Yesterday was a really busy day of news on the JSE. Here's a taste of the updates that came through:

• Cashbuild suffered a decline in revenue of 13% in the fourth quarter, as volumes took a knock from consumers changing their spending habits - after all, we all need to buy petrol!
• Anglo American Platinum released a set of interim numbers that the company says are "more normalised" which is useful for those trying to forecast future performance.
• Sasol's Chemicals business grew revenue by 22% in the year ended June 2022 and the Energy business enjoyed a year of improved demand for fuels and higher prices.
• South32 had a busy quarter in which it achieved really strong production numbers across most commodities, capping off a busy period that also saw several strategic acquisitions.

I've saved Mr Price for last. The cadence in revenue growth is quite something to see. This is just a way of describing the rate of growth across several periods (in this case months or even weeks). For example, the 13 weeks ended 2nd July saw retail sales grow by 6.4%. In June, growth was 14.8% and in the first three weeks of July, the growth rate accelerated to 18.4%! There are excellent reasons why things improved over the past few months, as described more fully in Ghost Bites (along with details on all the above updates). GET YOUR GHOST BITES>>>

In Ghost Global this week, there are very useful updates on Amazon's acquisition of One Medical, Twitter's inability to take responsibility for its poor business management, Tesla's latest results (with significant m argin pressure) and an ugly week for the share prices of telecoms businesses Verizon and AT&T. Ghost Grad Sinawo Bikitsha delivers the goods here. GO GLOBAL>>>

In a markets update with Nastassia Arendse on SABC News at the end of last week, we talked about stocks that I wouldn't want to own in a recession and where some of the opportunities are emerging after months of turmoil. We also talked about how US banking regulators are sucking liquidity out of the system with capital adequacy requirements. The live TV interview was recorded and is now available on Ghost Mail. WATCH IT HERE>>>

In news from the world beyond equities, TreasuryONE notes that the rand has been trading stronger since Friday afternoon. We made it all the way to the low R16.70s before running out of steam yesterday. Again, all eyes are on the FOMC this week and what the Fed will do, with the potential for risk-off sentiment to creep into the market. Gold is trading lower on expectations of an aggressive hike. SPEAK TO TREASURYONE>>>

For the podcast junkies, the latest episode of Magic Markets was a great opportunity for Mohammed Nalla and I to chat about the US earnings season and some of the big trends we will be looking out for. We also spoke about US banks and how direct-to-consumer strategies have played out for major retailers, so there's something for everyone. LISTEN TO MAGIC MARKETS>>>

If you have more time today, why don't you give Ghost Stories a try? In the latest episode, Justin Clarke talked to me about his journey as the founder of Private Property and his current role as Operational Director at OrbVest. Of course, we also spoke about the US medical real estate investments that OrbVest offers to South African investors. LISTEN TO GHOST STORIES>>>

As a reminder, I am one of the founders of an online valuation tool called bizval, a project that I'm super excited about. The idea is to give entrepreneurs a way to obtain a professional valuation at an absolute fraction of the cost of hiring experts in the field. Although it cannot give a perfect answer due to its nature as a standardised tool, the valuations I've seen thus far in the wild are really promising. We underwent extensive pre-launch testing with real businesses to check that the tool gives realistic answers. Until the end of July, we are running a Mandela Day promotion where we will donate 50% of our fee to the Gugulethu Chess College. This is a win-win of note: you get a valuation for your business and the college gets much-needed funding for the wonderful work done in bringing chess to kids in schools that need every bit of help they can get. LEARN MORE ABOUT BIZVAL>>>

As we contemplate relaxed governmental regulations around private power investment, we truly are ready to #SaveForSolar - good luck out there today and I hope you make some money to add to that piggy bank!