The Ghost Wrap podcast should be on your playlist every Monday, giving you a fast-paced update on some of the most interesting stories of the past week on the JSE. Brought to you by Mazars, this week's episode covers Pan African Resources, HCI Group, Southern Sun, Datatec, the poultry companies (Astral and Quantum Foods), Lewis Group and Trematon. You need only 7 minutes and 30 seconds to get up to speed here>>>

From a whirlwind podcast to a fireside chat, the latest Ghost Stories fe atured Warren Wheatley of Altvest as my guest. You'll struggle to find a more controversial financial group on local Twitter, with Altvest having certainly built a name for itself as featuring a particularly outspoken co-founder. Warren is the CEO and has largely been watching from the sidelines on Twitter, with this podcast offering a rare opportunity to really dig into the ethos behind Altvest. Is the group misplaced, or just misunderstood? Decide for yourself by listening to this podcast>>>

For those looking for something to read rather than something to listen to, there's a new article from Satrix that celebrates the ETF and its interesting history. This financial innovation is now 30 years old globally and 23 years old in South Africa, with Satrix havi ng brought the first ETFs to our country in 2000. Learn more about the history of the ETF in this article>>>

Pan African Resources didn't get a gold star from investors

When the gold price is actually behaving itself, it is absolutely critical that gold miners make the most of the cycle and generate the super-profits needed to reduce debt, reinvest in the group or pay large and juicy dividends to shareholders. Sadly, this is exactly the time when Pan African Resources has suffered a substantial decrease in production guidance, with Eskom only partly to blame. The market response was brutal on Friday, with the company now drastically underperforming its sect or peers in 2023. If nothing else, Ghost Bites is worth reading this morning just for the chart of gold stocks this year.

The other big story on Friday was the earnings release at Quantum Foods. Like at poultry peer Astral, the situation is clucking bad. It's probably going to get even worse, as the avian flu outbreak in April isn't even included in these numbers. There really is a crisis brewing in the local poultry industry and this is surely South Africa's most important source of protein.

On an interesting day of news, we also saw updates from Finbond, ISA Holdings, Mahube Infrastructure, Texton, Tradehold and Transcend Residential Property Fund.

It's all just one click away in Ghost Bites>>>

From the rest of my ecosystem

In Episode 126 of Magic Markets, Harry Scherzer of Future Forex returned to the show to update us on the crypto arbitrage market and some of the challenges that have been faced. He also discussed the evolution of the Future Forex business model. Get the latest from this talented young entrepreneur here>>>

On the topic of entrepreneurs, I am thrilled to be able to give all founders the opportunity to value their businesses for free on the bizval platform until the end of May. Move quickly - that only applies for a few more days! To entice you further, we will also pick one lucky founder for a podcast appearance with me on the bizval podcast, with the obvious benefit of substantial exposure for the brand you have built. You just need to use the coupon KNOWYOURVALUE on checkout for a bizval Live valuation at this link>>>

The rand rebounded - but not by much

Welcome to a world where a "rebound" in the rand means that we traded in the R19.50s against the dollar. Investors aren't exactly flooding into local assets, so we are by no means suddenly on a winning wicket. TreasuryONE notes that Core PCE data in the US (a criti cal inflation measure) rose 4.7% during April, while Durable Goods Orders also outperformed estimates. The US economy is rather astonishing.

Looking ahead this week, the most important data release in the US will be non-farm payrolls on Friday.

Have a great Monday!

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