the hype of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the latest episode of Magic Markets, featuring Justine Brophy of AnBro Capital Investments. Join yours truly and Mohammed Nalla as we unpacked this issue and looked at why we believe leading te ch companies will be the best-placed firms to monetise AI. Listen to the show here>>>

A very busy day on SENS

Last night, I spent hours reading SENS announcements so that you don't have to. Ghost Bites is your summary of the day's news on the JSE, including EOH successfully raising R500 million in a rights offer that was oversubscribed. With the share price at R1.71, I'm very glad that I got out above R7 per share.

Another important update was Attacq jumping 15% on news of a deal with the Government Employees Pension Fund, making me a very happy shareholder indeed. Curro's ea rnings are also heading in the right direction, though I need to regain some lost value there before I can celebrate anything. Italtile has signed off on a tough period, with no obvious reasons why the latter half of the year should be any better. We also saw updates from Anglo American Platinum, Metrofile, Spear REIT, Transcend Residential Property Fund and many more.

Get all the details in Ghost Bites>>>

Time to avoid the retail sector?

I must say, I share Chris Gilmour's negative sentiments towards the retail sector this year. I was ask ed to contribute to the Financial Mail Hot Stocks edition in January and the retail sector was one of my allocated sections. It was extremely hard to pick anything in this sector, with Shoprite as my choice in the end as a defensive play. In retrospect, I should've gotten creative in defining Kaap Agri as a retailer!

Extensive load shedding is a major issue for this sector, as Chris Gilmour explores here>>>

In a bad Moody

Moody's told everyone what we already know: load shedding is a worry for our economy. Acting all surprised at this news, the rand moved above the R18.00 handle today, a level not seen since rumours emerged around the Phala Phala saga back in November. The rand did at least move back to R17.90 in afternoon trade and didn't look too different to emerging market peers, so perhaps most of the load shedding pain is priced in.

TreasuryONE notes that anticipation for January's CPI print (due later today) has built up nicely over the past few sessions, as markets placed bets on the Fed having more room to hike rates. If US inflation exceeds the 6.2% year-on-year expectation, it would validate the recent dollar strength. A softer number would likely be positive for the rand.

Learn more about China

In this article, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix delves into China's influence on the South African economy, as well as im portant links that the country has to certain listed companies on the JSE. Of course, he also touches on how Satrix helps investors gain exposure to China. Read it here>>>

Enjoy today's content!