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Good morning Voornaam,

Welcome to a brand new week of hopefully gorgeous summer weather and good times. Oh, and perhaps some work as well, even though Dezemba vibes are strong wherever I look.

The team at bizval is certainly still working, with a webinar planned for Wednesday on the best time to sell a business. If you are a business owner, this will be a hugely useful discussion. Attendance is free but you must register at this link>>>

I have a brand new Ghost Wrap episode to kick your brain into gear this week. You need just a few minutes of your time to get the latest on NEPI Rockcastle, MultiChoice, Santam, Shoprite vs. Woolworths and Richemont, made possible by Mazars. Enjoy it here>>>

There's plenty of other good stuff in here, like Kingsley Williams of Satrix looking at the factors that will shape the ETF landscape by 2030, or the latest Magic Markets podcast covering property construction groups D.R. Horton, Balwin and Calgro M3. Magic Markets is brought to you by process automation specialists B2IT.

Have a great Monday!

Take me straight to Ghost Bites - I want to make sense of SENS

BRAND NEW: Ghost Wrap podcast (NEPI Rockcastle \| MultiChoice \| Santam \| Shoprite vs. Woolworths \| Richemont)

The latest Ghost Wrap podcast needs just a few minutes of your time to get you up to date on six companies across a variety of sectors. Ghost Wrap is brought to you by Mazars.

Listen to the Ghost Wrap podcast here (6 minutes long)

BRAND NEW: Magic Markets podcast

In Episode 151 of Magic Markets, we looked at home building companies and how they have performed in this environment of higher interest rates. The results may surprise you! Moe looked at D.R. Horton and yours truly focused on Balwin, with some passing commentary on Calgro M3 as well. This show is brought to you by international date and automation specialists B2IT.

Listen to Magic Markets Episode 151 here (27 minutes long)

BRAND NEW: Global megatrends shaping the ETFs of the future

Kingsley Williams of Satrix looks ahead to the potential landscape for ETFs in 2030 by focusing on the key trends that are driving growth in this asset class. There's a lot to feel excited about!

Read about the global megatrends for ETFs in this article by Satrix

LATEST: Liquid gold: why gangsters choose olives over cocaine (by Dominique Olivier)

Miniature cameras hidden in tie pins. Bribery money counted under tables. Swiss bank accounts, Turkish tankers and Caribbean shell companies. No, we’re not talking about the cocaine trade. We’re talking about the Italian agromafia.

Read about the olive oil industry at this link

LATEST: Unlock the Stock

Bell Equipment and Calgro M3 returned to the Unlock the Stock platform in a joint session to share insights into the recent numbers and the strategic outlook. You can watch the recording here, thanks to our partner A2X.

Watch the Bell Equipment and Calgro M3 Unlock the Stock recording

LATEST: Ghost Stories podcast with Nico Katzke of Satrix

Nico Katzke is no stranger to Ghost Stories listeners. There's always so much to learn from him about markets and investing. This time, you also get to enjoy him putting me through my paces in the second half of the show.

Listen to the Ghost Stories podcast here (50 minutes long)

DAILY: TreasuryONE Market Update

There is growing optimism in the market that interest rates may have peaked. Sentiment strongly suggests a 30% chance of the Fed beginning to ease rates by March 2024, helped by recent dovish comments by Fed officials.

It's also rather interesting to note that Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average is at a 33-year high, driven by yen weakness, robust corporate earnings and governance reforms. Year-to-date gains now exceed 28%.

The rand is at R18.26 this morning and commodity prices have moved higher, so it's a good start to the week for South Africa. Investors will watch the Fed FOMC minutes and local CPI numbers for more direction. An interest rate decision by the SARB is also expected this week, with no change expected.

DAILY: Ghost Bites

Get the latest on Afine, AH-Vest, Alphamin, Frontier Transport, MiX Telematics, MTN, PPC and Sanlam to keep you up to date. It's all available with a single click in Ghost Bites.

Read Ghost Bites at this link to stay updated on local company news

Life insurance > short-term insurance

Santam's numbers last week were a focus area for me, as the inflationary pressure in premiums is something that will impact all of us. We live in a country that suffers substantial loss events and faces high inflationary increases in repair costs, so this means that increases in our short-term insurance premiums simply have to come through. This doesn't mean that short-term insurers are doing well though, as net underwriting margin is taking strain. Of course, I would caution that one insurer isn't reflective of the entire industry.

In contrast, Sanlam's numbers tell a much happier story in life insurance, where the value of new business is up 28% and the margin has improved from 2.46% in 2022 to 2.90%. The emerging markets business is particularly high (5.01% vs. 2.53% in South Africa).

Another important piece of news this morning is PPC's disposal of its entire shareholding in CIMERWA, the Rwandan business. PPC has held a 51% interest in the company since 2013. The price is $42.5 million and the book value to PPC was $38.5 million as at March 2023. The share price liked that.

Other stuff you'll find in Ghost Bites this morning includes numbers from Afine Investments and why-is-it-still-listed company AH-Vest, as well as Alphamin and Frontier Transport. There's also news of MTN reducing its US$-denominated debt. Look out for MiX Telematics and its presentation to convince investors that the Powerfleet deal is a great idea.

All of this is available in Ghost Bites at this link>>>

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