Famous Brands vs. Spur is one of the great local comparisons. In the FBR corner, there's a large and unwieldy group with some really iconic brands, but also some major capital allocation mistakes in prior years. In the SUR corner, there's a much more concentrated offering that has reinvented the core brand and made some smart acquisitions. In the past year, the share price divergence is severe: Spur is up 50% and Famous Brands is down 8%. Based on the latest update from Famous Brands that you'll find in Ghost Bites, it's not getting better anytime soon for them. Read about it here>>>

In brand new stuff today, Paul Miller of Utshalo has commented on the success of the Orion Minerals Share Purchase Plan and how this might be the catalyst for change in South Africa's capital markets in terms of inclusion of retail investors in a capital raise. It's a really exciting outcome and you can learn more about it here.

Dominique Olivier's new piece will appeal to anyone who loves playing - and frankly, that should be all of us. It will also appeal to entrepreneurs building family businesses and legacies. There's practically no better example than Lego of what can be achieved by a family business in making tough innovation decisions while sticking to their roots. Here's the brick-by-brick story of Lego, one of the most important companies in the world in my opinion.

To give yourself a dose of deep market insights today, I really recommend the latest podcast with Nico Katzke of Satrix. We unpacked why the Satrix FINI is a purer view on a South African recovery than say the Satrix 40. Nico also went into detail on the carry trade, which is widely regarded as having saved the rand from the same fate as some other emerging markets that lost their way at times. Listen to this terrific show or read the transcript at this link.

In Ep.2 of The Trader's Handbook with IG Markets South Africa, we talked about foundational concepts like the differences between CFDs and shares, as well as the importance of newsflow and sentiment. Learn about the exciting world of trading here.

And even though it feels so far away in this world, the results of the US election will make a difference to us. The country is so powerful that the policies of the Democrats and Republicans have an impact on everyone. This is why the US election matters for everyone and this is why we covered this exact topic in the latest episode of Magic Markets available at this link.

There's plenty in here for you to enjoy. Have a great day!

Disney finally seems to have a winning film on its hands, with Deadpool & Wolverine achieving the highest ever box office debut for an R-rated film. This will be the only release in 2024 from Marvel Studios, as Disney follows a strategy of fewer releases that are of higher quality. If only they would take the same approach with the kids movies!

There must have been some sweaty executives around the table at Comcast after the opening ceremony of the Olympics, as the games are critical to Peacock's streaming ambitions in the US. They've had bad luck before, with limited rights to show the Olympics in 2021 (not to mention the COVID issue that delayed the games by a year), so this really is an opportunity for a clean slate and the ability to monetise expensive media rights. America is a conservative country, so a spicy opening ceremony that alienated many viewers wasn't a happy start for the viewership stats that Comcast needs to achieve.

Fun fact (according to a CNBC article on the topic): the record number of $100m+ homes to sell in the US in a single year was in 2021, coming in at a total of 9 homes sold. That's nearly a R2 billion property, in case your maths is letting you down! We may see that record fall this year.

Our latest Magic Markets Premium report covers CrowdStrike, which is highly topical after a software update broke Windows computers. Having shed a quarter of its value in the past week, is it a buy at these levels? To get access to this research and the rest of the vast library, subscribe to the platform here.

US equity markets started an aggressive rebound from oversold territory on Friday, which is seeing some follow-through in index futures this morning.

European index futures and Asian equity markets are taking their cues from US markets as they trade well into positive territory as well.

Our local bourse, the JSE All-Share Index, is expected to follow suite with a positive open this morning.

Gains in global equity markets followed moderating US PCE inflation data which suggested that rates in the world’s largest economy are likely to start to ease in September. This week is however a busy one in terms of economic data, with rates decisions expected from the Bank of Japan, Bank of England as well as the Federal Reserve.

The dollar continues to track sideways, balancing out general market risk with Trump trade assumptions.

Oil prices have continued to rebound as tension in the Middle East escalates, threatening to disrupt ceasefire discussions.

Gold has crept marginally higher on tensions in the Middle East and around prospects of monetary easing in the US.

Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R18.27/$ | US 10yr 4.18% | Gold $2,393/oz | Platinum $947/oz | Brent Crude $80.80

The macroeconomic update is based on IG's morning call update