Best Bites:

• Balwin is enjoying the semigration trend and Growthpoint certainly isn't enjoying the hybrid working trend, demonstrating once more that "property" is a dangerous umbrella term
• Motus is acquiring an undisclosed aftermarket parts business for between R3.7 billion and R3.9 billion
• Canal+ has increased its stake in MultiChoice

For more details on these stories and many others in the new format of Ghost Bites, click here >>>

Also, before we move on, I'm thrilled to announce that Unlock the Stock is back! CA&S Group (the recent addition to the JSE in the consumer goods industry) will be presenting the business case and taking your questions on Thursday next week at 12pm. Attendance is free! Register at this link>>>

Get ready to sell a kidney (and possibly your least favourite child)

In a remarkable reminder of the power of Ferrari, the world's prettiest SUV has just been launched. It's incredible that the same people who can't replace four tyres on a Formula 1 car or plan a pitstop properly can design and manufacture something like this:

Ferrari don't want us to call it an SUV. Yet compar ed to their other models, it's practically a giraffe. The Purosangue has a funny name and is anything but "pure" which of course bothers a number of enthusiasts, yet I love it and I think many others will as well.

Of course, there's a solid business case behind this.

These kids (excluding the one you sold) are never late for school

Ghost Grad Kayla Soni pulled some great stats for us last night on SUV sales at other luxury car manufacturers.

Let's start with Aston Martin, which grew sales by 80% in 2021 thanks to the DBX luxury SUV. This quickly became the brand's best-selling model. There were over 3,000 DBX models sold in 2021, giving them an estimated 20% share in the luxury SUV market. Sadly, sales are well down in 2022 despite strong demand, as automotive manufacturers have struggled to navigate chip shortages and other problems.

Aston Martin's financial position is unfortunately less stable than some of Lance Stroll's overtaking stunts. The first clue is when you land on the investor relations website and note that "funding" is the first option to click on (even before reports!)

Moving on to Italy (at least in spirit - and Germany in ownership), Lamborghini achieved a record year in 2021 thanks to the Urus. The SUV is now nearly 60% of Lamborghini's sales, making parent company VW very happy indeed. There is clearly plenty of demand for super SUVs, even when they are rather ugly.

The Bentley Bentayga is the ugliest of all, yet 40% of Bentley's sales in the first half of 2022 were Bentaygas!

These cars probably owe their existence to Porsche, another company related to the VW Group. The Cayenne transformed Porsche's profitability over the last 20 years, selling more units annually than Lamborghini and Aston Martin combined across their entire ranges!

Of course, the Cayenne is at a far more palatable price point that doesn't require you to be on the right side of government tenders or related to someone with an oil field.

Almost 30% of Porsche's sales are Cayenne models. It's worth highlighting that this isn't the full SUV picture, as it excludes the Macan. Over the first half of 2022, the two SUVs combined sold 3.5x more than the 911, the car that built the Porsche brand.

Long story short: I hold shares in $RACE (Ferrari) because this SUV has been coming for a long time, not because I enjoy watching them lose on Sundays. Although it hasn't been a great performer over the past year, I bought it as a long-term play with a brand that is almost immune to economic cycles. I just hope it's also immune to Binotto's antics.

The US dollar just keeps on going

In today's market wrap with TreasuryONE, the news is that the dollar broke back below parity with the euro. The rand flirty with R17.50 once more to the greenback, making it a lot harder to afford a Ferrari SUV (even in 1:18 scale). The dollar is clearly calling the shots in this environment, with any news on US data or the approach being taken by the Fed as the major driver of momentum.

The saving grace for our currency might be in the commodities, with the PGMs and gold looking quite robust against the US data. Brent Crude is trading at $94 per barrel.

Buying a stock for the dividend

You are well aware that EasyEquities is an important strategic partner to Ghost Mail. We have a shared vision for retail investors, as discussed on two episodes of the Ghost Stories podcast! From time to time, the team will be sharing some of their research articles with the Ghost Mail audience. Today is the first such example.

In the last month, EasyEquities has paid out over R57 million in dividends to its community of investors. For some people, dividends are a big part of their investment strategy, but is it always worth buying a share just for a big dividend payout that's on the horizon? Broadcom will be doing just that next week, so read this article for some points to consider.

Don't forget Ghost Bites and to register for Unlock the Stock before you go!

Have a great day!