Guess what? I have good news for you this morning! Isn't that exciting?

It also comes from the unlikeliest of places: Telkom. Their efforts to grow the prepaid mobile subscriber base are really paying off. There's also something to make you smile in terms of fibre stats, as well as the recent improvement to the balance sheet. In fact, over 12 months, Telkom's share price has outperformed both Vodacom and MTN! A quick look at the uplift in the EBITDA margin will help explain why.

Powerfleet had an even better day on the market, closing 23% higher after releasing quarterly results and issuing (slightly) upgraded guidance for the full year. The Fleet Complete acquisition has made a substantial difference here and all the metrics that US investors care about are heading in the right direction.

Of course, it can't be all rainbows and unicorns on the market. Sometimes, you have to kiss a frog. Pan African Resources is today's frog, with disappointing numbers for the first half of the year and little doubt that they need a strong second half. Luckily, as in most fairy tales, this frog has prospects.

Along with the Nibbles, you'll find all these details in Ghost Bites this morning>>>

Have you ever taken the time to research how structured products work? Luckily, the latest example from Investec is the perfect opportunity to do so. In this particular case, the investment tracks the Chinese index and offers 100% capital preservation if held until maturity. To further sweeten that deal, there's a 30% multiplier on growth over 5 years, up to a cap of 60% (and thus a maximum return of 78%). So, investors give up some potential upside in exchange for downside protection. In a risky market like China, that seems helpful. Find out more in this article>>>

Have a great day!

McDonald's managed to close 4.8% higher despite missing sales expectations particularly in the US. This was driven by an E. coli outbreak in the quarter, which certainly makes many of the already-gross menu items even less appetising. Despite sales pressure, McDonald's managed to meet earnings expectations, so that would've contributed to a positive market response.

But perhaps most of all, the share price was driven by an expectations of sales improvement in the coming year. McDonald's is pushing hard on the value strategy (as they must), which means offering cheap combo meals to try and attract customers at times of day other than 1am. Jokes aside, it's not easy to grow at this scale, which is why the McDonald's share price is up 42% over 5 years - way off the S&P500 at 79% over that period.

Our latest research in Magic Markets Premium is on 3M as a company with a proud history of innovation in the industrials space. Having previously lost its way, a strong turnaround effort is taking place and is already showing strong results. Our subscribers can enjoy our detailed work on this company, complementing some of our other recent reports with similar turnaround opportunities.

US equity markets have remained firm, while European indices have etched into new high territory. There is some optimism that Trump will meet with Putin shortly and that a ceasefire in the Russian / Ukraine war could be nearing. Trade uncertainty remains, although we are also expecting a meeting between US and Chinese leaders soon to help mitigate some of the tension.

The dollar and US Treasury Yields are marginally firmer this morning.

The rand remains firm while the JSE All-Share Index hovers around near term highs.

Oil prices have continued to rebound from oversold territory, following news of lower than expected production from Russia.

Gold has moved further into new high territory as inflationary concerns meet Trump's new 25% imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Traders will want to keep an eye out for today’s public addresses from central bank officials which include the Bank of England’s Carney and Federal Reserve Chairman Powell.

Key Indicators: USD/ZAR R18.43/$ | US 10yr 4.50% | Gold $2,927/oz | Platinum $987/oz | Brent Crude $76.090

As often as practically possible, insights from the IG Markets morning macro update by Shaun Murison will be featured here. Where this isn't possible, only indicators will be provided. If you want to learn more about trading, refer back to The Trader's Handbook, a podcast series that takes you through many of the important principles in trading.