Happy Monday! If nothing else, at least you have a new episode of Ghost Wrap to improve your morning as you think back to that Springbok performance and yesterday's resultant headache. This week, I covered Spear REIT, Attacq, AngloGold, Brikor, Mondi, Sappi, Telkom and RCL Foods. Brought to you by Mazars, this is the best way to stay on top of local company news. Best of all, you only need eight minutes for it! Find it here>>> For something different this morning, I can also offer you the recording of my recent interview with Tania Habimana on CNBC Africa. We talked about local retail stocks, the challenges they are faci ng and whether I would buy any of them. You'll need almost 15 minutes for this, but it's well worth it. Watch it here>>> While I'm on the subject of retail, don't miss Trive South Africa's piece on how much local retailers have had to spend on load shedding. Although it has certainly slowed down, we are still dealing with load shedding on almost a daily basis. Read the article here>>> Competition regulators and growth stocks: an unhappy storyIf you've been following the Mi crosoft - Activision Blizzard story, you'll know that a few competition regulators have poured cold water on the gaming industry fire. Although the deal isn't dead yet, it certainly hangs in the balance. To talk about what this means for the gaming sector, the broader tech sector and growth stocks in general, Justine Brophy of AnBro Capital Investments joined us on Episode 132 of Magic Markets. We had loads of fun along the way and there was plenty to learn. Listen to it here>>> It costs HOW much to move the AngloGold structure?Corporate advisors don't charge based on what their time is worth. They charge with reference to deal value, which is why top investment banking firms and M&A lawyers make a fortune. This industry works this way and that's simply how it is, with the assumption being that larger deals are more complicated. Having worked in the industry, I can tell you that this isn't always the case. Either way, the advisors on the AngloGold restructure are literally laughing all the way to the bank. The total fees have come to $60 million, or more than R1.1 billion! That's a huge amount of money, but small in the context of a market cap of R160 billion. For more information on exactly where that money goes, as well as the latest from Choppies, Eastern Platinum, Nedbank and Telkom, read Ghost Bites here>>> US non-farm payrolls fell shortFor the first time in over a year, US non-farm payrolls were lower than the consensus forecast. This drove a decrease in two-year bond yields from over 5% to 4.86%. Although the unemployment rate was in line with expectations, the overall report carries a dovish tone. Still, TreasuryONE believes that this is unlikely to deter the Federal Reserve from pursuing interest rate adjustments this month. The rand managed to dip below R19.00 to the dollar based on the payroll figures. Gold and other commodities were also beneficiaries of this data release. And with that, I wish you a great start to your week! |