Happy Friday! Give yourself a gap today to learn more about Curro and how the business operates. The recording of their recent appearance on Unlock the Stock is brought to you by A2X and can be watched at this link>>>

If you fancy more of a whirlwind approach to your learning this morning, then the Ghost Wrap podcast is for you. Brought to you by Mazars, I give you the latest news and my views on Bell Equipment, Transaction Capital, Capitec, Caxton & CTP, City Lodge and Sun International. Find it here>>>

For an international flavour, Magic Markets brings you the world's biggest brands - all wrapped up in a single instrument. Justine Brophy from AnBro joined us to talk about BRNDZ, the latest AnBro product focused on the world's most valuable brands. Listing on the JSE soon, this allows you to buy an interesting basket of global stocks with a single trade. Get all the details in this podcast>>>

Interested in tax?

Singular Systems is looking for a Tax Data Analyst in the Joburg office. If a mix of data science and tax knowledge sounds like the right Venn diagram for you, then check out all the details for the role at this link>>>

DealMakers wraps up the week

You know by now that the team at DealMakers swoops in every Friday to bring you excellent summaries of the week's activity and a few additional pieces for you to ponder.

In the summaries, you can get the latest on local M&A, local corporate finance and African transactions.

Attorneys at Baker McKenzie have put together a technical but important piece on the World Customs Organisation programme at SARS. For something more focused on deal structuring, the team at CDH Kenya has written on convertible loan agreements as a funding tool for businesses and how these instruments operate.

Is ARC finally making it rain?

African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARC) has been an underperformer of note, at least for shareholders. The management team has done just fine thanks, which is the problem. The incentive structure was inappropriate from day one and even an effort to improve that situation still falls short in my view, with a new performance hurdle rate of 10%. You can get that from your local bank if you're willing to give them your money for a few years!

The good news is that the underlying portfolio seems to be doing quite well, although internal valuations are always treated with some skepticism by the market and you can see that in the traded discount to intrinsic net asset value per share. With major assets like Rain, TymeBank and Kropz Plc, updates from this group are always interesting.

Other news on the market yesterday included a poor earnings update from AfroCentric, steady earnings growth at FirstRand, a big drop in earnings at Gemfields, ongoing bad luck at Metier and Sibanye-Stillwater commencing a s189 retrenchment programme in part of its local gold operations.

As ever, you can get all the details you need in an easily digestible format in Ghost Bites, available at this link>>>

Strong US data hurt the rand again

Retail sales and producer prices exceeded expectations in the US in August, primarily driven by higher fuel costs. This rise impacts household spending and can contribute to elevated inflation, with the Producer Price Index up 0.7% vs. the previous month. TreasuryONE notes that these figures increase the possibility of the Fed hiking again this year, ahead of an anticipated decision next week to maintain borrowings costs at a 22-year high.

The ECB has announced a 25 basis point increase in interest rates, taking the rate to 4%. The Governing Council believes that sustaining higher interest rates for an extended period will be crucial in bringing inflation back to the targeted level. Inflation is projected to only reach 2.1% by 2025 and growth forecasts have been revised downward, putting pressure on the euro.

The rand was a casual ty of all this, erasing all gains from the previous day. It is trading around the R19.00 level. Crude oil prices reached $90 a barrel, a level not seen since November. This morning, Brent Crude is trading at over $94.50.

As a final note from me, those who regularly read my work will know that I'm bearish on local retailers, especially vs. industrial companies that have decent pricing power. I'm always happy to debate that view and I would love to hear a bull case for local retail in the context of that TreasuryONE update. All I can see is rates higher for longer, the rand getting worse and fuel prices going up. That's anything but a win for retail.

On that note, I wish you a great weekend. Enjoy the rugby!