Would you like to attend the Money Summit on 14 September at the Sandton Convention Centre? As a Ghost Mail reader, you can attend for free. You simply need to register here and use Ghost as the code. If you've got some time that day, why not take advantage of this opportunity?

Going forward, there will be two Ghost Wrap podcasts per week. I'm starting out with a Tuesday and Thursday release. I'll see how it goes and I might need to adjust that depending on feedback and my own crazy schedule. Either way, this is the last time I'm sharing an 8-minute version of the podcast. Brought to you by Mazars, you can get up to date on Woolworths, Shoprite, Liberty Two Degrees, Spur, AVI, British American Tobacco, Anglo Ameri can and ArcelorMittal. Find it here>>>

In Ghost Stories, Siyabulela Nomoyi of Satrix joined me to put the spotlight on bond ETFs. Investors tend to focus on equity ETFs, mainly because bond ETFs are poorly understood. This can be interesting tools in a balanced portfolio strategy, especially in a tax-free savings account. To learn more, listen to this informative show>>>

In the latest Magic Markets episode, we looked at some of our recent trades, specific ally in global stocks and often those that we've covered in Magic Markets Premium. Speaking of our premium research, we recapped Meta this week and that report will be available to subscribers from tomorrow. Check out Episode 135 for an example of our free work and read this Ghost Global article for just a taste of the themes we cover in Magic Markets Premium.

Little blue pill

Aspen was the cause of just about every terrible pun you can think of on FinTwit (FinX?) yesterday. The company has acquired the rights to a portfolio of drugs in Latin American that includes Viagra. Interestingly, they can't actually be sure of how profitable the portfolio is, so they've taken a stab in the dark at what the fair value actually is. In a deal worth $150 million plus a supply agreement with the seller, they've hopefully gotten their educated guess right!

There's plenty of evidence in Ghost Bites today that mining is hard. AngloGold, Royal Bafokeng Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater all released negative updates, ranging from ugly earnings through to a damaged shaft. At least Pan African Resources managed to raise the last bit of debt capital needed for Mintails, so there's some positive news from the sector.

There were also updates from British American Tobacco on a debt raise, Crookes Brothers on a business disposal and Ellies on its really awful recent numbers. MTN Ghana, South Ocean (which isn't a fishing business) and shipping container group Textainer also joined the party.

As always, I did all the hard work with SENS last night so that you don't have to. Read Ghost Bites here and get what you need>>>

Momentum with the dollar

The dollar is putting pressure on emerging markets once more, despite a miss on the JOLTS and PMI numbers. TreasuryONE notes that the rand moved to within sight of the R18.20 level, so it has weakened by nearly 80 cents since last week Thursday. The rand and other emerging markets currencies are at the mercy of the dollar at least until Friday when non-farm payroll numbers are due.

The Aussies have been klapped in the rugby and they could only draw the Ashes after a huge comeback by England. Even the currency is taking a knock, after the Royal Bank of Australia didn't hike rates. Commodity prices aren't helping them in Australia either, though goodness knows South Africa is also on the wrong side of that.

Gold is trading at $1,945 per ounce and Brent Crude is trading at below $85 per barrel.

Have a great Wednesday!