Sasol's shareholders will be asked next month to approve the sale of a 50% stake in the Base Chemicals business at Lake Charles in the US. That might sound odd as they weren't asked to approve the project in the first place. However, following a slide in its share price over the past few years and big cost overruns, the disposal is now a Category 1 transaction that requires approval.

We chatted to Proxy View's Theo Botha, who believes shareholders should have been involved from day 1. You can watch the interview in today's newsletter.

While Sasol's shares remain under pressure, Murray & Roberts and Caxton both rallied yesterday. M&R's Australian subsidiary Clough is part of a joint venture that has won a big energy contract, adding to the group's already strong order book. Caxton, meanwhile, has sold its stakes in Octodel and RSAWeb, pocketing some welcome cash. Jubilee Metals also rose strongly following a positive third-quarter production report.

Also today, after holding back on last year's final dividend, Balwin is now paying it along with an interim dividend due to its positive cash position.

I hope you have a good day.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

The latest from Ingham Analytics

Ingham Analytics have featured gold in their analysis in several notes, in fact in the most recent Weekly on Sunday it was under discussion. Top trader Andrew Kinsey takes this a step further in "Gold a must?" in which he examines historic and current factors affecting gold. The Swiss are especially enthusiastic about gold, despite their strong franc - why? Why too would deflation and inflation benefit gold or political instability for that matter?

Whilst we're in the commodity arena "Over a barrel?", which was issued on Friday, looks at latest developments in energy markets affecting companies such as BHP, ExxonMobil and Sasol. They caution, too, that material uncertainty on Sasol continues to detract from the investment case.